Brian Donlevy
Encyclopedia
Brian Donlevy was an Irish-born American
film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste
(1939) and The Great McGinty
(1940). For his role as Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
.
His obituary in The Times
newspaper in the United Kingdom
stated that "any consideration of the American 'film noir
' of the 1940s would be incomplete without him".
, County Armagh
, Ireland
(now Northern Ireland
) to a whiskey distiller and his wife in 1901. When he was 10 months old his parents moved to Racine, Wisconsin
. When he was 9 years old, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio
. He lied about his age (he was actually 14) in 1916 so he could join the army. When Mexican rebels under Villa's command raided Columbus, NM, and killed 18 American soldiers and civilians, Gen. John J. Pershing
sent American troops to invade Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa
. Donlevy served with that expedition
.
in the early 1920s, appearing in many theater productions and also winning an increasing number of silent film
parts. Previously, he had modeled for the illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, who produced illustrations for the famous Arrow Collar
ads. His Broadway
credits included Hit the Deck and Life Begins at 8:40
.
Donlevy's break came in 1935, when he was cast in the Edward G. Robinson
film Barbary Coast
. A large amount of film work followed, with several important parts. In 1939, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
for his role as the ruthless Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste, although the Oscar went to Thomas Mitchell
for Stagecoach.
The following year, he played the role for which he is perhaps best remembered, that of McGinty in The Great McGinty
, a role he reprised four years later in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
. In 1942, Donlevy starred in Wake Island
and The Glass Key
. In 1955, he played the lead in the British
science-fiction
horror film
The Quatermass Xperiment
(called The Creeping Unknown in the US) for the Hammer Films company, playing the lead role of Professor Bernard Quatermass
. The film was based on a 1953 BBC Television
serial of the same name
. The character had been British, but Hammer cast Donlevy, who was born in County Armagh, Ireland, and raised in the United States, in an attempt to help sell the film to North American audiences. Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale
disliked Donlevy's portrayal, referring to Donlevy as "a former Hollywood heavy gone to seed". Nonetheless, the film version was a success and Donlevy returned for the sequel, Quatermass 2
(Enemy From Space in the US), in 1957, also based on a BBC television serial
. This made Donlevy the only man ever to play the famous scientist on screen twice, although later Scottish
actor Andrew Keir
would play him two times, once on film and later on the radio.
Throughout his film career, Donlevy also did several radio shows, including a reprise of The Great McGinty. He played the lead character in Dangerous Assignment between 1949 and 1954, taking the series to TV in 1952. He featured in a number of films over the following years until his death. He also appeared in a variety of television series from the late 1940s until the mid-1960s, guest-starring on such popular programs as Crossroads
, Perry Mason
, Wagon Train
and Rawhide
,. In 1957, he appeared in a CBS
production
of the A. J. Cronin
's Beyond This Place
. In 1960, he appeared as John Ridges in the episode "Escape" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson
, with Sylvia Sidney
portraying his wife. His last film role was in The Winner, released in 1969.
from 1936–1947, and finally to Lillian Arch Lugosi (the ex-wife of Bela Lugosi
, famous for playing Dracula
) from 1966 until his death in 1972.
Donlevy died from throat cancer
on April 5, 1972 at the Motion Picture Country Hospital
in Woodland Hills, California. He was survived by his wife and a daughter, Judy Donlevy, by his second wife. His ashes were scattered over Santa Monica Bay
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film actor, noted for playing tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best known films are Beau Geste
Beau Geste (1939 film)
Beau Geste is a 1939 film produced by Paramount Pictures based on the novel of the same name by P. C. Wren. It was directed and produced by William A. Wellman from a screenplay by Robert Carson...
(1939) and The Great McGinty
The Great McGinty
The Great McGinty is a 1940 political satire comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff and featuring William Demarest and Muriel Angelus. It was Sturges's first film as a director; he sold the story to Paramount Pictures for just $10 on condition...
(1940). For his role as Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
.
His obituary in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
stated that "any consideration of the American 'film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
' of the 1940s would be incomplete without him".
