Mark Sandrich

Mark Sandrich

Birth : 1901-10-26, New York City, New York, USA

Death : 1945-03-04

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mark Sandrich (birth name: Mark Rex Goldstein) (October 26, 1900 – March 4, 1945) was a Jewish American film director, writer and producer. One of the most gifted and least heralded directors of the 1930s and early 1940s, Sandrich was an engineering student at Columbia University when he started the movie business by accident. When visiting a friend on a film set, he saw that the director had a problem in setting up a shot; Sandrich offered his advice. It worked. He then entered into the movies in the prop department, and became a director specializing in several comedy shorts in 1927. He then made his first feature the next year, but returned to shorts after the sound arrival. In 1933 he directed the Academy Award-winning short, So This Is Harris!. He later returned to feature films, most notably comedies, starring the team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey in Hips, Hips, Hooray!. In 1934, Sandrich soon got his first directing assignment on the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical The Gay Divorcee, which proved a success. The following year, he directed what is widely regarded as the best movie ever made by the legendary dance team, Top Hat, which excelled in every department, including music and choreography. It was all pulled together seamlessly by Sandrich. After that, several other movies such as Follow the Fleet, Shall We Dance, and Carefree followed. In 1940, Sandrich left RKO for Paramount, which offered him a chance to be not only a director but as well as a producer. He made other several successful films in this capacity, including two with Jack Benny, Buck Benny Rides Again and Love Thy Neighbor, both released in 1940, and the romantic comedy Skylark, starring Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland. However, while all these were hits, it was Holiday Inn in 1942 starring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, with music by Irving Berlin that showed Sandrich at his best. The musical/comedy actually started on the eve of America's entry into World War II. It featured sufficient serious overtones to capture the mood of the time, and showed Crosby and Astaire to brilliant advantage as performers who are rivals for the same woman; and it introduced the song "White Christmas", highlighted by the crooner Crosby which remained the biggest selling popular song in history for fifty-two years. So Proudly We Hail! was a Sandrich-produced and directed adaptation of the hit play. It was extremely popular and successful, and featured a pair of performers – Adrian Booth and George Reeves -- whom Sandrich had intended to bring to stardom after the war. However, it wasn't to be. In 1945, while in pre-production on a follow up to Holiday Inn called Blue Skies, starring Bing Crosby and featuring Irving Berlin's music, and serving as president of the Directors Guild, Sandrich died suddenly, of heart failure. He was at this time one of the most trusted and influential directors in Hollywood, respected by his colleagues and the studio management. His sons Mark Sandrich Jr. and Jay Sandrich have gone onto successful careers as directors. His interment was located at Home of Peace Cemetery. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Sandrich, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Mark Sandrich
Mark Sandrich

