Oscar Directors: Walsh, Raoul–Background, Career, Awards, Filmography

September 12, 2022

Raoul Walsh Career Summation

Occupational Inheritance:

Nationality:

Social Class:

Race/Ethnicity:

Family: brother of actor George Walsh

Formal Education:

Training: he was first an actor

First Film: The Pseudo Prodigal (1913 short), directorial debut

Breakthrough: Birth of a Nation (1915); actor. The Big Trail (1930); director

First Oscar Nomination:

Gap between First Film and First Nom:

Other Oscars:

Other Oscar Nominations:

Oscar Awards:

Nominations Span:

Genre (specialties):

Collaborators:

Last Film: Distant Drum, 1964; aged 74

Contract:

Career Length: as director,

Career Output: small

Marriage:

Politics:

Death: 1980; age 93

Raoul Walsh (March 11, 1887–December 31, 1980), American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and brother of silent screen actor George Walsh.

He was known for portraying John Wilkes Booth in the silent film The Birth of a Nation (1915) and for directing the widescreen epic The Big Trail (1930) starring John Wayne in his first leading role, The Roaring Twenties starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, High Sierra (1941) starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart, and White Heat (1949) starring James Cagney and Edmond O’Brien.

He directed his last film in 1964.

Walsh was born in New York as Albert Edward Walsh to Elizabeth T. Bruff, the daughter of Irish Catholic immigrants with Spanish ancestors, and Thomas W. Walsh, an Englishman. Walsh was part of Omega Gamma Delta in high school, as was his younger brother.

Growing up in New York, Walsh was friends of the Barrymore family. John Barrymore recalled spending time reading in the Walsh family library as a youth. Later in life he lived in Palm Springs, California.

Walsh was educated at Seton Hall College. He began acting in 1909, first as a stage actor in New York City and later as a film actor.

In 1913 he changed his name to Raoul Walsh.

In 1914 he became an assistant to D. W. Griffith and made his first feature film, The Life of General Villa, shot on location in Mexico with Pancho Villa playing the lead and with actual battles filmed in progress as well as recreations.

Walsh played John Wilkes Booth in Griffith’s epic The Birth of a Nation (1915) and also served as an assistant director. This was followed by the critically acclaimed Regeneration in 1915, the earliest feature gangster film, shot on location in Manhattan’s Bowery district.

Walsh served as an officer in the U.S. Army during World War I.

He directed The Thief of Bagdad (1924), starring Douglas Fairbanks and Anna May Wong.

He directed Laurence Stallings’ What Price Glory? (1926), starring Victor McLaglen and Dolores del Río.

In Sadie Thompson (1928), starring Gloria Swanson as a prostitute seeking a new life in Samoa, Walsh starred as Swanson’s boyfriend in his first acting role since 1915; he also directed the film.

He was hired to direct and star in In Old Arizona, a film about O. Henry’s character the Cisco Kid. While on location for that film Walsh was in a car crash when a jackrabbit jumped through the windshield as he was driving through the desert; he lost his right eye as a result. He gave up the part and never acted again.

Warner Baxter won an Oscar for the role Walsh was originally slated to play. Walsh would wear an eyepatch for the rest of his life.

In the early days of sound with Fox, Walsh directed the first widescreen spectacle, The Big Trail (1930), an epic wagon train western shot on location across the West. The movie starred John Wayne, then unknown, whom Walsh discovered as prop boy Marion Morrison and renamed after the Revolutionary War general Mad Anthony Wayne; Walsh happened to be reading a book about him at the time.

Walsh directed The Bowery (1933), featuring Wallace Beery, George Raft, Fay Wray and Pert Kelton, the story of Steve Brodie (Raft), the first man to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and live to brag about it.

An undistinguished period followed with Paramount from 1935 to 1939.

But Walsh’s career rose to new heights after movined to Warner Brothers, with The Roaring Twenties (1939), featuring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart; Dark Command (1940), with John Wayne and Roy Rogers (at Republic Pictures); They Drive By Night (1940), with George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart; High Sierra (1941), with Lupino and Bogart again; They Died with Their Boots On (1941), with Errol Flynn as Custer; The Strawberry Blonde (1941), with Cagney and Olivia de Havilland; Manpower (1941), with Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich and George Raft; and White Heat (1949), with Cagney.

Walsh’s contract at Warners expired in 1953.

He directed three films with Clark Gable: The Tall Men (1955), The King and Four Queens (1956) and Band of Angels (1957). Walsh retired in 1964. He died of a heart attack in 1980.[4]

Raoul Walsh was a breeder and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses.