Early life
Donlevy was born Waldo Brian Donlevy in PortadownPortadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
(now Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
) to a whiskey distiller and his wife in 1901. When he was 10 months old his parents moved to Racine, Wisconsin
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
. When he was 9 years old, his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. He lied about his age (he was actually 14) in 1916 so he could join the army. When Mexican rebels under Villa's command raided Columbus, NM, and killed 18 American soldiers and civilians, Gen. John J. Pershing
John J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
sent American troops to invade Mexico in pursuit of Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
. Donlevy served with that expedition
Pancho Villa Expedition
The Pancho Villa Expedition—officially known in the United States as the Mexican Expedition and sometimes colloquially referred to as the Punitive Expedition—was a military operation conducted by the United States Army against the paramilitary forces of Mexican insurgent Francisco "Pancho" Villa...
.
Acting career
Donlevy began his career in New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the early 1920s, appearing in many theater productions and also winning an increasing number of silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
parts. Previously, he had modeled for the illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, who produced illustrations for the famous Arrow Collar
Cluett Peabody & Company
Cluett Peabody & Company, Inc. once headquartered in Troy, New York was a longtime manufacturer of shirts, detachable shirt cuffs and collars, and related apparel. It is best known for its Arrow brand collars and shirts and the related Arrow Collar Man advertisements...
ads. His Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
credits included Hit the Deck and Life Begins at 8:40
Life Begins at 8:40
Life Begins at 8:40 is a musical revue with music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg, and sketches by Gershwin, Harburg, David Freedman, H.I...
.
Donlevy's break came in 1935, when he was cast in the Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
film Barbary Coast
Barbary Coast
The Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people. Today, the terms Maghreb and "Tamazgha" correspond roughly to "Barbary"...
. A large amount of film work followed, with several important parts. In 1939, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for his role as the ruthless Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste, although the Oscar went to Thomas Mitchell
Thomas Mitchell (actor)
Thomas Mitchell was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. Among his most famous roles in a long career are those of Gerald O'Hara, the father of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, the drunken Doc Boone in John Ford's Stagecoach, and Uncle Billy in It's a Wonderful Life...
for Stagecoach.
The following year, he played the role for which he is perhaps best remembered, that of McGinty in The Great McGinty
The Great McGinty
The Great McGinty is a 1940 political satire comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff and featuring William Demarest and Muriel Angelus. It was Sturges's first film as a director; he sold the story to Paramount Pictures for just $10 on condition...
, a role he reprised four years later in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall...
. In 1942, Donlevy starred in Wake Island
Wake Island (1942 film)
Wake Island is a 1942 American film written by W. R. Burnett and Frank Butler, and directed by John Farrow. The film tells the story of the United States military garrison on Wake Island and the onslaught by the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor...
and The Glass Key
The Glass Key (1942 film)
The Glass Key is a 1942 film noir, directed by Stuart Heisler and based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The story had previously been adapted for film in 1935.-Plot:...
. In 1955, he played the lead in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
science-fiction
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
The Quatermass Xperiment
The Quatermass Xperiment
The Quatermass Xperiment is a 1955 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions, it was based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. It was directed by Val Guest and stars Brian Donlevy as the eponymous Professor Bernard...
(called The Creeping Unknown in the US) for the Hammer Films company, playing the lead role of Professor Bernard Quatermass
Bernard Quatermass
Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading up the British Experimental Rocket Group...
. The film was based on a 1953 BBC Television
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
serial of the same name
The Quatermass Experiment
The Quatermass Experiment is a British science-fiction serial broadcast by BBC Television in the summer of 1953 and re-staged by BBC Four in 2005. Set in the near future against the background of a British space programme, it tells the story of the first manned flight into space, overseen by...
. The character had been British, but Hammer cast Donlevy, who was born in County Armagh, Ireland, and raised in the United States, in an attempt to help sell the film to North American audiences. Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale
Nigel Kneale was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay...
disliked Donlevy's portrayal, referring to Donlevy as "a former Hollywood heavy gone to seed". Nonetheless, the film version was a success and Donlevy returned for the sequel, Quatermass 2
Quatermass 2
Quatermass 2 is a 1957 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions, it is a sequel to an earlier Hammer film The Quatermass Xperiment. Like its predecessor, it is based on a BBC Television serial – Quatermass II – written by Nigel Kneale...
