Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
– April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker.
Early career
Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'.
Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...
in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) for the producer. By the early 1920s, he had moved over to features including ''Asleep at the Switch'' (1923), ''The Hollywood Kid'' (1924), ''
Eve's Lover'' (1925) and ''
The Little Irish Girl
''The Little Irish Girl'' is a 1926 American silent romantic drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dolores Costello. Based on the story ''The Grifters'', written by Edith Joan Lyttleton, it ...
'' (1926).
Following several more titles, many now lost, he directed ''
The First Auto
''The First Auto'' is a 1927 film about the transition from horses to cars and the rift it causes in one family. It stars Charles Emmett Mack and Patsy Ruth Miller, with Barney Oldfield having a guest role in the movie. While mainly a silent f ...
'' (1927), a charming look at the introduction of the first automobile to a small rural town. Also once believed lost, the film's almost entirely unsynchronised soundtrack features several elaborate sound effects for the time.
Del Ruth directed another half dozen projects before the musical ''
The Desert Song
''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colo ...
'' (1929), the first color film ever released by
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
That same year, Del Ruth directed ''
Gold Diggers of Broadway
''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Winnie Lightner and Nick Lucas. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film is the second all-talking, all-Technicolor feature-length ...
'' (1929), Warner's second
two-strip Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
, all-talking feature that also became a big box office hit. Having successfully segued into the talkie era, Del Ruth directed two more two-strip color musicals, ''
Hold Everything'' (1930) and ''
The Life of the Party'' (1930), before directing
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...
and
Joan Blondell
Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years.
Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...
in the cheerfully amoral gangster film, ''
Blonde Crazy
''Blonde Crazy'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Noel Francis, Louis Calhern, Ray Milland, and Guy Kibbee. The film is notable for one of Cagney's lines, ...
'' (1931).
The 1930s and the war years
That same year, he directed the first version of
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...
's novel, ''
The Maltese Falcon'' (1931).
Ricardo Cortez
Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career.
Early years
Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...
portrayed the roguish private eye whose investigation of a murder case entwines him in a plot involving unsavory people searching for a fabled, jewel-encrusted falcon. While the plot somewhat mirrors the
1941 remake, this
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
version features sexual innuendo, including
Bebe Daniels
Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer.
She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such ...
bathing in the nude, overt references to homosexuality and one instance of cursing.
Del Ruth reunited with
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...
for the crime drama ''
Taxi!
''Taxi!'' is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney and Loretta Young.
The film includes a famous, and often misquoted, line with Cagney speaking to his brother's killer through a locked closet: "Co ...
'' (1932) and then directed the comedy ''
Blessed Event
''Blessed Event'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Lee Tracy as a newspaper gossip columnist who becomes entangled with a gangster. The Tracy character (Alvin Roberts) was reportedly patterned a ...
'' (1932) starring the fast-talking
Lee Tracy
William Lee Tracy (April 14, 1898 – October 18, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is known foremost for his portrayals between the late 1920s and 1940s of fast-talking, wisecracking news reporters, press agents, lawye ...
.
Del Ruth subsequently oversaw such pictures as ''
The Little Giant'' (1933) starring
Edward G. Robinson, ''
Lady Killer'' (1933) with James Cagney, ''
Bureau of Missing Persons
''Bureau of Missing Persons'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film with comic overtones directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Bette Davis, Lewis Stone, Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell . The screenplay by Robert Presnell is based on the book ' ...
'' (1933) featuring
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...
, ''
Employees' Entrance
''Employees' Entrance'' is a 1933 pre-Code film about the devious manager of a New York department store (Warren William) and his romantic involvement with a reluctant new employee (Loretta Young). It was directed by Roy Del Ruth. In 2019, the f ...
'' (1933) with
Warren William
Warren William (born Warren William Krech; December 2, 1894 – September 24, 1948) was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, immensely popular during the early 1930s; he was later nicknamed the "King of Pre-Code". He was the first actor to play Pe ...
and
Loretta Young
Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...
, ''
Upper World'' (1934) with
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
, and the musical comedy ''
Kid Millions
''Kid Millions'' (1934) is an American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth, produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions, and starring Eddie Cantor. Its elaborate "Ice Cream Fantasy Finale" production number was filmed in three-strip Technicolor, one ...
