The term ‘quintessential studio director’ certainly applies to actor-turned-screenwriter and filmmaker Vincent Sherman (1906-2006), who worked at Warner Bros. from 1934-1950 and took on whatever assignments came his way. As a director, he was known and praised for working swiftly, staying within his budget, and getting along—or being able to overcome obstacles—with difficult stars like Joan Crawford and Bette Davis (feature image: Bette Davis and Mr. Sherman on the set of “Mr. Skeffington,” 1944).
During his career, which spans almost a half-century, he was friends with Humphrey Bogart, Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino, Ann Sheridan, Ava Gardner, and John Garfield, whom he directed in “Saturday’s Children” (1940), a depression drama that gave Garfield the chance to get away from crime movies. Mr. Sherman directed so many stars—especially actresses, including Ida Lupino, one of the pioneering woman directors—and, oh boy, could he tell stories.
He shared many of his experiences in his entertaining and exciting autobiography “Studio Affairs: My Life as a Film Director” (published in 1996 by The University Press of Kentucky when he was 90), offering insights into the Golden Age of Hollywood and his own artistic journey. Oliver Stone described him as ‘one of the great craftsmen from the old studio system.’ The title also refers to his affairs with Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and Rita Hayworth.
But could one volume of his autobiography be enough to capture his whole life and his career as a film director? No way, as I found out myself. The first time I met Mr. Sherman was in April 1996 at his home in Malibu, where we had a long conversation about his work and his craft as a filmmaker. The following year, we met again—much to my delight and appreciation. I was staying at a budget hotel in Hollywood near Franklin and Wilcox, and he suggested on the phone, ‘Why don’t we meet in the middle? Then you don’t have to come all the way to Malibu.’ He planned to drive to Santa Monica anyway to pick up a book he had ordered at Barnes & Noble bookstore, so we met at Starbucks—both located on Third Street Promenade—where he talked for an hour and a half about Ida Lupino and John Garfield. Of all the stories he told and all the insights he shared on them, nothing was included in his autobiography. And—horror of horrors—I didn’t have my tape recorder with me, so I couldn’t even ask him if I could record the conversation as he was reminiscing about his life and work over a few cups of coffee.
The next few years, we met again when he allowed me to drop by—twice—at his Malibu home to say hello. To this day, I can’t find the right words to express my gratitude that the born storyteller and the accomplished filmmaker he was allowed me some of his time. What a gracious man he was.
He died in June 2006 of natural causes at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, just one month shy of his 100th birthday. At the time of his death, he was one of the last surviving studio-era contract directors. His list of credits is huge and impressive, and he made a string of successful films with some of Hollywood’s most glittering stars.
Yet he could have done so much more. After he came to the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, he got ‘gray-listed’ and film work became scarce for several years. He described that era as ‘what should have been my best and most productive decade as a director.’ He wasn’t a communist, but during his theater days in New York—two decades earlier—he knew people like John Garfield who were blacklisted, and he stood beside them. So his only ‘mistake’ was being truthful and loyal to his friends; still, there was no bitterness for the years he lost professionally.
So, back to April 1999, at Mr. Sherman’s Malibu residence on Sycamore Meadows Drive, overlooking the Pacific, for the following conversation.
Mr. Sherman, you made “All Through the Night” (1942) with Humphrey Bogart. Is it correct to say that you were one of the few film directors who were instrumental in launching his career as a leading man?
I don’t know if I can take any credit for that, but first I have to tell you about “The Return of Doctor X” (1939), which Bogey and I made earlier. Jack L. Warner gave me Bogart and said, ‘See if you can get him to do something other than Duke Mantee,’ the character he had played in “The Petrified Forest” (1936). Back then, everybody thought of him only as a good villain. Whenever Warner needed a villain, he cast Bogart in it. And as he played one villain after another for several years, nobody ever thought of him as a leading man. They never thought of him playing opposite Ingrid Bergman. So it was a long and challenging road for him before he finally became a star. After ten years in Hollywood, and making something like forty films, he finally made his first major picture, “High Sierra” (1940), directed by Raoul Walsh, followed by John Huston’s “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), and then I got him to play the leading role in “All Through the Night” (1942). Bogey was a hard-working professional actor, although, at the time, he was making far less money than Errol Flynn of James Cagney. That may seem strange because now he’s this big star from the old days. “All Through the Night” was also my first A picture, although my salary of three hundred dollars a week remained the same; A directors got thousands a week. But I didn’t mind. I was working—very hard—at the studio, which was like a factory, and I was happy to get my weekly paycheck.