(Enemy From Space in the US), in 1957, also based on a BBC television serial
Quatermass II
Quatermass II is a British science-fiction serial, originally broadcast by BBC Television in the autumn of 1955. It is the second in the Quatermass series by writer Nigel Kneale, and the first of those serials to survive in its entirety in the BBC archives...
. This made Donlevy the only man ever to play the famous scientist on screen twice, although later Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
actor Andrew Keir
Andrew Keir
Andrew Keir was a Scottish actor, who rose to prominence featuring in a number of films from Hammer Film Productions in the 1960s. He was also active in television, and particularly in the theatre, in a professional career that lasted from the 1940s to the 1990s...
would play him two times, once on film and later on the radio.
Throughout his film career, Donlevy also did several radio shows, including a reprise of The Great McGinty. He played the lead character in Dangerous Assignment between 1949 and 1954, taking the series to TV in 1952. He featured in a number of films over the following years until his death. He also appeared in a variety of television series from the late 1940s until the mid-1960s, guest-starring on such popular programs as Crossroads
Crossroads (1955 TV series)
Crossroads is the title of a 30-minute American television religion drama series which aired from 1955–1957, the first season on ABC and the second via syndication....
, Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
and Rawhide
Rawhide (TV series)
Rawhide is an American Western series that aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights, from January 9, 1959 to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965 until January 4, 1966, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes...
,. In 1957, he appeared in a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
production
Beyond This Place (1957)
Beyond This Place is a 1957 American television adaptation from A. J. Cronin's novel, Beyond This Place, which was originally published in 1953. It is not really a film, but a live production broadcast on television, and possibly preserved on kinescope. The show was directed by Sidney Lumet and...
of the A. J. Cronin
A. J. Cronin
Archibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known works are Hatter's Castle, The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years, all of which were adapted to film. He also created the Dr...
's Beyond This Place
Beyond This Place
Beyond This Place is a 1953 novel by Scottish author A. J. Cronin. A serial version appeared in Collier's under the title of To Live Again.-Adaptations:...
. In 1960, he appeared as John Ridges in the episode "Escape" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from September 21, 1959 to April 3, 1961 with rebroadcasts continuing until June 12, 1961...
, with Sylvia Sidney
Sylvia Sidney
Sylvia Sidney was an American actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s appearing in numerous crime dramas.-Early life:...
portraying his wife. His last film role was in The Winner, released in 1969.
Personal life
Donlevy was married three times: first to Yvonne Grey from 1928–36, then to actress Marjorie LaneMarjorie Lane
Marjorie Lane was an American singer and Broadway performer of the 1920s and 1930s. Beginning her career in the 1910s on Broadway, her performances included roles in 1913's the Honeymoon Express and 1928's Billie...
from 1936–1947, and finally to Lillian Arch Lugosi (the ex-wife of Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
, famous for playing Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
) from 1966 until his death in 1972.
Donlevy died from throat cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
on April 5, 1972 at the Motion Picture Country Hospital
Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...
in Woodland Hills, California. He was survived by his wife and a daughter, Judy Donlevy, by his second wife. His ashes were scattered over Santa Monica Bay
Santa Monica Bay
Santa Monica Bay is a bight of the Pacific Ocean in southern California, United States. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between Point Dume, in Malibu, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Its eastern...
.
Partial filmography
- Barbary CoastBarbary Coast (film)Barbary Coast is a period film directed by Howard Hawks. Shot in black-and-white and set in San Francisco during the Gold Rush era, the film combines elements of crime, Western, melodrama and adventure genres, features a wide range of actors, from good-guy Joel McCrea to bad-boy Edward G...
(1935) - Mary Burns, FugitiveMary Burns, FugitiveMary Burns, Fugitive is a 1935 American drama film directed by William K. Howard. Sylvia Sidney is once again the poor victim, but Alan Baxter overshadows everybody, even Ms. Sidney, as the gangster who marries her, and, eventually, sends her to jail.-Cast:...
(1935) - In Old ChicagoIn Old ChicagoIn Old Chicago is a 1937 American drama film directed by Henry King. The screenplay by Sonya Levien and Lamar Trotti was based on the Niven Busch story, "We the O'Learys." The film is a fictionalized account about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and stars Alice Brady as Mrs. O'Leary, the owner of...
