Frank Tattl ( English Frank Tuttle ; August 6, 1892 - January 6, 1963 ) - Hollywood director and screenwriter , one of the few filmmakers whose career began in the silent cinema of the 1920s and successfully continued in sound cinema until 1960.
Frank Tattle | |
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Frank tuttle | |
Date of Birth | August 6, 1892 |
Place of Birth | New York , USA |
Date of death | January 6, 1963 (70 years) |
Place of death | Hollywood , California , USA |
Citizenship | USA |
Profession | film director screenwriter producer |
IMDb | |
At the peak of his success in the 1930s and the first half of the 1940s, Tuttle was one of the most ingenious and authoritative Hollywood directors, whose films regularly made a profit. Tuttle influenced the formation of the artistic principles of the film noir [1] .
Content
Biography
Frank Tuttle studied at Yale University , at the same time engaged in student theater staging performances and acting work. After graduating from the university, Tuttle worked in the Vanity Fair magazine, director of advertising for Russian ballet, and also served as president of the Yale Association of Dramatic Arts [1] . After the first interview at the Jesse Studios Studios studio, Tuttle received a 3-month test contract at the studio, and then got a permanent job in the script department. In 1921, Tuttle wrote his first screenplay for the film "Kentucky", and in 1922 he tried his films as a director with the comedy "The Destroyer of the Cradle" (1922).
After “ Jesse Laski Productions ” after a series of associations turned into “ Paramount Pictures ”, the status of Tuttle strengthened even more. As a full-time director of Paramount , he directed another 73 films, ending his career in 1959 with the film “ The Island of Lost Women ” [2] . Tuttle became a successful director of the universal plan, working equally well in the genres of comedy , drama and thriller . It is to the last genre that one of his most successful early works, The Case of the Murder of Green (1929), became one of the first sound detectives. Tuttle's reputation in cinema has grown thanks to another shock thriller The Case of the Killing of Benson (1930). In 1930, Tuttle became one of the 11 leading directors of the studio, each of whom put on one episode of the musical film-revue Paramount at the Parade (1930). For the years 1930–35, the most fruitful stage in the work of Tuttle comes in, when he produced 22 films, sometimes at the same time being the author of the script. The most notable pictures of this period were Big Broadcasting (1932), a stylized musical show featuring Bing Crosby , Boswell sisters and a dozen other stars of the time, Roman Gossip (1932), one of the best films featuring a popular radio host, comedian and singer Eddie Cantor , as well as the light musical “ Here is my heart ” (1934) with Bing Crosby and Kitty Carlisle [1] .
However, the interests of Tuttle went beyond the entertainment movie. In 1935, in the interval between two lightweight and banal films “ Two at Night ” and “ Vacation ”, Tuttle put on an innovative detective thriller “The Glass Key ” (1935) with the participation of George Raft , Edward Arnold and Ray Milland . The Glass Key (1935) set new standards for its time in terms of the pace of narration and the degree of violence, telling the story of political corruption, criminal conspiracy, murder, blackmail and kidnapping, as well as a dissolving novel in less than 80 minutes. The film looked very good for the next 40 years, even after the release in 1942 of a very successful remake with the participation of Alan Ladd [1] .
Tuttle led a kind of dual existence as a director. Films like The Glass Key alternated with musicals featuring Bing Crosby , such as Waiting for Waikiki (1937) and unusual comedies such as Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939). By this time, Tuttle had achieved high prestige at Paramount Studios, since all his films were profitable, all were done on time and within the framework of the established budget.
However, it was not until 1942 that Tuttle showed himself to be a master of style with the film “ Weapons for hire ”, a work that influenced the formation of the film noir genre. Based on Graham Green's novel, this terrible and frightening mood fascinating thriller demonstrated a unique psychological depth for that time. The film made stars starring in it the main roles of artists Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake [1] .
In 1943-44, Tuttle’s directorial activity markedly decreased. Among the few works of this period is “The Hour before Dawn ” (1944), a military thriller based on the book by Somerset Maugham , in which Lake awkwardly tries to portray an enemy speaking with an Austrian accent [1] .
