Roy Del Ruth

'Roy Del Ruth' (qv) was born on Oct. 18, 1895, in Philadelphia, PA. He began his Hollywood career as a writer for 'Mack Sennett' (qv) in 1915. He began directing in 1919 for Sennett with the two-reeler _Hungry Lions and Tender Hearts (1920)_ (qv). In the early 1920s he moved over to features with such efforts as _Asleep at the Switch (1923)_ (qv), _The Hollywood Kid (1924)_ (qv), _Eve's Lover (1925)_ (qv) and The Little Irish Girl (1926)_. Following several more titles, many of which were later lost in a film vault fire, he directed _The First Auto (1927)_ (qv), a charming look at the introduction of the first automobile to a small rural town. The film featured several elaborate sound effects for the time and was considered lost until it was restored years later. Del Ruth went on to direct a number of films before having the distinction of directing the musical _The Desert Song (1929)_ (qv), the first color film ever released by Warner Bros. That same year he directed _Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929)_ (qv), Warner's second two-strip Technicolor, all-talking feature that also became a big box-office hit for the director. Having successfully segued into the talkie era, Del Ruth directed two more two-strip color musicals, _Hold Everything (1930)_ (qv) and _The Life of the Party (1930)_ (qv), before directing 'James Cagney' (qv) and 'Joan Blondell' (qv) in the cheerfully amoral gangster film _Blonde Crazy (1931)_ (qv). That same year he directed the first of three adaptation of 'Dashiell Hammett' (qv)'s famed novel, _The Maltese Falcon (1931)_ (qv). In that one 'Ricardo Cortez' (qv) portrayed the roguish private eye Sam Spade, whose investigation of a murder case entwines him in a plot involving a number of unsavory types searching for a fabled, jewel-encrusted falcon. While the plot basically mirrors the 1941 remake (_The Maltese Falcon (1941)_ (qv), this pre-Code version featured several instances of sexual innuendo, including 'Bebe Daniels' (qv) bathing in the nude, overt references to homosexuality and even one instance of cursing.Del Ruth reunited with 'James Cagney' (qv) for the crime drama _Taxi (1931)_ (qv) and helmed the well-regarded show-biz comedy _Blessed Event (1932)_ (qv). He went on to pilot a number of above average-pictures such as _The Little Giant (1933)_ (qv) starring 'Edward G. Robinson' (qv), _Lady Killer (1933)_ (qv) with Cagney again, _Bureau of Missing Persons (1933)_ (qv) featuring 'Bette Davis' (qv), _Upperworld (1934)_ (qv) with 'Ginger Rogers' (qv) and the musical comedy _Kid Millions (1934)_ (qv) starring 'Eddie Cantor' (qv). He next directed 'Ronald Colman' (qv) in his second and final appearance as Bulldog Drummond in the detective mystery _Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934)_ (qv) and steered the backstage showbiz musical _Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935)_ (qv), starring 'Jack Benny' (qv) and 'Eleanor Powell' (qv)After returning to the realm of crime for _It Had to Happen (1936)_ (qv) with 'George Raft' (qv) and 'Rosalind Russell' (qv), Del Ruth directed 'James Stewart' (qv) in one of the actor's few musicals, _Born to Dance (1936)_ (qv). He followed up with _Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937)_ (qv) before guiding ice skating star 'Sonja Henie' (qv) through _My Lucky Star (1938)_ (qv) and _Happy Landing (1938)_ (qv).Del Ruth continued churning out product for the studios, helming competent films like _The Star Maker (1939)_ (qv), _Here I Am a Stranger (1939)_ (qv), _He Married His Wife (1940)_ (qv) and _Topper Returns (1941)_ (qv). After working solo on _The Chocolate Soldier (1941)_ (qv), _Maisie Gets Her Man (1942)_ (qv), _Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)_ (qv) and _Broadway Rhythm (1944)_ (qv). It may be interesting to note that Del Ruth was the second highest paid director in Hollywood from the period 1932-41, according to Box Office and Exhibitor magazine.Del Ruth was one of seven directors on the successful _Ziegfeld Follies (1945)_ (qv), which featured an all-star cast of 'Fred Astaire' (qv), 'Lucille Ball' (qv), 'Fanny Brice' (qv), 'Judy Garland' (qv), 'Gene Kelly' (qv), 'Lena Horne' (qv), 'Red Skelton' (qv) and 'William Powell' (qv). From there he helmed the cheerfully ambitious Christmas-themed _It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)_ (qv), an appealing entertainment that was compared to _It's a Wonderful Life (1946)_ (qv), but did not have that film's generational resonance. Still, the musical comedy starring 'Don DeFore' (qv) and 'Ann Harding' (qv) was still a touching film that managed to delight. Del Ruth next directed The 'Babe Ruth' (qv) Story (1948), with 'William Bendix' (qv) badly miscast as baseball legend 'Babe Ruth' (qv). Bending historical truths lest he offend Ruth's legacy, Del Ruth's biopic was rushed through production amidst news of the ailing Ruth's declining health. Even Del Ruth remained unsatisfied with the results.He directed 'George Raft' (qv) again in the film-noir crime drama _Red Light (1949)_ (qv), 'Milton Berle' (qv) and 'Virginia Mayo' (qv) in the comedy _Always Leave Them Laughing (1949)_ (qv) and 'James Cagney' (qv) in the vibrant _The West Point Story (1950)_ (qv). Following a pair of mediocre 'Doris Day' (qv) musicals, _Starlift (1951)_ (qv) and _On Moonlight Bay (1951)_ (qv), Del Ruth's career began to slow to basically one project a year, with _Stop, You're Killing Me (1952)_ (qv) and the 'James Cagney' (qv) military musical _About Face (1952)_ (qv). He went on to direct 'Jane Powell' (qv) and 'Gordon MacRae' (qv) in _Three Sailors and a Girl (1953)_ (qv), then took a short excursion into the new 3D process with the horror film _Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)_ (qv) with 'Karl Malden' (qv).Away from the director's chair for the next five years, Del Ruth returned to helm the low-budget horror picture _The Alligator People (1959)_ (qv), a bizarre tale about humans being partially transformed into alligators in the Deep South, a picture that would seem more suited to 'Roger Corman' (qv) than Del Ruth. His ended his career with the misfire _Why Must I Die? (1960)_ (qv), apparently made to cash in on the success of the better known 'Susan Hayward' (qv) film _I Want to Live! (1958)_ (qv).'Roy Del Ruth' (qv) died a year later on April 27, 1961, at 67 years old from a heart attack.::Sailguy (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)