(1937) - This Is My AffairThis Is My AffairThis Is My Affair is a 1937 crime film starring Robert Taylor, Barbara Stanwyck, Victor McLaglen, and Brian Donlevy.A U.S. Navy officer goes undercover to nab a gang of bank robbers and falls in love with the stepsister of one of the ringleaders.-Cast:...
(1937) - Jesse James (1939)
- Union PacificUnion Pacific (film)Union Pacific is a 1939 American dramatic western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea. Based on the novel Trouble Shooter by Western fiction author Ernest Haycox, the film is about the building of the railroad across the American West.-Plot:The 1862...
(1939) - Beau GesteBeau Geste (1939 film)Beau Geste is a 1939 film produced by Paramount Pictures based on the novel of the same name by P. C. Wren. It was directed and produced by William A. Wellman from a screenplay by Robert Carson...
(1939) - Allegheny UprisingAllegheny UprisingAllegheny Uprising is a 1939 film produced by RKO Pictures, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne as pioneers of early American expansion in south central Pennsylvania. Clad in buckskin and a coonskin cap , Wayne plays real-life James Smith, an American coping with British rule in colonial America...
(1939) - Destry Rides AgainDestry Rides AgainDestry Rides Again is a western starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. The supporting cast includes Mischa Auer, Charles Winninger, Brian Donlevy, Allen Jenkins, Irene Hervey, Billy Gilbert, Bill Cody, Jr., and Una Merkel. The original Max Brand novel was translated into an "oater" with the...
(1939) - The Great McGintyThe Great McGintyThe Great McGinty is a 1940 political satire comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff and featuring William Demarest and Muriel Angelus. It was Sturges's first film as a director; he sold the story to Paramount Pictures for just $10 on condition...
(1940) - Brigham Young (1940)
- When the Daltons RodeWhen the Daltons RodeWhen the Daltons Rode is a 1940 western film starring Randolph Scott as a family friend who tries to dissuade the Daltons from turning outlaw...
(1940) - Billy the KidBilly the Kid (1941 film)Billy the Kid is a 1941 American color remake of the 1930 film of the same name. The film features Robert Taylor as Billy and Brian Donlevy as a fictionalized version of Pat Garrett renamed "Jim Sherwood" in the film. Directed by David Miller and based on the book by Walter Noble Burns, the cast...
(1941) - (The Birth of the Blues) (1941)
- Wake IslandWake Island (1942 film)Wake Island is a 1942 American film written by W. R. Burnett and Frank Butler, and directed by John Farrow. The film tells the story of the United States military garrison on Wake Island and the onslaught by the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor...
(1942) - The Great Man's LadyThe Great Man's LadyThe Great Man's Lady is a 1942 American western film directed by William A. Wellman, and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea. The film is based on the short story "The Human Side" by Viña Delmar.-Plot:...
(1942) - The Glass KeyThe Glass Key (1942 film)The Glass Key is a 1942 film noir, directed by Stuart Heisler and based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. The story had previously been adapted for film in 1935.-Plot:...
(1942) - Stand by for ActionStand by for ActionStand by for Action is a 1942 war film directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Robert Taylor, Brian Donlevy and Charles Laughton and featuring Walter Brennan. Suggested by a story by Laurence Kirk, and with an original story by Captain Harvey Haislip and R. C. Sherriff, the film's screenplay was...
(1942) - Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
- The Miracle of Morgan's CreekThe Miracle of Morgan's CreekThe Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall...
(1944) - Two Years Before the MastTwo Years Before the Mast (film)Two Years Before the Mast is a 1946 adventure film based on Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s travel book of the same name. It starred Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva and Esther Fernández.-Plot summary:...
(1946) - The VirginianThe Virginian (1946 film)The Virginian is a 1946 film based upon the Owen Wister novel, with Joel McCrea as the Virginian and Brian Donlevy as Trampas. The film was directed by Stuart Gilmore and remains widely regarded as an inferior remake of the 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. There have been several...