'' (1934) starring
Eddie Cantor. He directed
Ronald Colman in his second and final appearance as
Bulldog Drummond
Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, ...
in the detective mystery ''
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back'' (1934), and helmed the backstage showbiz musical ''
Broadway Melody of 1936'' (1935) for
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
, starring
Jack Benny
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...
and
Eleanor Powell
Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars du ...
.
After returning to the realm of crime for ''
It Had to Happen
''It Had to Happen'' is a 1936 American drama film starring George Raft and Rosalind Russell. The movie was written by Kathryn Scola, and Howard Ellis Smith, and directed by Roy Del Ruth. It is based on the 1909 short story "Canavan, the Man Wh ...
'' (1936) with
George Raft and
Rosalind Russell
Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the H ...
, Del Ruth directed
James Stewart in one of the actor's few musicals, ''
Born to Dance'' (1936). He followed with the ''
Broadway Melody of 1938
''Broadway Melody of 1938'' is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical trad ...
'' (1937), before guiding ice skating star
Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic champion ( 1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European champi ...
through ''
My Lucky Star'' (1938) and ''
Happy Landing'' (1938). Del Ruth continued churning out product for the studios, helming competent films like ''The Star Maker'' (1939), ''Here I Am Stranger'' (1939), ''
He Married His Wife'' (1940) and ''
Topper Returns
''Topper Returns'' is a 1941 fantasy comedy thriller directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Jonathan Latimer. The third and final installment in the initial series of supernatural comedy films inspired by the novels of Thorne Smith, it succee ...
'' (1941). After working solo on ''
The Chocolate Soldier
''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat'' he courageous soldier
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
or ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus (composer), Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, ''Arms and the Man' ...
'' (1941), ''
Maisie Gets Her Man
''Maisie Gets Her Man'' is a 1942 American romance film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Ann Sothern and Red Skelton. It is the sixth of the ten-film ''Maisie'' series.
Cast
* Ann Sothern as Maisie Rivier
* Red Skelton as Herbert P. 'Hap' H ...
'' (1942), ''
DuBarry Was a Lady
''Du Barry Was a Lady'' is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and Buddy DeSylva. '' (1944) and ''
Broadway Rhythm
''Broadway Rhythm'' (1944) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor musical film. It was produced by Jack Cummings and directed by Roy Del Ruth.
The film was originally announced as ''Broadway Melody of 1944'' to follow MGM's ''Broadway Melody' ...
'' (1944).
Later career
Del Ruth was the second highest paid director in Hollywood during the period 1932 to 1941 according to ''Box Office and Exhibitor'' magazine. Del Ruth was one of seven directors on the successful ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1946), which featured an all-star cast of
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history.
Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
,
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golde ...
,
Fanny Brice
Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedienne, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. S ...
,
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...
,
Gene Kelly,
Lena Horne,
Red Skelton
Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
, and
William Powell
William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters cr ...
. From there, he helmed the cheerfully ambitious Christmas-themed comedy ''
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
''It Happened on 5th Avenue'' is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Victor Moore, Ann Harding, Don DeFore, Charles Ruggles and Gale Storm. Herbert Clyde Lewis and Frederick Stephani were nominated for the Acade ...
'' (1947), an appealing entertainment that was compared to ''
It's a Wonderful Life
''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loos ...
'' (1946). The comedy stars Don DeFore and Ann Harding.
Del Ruth next directed ''
The Babe Ruth Story
''The Babe Ruth Story'' is a 1948 biographical film of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix (New York Yankee batboy in the 1920s) as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife Claire Merritt Hodgson. Critic ...
'' (1948), with Babe Ruth played by
William Bendix
William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered for his role in ''Wake Island'', which earned him an Academy ...
. Bending historical truths lest he offend, Del Ruth's biopic was rushed through production amidst news of the ailing Ruth's declining health. Del Ruth remained unsatisfied with the results, and the film received largely negative reviews from critics. He directed George Raft again in the ''noir'' crime drama ''
Red Light'' (1949),
Milton Berle
Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...
and
Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...
in the comedy ''
Always Leave Them Laughing
''Always Leave Them Laughing'' is a 1949 musical comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Milton Berle and Virginia Mayo.
Plot
Unoriginal comic Kip Cooper meets aspiring showgirl Fay Washburn at a second rate hotel in Asbury Park, ...
