Born in Portland, Oregon. The descendant of a family line that traces back to pre-Revolutionary America, he moved with his family to San Francisco as a child. He attended the University of California at Berkeley for three years before enlisting as a naval aviation cadet during WW I. On demobilization, he worked briefly as a newspaper cartoonist and advertising man before entering films as a newsreel cameraman in 1918. The following year he went to Hollywood and entered the industry as an assistant cameraman and assistant director. As director of photography from 1922, he was behind the camera on several John Barrymore pictures late in the silent period. In 1927-28 he was assigned to direct for films, but then resumed his work as a cinematographer. In 1929 he went to England, where he spent three years as a production executive and technical advisor to Herbert Wilcox. Back in Hollywood, he joined the special effects department of Warner Bros. In 1937 he succeeded Fred Jackman as the department head, a position he held until 1945. In 1945 he followed Hal Wallis to Paramount, where he resumed his career as a director. In that capacity, he worked in a variety of genres, from film noir to Westerns, but was most admired for his lively science-fiction and adventure yarns: THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (1958) and ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964), among others. Notable directing credits include ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC (1943, uncredited), TREASURE ISLAND (1950), WARPATH (1951), THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953), HIS MAJESTY O'KEEFE, THE NAKED JUNGLE and LONG JOHN SILVER (all 1954), CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955), FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (1958), ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964) and THE POWER (1968). Special effects credits include A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935), DODGE CITY, ON YOUR TOES and THE ROARING TWENTIES (all 1939), THE FIGHTING 69TH, VIRGINIA CITY, THE SEA HAWK, ALL THIS, AND HEAVEN TOO, THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT and SANTA FE TRAIL (all 1940), THE BRIDE CAME C.O.D., HIGH SIERRA, THE SEA WOLF, THE GREAT LIE and DIVE BOMBER (all 1941), CAPTAINS OF THE CLOUDS, ALWAYS IN MY HEART, IN THIS OUR LIFE and ACROSS THE PACIFIC (all 1942), TRUCK BUSTERS (1943) and PASSAGE TO MARSEILLE and ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (both 1944).

Scientific/Technical Award (Class III) 1938: For pioneering the development and for the first practical application to motion picture production of the triple head background projector.  Nominated for Special Effects 1939: THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX - Photographic  Nominated for Special Effects 1940: THE SEA HAWK - Photographic  Nominated for Special Effects 1941: THE SEA WOLF - Photographic  Nominated for Special Effects 1942: DESPERATE JOURNEY - Photographic 4 nominations, 1 Scientific/Technical Award