Joseph H. Lewis

Born: 1907-04-06 in New York City, New York, USA

Died: 2000-08-30

Known For: Directing

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Joseph H. Lewis (April 6, 1907–August 30, 2000), was an American B-movie film director. Although he worked with both Béla Lugosi (The Invisible Ghost) and Lionel Atwill in early 1940s horror, he is best known for his work in film noir from the late 40s and the 1950s. His most acclaimed feature, Gun Crazy (1949), is a dark romance about gun-obsession, and notable for its use of location photography. At the dawn of his career (1937–1940), when Lewis was directing inexpensive westerns, he earned the derogatory nickname "Wagon-Wheel Joe" from the studio editors, because of his tendency to use wagon-wheels for constructing interesting visual compositions within the frame. Lewis's offbeat and eye-catching compositions added style and value to inexpensive productions. His 1944 musical Minstrel Man, starring singer Benny Fields, is quite possibly the finest film ever made by low-budget PRC Pictures. Industry insiders noticed, prompting Columbia Pictures to hire Lewis to film the musical sequences for its blockbuster musical The Jolson Story. Toward the end of Lewis's career, he worked in television, directing mostly westerns: The Rifleman, Bonanza, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, and the pilot for Branded. Description above from the Wikipedia article Joseph H. Lewis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Filmography

1997

Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula as Self

1966

Bat Men of Africa ... (Supervising Editor)

1965

The Big Valley ... (Director)
Branded ... (Director)

1964

Daniel Boone ... (Director)

1961

The Investigators ... (Director)

1959

The Detectives ... (Director)

1958

The Rifleman ... (Director)
Terror in a Texas Town ... (Director)

1957

The Halliday Brand ... (Director)

1956

7th Cavalry ... (Director)

1955

Gunsmoke ... (Director)
A Lawless Street ... (Director)
The Big Combo ... (Director)
Man on a Bus ... (Director)

1953

Cry of the Hunted ... (Director)

1952

Retreat, Hell! ... (Director)
Desperate Search ... (Director)

1944

Minstrel Man ... (Director)

1942

The Mad Doctor of Market Street ... (Director)
Secrets of a Co-Ed ... (Director)
The Silver Bullet ... (Director)
Boss of Hangtown Mesa ... (Director)
Bombs Over Burma ... (Director)

1941

Invisible Ghost ... (Director)
Criminals Within ... (Director)
Arizona Cyclone ... (Director)

1940

Boys of the City ... (Director)
That Gang of Mine ... (Director)
The Man from Tumbleweeds ... (Director)
The Return of Wild Bill ... (Director)
Pride of the Bowery ... (Director)
Blazing Six Shooters ... (Director)
Texas Stagecoach ... (Director)

1939

Two-Fisted Rangers ... (Director)

1938

The Spy Ring ... (Director)
Border Wolves ... (Director)
The Last Stand ... (Director)

1937

Courage of the West ... (Director)
The Singing Outlaw ... (Director)
The Gold Racket ... (Director)
Navy Spy ... (Director)

1936

Sharad of Atlantis ... (Supervising Editor)
King of the Pecos ... (Supervising Film Editor)
The Leathernecks Have Landed ... (Supervising Film Editor)
Darkest Africa ... (Editor)

1935

The Adventures of Rex and Rinty ... (Editor)
Waterfront Lady ... (Supervising Film Editor)
Hitch Hike Lady ... (Editor)
Streamline Express ... (Editor)