Movies

I Love a Soldier
Director
During World War II in San Francisco, Eve Morgan and her single girlfriends spend their days welding ships and their nights dancing with soldiers and sailors shipping out that night. Eve is determined to avoid any romantic entanglements until the war is over she refuses to spend her days and nights worrying about getting bad news about a man she has fallen for. But she doesn't count on meeting a soldier who is determined to change her mind.
Here Come the Waves
Producer
Show business twin sisters Rosemary and Susie, one serious and the other a scatterbrain, join the WAVES and both fall in love with crooner Johnny Cabot.
Here Come the Waves
Director
Show business twin sisters Rosemary and Susie, one serious and the other a scatterbrain, join the WAVES and both fall in love with crooner Johnny Cabot.
So Proudly We Hail
Producer
During the start of the Pacific campaign in World War II, Lieutenant Janet Davidson is the head of a group of U.S. military nurses who are trapped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Davidson tries to keep up the spirits of her staff, which includes Lieutenants Joan O'Doul and Olivia D'Arcy. They all seek to maintain a sense of normal life, including dating, while under constant danger as they tend to wounded soldiers.
So Proudly We Hail
Director
During the start of the Pacific campaign in World War II, Lieutenant Janet Davidson is the head of a group of U.S. military nurses who are trapped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Davidson tries to keep up the spirits of her staff, which includes Lieutenants Joan O'Doul and Olivia D'Arcy. They all seek to maintain a sense of normal life, including dating, while under constant danger as they tend to wounded soldiers.
Holiday Inn
Producer
Lovely Linda Mason has crooner Jim Hardy head over heels, but suave stepper Ted Hanover wants her for his new dance partner after femme fatale Lila Dixon gives him the brush. Jim's supper club—Holiday Inn—is the setting for the chase by Hanover and manager Danny Reed. The music's the thing.
Holiday Inn
Director
Lovely Linda Mason has crooner Jim Hardy head over heels, but suave stepper Ted Hanover wants her for his new dance partner after femme fatale Lila Dixon gives him the brush. Jim's supper club—Holiday Inn—is the setting for the chase by Hanover and manager Danny Reed. The music's the thing.
Skylark
Producer
As her fifth wedding anniversary approaches, a woman realizes that she is fed up with always coming in second to her husband's advertising business. Just at the moment when she is trying to decide what to do, she meets a handsome attorney, and their innocent flirtation begins to turn into something a bit more serious.
Skylark
Director
As her fifth wedding anniversary approaches, a woman realizes that she is fed up with always coming in second to her husband's advertising business. Just at the moment when she is trying to decide what to do, she meets a handsome attorney, and their innocent flirtation begins to turn into something a bit more serious.
Love Thy Neighbor
Producer
Capitalizing on the famous radio 'feud' between comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen. The two stars play versions of themselves, constantly at each other's throats due to real and imagined slights.
Love Thy Neighbor
Director
Capitalizing on the famous radio 'feud' between comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen. The two stars play versions of themselves, constantly at each other's throats due to real and imagined slights.
Buck Benny Rides Again
Producer
Radio star Jack Benny, intending to stay in New York for the summer, is forced by the needling of rival Fred Allen to prove his boasts about roughing it on his (fictitious) Nevada ranch. Meanwhile, singer Joan Cameron, whom Jack's fallen for and offended, is maneuvered by her sisters to the same Nevada town. Jack's losing battle to prove his manhood to Joan means broad slapstick burlesque of Western cliches.
Buck Benny Rides Again
Director
Radio star Jack Benny, intending to stay in New York for the summer, is forced by the needling of rival Fred Allen to prove his boasts about roughing it on his (fictitious) Nevada ranch. Meanwhile, singer Joan Cameron, whom Jack's fallen for and offended, is maneuvered by her sisters to the same Nevada town. Jack's losing battle to prove his manhood to Joan means broad slapstick burlesque of Western cliches.
Man About Town
Director
Producer Bob Temple, who's brought an American show to London, loves his star Diana, but she won't take him seriously as a lover. To show her, he picks up stranger Lady Arlington, whose financier husband neglects her. On a weekend at the Arlington country house, Bob is used by both Lady A. and her friend to make their husbands jealous; this works all too well, and Bob is in danger from both husbands.
Carefree
Director
Dr. Tony Flagg's friend Steven has problems in the relationship with his fiancée Amanda, so he persuades her to visit Tony. After some minor misunderstandings, she falls in love with him. When he tries to use hypnosis to strengthen her feelings for Steven, things get complicated.
Shall We Dance
Director
Ballet star Petrov arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard the same ship as the dancer and musical star he's fallen for but barely knows. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has churned through the rumour mill and turned into a hot gossip item—that the two celebrities are secretly married.
A Woman Rebels
Director
A Victorian-era woman struggles to break free of the moral codes established by society and enforced by her father.
Follow the Fleet
Director
When the fleet puts in at San Francisco, sailor Bake Baker tries to rekindle the flame with his old dancing partner, Sherry Martin, while Bake's buddy Bilge Smith romances Sherry's sister, Connie. But it's not all smooth sailing—Bake has a habit of losing Sherry's jobs for her and, despite Connie's dreams, Bilge is not ready to settle down.
Top Hat
Director
Showman Jerry Travers is working for producer Horace Hardwick in London. Jerry demonstrates his new dance steps late one night in Horace's hotel room, much to the annoyance of sleeping Dale Tremont below. She goes upstairs to complain and the two are immediately attracted to each other. Complications arise when Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace.
The Gay Divorcee
Director
Seeking a divorce from her absentee husband, Mimi Glossop travels to an English seaside resort. There she falls in love with dancer Guy Holden, whom she later mistakes for the corespondent her lawyer hired.
Cockeyed Cavaliers
Director
Two yokels try to crash royal society by posing as the King's physicians.
Hips, Hips, Hooray!