How did you approach your craft as a filmmaker? Was a film like a piece of art to you, did you do artistic work?
We were doing artistic work and dealing with artistic problems—making sure the story made sense, that it was honest, sincere or believable, and that the characters were saying or doing what they were supposed to in those circumstances, etc. But we never saw ourselves as auteurs—unlike Alfred Hitchcock or Cecil B. De Mille, for example. Besides, our focus was always on entertainment, we never talked about art. So I made several bread and butter pictures—films the studio wanted you to make and in those days you liked to keep on working. You just tried to do the best you could with what you were given to direct.
Did you enjoy working at Warner Bros.? What was it like in those days?
I loved working at Warner Bros., and I was well liked. I worked there about fifteen years steadily. My pictures made money and when I left [in 1950], I left because of the political situation. When that was cleared up, they asked me to come back. The last time, I wanted to leave because they weren’t buying stories anymore and the studio was going downhill. Warner himself was becoming tired, television was beginning to come up and he was losing his touch and the enthusiasm he had as a young man. But they made some great pictures in all of the studios. The stories were better because they couldn’t depend on just sex, violence and special effects. In Europe in those days, the director was the God on the set. I remember meeting [French film director] Julien Duvivier here in Los Angeles. I liked him very much, he was a very talented director. He was doing a picture at Metro [“The Great Waltz,” 1938]. He hated it, and he found it very difficult to adjust. He had to please a committee; there would be a producer, an assistant producer, the head of the studio, people were calling him all the time… You had to win their respect, it was not automatically given to you.
You just said that you left Warner Bros. in 1950 because of the political situation, and after “Affair in Trinidad” [1952], you had to wait three years to make another film, “Defend My Love,” released in the U.S. in 1959. What happened exactly?
I was never a Communist, nor did I ever approve of their policies or tactics. So I never joined the Communist Party; I was a left-wing Democrat and I belonged to organizations later accused of Communist affiliations. I knew everyone of the guys, including the members of the Hollywood Ten—except for Dalton Trumbo. But they weren’t the villains; the real villain was the HUAC [House Committee on Un-American Activities] because it was illegal in spirit, if not in fact. The heads of the studio were businessmen who were protecting their business. Jack L. Warner was also reluctant to do what he did [he told the HUAC he wouldn’t tolerate any Communist working for him]. In fact, he told me afterwards, ‘But what else could I do?’ The American Legion was ready to picket in front of the theaters if any company indicated that it was against the HUAC. So it was a very rough time. As I look at the world and the changes that have been going on in my lifetime, I have a tendency not to pass judgment on people because it’s very difficult to describe and to get the feeling of the times. The 1930s were terrible years in this country. People were jobless; there were soup and bread lines, there were milk strikes in the Midwest, and farms were confiscated, so there was pent-up anger inside the American people. On three different occasions they came to me and asked me to join the Communist Party. They didn’t want to destroy the American government; they thought they would be helping America, not hurting it. You would have to sit down and recreate the entire atmosphere to understand the actions of some of the people. If you didn’t live in those times, you can’t know what they were like. So when people talk to me about Elia Kazan and some of the others, I think, well, I don’t know, I can’t come down on them as hard as some people have. I was gray-listed for knowing them and didn’t work for several years, so it was a very unhappy time for me too. I was a victim too. When it became clear that nobody wanted to hire me in Hollywood until my name was cleared and was removed from the gray list, I moved to Europe where I made “Defend My Love” in 1955 starring Martine Carol. So, in the end, I got back to work and was able to support my family.
What would you consider your most personal film?