'' (1949), and James Cagney in the vibrant ''
The West Point Story'' (1950). Two
Doris Day musicals, ''
On Moonlight Bay'' and ''
Starlift
''Starlift'' (a.k.a. ''Operation Starlift'') is a 1951 American musical film released by Warner Bros. in directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Karl Lamb and John D. Klorer. The film stars Janice Rule, Dick Wesson, Ron Hagerthy and Ruth Ro ...
'' (both 1951), ''
Stop, You're Killing Me'' (1952) and the military musical ''
About Face'' (1953) followed.
He went on to direct
Jane Powell
Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929 – September 16, 2021) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image ...
and
Gordon MacRae
Albert Gordon MacRae (March 12, 1921 – January 24, 1986) was an American actor, singer and radio/television host who appeared in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals ''Oklahoma!'' (1955) and '' Carousel'' (1956) and who p ...
in ''
Three Sailors and a Girl
''Three Sailors and a Girl'' is a 1953 Technicolor musical film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Devery Freeman and Roland Kibbee, based on the George S. Kaufman play '' The Butter and Egg Man''. Ray Heindorf w ...
'' (1953), He then took a short excursion into the initially short-lived
3D process with a horror film starring
Karl Malden
Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American actor. He was primarily a character actor, who according to Robert Berkvist, "for more than 60 years brought an intelligent intensity and a homespun aut ...
''
Phantom of the Rue Morgue
''Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' is a 1954 American mystery horror film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin and Patricia Medina. The film is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 short story ''The Murders in the Ru ...
'' (1954). Away from the director's chair for the next five years, Del Ruth returned to helm the horror picture ''
The Alligator People
''The Alligator People'' is a 1959 CinemaScope science-fiction horror film directed by Roy Del Ruth.''Midnight Marquee Actors Series: Lon Chaney, Jr.'' by Gary Svehla It stars Beverly Garland, Bruce Bennett, and Lon Chaney Jr. This film was th ...
'' (1959), a bizarre tale about humans being partially transformed into alligators in the Deep South. After his film ''
Why Must I Die?'' (1960), Del Ruth retired.
Death and legacy
Roy Del Ruth died on April 27, 1961 at 67 years of age from a heart attack and was interred in the
San Fernando Mission Cemetery
The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. The property adjoins the San Fernando Mission and Bishop Alemany Catholic High School.
ThSan Fernando Mi ...
in
Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California
Mission Hills is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley.
It is near the northern junction of the Golden State Freeway (I-5) and the San Diego Freeway ( I-405). The Ronald Reagan Freeway ...
.
For his contributions to the motion picture industry, he was awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
at 6150 Hollywood Blvd.
In 2019, Del Ruth's film ''
Employees' Entrance
''Employees' Entrance'' is a 1933 pre-Code film about the devious manager of a New York department store (Warren William) and his romantic involvement with a reluctant new employee (Loretta Young). It was directed by Roy Del Ruth. In 2019, the f ...
'' was selected by the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
for preservation in the
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Selected filmography
*''
Hogan's Alley'' (1925)
*''
The Man Upstairs'' (1926)
*''
Footloose Widows
''Footloose Widows'' is a 1926 silent film feature comedy produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Louise Fazenda and Jacqueline Logan.
A print is preserved in the Library of Congress collection. A 16mm ...
'' (1926)
*''
If I Were Single'' (1927)
*''
The Terror
The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...
'' (1928)
*''
Five and Ten Cent Annie
''Five and Ten Cent Annie'' is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Louise Fazenda, Clyde Cook and William Demarest.
Cast
* Louise Fazenda as Annie
* Clyde Cook as Elmer Peck
* William Demarest as Brig ...
'' (1928)
*''
The Desert Song
''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French colo ...
'' (1929)
*''
The Hottentot
''The Hottentot'' is a lost 1929 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Edward Everett Horton and Patsy Ruth Miller. It is based on the 1920 Broadway play ''The Hottentot'' by William Collier, Sr. and Victor Mape ...
'' (1929)
*''
Gold Diggers of Broadway
''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Winnie Lightner and Nick Lucas. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film is the second all-talking, all-Technicolor feature-length ...
'' (1929)
*''
The Aviator'' (1929)
*''
Hold Everything'' (1930)
*''
The Life of the Party'' (1930)
*''
Blonde Crazy
''Blonde Crazy'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Noel Francis, Louis Calhern, Ray Milland, and Guy Kibbee. The film is notable for one of Cagney's lines, ...