However, in 1945, Bing Crosby , who began producing his own films, chose Tuttle to stage the first of them - the biographical drama about the famous fighter “The Great John L. ” After three more films, including the Suspense noir (1946), in 1947, Tuttle’s career was temporarily interrupted due to the start of Senate hearings on anti-American activities on the introduction of communists into the film industry.
Hearings in the Commission on the investigation of anti-American activities
In 1947, the Commission on the investigation of the anti-American activities of the House of Representatives of the United States began the persecution of Hollywood figures, one of which was Tuttle. Back in 1937, Tuttle joined the Communist Party of the United States , wishing in this way to counteract Hitler's rise to power. Tattle took part in some activities of the US Communist Party and even offered his New York apartment for party meetings. Suddenly, Tuttle was deprived of work and even discovered that his name had been removed from some of the projects he had worked on earlier.
In 1950, after the indictment against the leaders of the US Communist Party, Tuttle returned to his homeland and appeared at the Commission’s hearings. He admitted that he was a member of the Communist Party until 1947, when he withdrew from its ranks, considering it "too cruel." Tattl went through a “name-calling ritual,” naming in particular director Jules Dassin , who was also blacklisted and forced to emigrate from the United States. As a result of "repentance," Tuttle avoided falling into the "black lists" and was able to continue working in Hollywood " [2] .
Last years of work
In 1949, Tuttle produced his only European film, Shooter in the Streets , in France (1950), an excellent gangster thriller starring Day Clarke and Simone Signoret . This film has not been shown in America for half a century.
Only in the mid-1950s, after the removal of all accusations against him, was Tattle able to return to the production of films in the United States on an ongoing basis. In 1956, he made the movie “ Scream in the Night ”, a thriller about a psychopath who kidnaps the daughter of a police officer ( Raymond Burr , Natalie Wood and Edmond O'Brien were shot in the film). Tattl ended his career with a film in the new science fiction genre “ The Island of Missing Women ” (1959), in which, ironically, was played by his blacklist colleague Alan Napier . Both films demonstrated that his ability to correctly state the story was not lost, despite the interruption of work.
Frank Tuttle died on January 6, 1963 in Hollywood [2] .
Filmography (select)
- 1922 - The Cradle Buster
- 1923 - Puritan Passions
- 1923 - Second Fiddle Violin
- 1926 - Kid Boots
- 1926 - Love them and leave them / Love 'Em and Leave' Em
- 1926 - American Venus / The American Venus
- 1927 - Deadlocks / Blind Alleys
- 1929 - Sweet / Sweetie
- 1929 - The Greene Murder Case
- 1930 - Paramount on Parade
- 1930 - The Benson Murder Case
- 1930 - True to the Navy / True to the Navy
- 1930 - Love among millionaires / Love Among the Millionaires
- 1931 - No Limit
- 1932 - The Big Broadcast
- 1932 - This Night / This Is the Night
- 1933 - Roman Scandals
- 1934 - Spring for Henry / Springtime for Henry
- 1934 - Here is my heart / Here is My Heart
- 1934 - Ladies should listen / Ladies Should Listen
- 1935 - Two for the night / Two for Tonight
- 1935 - The Glass Key
- 1935 - All the King's Horses
- 1936 - Vacation / College Holiday
- 1937 - Waikiki Wedding
- 1939 - Charlie McCarthy, detective / Charlie McCarthy, Detective
- 1939 - I stole a million / I Stole a Million
- 1942 - Happy Jordan / Lucky Jordan
- 1942 - This Gun for Hire
- 1944 - The Hour Before the Dawn / The Hour Before the Dawn
- 1945 - The Great John L.
- 1946 - Suspense / Suspense
- 1950 - Gunman in the Streets
- 1951 - The Magic Face
- 1953 - The Poker Face / The Poker Face
- 1955 - Hell in Frisco Bay / Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)
- 1956 - Cry in the Night / A Cry in the Night (1956)
- 1959 - Island of Lost Women / Island of Lost Women
Notes
- 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frank Tuttle movies, photos, movie movies, AllMovie . Archived September 4, 2013.
- 2 1 2 3 Frank Tuttle (I) - Biography . Archived September 4, 2013.
Links
- Frank Tuttle on the IMDb website
- Frank Tuttle on Allmovie