Sam Wood: Movies & Box Office

Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for directing such Hollywood hits as A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Pride of the Yankees, and For Whom the Bell Tolls and for his uncredited work directing parts of Gone with the Wind. He was a physical fitness enthusiast which influenced his interest in making sports-themed films. Wood transitioned from making largely competent yet routine pictures in the 1920s and 1930s to directing several highly regarded works during the 1940s. Wood's quick, efficient and professional execution of his film assignments endeared him to studio executives, and though not seen as a 'brilliant' director, Wood's legacy remains respected. He was known for his 'thoroughly masculine, clear-minded, self-assured, and no-nonsense style of filmmaking'.