Ford Beebe
| Ford Beebe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
26 November 1888 Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Died |
26 November 1978 (aged 90) Lake Elsinore, California |
| Other names |
Ford I. Beebe Ford L. Beebe |
| Occupation |
Screenwriter Film director |
| Years active | 1916–1977 |
Ford Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a screenwriter and director. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films.
He specialized in B-movies – mostly Westerns – and action serials, working on the "Buck Rogers" and "Flash Gordon" serials for Universal Pictures.
Life
Ford Beebe was born on November 26, 1888 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[1][2] Before moving to Hollywood, he was a freelance writer who was also experienced in advertising.[3][4] He arrived in Hollywood in 1916, and began working as a writer for Western films.[4] His first credit was as scenario writer for the 1916 film A Youth of Fortune.[2] Beebe directed for the first time when Leo D. Maloney, who had been directing a film called The Test, fell ill.[4][2] Beebe became known as a director of low-budget films and serials.[4] He was once described as being "an expert at making something out of nothing."[1] The first serial directed by Beebe was 1932's The Shadow of the Eagle.[5] He went on to direct several other serials, notably Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, Buck Rogers, The Green Hornet, and Don Winslow of the Navy; these were noted by film historian Hal Erickson to be the best of Beebe's works.[6]
Beebe preferred to direct westerns; speaking to Evening Independent, he said that westerns were the "bread and butter" of film studios.[7] He was listed as a director on over 100 films.[2] Alfred Hitchcock commended Beebe for his 1942 film Night Monster, impressed with the speed and economy of the production.[8]
Beebe was, at one point, married to writer Frances Wiley.[9] He had a son, Ford Beebe, Jr., who was also a director.[4]
Selected filmography
- The Big Catch (1920)
- A Gamblin' Fool (1920)
- The Grinning Granger (1920)
- One Law for All (1920)
- 'In Wrong' Wright (1920)
- Double Danger (1920)
- The Two-Fisted Lover (1920)
- Tipped Off (1920)
- Superstition (1920)
- Fight It Out (1920)
- The Trail of the Hound (1920)
- The Saddle King (1921)
- The Driftin' Kid (1921)
- Sweet Revenge (1921)
- Kickaroo (1921)
- The White Horseman (1921)
- Winners of the West (1921)
- The Vanishing Legion (1931)
- The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935)
- Jungle Jim (1937)
- The Phantom Creeps (1939)
- Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
- The Green Hornet (1940)
- Night Monster (1942)
- Enter Arsène Lupin (1944)
- The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
References
- Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kinnard 2008, p. 173.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Ford Beebe Biography & Filmography". Matinee Classics. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ↑ Ford Beebe with Signal. The Moving Picture World, volume 28, p. 995.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Quinlan 1999, p. 30.
- ↑ "Ford I. Beebe - Movie and Film Biography and Filmography". Allmovie. Allrovi. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ↑ Erickson, Hal. "Ford I. Beebe". Answers.com. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ↑ "Theater Gossip". Evening Independent. 6 August 1943. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
- ↑ Kinnard 2008, p. 174.
- ↑ "AROUND THE TOWN ; Writer and the granddaughter she never met pen kids' book". San Antonio Express-News. 20 January 2006.
- Bibliography
- Kinnard, Roy (2008). The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940: A Heavily Illustrated Guide. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786455004.
- Quinlan, David (1999). Quinlan's film directors. B.T. Batsford. ISBN 0713477539.
External links
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