For a time, his brother George Walsh trained his stable of horses. Their horse Sunset Trail competed in the 1937 Kentucky Derby won by War Admiral who went on to win the U.S. Triple Crown. Sunset Trail finished sixteenth in a field of twenty runners.

Some of Walsh’s material and personal papers are contained in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives.

Filmography

The Pseudo Prodigal (1913 short, director), directorial debut

The Mystery of the Hindu Image (1914, director) (uncredited)

The Banker’s Daughter (1914)
The Great Leap; Until Death Do Us Part (1914)
The Dishonored Medal (1914) – The Adopted Son
The Life of General Villa (1914) – Villa as a young man
The Birth of a Nation (1915) – John Wilkes Booth (uncredited)
Regeneration (1915, director)
Carmen (1915, director) (with Theda Bara)
The Outlaw’s Revenge (1915) – The outlaw
Blue Blood and Red (1916, director)
The Silent Lie (1917, director) (a.k.a. Camille of the Yukon)
Betrayed (1917, director)
The Conqueror (1917, director)
The Innocent Sinner (1917, director)
The Honor System (1917, director)
On the Jump (1918, director)
The Woman and the Law (1918, director) (with Jack Connors, Miriam Cooper and Peggy Hopkins Joyce)
The Prussian Cur (1918, director)
Evangeline (1919, director) (with his wife Miriam Cooper)
The Strongest (1920, director)
The Deep Purple (1920, director)
The Oath (1921, director)
Kindred of the Dust (1922, director)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924, director, produced by and starring Douglas Fairbanks, and featuring Anna May Wong)
The Wanderer (1925, director)
What Price Glory (1926, director, his most successful silent movie) (with Victor McLaglen and Dolores del Río)
The Lucky Lady (1926, director)
The Loves of Carmen (1927, director) (with Dolores del Río)
The Monkey Talks (1927, director)
Sadie Thompson (1928, director, also acted alongside Gloria Swanson) – Sergeant Timothy ‘Tim’ O’Hara (final film role)
The Red Dance (1928, director) (with Dolores del Río and Charles Farrell)
Me, Gangster (1928, director, debut of Don Terry)
The Cock-Eyed World (1929, director)
The Big Trail (1930, director) (with John Wayne, an early location movie in widescreen and Wayne’s first leading role)
The Man Who Came Back (1931, director) (with Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell)
Women of All Nations (1931, director)
The Yellow Ticket (1931, director) (with Lionel Barrymore and Laurence Olivier)
Wild Girl (1932, director) (with Charles Farrell, Joan Bennett, Ralph Bellamy, and Eugene Pallette)
Me and My Gal (1932, director)
Sailor’s Luck (1933, director)
The Bowery (1933, director) (with Wallace Beery, George Raft, Fay Wray, and Pert Kelton)
Klondike Annie (1936, director) (with Mae West and Victor McLaglen)
O.H.M.S. (1937, director)
Jump for Glory (1937, director)
St. Louis Blues (1939, director)
The Roaring Twenties (1939, director) (with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart)
Dark Command (1940, director) (with John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Gabby Hayes)
They Drive by Night (1940, director) (with George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart)
High Sierra (1941, director) (Ida Lupino and Bogart)
The Strawberry Blonde (1941, director) (with James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland)
They Died with Their Boots On (1941, director) (with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland)
Manpower (1941, director) (with Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft)
Desperate Journey (1942, director) (with Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan)
Gentleman Jim (1942, director) (with Errol Flynn and William Frawley)
Background to Danger (1943, director) (with George Raft, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre)
Uncertain Glory (1944, director) (with Errol Flynn)
Objective, Burma! (1945, director) (with Errol Flynn)
The Man I Love (1947, director) (with Ida Lupino)
Pursued (1947, director) (with Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright)
Cheyenne (1947, director) (with Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman)
Silver River (1948, director) (with Errol Flynn)
Fighter Squadron (1948, director) (with Edmond O’Brien)
White Heat (1949, director) (James Cagney and Edmond O’Brien)
Colorado Territory (1949, director) (with Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, Dorothy Malone, and Henry Hull)
The Enforcer (1951, director) (with Humphrey Bogart) (uncredited)[a]
Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951, director) (with Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo)
Along the Great Divide (1951, director) (with Kirk Douglas, Virginia Mayo, John Agar and Walter Brennan)
Distant Drums (1951, director)
Blackbeard the Pirate (1952, director) (with Robert Newton, Linda Darnell and William Bendix)
The World in His Arms (1952, director) (with Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth and Anthony Quinn)
Gun Fury (1953, director) (with Donna Reed and Lee Marvin)
A Lion Is in the Streets (1953, director) (with James Cagney and Lon Chaney Jr.)
The Lawless Breed (1953, director) (with Rock Hudson)
Sea Devils (1953, director) (with Rock Hudson)
Saskatchewan (1954, director)
Battle Cry (1955, director)
The Tall Men (1955, director) (Clark Gable and Jane Russell)

