George Archainbaud

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George Archainbaud (b. Paris 7 May 1890, d. Los Angeles 20 February 1959) was a French-born American film director. In the beginning of his career he worked on stage as an actor and manager. He came to Hollywood in 1915, and started his film career as an assistant director to Emile Chautard. In 1917 he made his directorial debut As Man Made Her. During the next three and a half decades he directed over one hundred films. After the beginning of the 1950's he moved to television.

While working at the RKO in the beginning of the 1930's, he showed some artistic and skillful eye with many of his films. The finest examples include Thirteen Women (1932) and The Lost Squadron (1932). Especially the latter is a memorable thriller about Hollywood stunt flyers, who risk their lives under the direction of monstrous Erich von Stroheim.

Although Archainbaud directed films of all genres, he is nowadays mainly linked with westerns. In fact, it wasn't until the last decade of his directorial career until he specialized in them. With the producer Harry Sherman he made several Hopalong Cassidy oaters. Later he was also one of the principal directors of Gene Autry's Flying A TV productions, where he made several episodes for such weekly television series as Buffalo Bill Jr. and Annie Oakley.