Robert Aldrich: Rebel in Hollywood

Robert Aldrich (1918–1983) was the director of worldwide hits such as Vera Cruz (1954), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and The Longest Yard (1974). With masterworks like the apocalyptic film noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955) or the disillusioned late western Ulzana's Raid (1972), he redefined entire genres. Aldrich managed with unparalleled consistency to inscribe his critical personal worldview into major popular cinema. Yet despite being celebrated early in his career as one of Hollywood's great auteur filmmakers and having influenced generations of filmmakers ever since, his works have remained more famous than he himself. The reason may lie in a rebellious attitude that shaped his films in content as much as the turbulent course of a career full of ups and downs: Aldrich never let himself be co-opted. As a Rockefeller cousin, he came from a prominent conservative family, which he broke with in order to make films. Aldrich worked his way up by assisting, among others, Jean Renoir and Charles Chaplin, and even then sympathized with resistant colleagues who were persecuted as communists during the McCarthy era. After Aldrich began his directing career in 1953, his penchant for controversial subjects and his challenging demeanor occasionally made him persona non grata in Hollywood. In the 1960s, a triumphant comeback ensued and he finally managed to become independent with his own studio – only to immediately squander everything with uncompromising films. Yet until the end, he smuggled subversive messages into the dream factory while, as president of Hollywood's directors' union, he secured groundbreaking contracts. (Christoph Huber) The joint retrospective of the Austrian Film Museum and the Viennale presents the work of one of the greatest directors of the USA almost completely and in rare film prints.

Robert Aldrich: Rebel in Hollywood takes place on 23 October 2026, 18:30 (+14) at Filmmuseum.

Part of the event series: Robert Aldrich →

23 October 2026, 18:30 (+14)

Filmmuseum · Augustinerstraße 1, 1010 Wien

This event is in the Burgviertel neighbourhood (1st district) – known as historic, grand, courtly.

Nearest public transport stop: Albertinaplatz (Tegethoffstraße) (2A), ~100 m.

Sights nearby: Albertina (Wien), Palmenhaus (Wien), Staatsoper Wien.

See the map with all events in Vienna →