Julie (1956)

Born in Oakland, CA. He entered the film industry while still a student at the University of California, working for a San Francisco film exchange for four years. Moving to Hollywood in the mid-1920s, he worked in a film laboratory, then in Universal's props department, before becoming a director of two-reel dramas at Paramount in 1927. He directed his first feature the following year. During the first phase of his career as a director (through the 1940s) his films were for the most part pleasant but routine comedies and light musicals; e.g., THE GREAT VICTOR HERBERT (1939) and STORMY WEATHER (1942). In the 1950s and 60s he made neat little thrillers and mostly melodramas, characteristically emphasizing authenticity of location and action. But his reputation suffered in the early 70s as a result of two poor screen biographies of Grieg (SONG OF NORWAY, 1970) and Johann Strauss (THE GREAT WALTZ, 1972). He produced and scripted most of his own films, and his wife, Virginia, was his co-producer and editor from the late 1950s.  Nominated for Writing (Best Screenplay Original) 1956: JULIE 1 nomination