I would say “The Hard Way” because the film is about so many things that are very dear to me, such as the drive we have in our culture that can make us do things that we might regret later. And I had two great actresses to tell that story: Ida Lupino, who played the domineering sister and always set the bar very high for all of us, and Joan Leslie as the younger sister, who was only seventeen when we did that film. Can you imagine, giving a powerful performance like that at such a young age? Ida was not very easy to work with; she hated her role at the time. She gave me a rough time when we made that film. At the end of the first week of shooting, when she was unhappy about the way things were going, she yelled at me, ‘This picture is going to stink and I am going to stink in it!’ But when it was finished and got released, the reviews were great; Ida won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Actress of the Year, and one critic compared her to Sarah Bernhardt. If the final film is successful, everybody forgives and forgets whatever went wrong during shooting. You have to know that nobody even wanted to make the film because they thought it was too depressing. Nobody at Warner Bros. liked it when it was made. Jack L. Warner didn’t like it; the original writer of the script, Irwin Shaw, even took his name off the picture—yet when he died [in 1984], it was the only film he ever got credit for. When the film was shown at the Telluride Film Festival in 1995, I got a standing ovation. Ida could be very critical and tough to work with, but we became good friends afterwards and made two more films together [“In Our Time,” 1944; “Pillow to Post,” 1945].
“The Hard Way” (1943, trailer)
Do you remember when you met her for the last time?
That was a few weeks before she died [in 1995]. She was ill; she had cancer and called me to get back together one more time, which I thought would be an excellent idea. So I drove to her apartment in Burbank and we spent the whole afternoon talking about the old days and the films we did together. It was a delightful afternoon; we laughed a lot and had a great time. I knew I wouldn’t see her again when I left later that afternoon. A few weeks later, she died. She could be difficult to work with, but she was a terrific actress. She was one of the great talents of our time.
Bette Davis has said in several interviews that Claude Rains was her favorite actor to work with. Can you tell something about directing them on “Mr. Skeffington”?
There was this chemistry between them. Warner Bros. wanted another actor, but Bette and I fought like hell and we got Claude. He was an old friend of mine from New York where we had appeared in a few plays together. And in the end, we had made the right choice. Both of them were nominated for an Academy Award [Ingrid Bergman won for Best Actress with “Gaslight,” and Barry Fitzgerald was Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Going My Way”]. But it was a difficult film to make. Bette and I didn’t get along too well; she was anxious to work again after her husband [Arthur Farnsworth, a former commercial airline pilot] had dropped dead on Hollywood Boulevard [age 35], but she thought it would be good therapy for her to get back to work again. She didn’t want to sit at home all the time. The makeup was another issue. For the elder Fanny Skeffington, it took three hours to do her makeup, so she came in at five in the morning and was ready by nine o’clock. It didn’t take too long before she would itch under all this rubber she had on, which made it difficult for her and, in the end, it was difficult for all of us. But Claude Rains was a delight to work with, he always was. He was great to her all the way through; they were very good friends and admired each other. But Bette… the problem with Bette was holding her down. The problem with several big stars is holding them down.
Were there any missed opportunities during your long career as a film director?
If things had worked out slightly differently, I could have become a film director on the A list, especially since I was this close to making “Casablanca” (1942). I’ll never forget the way it was given to me. When I was on my way to the office one morning, Robert Rossen [screenwriter, film director, producer] asked me, ‘Have you read that piece of crap that’s been going around? It’s called “Everybody Comes to Rick’s,” a play they bought for $35,000. Now they wanna make a picture out of it. It’s a piece of romantic nonsense.’ The next day, when I arrived in my office, the play was on my desk. I read it and thought, ‘It’s not a good play, but it could be interesting for a movie. There are the refugees trying to escape, people under pressure, and an American who is disgusted with all politics. There’s a black man playing the piano for him, a sentimental number that reminds him of a girl he was in love with and who left him—things like that. It had all the ingredients for a movie—not a great, important movie, but still a good movie. When I read it, I went rushing up to the Epstein brothers—Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein—who had written the script of a film I made with John Garfield, “Saturday’s Children” [1940]; later, they also wrote and produced “Mr. Skeffington.” I said, ‘It’s a great story, guys. Why don’t you do it?’ They suggested I’d ask Hal B. Wallis, the head of the studio at that time. So I went up to him and said, ‘Hal, I just read “Everybody Comes to Rick’s.” I talked to the Epsteins about it, and they will do it.’ So I got the Epsteins on that script, but when I was set to do “The Hard Way,” Wallis offered “Casablanca” to Michael Curtiz. The same thing happened with “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” a few years later. I brought it to the studio before John Huston [who made the film in 1948] did. I begged them to buy it, but they turned it down. I should have bought it myself; I could have bought it for $10,000. Some time later, a friend of mine mentioned a book he had read, called “From Here to Eternity.” That’s the third film that could have put me on the A list. It had been bought by Sylvan Simon, back then an executive producer for Harry Cohn at Columbia. I read it and said it would make a great movie. I called Harry Cohn and said, ‘Harry, I want you to know I read “From Here to Eternity,” and I’d love to do it.’ He said, ‘Well, Vince, that’s a long way off. The Army doesn’t want us to do it, and they’re reluctant to make it” [Fred Zinnemann made the film in 1953]. Instead he offered me to do “Affair in Trinidad” [1952] starring Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth. That picture didn’t do my reputation any good, but it paid me well. I got to know Rita; she was wonderful and very talented, but she was also the saddest girl I’ve ever known. She had been used by every man who ever worked with her; they all went to bed with her and used her. She was very insecure, very shy, and she had an inferiority complex about herself. Maybe her marriage with Orson Welles [from 1943-48] had a lot to do with it. Five years with Orson Welles… anybody would have an inferiority complex, I think.
Malibu, California
April 8, 1999
FILMS
COUNSELLOR AT LAW (1933) DIR William Wyler PROD Carl Laemmle, Jr. SCR Elmer Rice (also play “Counsellor at Law” [1931]) CAM Norbert Brodine ED Daniel Mandell CAST John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, Doris Kenyon, Melvyn Douglas, Thelma Todd, Mayo Methot, Clara Langsner, John Hammond Dailey, Vincent Sherman (Harry Becker), Richard Quine
SPEED WINGS (1934) DIR Otto Brower SCR Horace McCoy (also story) CAM Al Siegler ED John Rawlins CAST Tim McCoy, Evalyn Knapp, Billy Bakewell, Vincent Sherman (Mickey), Hooper Atchley, Ben Hewlett, Jack Long, Ward Bond, Frank Tomick
THE CRIME OF HELEN STANLEY (1934) DIR D. Ross Lederman SCR Harold Shumate (story by Charles R. Condon) CAM Al Siegler ED Otto Meyer CAST Ralph Bellamy, Shirley Grey, Gail Patrick, Kane Richmond, Bradley Page, Vincent Sherman (Karl Williams), Phillip Trent, Arthur Rankin, Lucien Prival, Ward Bond
GIRL IN DANGER (1934) DIR D. Ross Lederman SCR Harold Shumate (also story) CAM Benjamin Kline ED Otto Meyer CAST Ralph Bellamy, Shirley Grey, J. Carrol Naish, Charles Sabin, Ward Bond, Vincent Sherman (Willie Tolini)
ONE IS GUILTY (1934) DIR Lambert Hillyer SCR Harold Shumate (also story) CAM John Stumar CAST Ralph Bellamy, Shirley Grey, Warren Hymer, Rita La Roy, J. Carrol Naish, Wheeler Oakman, Ruth Abbott, Willard Robertson, Ralph Remley, Vincent Sherman (William Malcolm), Harry Todd
HELL BENT FOR LOVE (1934) DIR D. Ross Lederman SCR Harold Shumate (also story) CAM Benjamin H. Kline ED Otto Meyer CAST Tim McCoy, Lilian Bond, Bradley Page, Vincent Sherman (Johnny Frank), Lafe McKee, Harry C. Bradley, Wedgwood Nowell, Ernie Sturgis, Ernie Adams, Hal Price
MIDNIGHT ALIBI (1934) DIR Alan Crosland SCR Warren Duff (story “The Old Doll’s House” [1933] by Damon Runyon) CAM William Rees ED Jack Killifer MUZ Heinz Roemheld CAST Richard Barthelmess, Ann Dvorak, Helen Chandler, Helen Lowell, Henry O’Neill, Robert Barrat, Robert McWade, Purnell Pratt, Vincent Sherman (Black Mike)
CRIME SCHOOL (1938) DIR Lewis Seiler SCR Vincent Sherman, Crane Wilbur (story by Crane Wilbur) CAM Arthur Todd ED Terry Morse MUS Max Steiner CAST Humphrey Bogart, The Dead End Kids, Gale Page, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Bernard Punsly, Gabriel Dell, George Offerman Jr.
