Roy Del Ruth was born on Oct. 18, 1895, in Philadelphia, PA. He began his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915. He began directing in 1919 for Sennett with the two-reeler Hungry Lions and Tender Hearts (1920). In the early 1920s he moved over to features
with such efforts as Asleep at the Switch (1923), The Hollywood Kid (1924), Eve's Lover (1925) and The Little Irish Girl (1926)_. Following several more titles, many of which were later lost in
a film vault fire, he directed The First Auto (1927), a charming look
at the introduction of the first automobile to a small rural town. The
film featured several elaborate sound effects for the time and was
considered lost until it was restored years later. Del Ruth went on to
direct a number of films before having the distinction of directing the
musical The Desert Song (1929), the first color film ever released by
Warner Bros. That same year he directed Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929), Warner's second two-strip Technicolor, all-talking
feature that also became a big box-office hit for the director. Having
successfully segued into the talkie era, Del Ruth directed two more
two-strip color musicals, Hold Everything (1930) and The Life of the Party (1930), before directing James Cagney and Joan Blondell in the
cheerfully amoral gangster film Blonde Crazy (1931). That same year he directed the first of three adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's famed
novel, The Maltese Falcon (1931). In that one Ricardo Cortez portrayed the
roguish private eye Sam Spade, whose investigation of a murder case entwines him
in a plot involving a number of unsavory types searching for a fabled,
jewel-encrusted falcon. While the plot basically mirrors the 1941
remake (Die Spur des Falken (1941), this pre-Code version featured several instances of sexual
innuendo, including Bebe Daniels bathing in the nude, overt references
to homosexuality and even one instance of cursing.
Del Ruth
reunited with James Cagney for the crime drama Taxi! (1931) and helmed the well-regarded show-biz comedy Blessed Event (1932). He went
on to pilot a number of above average-pictures such as Der kleine Gangsterkönig (1933) starring Edward G. Robinson, Der Frauenheld (1933) with Cagney again, Verschollen in New York (1933) featuring Bette Davis,
Upperworld (1934) with Ginger Rogers and the musical comedy Kid Millions (1934) starring Eddie Cantor. He next directed Ronald Colman
in his second and final appearance as Bulldog Drummond in the detective
mystery Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back (1934) and steered the
backstage showbiz musical Broadway-Melodie 1936 (1935), starring Jack Benny and Eleanor Powell
After returning to the realm of crime for It Had to Happen (1936) with George Raft and Rosalind Russell, Del Ruth
directed James Stewart in one of the actor's few musicals, Zum Tanzen geboren (1936). He followed up with Broadway Melodie 1938 (1937) before guiding ice skating star Sonja Henie through My Lucky Star (1938) and Die Eiskönigin (1938).
Del Ruth continued churning
out product for the studios, helming competent films like The Star Maker (1939), Here I Am a Stranger (1939), He Married His Wife (1940) and Ich suche meinen Mörder (1941). After working solo on The Chocolate Soldier (1941), Maisie Gets Her Man (1942), Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) and Broadway Rhythm (1944). It may be interesting to
note that Del Ruth was the second highest paid director in Hollywood
from the period 1932-41, according to Box Office and Exhibitor
magazine.
Del Ruth was one of seven directors on the successful
Broadway-Melodie 1950 (1945), which featured an all-star cast of Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Lena Horne, Red Skelton and William Powell. From there he helmed the
cheerfully ambitious Christmas-themed Der reichste Mann der Welt (1947), an
appealing entertainment that was compared to Ist das Leben nicht schön? (1946), but did not have that film's generational resonance. Still, the musical comedy starring Don DeFore and Ann Harding was still a touching
film that managed to delight. Del Ruth next directed The Babe Ruth Story (1948), with William Bendix badly miscast as baseball legend Babe Ruth. Bending historical truths
lest he offend Ruth's legacy, Del Ruth's biopic was rushed through
production amidst news of the ailing Ruth's declining health. Even Del
Ruth remained unsatisfied with the results.
He directed George Raft
again in the film-noir crime drama Rotes Licht (1949), Milton Berle and
Virginia Mayo in the comedy Tritt ab, wenn sie lachen (1949) and
James Cagney in the vibrant The West Point Story (1950). Following a
pair of mediocre Doris Day musicals, Starlift (1951) and Romanze mit Hindernissen (1951), Del Ruth's career began to slow to basically
one project a year, with Gauner mit weißer Weste (1952) and the James
Cagney military musical About Face (1952). He went on to direct Jane Powell and Gordon MacRae in Three Sailors and a Girl (1953), then
took a short excursion into the new 3D process with the horror film Der Würger von Paris (1954) with Karl Malden.
Away from the
director's chair for the next five years, Del Ruth returned to helm the low-budget horror picture Im Sumpf des Grauens (1959), a bizarre tale about
humans being partially transformed into alligators in the Deep South, a picture that would seem more suited to Roger Corman than Del Ruth. His ended his career with the misfire Nackte Lebensgier (1960), apparently made to cash in on the success of the better known Susan Hayward film Laßt mich leben (1958).
Roy Del Ruth died a year later on April 27, 1961, at 67 years old from a
heart attack.
