The King and I (1956)

Born in Memphis, TN. A former men's fashion illustrator and a supporting actor in stock, he produced and directed stage plays for a nitrate plant shortly after WW I and entered films in the early 20s as a clerk at the New York business office of a production company. After a period of apprenticeship as an assistant director at Hearst's Cosmopolitan Productions, he went to work for producer Mrs. Wallace Reid (Dorothy Davenport), for whom he directed his first two films in 1925-26. Other silent films followed, mostly for small independent companies and Harry Cohn's fledgling studio, Columbia. Lang was a proficient director by the advent of the talkies but became discouraged by the technical imperfections of early sound and left films briefly for an unsuccessful art career in Paris. Back in Hollywood, he resumed directing for various companies and in the mid-30s became associated with 20th Century-Fox, the studio that would remain his home for the rest of his prolific career. During the 40s and 50s he directed some of the studio's glossiest family entertainment, including many lively musicals and amusing comedies: THE BLUE BIRD, THE GREAT PROFILE and TIN PAN ALLEY (all 1940); MOON OVER MIAMI (1941); STATE FAIR (1945); MOTHER WORE TIGHTS and SITTING PRETTY (both 1947); WHEN MY BABY SMILES AT ME (1948); CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (1950); WITH A SONG IN MY HEART (1952); CALL ME MADAM (1953); THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS (1954); DESK SET (1957); CAN-CAN (1958); and SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES (1961). His films appealed to the popular taste and were often gaudy in their Technicolor splendor, but they provided a generation of filmgoers with many hours of highly polished, unpretentious entertainment.  Nominated for Directing 1956: THE KING AND I 1 nomination