MY BILL (1938) DIR John Farrow SCR Vincent Sherman, Robertson White (play “Courage” by Tom Barry) CAM Sid Hickox ED Frank Magee MUS Howard Jackson CAST Kay Francis, Bonita Granville, John Litel, Anita Louise, Bobby Jordan, Dickie Moore, Maurice Murphy, Elisabeth Risdon, Helena Phillips Evans
HEART OF THE NORTH (1938) DIR Lewis Seiler SCR Vincent Sherman, Lee Katz (novel “Heart of the North” by William Byron Mowery) CAM L. William O’Connell ED Louis Hesse MUS Adolph Deutsch CAST Dick Foran, Gloria Dickson, Gale Page, Allen Jenkins, Patric Knowles, Janet Chapman, James Stephenson, Anthony Averill
KING OF THE UNDERWORLD (1939) DIR Lewis Seiler SCR Vincent Sherman, George Bricker (story by W.R. Burnett) CAM Sid Hickox ED Frank DeWar MUS Heinz Roemheld CAST Humphrey Bogart, Kay Francis, James Stephenson, John Eldredge, Jessie Busley, Arthur Aylesworth, Raymond Brown, Harland Tucker
THE ADVENTURES OF JANE ARDEN (1939) DIR Terry O. Morse PROD Bryan Foy SCR Vincent Sherman, Lawrence Kimble, Charles W. Curran (comic strip by Monte Barrett, Russell E. Ross) CAM L. William O’Connell ED Harold McLernon MUS Howard Jackson CAST Rosella Towne, William Gargan, James Stephenson, Benny Rubin, Dennie Moore
PRIDE OF THE BLUE GRASS (1939) DIR William McGann PROD Bryan Foy SCR Vincent Sherman (also story “Gantry the Great”) CAM Ted McCord ED Frank Dewar MUS Howard Jackson CAST Edith Fellows, James McCallion, Granville Bates, Aldrich Bowker, Arthur Loft, William Hopper, Frankie Burke, Frederic Tozere
THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X (1939) DIR Vincent Sherman SCR Lee Katz (story by William J. Makin) CAM Sid Hickox ED Thomas Pratt MUS Bernhard Kaun CAST Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris, Dennis Morgan, John Litel, Lya Lys
SATURDAY’S CHILDREN (1940) DIR Vincent Sherman SCR Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein (play “Saturday’s Children” [1927] by Maxwell Anderson) CAM James Wong Howe ED Owen Marks CAST John Garfield, Anne Shirley, Claude Rains, Roscoe Karns, Lee Patrick, Dennie Moore, Elisabeth Risdon, Berton Churchill
THE MAN WHO TALKED TOO MUCH (1940) DIR Vincent Sherman SCR Walter DeLeon, Earl Baldwin (play “The Mouthpiece” [1929] by Frank L. Collins) CAM Sidney Hickox ED Thomas Pratt MUS Heinz Roemheld CAST George Brent, Virginia Bruce, Brenda Marshall, Richard Barthelmess, William Lundigan, George Tobias, John Litel, Henry Armetta
FLIGHT FROM DESTINY (1941) DIR Vincent Sherman SCR Barry Trivers (story by Anthony Berkeley) CAM James Van Trees ED Thomas Richards CAST Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Jeffrey Lynn, James Stephenson, Mona Maris, Jonathan Hale, Mona Maris, David Bruce, Thurston Hall
UNDERGROUND (1941) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Bryan Foy SCR Charles Grayson (story by Edwin Justus Mayer, Oliver H.P. Garrett) CAM Sidney Hickox ED Thomas Pratt MUS Adolph Deutsch CAST Jeffrey Lynn, Philip Dorn, Karen Verne, Mona Maris, Peter Whitney, Martin Kosleck, Erwin Kalser, Ilka Grüning, Frank Reicher
ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (1941) DIR Vincent Sherman SCR Leonard Spigelgass, Edwin Gilbert (story by Leonard Spigelgass, Leonard Q. Ross) CAM Sidney Hickox ED Rudi Fehr MUS Adolph Deutsch CAST Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Karen Verne, Jane Darwell, Frank McHugh, Peter Lorre, Judith Anderson, William Demarest, Jackie Gleason, Phil Silvers
