- Richard Thorpe
:"For the historian and biographer, see
D. R. Thorpe ."Richard Thorpe (
February 24 ,1896 -May 1 ,1991 ) was an Americanfilm director .Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in
Hutchinson, Kansas , he began his entertainment career performing invaudeville and on thetheatre stage . In 1921 he began inmotion pictures as anactor and directed his firstsilent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred and eighty films. The first full length motion picture he directed for MGM was "Last of the Pagans " (1935) starringRay Mala . After directing "The Last Challenge " in 1967, he retired from the film industry. He died inPalm Springs, California in 1991.Thorpe is also known as the original director of "The Wizard of Oz". He was fired after two weeks of shooting, because it was felt that his scenes did not have the right air of fantasy about them. Thorpe notoriously gave
Judy Garland a blonde wig and cutesy "baby-doll" makeup that made her look like a girl in her late teens rather than an innocent Kansas farm girl of about thirteen. Both makeup and wig were discarded at the suggestion ofGeorge Cukor , who was brought in temporarily.For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Thorpe has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd.Partial filmography (director)
*"Rarin' to Go " (1924)
*"Gold and Grit " (1925)
*"Deuce High " (1926)
*"The Meddlin' Stranger " (1927)
*"Ride 'em High " (1927)
*"Desperate Courage " (1928)
*"Vultures of the Sea " (1928)
*"The Vanishing West " (1928)
*"The Fatal Warning " (1929)
*"The King of the Kongo " (1929)
*"The Utah Kid " (1930)
*"The Lady From Nowhere " (1931)
*"Slightly Married " (1932)
*"Notorious But Nice " (1933)
*"Green Eyes" (1934)
*"Secret of the Chateau " (1934)
*"Last of the Pagans (1935)
*"Strange Wives " (1935)
*"Tarzan Escapes " (1936) withJohnny Weismuller andMaureen O'Sullivan
*"Dangerous Number " (1937)
*"The Crowd Roars" (1938) with Robert Taylor, Edward Arnold,Frank Morgan , andMaureen O'Sullivan
*"Man-Proof " (1938) withMyrna Loy ,Franchot Tone ,Rosalind Russell , andWalter Pidgeon
*"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1939) withMickey Rooney ,Walter Connolly , andWilliam Frawley
*"20 Mule Team" (1940) withWallace Beery
*"Wyoming" (1940) withWallace Beery
*"Barnacle Bill" (1941) withWallace Beery
*"The Bad Man " (1941) withWallace Beery ,Lionel Barrymore ,Laraine Day , andRonald Reagan
*"Tarzan's New York Adventure " (1942) withJohnny Weismuller andMaureen O'Sullivan
*"White Cargo " (1942) withHedy Lamarr as Tondelayo
*"Above Suspicion" (1943)
*"Two Girls and a Sailor " (1944)
*"The Thin Man Goes Home " (1945) withWilliam Powell andMyrna Loy
*"Thrill of a Romance " (1945) withEsther Williams
*"Her Highness and the Bellboy " (1945) withHedy Lamarr and Robert Walker
*"This Time for Keeps " (1947) withEsther Williams andJimmy Durante
*"On an Island with You " (1948) withEsther Williams ,Peter Lawford , andJimmy Durante
*"A Date With Judy " (1948) withWallace Beery ,Jane Powell , andElizabeth Taylor
*"Malaya" (1949) withSpencer Tracy and James Stewart
*"Big Jack " (1949) withWallace Beery ,Richard Conte ,Marjorie Main , and Edward Arnold
*"Challenge to Lassie " (1949) withDonald Crisp andAlan Napier
*"Black Hand" (1950) withGene Kelly
*"Three Little Words" (1950) withFred Astaire andRed Skelton
*"The Unknown Man " (1951) withWalter Pidgeon
*"Vengeance Valley " (1951) withBurt Lancaster
*"Carbine Williams " (1952) with James Stewart
*"Ivanhoe" (1952) with Robert Taylor,Elizabeth Taylor , andJoan Fontaine
*"The Prisoner of Zenda" (1952) withStewart Granger ,Deborah Kerr , andJames Mason
*"The Girl Who Had Everything " (1953) withElizabeth Taylor ,Fernando Lamas , andWilliam Powell
*"Knights of the Round Table" (1953) with Robert Taylor andAva Gardner
*"All the Brothers Were Valiant " (1953) with Robert Taylor andStewart Granger
*"Athena" (1954) withJane Powell andDebbie Reynolds
*"The Student Prince" (1954), based on the famous operetta, withAnn Blyth ,Edmund Purdom , and the singing voice ofMario Lanza .
*"The Adventures of Quentin Durward " (1955) with Robert Taylor andRobert Morley
*"Tip on a Dead Jockey " (1957) with Robert Taylor andDorothy Malone
*"Ten Thousand Bedrooms " (1957) withDean Martin (Martin's first non-Martin and Lewis movie)
*"Jailhouse Rock" (1957) withElvis Presley
*"Killers of Kilimanjaro " (1959) with Robert Taylor andAnthony Newley
*"The House of the Seven Hawks " (1959) with Robert Taylor
*"The Honeymoon Machine " (1961) withSteve McQueen
*"The Tartars " (1961)
*"The Horizontal Lieutenant " (1962) withJim Hutton andPaula Prentiss
*"Follow the Boys" (1963)
*"Fun in Acapulco " (1963) withElvis Presley andUrsula Andress
*"The Golden Head " (1964) withGeorge Sanders andBuddy Hackett
*"The Truth About Spring " (1964)
*"That Funny Feeling " (1965) withSandra Dee ,Bobby Darin , andDonald O'Connor
*"The Last Challenge " (1967)External links
*imdb name|id=0861703|name=Richard Thorpe
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