Director
Hips, Hips, Hooray! is a 1934 slapstick comedy film starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Ruth Etting, Thelma Todd, and Dorothy Lee.
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
Director
Tough Aggie gives a street guy polish and a rich kid gumption.
So This Is Harris!
Story
The film is a series of comical musical numbers and skits following Phil Harris around, starting with him performing at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, which is listened to by Dorothy on the radio whose home-brewing husband Walter hates Harris. The action then moves to the country club where Walter unknowingly encounters Harris while being aggravated by his music. Walter then pretends to be Phil to meet a woman while Harris "entertains" her friend, Dorothy.
So This Is Harris!
Director
The film is a series of comical musical numbers and skits following Phil Harris around, starting with him performing at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, which is listened to by Dorothy on the radio whose home-brewing husband Walter hates Harris. The action then moves to the country club where Walter unknowingly encounters Harris while being aggravated by his music. Walter then pretends to be Phil to meet a woman while Harris "entertains" her friend, Dorothy.
The Gay Nighties
Adaptation
This short features two women who run around in their nighties. Paul McCullough spends most of the picture in a dress, and Bobby Clark does an extended riff on the word "Alright!" which Lou Costello later stole verbatim. There is a political frameup, a nearsighted hotel house detective, and the ever-popular upstairs motorcycle chase.
Melody Cruise
Screenplay
A bachelor millionaire on a cruise is protected by a friend from the avid attentions of a crowd of husband (and fortune) seeking girls.
The Gay Nighties
Director
This short features two women who run around in their nighties. Paul McCullough spends most of the picture in a dress, and Bobby Clark does an extended riff on the word "Alright!" which Lou Costello later stole verbatim. There is a political frameup, a nearsighted hotel house detective, and the ever-popular upstairs motorcycle chase.
Melody Cruise
Director
A bachelor millionaire on a cruise is protected by a friend from the avid attentions of a crowd of husband (and fortune) seeking girls.
The Druggist's Dilemma
Director
Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough star as a couple of wacky soda jerks. They do a high wire act while delivering a much needed pair of pants to their boss.
Jitters the Butler
Director
Two street cleaners, fired by the commissioner for playing with fire-crackers on the job, are taken to his home to recuperate from a car accident by his wife.
Hold 'Em Jail
Screenplay
Two yokels are framed and sent to prison, but wind up playing football on the warden's championship team.
The Iceman's Ball
Adaptation
Clark & McCullough are arrested for disturbing the peace. They steal the police car and return it to the station. The new police commissioner believes that they are real policemen and they get back the patrol car. Out on the beat, the duo chase women rather than criminals, just like real cops.
The Iceman's Ball
Director
Clark & McCullough are arrested for disturbing the peace. They steal the police car and return it to the station. The new police commissioner believes that they are real policemen and they get back the patrol car. Out on the beat, the duo chase women rather than criminals, just like real cops.
A Slip at the Switch
Director
Charles 'Chic' Sale gets in the middle of a train robbery!
Scratch-As-Catch-Can
Director
Scratch-As-Catch-Can is a 1932 American short comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 5th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Comedy).
False Roomers
Director
In the first RKO Short featuring the comedy team of Clark & McCullough, Clark (Bobby Clark)and Grustark (Paul McCullough)seek refuge in the boarding house owned by Finlayson (James Finlayson)after wrecking the car owned by Morgan (Kewpie Morgan). Finlayson, never without rules, warns them there is no cooking allowed in the rooms and his new roomers proceed to pop corn over the gas heater. A young girl (Josephine Whittell)mistakes their room for the bathroom, which leads to some pre-code complications. The slapstick ending finds Clark and Grustark driving out of the boarding house in Morgan's car with a bed attached to the car.
General Ginsberg
Writer
Private Ginsberg (Nat Carr), is a Jewish soldier, in World War One, who is always falling into mud or grief. Along the way, he unconsciously, as a buck private, puts on the overcoat belonging to a General, and takes full advantage of the favorable situations he encounters, although he knows no reason why his status has changed.
General Ginsberg
Director
Private Ginsberg (Nat Carr), is a Jewish soldier, in World War One, who is always falling into mud or grief. Along the way, he unconsciously, as a buck private, puts on the overcoat belonging to a General, and takes full advantage of the favorable situations he encounters, although he knows no reason why his status has changed.
The Talk of Hollywood
Director
Schlock-movie producer J. Pierpont Ginsburg, after declaring, in a Yiddish accent, that "talking pictures are in their infantry," decides to put all of his savings into a big-budgeted musical, starring the sensation of Paris (with a bad French accent), Adore Renee, and a swishy leading man, Reginald Whitlock. Meanwhile, his daughter, Judy Ginsburg, gets involved in a romance with Ginsburg's Gentile lawyer, John Applegate. His efforts aren't helped any by the projectionist who mixes up the sound-disc reels, with the images not matching the dialogue and sound effects, during a showing for prospective film buyers and exhibitors.
A Lady Lion
Director
A comedy short featuring Caryl Lincoln & Eddie Clayton.
Sword Points
Director
A wandering swordsman in the reign of Louis XIII stumbles into a nest of conspirators against the King when his horse throws him and he is forced to seek refuge in a nearby inn. Without money or rank, he is treated ignominiously by patron and customers, but when a captured messenger from the King arrives, accompanied by a lovely lady, he swings into action to save the day. Or try to...
Monty of the Mounted
Director
Lupino Lane as part of the Mounties catching crooks.
The Movie Hound
Director
A comedy short all about finding the right type of dog for a Hollywood movie.
Hello Sailor
Director
Sailor Lupino Lane goes on shore leave with his messmate Wallace Lupino. Each has a girl in this port, but little do they suspect that the girls are twin sisters.
Jerry the Giant
Director
Trying to catch a $25,000 runaway kid called Jerry the Giant.