THE HARD WAY (1942) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Jerry Wald SCR Daniel Fuchs, Peter Viertel (story by Jerry Wald) CAM James Wong Howe ED Thomas Pratt MUS Heinz Roemheld CAST Ida Lupino, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Gladys George, Faye Emerson, Paul Cavanaugh, Julie Bishop
OLD ACQUAINTANCE (1943) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Henry Blanke SCR John Van Druten, Leonore Coffee (play “Old Acquaintance” [1940] by John Van Druten) by John Van Druten) CAM Sol Polito ED Terry O. Morse MUS Franz Waxman CAST Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, Gig Young, John Loder, Dolores Moran, Philip Reed, Roscoe Karns, Anne Revere
IN OUR TIME (1944) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Jerry Wald SCR Ellis St Joseph, Howard Koch CAM Carl E. Guthrie ED Rudi Fehr MUS Franz Waxman CAST Ida Lupino, Paul Henried, Nancy Coleman, Mary Boland, Victor Francen, Alla Nazimova, Michael Chekhov, Cyd Charisse, Bess Flowers
MR. SKEFFINGTON (1944) DIR Vincent Sherman POD Julius J. Epstein SCR Julius J. Epstein (novel “Mr. Skeffington” [1940] by Elizabeth von Arnim) CAM Ernest Haller ED Ralph Dawson MUS Franz Waxman CAST Bette Davis, Claude Rains, Walter Abel, Richard Waring, George Coulouris, Marjorie Riordian, Robert Shayne, John Alexander, Jerome Cowan, Bess Flowers
PILLOW TO POST (1945) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Alex Gottlieb SCR Charles Hoffman (play “Pillow to Post” [1943] by Rose Simon Kohn) CAM Wesley Anderson ED Alan Crosland Jr. Friedrich Hollaender CAST Ida Lupino, Sidney Greenstreet, William Prince, Stuart Erwin, Johnny Mitchell, Ruth Donnelly, Barbara Brown, Louis Armstrong, Dorothy Dandridge
JANIE GETS MARRIED (1946) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Alex Gottlieb SCR Agnes Christine Johnston (characters created by Josephine Bentham, Herschel V. Williams Jr.) CAM Carl E. Guthrie ED Christian Nyby MUS Friedrich Hollaender CAST Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, Edward Arnold, Ann Harding, Robert Benchley, Dorothy Malone, Donald Meek, Hattie McDaniel, Margaret Hamilton, Ann Gillis
NORA PRENTISS (1947) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD William Jacobs SCR N. Richard Nash (story by Jack Sobell, Paul Webster) CAM James Wong Howe ED Owen Marks MUS Franz Waxman CAST Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett, Robert Alda, Rosemary DeCamp, John Ridgely, Wanda Hendrix, Bess Flowers
THE UNFAITHFUL (1947) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Jerry Wald SCR David Goodis, James Gunn (novel by W. Somerset Maugham) CAM Ernest Haller ED Alan Crosland Jr. MUS Max Steiner CAST Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Jerome Cowan, Steven Geray, John Hoyt, Peggy Knudsen
ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN (1948) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Jerry Wald SCR George Oppenheimer, Harry Kurnitz (story by Herbert Dalmas) CAM Elwood Bredell ED Alan Crosland Jr. MUS Max Steiner CAST Errol Flynn, Viveca Lindfors, Robert Douglas, Alan Hale, Romney Brent, Ann Rutherford, Robert Warwick, Jerry Austin, Raymond Burr
THE HASTY HEART (1949) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Vincent Sherman [uncredited] SCR Ranald McDougall (play “The Hasty Heart” [1945] by John Patrick) CAM Wilkie Cooper ED E.B. Jarvis MUS Jack Beaver CAST Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal, Richard Todd, Anthony Nicholls, Howard Crawford, Ralph Michael, John Sherman
BACKFIRE (1950) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Jerry Wald SCR Laurence B. Marcus, Ben Roberts, Ivan Goff (story by Lawrence B. Marcus) CAM Carl Guthrie ED Thomas Reilly MUS Ray Heindorf CAST Virginia Mayo, Gordon MacRae, Edmond O’Brien, Dane Clark, Viveca Lindfors, Ed Begley, Francis Robertson, Richard Dober