(1946) - Canyon PassageCanyon PassageCanyon Passage is a 1946 Western film directed by Jacques Tourneur and set in frontier Oregon. Featuring love triangles and a Native American uprising, it was adapted from the Saturday Evening Post novel Canyon Passage by Ernest Haycox...
(1946) - The Beginning or the EndThe Beginning or the EndThe Beginning or the End is a 1947 film about the development of the atomic bomb in World War II.It was directed by Norman Taurog and starred Brian Donlevy and Hume Cronyn...
(1947) - Kiss of DeathKiss of Death (1947 film)Kiss of Death is a 1947 film noir movie directed by Henry Hathaway and written by Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer from a story by Eleazar Lipsky. The story revolves around the film's protagonist, a former robber, and the antagonist, the ruthless, violent Tommy Udo...
(1947) - Heaven Only Knows (1947)
- Song of ScheherazadeSong of ScheherazadeSong of Scheherazade is a 1947 musical film directed by Walter Reisch. It tells the story of an imaginary episode in the life of the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov , in 1865, when he was a young naval officer on shore leave in Morocco...
(1947) - Command DecisionCommand Decision (film)Command Decision is a 1948 war film starring Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson and Brian Donlevy and directed by Sam Wood, based on a stage play of the same name written by William Wister Haines, which he based on his best-selling novel. The screenplay for the film was written by George...
(1948) - Impact (1949)
- Kansas Raiders (1950)
- The Big ComboThe Big ComboThe Big Combo is an American film noir directed by Joseph H. Lewis and stylistically photographed by cinematographer and noir icon John Alton with music by David Raksin....
(1955) - The Quatermass XperimentThe Quatermass XperimentThe Quatermass Xperiment is a 1955 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions, it was based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. It was directed by Val Guest and stars Brian Donlevy as the eponymous Professor Bernard...
(1955) - USA title The Creeping Unknown - Quatermass 2Quatermass 2Quatermass 2 is a 1957 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions, it is a sequel to an earlier Hammer film The Quatermass Xperiment. Like its predecessor, it is based on a BBC Television serial – Quatermass II – written by Nigel Kneale...
(1957) - originally titled Quatermass II, Enemy from Space; known in USA as The Enemy from Space - Cowboy (1958)
- Never So FewNever So FewNever So Few 1959 CinemaScope war film directed by John Sturges and starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Charles Bronson, Dean Jones and Steve McQueen with uncredited roles by renowned Asian actors Mako, George Takei and James Hong. The script was loosely based on an actual OSS...
(1959) - The Errand BoyThe Errand BoyThe Errand Boy is a 1961 American comedy film directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis.-Plot:Paramutual Pictures decides that they need a spy to find out the inner workings of their studio. Morty Tashman is a paperhanger who happens to be working right outside their window. They decide that...
(1961) - Curse of the FlyCurse of the FlyCurse of the Fly is the second and final sequel to the 1958 version of The Fly. It was released in 1965, and unlike the other films in the series was produced in England. Directed by Don Sharp. Screenplay by Harry Spalding. Starring Brian Donlevy, George Baker, Carole Gray, Burt Kwouk, Yvette...
(1965) - How to Stuff a Wild BikiniHow to Stuff a Wild BikiniHow to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams...
(1965) - WacoWaco (1966 film)Waco is a 1966 western film starring Howard Keel and Jane Russell. The film was directed by R. G. Springsteen and written by Max Lamb, Steve Fisher, and Harry Sanford...
(1966) - GameraGamera (film)is a 1965 daikaiju eiga about a giant turtle named Gamera. The film is similar in nature to the popular Godzilla films, and is also the first in a series of films about Gamera...
(1965) - The Fat SpyThe Fat SpyThe Fat Spy is a 1966 Z movie that attempts to parody teenage beach party films. It was filmed at Cape Coral, Florida. It is featured in the 2004 documentary The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made. Briefly released to theaters in 1966, it was rarely seen until the 1990s, when it was released to the public...
(1966) - Five Golden DragonsFive Golden DragonsFive Golden Dragons is a 1967 action film directed by Jeremy Summers and starring Robert Cummings. -Cast:* Robert Cummings - Bob Mitchell* Margaret Lee - Magda* Rupert Davies - Comm...
(1967)