I think one of the major things a director has to do is to know his subject matter, the subject matter of his script, know the truth and the reality of it. That's very important.

In addition biographical films or biographical profiles of fictionalized characters such as Kane were often the subjects of Wise’s later work including Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) I Want to Live! (1965) The Sound of Music (1965) So Big (1958) Run Silent Run Deep (1958) and The Sand Pebbles (1966) among others. The couple had one son Robert who became an assistant cameraman. Connersville Indiana proclaimed June 4 1968 as Robert Wise Day while his birthplace Winchester Indiana made a similar proclamation the following day.

Robert Earl Wise (September 10 1914 – September 14 2005) was an American film director producer and editor. Through whatever means Wise's approach brought him critical success as a director in many different traditional film genres: horror noir western war science fiction musical and drama with many repeat successes within each genre. He was also nominated for Best Film Editing for Citizen Kane (1941) and Best Picture for The Sand Pebbles (1966).