THE DAMNED DON’T CRY (1950) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Jerry Wald SCR Jerome Weidman, Harold Medford (story “Case History” by Gertrude Walker) CAM Ted D. McCord ED Rudi Fehr MUS Daniele Amfitheatrof CAST Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran, Kent Smith, Hugh Sanders, Selena Royle, Jacqueline DeWitt, Morris Ankrum, Richard Egan, Bess Flowers, Strother Martin
HARRIET CRAIG (1950) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD William Dozier SCR Ann Froelich, James Gunn (play “Craig’s Wife” [1925] by George Kelly) CAM Joseph Walker ED Viola Lawrence MUS George Duning CAST Joan Crawford, Wendell Corey, Lucile Watson, Allyn Jolsyn, William Bishop, K. T. Stevens, Viola Roache, Raymond Greenleaf, Ellen Corby
GOODBYE, MY FANCY (1951) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Henry Blanke SCR Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts (play “Goodbye, My Fancy” [1948] by Fay Kanin) CAM Ted McCord ED Rudi Fehr MUS Ray Heindorf CAST Joan Crawford, Robert Young, Frank Lovejoy, Eve Arden, Janice Rule, Lurene Tuttle, Howard St. John, Viola Roache, Ellen Corby
LONE STAR (1952) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Z. Wayne Griffin SCR Borden Chase (story by Howard Estabrook) CAM Harold Rosson ED Ferris Webster MUS David Buttolph CAST Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Broderick Crawford, Lionel Barrymore, Beulah Bondi, Ed Begley, James Burke, William Farnum
AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD (1952) DIR – PROD Vincent Sherman SCR Oscar Saul, James Gunn (story by Virginia Van Upp, Berne Giler) CAM Joseph Walker ED Viola Lawrence MUS Charles Duning CAST Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Alexander Scourby, Valerie Bettis, Torin Thatcher, Howard Wendell, Juanita Moore
GARMENT JUNGLE (1957) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Harry Kleiner SCR Harry Kleiner (also story; Reader’s Digest article “Gangsters in the Dress Business” by Lester Velie) CAM Joseph F. Biroc ED William A. Lyon MUS Leith Stevens CAST Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Mathews, Gia Scala, Richard Boone, Valerie French, Robert Loggia, Joseph Wiseman, Harold J. Stone
THE NAKED EARTH (1958) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Adrian D. Worker SCR Milton Holmes, Harold Buchman (also story) CAM Erwin Hillier ED Russell Lloyd MUS Arthur Benjamin CAST Richard Todd, Juliette Gréco, Finlay Currie, John Kitzmiller, Laurence Naismith, Orlando Martins, Christopher Rhodes
THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS (1959) DIR Vincent Sherman SCR James Gunn (novel “The Philadelphian” [1956] by Richard P. Powell) CAM Harry Stradling Sr. ED William H. Ziegler MUS Ernest Gold CAST Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith, Diane Brewster, Billie Burke, John Williams, Robert Vaughn, Otto Kruger, Adam West, Bess Flowers
DEFEND MY LOVE (1959) DIR Vincent Sherman, Giulio Macchi PROD Silvio Clementelli SCR Giorgio Prosperi, Jacques Robert (story by Ettre Giannini, Suso Cecchi D’Amico) CAM Gianni Di Venanzo ED Mario Serandrei MUS Renzo Rossellini CAST Martine Carol, Gabriele Ferzetti, Vittorio Gassman, Charles Vanel, Giorgia Moll, Arnoldo Foà
ICE PALACE (1960) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Henry Blanke SCR Harry Kleiner (novel “Ice Palace” [1958] by Edna Ferber) CAM Joseph F. Biroc ED William H. Ziegler MUS Max Steiner CAST Richard Burton, Robert Ryan, Carolyn Jones, Martha Hyer, Jim Backus, Ray Danton, Diane McBain, Karl Swenson, Shirley Knight
