Gordon Douglas | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Gordon Douglas Brickner (1907-12-15)December 15, 1907 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | September 29, 1993(1993-09-29) (aged 85) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1930–1977 |
| Spouse | Julia Mack |
| Children | 2 |
Gordon Douglas Brickner (December 15, 1907 – September 29, 1993) was an American film director and actor, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures.
Brickner was born in New York City. He began his career as achild actor, appearing in some films directed byMaurice Costello. He also worked atMGM as a book-keeper.[1]
As a teenager, Douglas got a job at theHal Roach Studios, working in the office and appearing in bit parts in variousHal Roach films. He made walk-on appearances in at least threeOur Gang shorts:Teacher's Pet (1930),Big Ears (1931) andBirthday Blues (1932).
By 1934, Douglas was assistant to directorGus Meins and served as assistant director onStan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's 1934 filmBabes in Toyland and on theOur Gang comedies made between 1934 and mid-1936.
Beginning withBored of Education in 1936,Our Gang moved from two-reel (20-minute) comedies to one-reel (10-minute) comedies, and Douglas became the senior director of the series.Bored of Education won the 1936Academy Award for Live Action Short Film,[2] and was the onlyOur Gang entry ever honored with the award.
Douglas remained with theOur Gang series as director for two years. HisOur Gang shorts, featuringSpanky,Alfalfa,Darla,Porky,Buckwheat,Waldo,Butch andWoim, are the most familiar in the series’ 22-year canon. In addition toBored of Education, the twenty Hal RoachOur Gang shorts Douglas directed include entries such asPay as You Exit (1936),Rushin' Ballet (1937),Our Gang Follies of 1938 (1937), andThree Men in a Tub (1938). He also co-directed, withFred Newmeyer, the 1936Our Gang feature-filmGeneral Spanky.[3]
Roach sold theOur Gang unit toMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer in May 1938. Douglas directed two MGMOur Gangs that year on loan from Roach,The Little Ranger andAladdin's Lantern, before deciding that he could not get used to the more industrialized atmosphere at the larger studio.[3]
Returning to his home studio, Douglas directed the featureZenobia (1939) withOliver Hardy teamed withHarry Langdon instead ofStan Laurel; it was a box office disappointment. Laurel and Hardy were reunited for Douglas' next film,Saps at Sea (1940), which became Laurel and Hardy's last film produced by the Hal Roach Studios.[2] Douglas next helmedAll-American Co-Ed, starring formerOur Gang memberJohnny Downs (andLangdon).
Douglas next helmedNiagara Falls (1941), one ofHal Roach's Streamliners, a series of short features less than 50 minutes, and he co-wrote and directed Roach’s’’ featureBroadway Limited (1941) and provided the story forTopper Returns (1941). His last effort for Roach was the featuretteThe Devil with Hitler (1942). He might have stayed with Roach indefinitely, but Roach turned his studio over to the U.S. Army for the production of wartime training films.
Douglas moved over toRKO Radio Pictures. He made a series of low budget comedies includingThe Great Gildersleeve (1942), based on the radio show; and its sequelGildersleeve on Broadway (1943),Gildersleeve's Bad Day (1943) andGildersleeve's Ghost (1944). He also helmedThe Falcon in Hollywood (1944),Girl Rush (1944),A Night of Adventure (1944) andFirst Yank into Tokyo (1945).
He madeZombies on Broadway (1945) with the comedy team ofBrown and Carney, thenSan Quentin (1946),Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946) andIf You Knew Susie (1948).
In 1948, Douglas migrated from RKO to producerEdward Small who had a releasing deal withColumbia Pictures. For Small, he madeWalk a Crooked Mile (1948) andThe Black Arrow (1948).
Columbia used Douglas onMr. Soft Touch (1949),Between Midnight and Dawn (1950),Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950),Fortunes of Captain Blood (1950) andThe Nevadan (1950). They loaned him toBritish Lion to makeState Secret (1950) in England.
James Cagney was making a film forWarner Bros.,Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950) with his brother William, and they hired Douglas to direct. Douglas signed long-term deals with Cagney Productions and Warners.
In May 1950, Douglas signed a non exclusive two-picture deal with Paramount.[4] The first of these wasThe Great Missouri Raid (1951). He was meant to make a second film for Paramount but they released him so Cagney could use him again onOnly the Valiant (1951) a Western withGregory Peck.[5]
Douglas went on to establish himself as one of Warners' leading directors of the 1950s, working in all genres:I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951);Come Fill the Cup (1951), produced by Cagney starring James Cagney;The Iron Mistress (1952) a biopic ofJim Bowie starringAlan Ladd;Mara Maru (1952), an adventure story withErrol Flynn;So This Is Love (1953), a musical biopic ofGrace Moore;The Charge at Feather River (1954), a 3D Western;She's Back on Broadway (1953), a musical;Them! (1954), a science fiction film about giant ants;Young at Heart (1955), withDoris Day andFrank Sinatra;Sincerely Yours (1955) withLiberace;The McConnell Story (1955), a biopic ofJoseph C. McConnell with Alan Ladd;Santiago (1956) with Ladd;Bombers B-52 (1957) andThe Big Land (1957), a Western with Ladd.
His three low-budget westerns starringClint Walker –Fort Dobbs (1958),Yellowstone Kelly (1959) andGold of the Seven Saints (1961, from a screenplay byLeigh Brackett originally commissioned byHoward Hawks) – have been compared toBudd Boetticher's contemporary minimalist westerns withRandolph Scott.[6]
Douglas directedThe Fiend Who Walked the West (1958) at20th Century Fox andUp Periscope (1959) for Warners, and had hits withClaudelle Inglish (1961) andThe Sins of Rachel Cade (1961).
Douglas directedElvis Presley in the comedyFollow That Dream (1962) made forMirisch Productions and didBob Hope'sCall Me Bwana (1963) forEon Productions.
He did a Western at FoxRio Conchos (1964) then made the heist comedyRobin and the 7 Hoods (1964) forFrank Sinatra's company, starring Sinatra.
Douglas made two films starringCarroll Baker,Harlow (1965) andSylvia (1965).
For 20th Century Fox Douglas directedJerry Lewis in the science fiction spoofWay...Way Out (1966), did the remake ofStagecoach (1966) and madeIn Like Flint (1967) withJames Coburn.
Douglas madeTony Rome (1967) with Sinatra at Fox, and the WesternChuka (1967) for star-producerRod Taylor at Paramount. There were two more with Sinatra at Fox,The Detective (1968) and a sequel toTony Rome,Lady in Cement (1968).
After the WesternBarquero (1970), Douglas didSkullduggery (1970) and directedSidney Poitier'sThey Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) for the Mirisches. He did some uncredited directing onSkin Game (1971).
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) was a blaxploitation film andNevada Smith (1975).
Douglas returned to Warner Bros. for his final film, 1977'sViva Knievel!, in which the stuntmanEvel Knievel played himself in a fanciful biography.
Reportedly, Douglas was the only person to ever direct both Elvis and Sinatra on film.[7]
Attempting to explain his prodigious directorial output, Douglas toldBertrand Tavernier, "I have a large family to feed, and it's only occasionally that I find a story that interests me".[7]
Douglas died of cancer at the age of 85 on September 29, 1993, in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife, Julia Mack, and two children.[2]