The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956, director) (with Jane Russell and Richard Egan)

The King and Four Queens (1956, director) (Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker)

Band of Angels (1957, director) (with Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo, and Sidney Poitier)

The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958, director)

The Naked and the Dead (1958, director) (with Cliff Robertson, based on the best-selling novel by Norman Mailer)

Esther and the King (1960, director)

Marines, Let’s Go (1961, director)

A Distant Trumpet (1964, director) (final film)

Miscellaneous
The Conqueror (Writer) (1917)

The Big Trail (story contributor) (uncredited) (1930)

Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (producer) (uncredited) (1951)
The Lawless Breed (producer) (uncredited) (1953)
Esther and the King (screenplay) (1960)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Raoul Walsh (TV movie documentary) Himself (1973)

Walsh replaced director Bretaigne Windust, who fell severely ill, on The Enforcer and shot over half the film, but refused to take screen credit.

Billiter, Bill (January 3, 1981). “Famed Motion Picture Director Raoul Walsh Dies at 93”. The Washington Post.

Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. p. 232. ISBN 0-7864-0983-5.

Meeks, Eric G. (2012). The Best Guide Ever to Palm Springs Celebrity Homes. Horatio Limburger Oglethorpe. p. 145. ISBN 978-1479328598.

Peter B. Flint (January 3, 1981). “Raoul Walsh, 93, Dead; Early Director of Movies”. The New York Times. p. 26.

“Rockingham Park Notes”. Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. July 9, 1934. Retrieved June 4, 2021.

“Raoul Walsh’s New Trainer”. Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. April 22, 1939. Retrieved June 4, 2021.

“Plans for Walsh Stable”. Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. April 21, 1937.

“Kentucky Derby History”. Kentucky Derby Info. Archived from the original on October 29, 2012.

“Cinema Archives”. Wesleyan University. Retrieved August 21, 2019.

Moss. Marilyn Ann (2011). Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood’s Legendary Director. University Press of Kentucky.

Smith, Renee D. (2013). The Films of Raoul Walsh: A Critical Approach

 

Filmography

Dark Command (1940) with John Wayne and, Roy Rogers

They Drive by Night (1940), with George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart

High Sierra (1941), with Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart

The Strawberry Blonde (1941), with James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland

They Died with Their Boots On (1941), with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland

Manpower (1941), with Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft

Desperate Journey (1942), with Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan

Gentleman Jim (1942), with Errol Flynn and William Frawley

Northern Pursuit (1943), with Errol Flynn

Uncertain Glory (1944), with Errol Flynn

Objective, Burma! (1945), with Errol Flynn

The Man I Love (1947), with Ida Lupino

Pursued (1947), with Robert Mitchum and Teresa Wright

Cheyenne (1947), with Dennis Morgan and Jane Wyman

Silver River (1948), with Errol Flynn

Fighter Squadron (1948), with Edmond O’Brien

White Heat (1949), with James Cagney and Edmond O’Brien

Colorado Territory (1949), a remake of High Sierra, with Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, Dorothy Malone, and Henry Hull

Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), with Gregory Peck and Virginia Mayo

Distant Drums (1951), innovative sound effects

The Enforcer (1951), with Bogart (uncredited director)

Blackbeard the Pirate (1952), with Robert Newton, Linda Darnell and William Bendix

The World in His Arms (1952) with Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth and Anthony Quinn

Gun Fury (1953), with Donna Reed and Lee Marvin

A Lion Is in the Streets (1953), with James Cagney, and Lon Chaney Jr.

The Lawless Breed (1953), with Rock Hudson

Sea Devils (1953), with Rock Hudson

Saskatchewan (1954)

Battle Cry (1955)

The Tall Men (1955), with Clark Gable and Jane Russell

The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956), with Jane Russell and Richard Egan

The King and Four Queens (1956), with Clark Gable and Eleanor Parker

Band of Angels (1957), with Clark Gable, Yvonne De Carlo, Sidney Poitier

The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958)

The Naked and the Dead (1958), with Cliff Robertson, based on Norman Mailer’s novel

Esther and the King (1960)

Marine’s Let’s Go (1961)

A Distant Trumpet (1964), final film

Notes:

Walsh replaced director Bretaigne Windust, who became ill, on The Enforcer and shot over half the film, but he refused to take screen credit.