Irving Reis

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Irving Reis also Irving G. Reis (born May 7, 1906 in Manhattan , New York City , New York - † July 3, 1953 in Woodland Hills , Los Angeles , California ) was an American film director , screenwriter , cameraman and radio program Producer. Under his direction, films such as Love is not so simple , All my sons , Deceived youth , Decision by the river or The canopy bed were made .

life and career

Irving Reis was born on the east coast of the United States in 1906 . The native of Lower East Side New York received his education in public schools in the New York area and at Columbia University . In 1922 he began his film training as a cameraman with director Jess Robbins. Further work for directors such as Hunt Stromberg and Charles Reisner followed during the 1920s . In 1925 he made his feature film debut as a director with the film The Business of Love , a comedy starring Edward Everett Horton , Barbara Bedford and Zasu Pitts .

In the mid-1930s, Reis became the founder and director of the experimental program in the radio anthology of the Columbia Workshop at CBS . As a pioneer in the field of radio play , Reis was both the creator and for several years the supervisor of the Columbia Werkstatt , which began broadcasting in July 1936 and was to broadcast ambitious programs for ten years. Among the many talented workshop staff there were personalities such as Archibald MacLeish , Norman Corwin , the composer Bernard Herrmann and Orson Welles .

Later, in the late 1930s, Irving Reis wrote and sold his own scripts and stories to other directors. In 1940 Reis finally joined RKO Radio Pictures , a young Hollywood film company that was filled with many radio veterans. Reis quickly advanced from screenwriter to serious filmmaker. The drama One Crowded Night heralded the beginning of a productive creative period, including the first three Falcon films, which culminated in 1942 with the romantic drama The Big Street, an adaptation of Damon Runyon's novel starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball and was only briefly interrupted when Reis had to serve in the army in 1943 during World War II .

After the war, he continued his previous film career and staged In 1947 Love Is Not Easy, a successful comedy with Cary Grant , Myrna Loy and child star Shirley Temple in the lead roles. In 1948, Arthur Miller's play All My Sons was made into a film, starring Edward G. Robinson and Burt Lancaster . In the same year he also directed the film production Betrogene Jugend , with David Niven and Teresa Wright . A year later he directed another drama for the Samuel Goldwyn Company with Farley Granger , Joan Evans and Charles Bickford Decision on the River .

With Meister der Musik he also directed a musical documentary for the first time in 1951 . In the same year, the western The Death Rocks of Colorado was made with Lew Ayres and Marilyn Maxwell .

In 1952, Reis was to direct his last film, The Four-Poster Bed, based on a comedy by Jan de Hartog . Hollywood star Rex Harrison played and Lilli Palmer at his side . His ailing and steadily deteriorating state of health did not allow any further film work.

On July 3, 1953, Irving Reis lost the battle with cancer. He died at the age of 47 in Woodland Hills, California.

Reis left behind his wife, Vanessa, and three children, the youngest of whom was born just months earlier, while Reis was still at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minnesota .

Awards

In his honor, 6912 Hollywood Blvd. one star for Irving Reis on the Walk of Fame

Filmography (selection)

Film director

  • 1932: Trout Fishing
  • 1940: One Crowded Night
  • 1940: I'm Still Alive
  • 1941: Footlight Fever
  • 1941: Weekend for Three
  • 1941: The Gay Falcon
  • 1942: A Date with the Falcon
  • 1942: The Falcon Takes Over
  • 1942: The Big Street
  • 1943: Hitler's Children
  • 1946: crack-up
  • 1947: Love is not that simple (The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer)
  • 1948: All My Sons
  • 1948: Youth Deceived (Enchantment)
  • 1949: Decision on the River (Roseanna McCoy)
  • 1949: Dancing in the Dark
  • 1951: Master of Men and Music
  • 1951: Three Husbands
  • 1951: The Death Rock of Colorado, New Mexico
  • 1952: The four poster bed (The Four Poster)

Screenwriter (selection)

  • 1938: Time Out for Murder
  • 1938: King of Alcatraz
  • 1939: Assault in the Chinese Quarter (King of Chinatown)
  • 1939: Grand Jury Secrets
  • 1944: Gambler's Choice
  • 1952: The Unexpected (Fury and Sound) (1 TV episode)

camera operator

  • 1922: Too Much Business
  • 1923: Breaking Into Society
  • 1925: The Business of Love

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Biographical Data of Irving Reis in: Film Directors , The Staff of Lone Eagle Publishing, Lone Eagle Pub., 2002, p. 363
  2. ^ Biographical data of Irving Reis in: One-act plays for today , by Francis J. Griffith, Joseph E. Mersand, Globe Book Company, 1945, p. 218
  3. Biography of Irving Reis in: The New York Times
  4. ^ Obituary for Irving Reis in: Sarasota Herald-Tribune - July 5, 1953