A FEVER IN THE BLOOD (1961) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Roy Huggins SCR Roy Huggins, Harry Kleiner (novel “A Fever in the Blood” [1959] by William Pearson) CAM J. Peverell Marley ED William H. Ziegler MUS Ernest Gold CAST Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Angie Dickinson, Jack Kelly, Don Ameche, Ray Danton, Herbert Marshall, Andra Martin, Jesse White, Carroll O’Connor
THE SECOND TIME AROUND (1961) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Jack Cummings SCR Oscar Saul, Cecil Dan Hansen (novel “Star in the West” [1951] by Richard Emery Roberts) CAM Ellis W. Carter ED Betty Steinberg MUS Gerald Fried CAST Debbie Reynolds, Steve Forrest, Andy Griffith, Juliet Prowse, Thelma Ritter, Ken Scott
CERVANTES, a.k.a. THE YOUNG REBEL (1969) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Alexander Salkind SCR Enrique Llovet (novel “A Man Called Cervantes” [1937] by Bruno Frank) CAM Edmond Richard ED Margarita de Ochoa MUS Jean Ledrut, Ángel Arteaga CAST Horst Buchholz, Gina Lollobrigida, José Ferrer, Louis Jourdan, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey
TV MOVIES
THE LAST HURRAH (1977) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Mike Wise, Franklin R. Levy TELEPLAY Carroll O’Connor (novel “The Last Hurrah” [1956] by Edwin O’Connor) CAM Gerald Perry Finnerman ED Les Green, Bernard Balmuth MUS Peter Matz CAST Caroll O’Connor, Dana Andrews, Mariette Hartley, Burgess Meredith, Patrick O’Neal, Arthur Franz, Patrick Wayne
LADY OF THE HOUSE (1978) DIR Vincent Sherman, Ralph Nelson TELEPLAY Ron Koslow (autobiography “Lady of the House” by Sally Stanford) CAM Robert L. Morrison ED John A. Martinelli MUS Fred Karlin CAST Dyan Cannon, Armand Assante, Zohra Lampert, Susan Tyrrell, Colleen Camp, Kim Hamilton, Christopher Norris
WOMEN AT WEST POINT (1979) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Alan Sacks TELEPLAY Ann Marcus, Ellis Marcus (story by Juleen Compton) CAM Sol Negrin ED Grant Hoag MUS Charles Bernstein CAST Linda Purl, Leslie Ackerman, Jameson Parker, Andrew Stevens, Edward Edwards, Paul Gleason
BOGIE (1980) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Philip Barry Jr. TELEPLAY Daniel Taradash (book “Bogie” [1966] by Joe Hyams) CAM Harry J. May ED Patrick M. Ryan MUS Charles Bernstein CAST Kevin O’Connor, Kathryn Harrold, Ann Wedgeworth, Donald May, Alfred Ryder, Carol Vogel, Richard Dysart, Arthur Franz, Drew Barrymore
TROUBLE IN HIGHER TIMBER COUNTRY, a.k.a. THE YEAGERS (1980) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Robert A. Papazian TELEPLAY Jeb Rosebrook CAM Edward R. Plante ED O. Nicholas Brown MUS George Aliceson Tipton CAST Eddie Albert, Martin Kove, James Sloyan, Robin Dearden, Belinda Montgomery, Michael J. Fox, Kevin Brophy
SAVAGE IN THE ORIENT (1983) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Lionel E. Siegel TELEPLAY Wendel Mayes MUS Morton Stevens CAST Lew Ayres, Leif Erickson, Gayle Hunnicutt, Joe Penny, John Saxon, Heather McNair, Anthony Costello, Irene Yah-Ling Sun, Don Gordon Bell
TV MINISERIES
THE DREAM MERCHANTS (1980) DIR Vincent Sherman PROD Hugh Benson TELEPLAY Chester Krumholz, Richard De Roy (novel “The Dream Merchants” [1949] by Harold Robbins) CAM Gerald Perry Finnerman ED Donald Douglas, Richard Van Enger Jr. MUS George Duning CAST Mark Harmon, Morgan Fairchild, Eve Arden, Red Buttons, Robert Culp, Howard Duff, Carolyn Jones, José Ferrer, Fernando Lamas, Ray Milland, Vincent Gardenia