'' (1931)
*''
The Maltese Falcon'' (1931; aka ''Dangerous Female'')
*''
Blessed Event
''Blessed Event'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Lee Tracy as a newspaper gossip columnist who becomes entangled with a gangster. The Tracy character (Alvin Roberts) was reportedly patterned a ...
'' (1932)
*''
Taxi!
''Taxi!'' is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney and Loretta Young.
The film includes a famous, and often misquoted, line with Cagney speaking to his brother's killer through a locked closet: "Co ...
'' (1932)
*''
Winner Take All'' (1932)
* ''
Beauty and the Boss'' (1932)
*''
Lady Killer'' (1933)
*''
The Little Giant'' (1933)
*''
Bureau of Missing Persons
''Bureau of Missing Persons'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film with comic overtones directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Bette Davis, Lewis Stone, Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell . The screenplay by Robert Presnell is based on the book ' ...
'' (1933)
*''
Employees' Entrance
''Employees' Entrance'' is a 1933 pre-Code film about the devious manager of a New York department store (Warren William) and his romantic involvement with a reluctant new employee (Loretta Young). It was directed by Roy Del Ruth. In 2019, the f ...
'' (1933)
*''
Captured!
''Captured!'' (aka ''Fellow Prisoners'') is a 1933 American pre-Code film about World War I prisoners of war in a German camp. The film was directed by Roy Del Ruth and stars Leslie Howard and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ''Captured!'' was based ...
'' (1933)
*''
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back'' (1934)
*''
Broadway Melody of 1936'' (1935)
*''
Folies Bergère de Paris
''Folies Bergère de Paris'' is a 1935 American musical comedy film produced by Darryl Zanuck for 20th Century Films, directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Maurice Chevalier, Merle Oberon and Ann Southern. At the 8th Academy Awards, the “Str ...
'' (1935)
*''
Born to Dance'' (1936)
*''
Private Number'' (1936)
*''
Broadway Melody of 1938
''Broadway Melody of 1938'' is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical trad ...
'' (1937)
*''
On the Avenue
''On the Avenue'' is a 1937 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, Alice Faye, George Barbier, and The Ritz Brothers. Many of the songs were composed by Irving Berlin. Many of the plot deta ...
'' (1937)
*''
He Married His Wife'' (1940)
*''
Topper Returns
''Topper Returns'' is a 1941 fantasy comedy thriller directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Jonathan Latimer. The third and final installment in the initial series of supernatural comedy films inspired by the novels of Thorne Smith, it succee ...
'' (1941)
*''
The Chocolate Soldier
''The Chocolate Soldier'' (German: ''Der tapfere Soldat'' he courageous soldier
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
or ''Der Praliné-Soldat'') is an operetta composed in 1908 by Oscar Straus (composer), Oscar Straus based on George Bernard Shaw's 1894 play, ''Arms and the Man' ...
'' (1941)
*''
DuBarry Was a Lady
''Du Barry Was a Lady'' is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and Buddy DeSylva. '' (1943)
*''
Ziegfeld Follies
The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Ai ...
'' (1946)
*''
It Happened on 5th Avenue'' (1947)
*''
The Babe Ruth Story
''The Babe Ruth Story'' is a 1948 biographical film of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix (New York Yankee batboy in the 1920s) as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife Claire Merritt Hodgson. Critic ...
'' (1948)
*''
Red Light'' (1949)
*''
The West Point Story'' (1950)
*''
On Moonlight Bay'' (1951)
*''
Starlift
''Starlift'' (a.k.a. ''Operation Starlift'') is a 1951 American musical film released by Warner Bros. in directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Karl Lamb and John D. Klorer. The film stars Janice Rule, Dick Wesson, Ron Hagerthy and Ruth Ro ...
'' (1951)
*''
Three Sailors and a Girl
''Three Sailors and a Girl'' is a 1953 Technicolor musical film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Devery Freeman and Roland Kibbee, based on the George S. Kaufman play '' The Butter and Egg Man''. Ray Heindorf w ...
'' (1953)
*''
Alligator People'' (1959)
*''
Why Must I Die?'' (1960)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Del Ruth, Roy
1893 births
1961 deaths
American film directors
Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery
Articles containing video clips