Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 ā December 5, 1983) He was a film director, producer, and screenwriter. His notable credits include Vera Cruz (1954), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), The Big Knife (1955), Autumn Leaves (1956), Attack (1956), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Hush⦠Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and The Longest Yard (1974). Aldrich was fortunate to serve as an assistant director to many notable and talented Hollywood filmmakers. During these assignments which spanned nine years, Aldrich gained both practical and aesthetic fundamentals of filmmaking: āset location and atmosphereā (Jean Renoir, The Southerner, 1945), the ātechniques of pre-planning a shotā (Lewis Milestoneās The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 1946), āaction scenesā (William Wellmanās The Story of G.I. Joe, 1946), the āimportance of communication with actorsā (Joseph Loseyās The Prowler, 1951) and āestablishing visual empathy between camera a...