Directing

Richard Thorpe

Born February 24, 1896 · Hutchinson, Kansas, USA

Died May 1, 1991 · aged 95

Richard Thorpe (February 24, 1896 - May 1, 1991) was an American film director. Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and onstage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred and eighty films. The first full length motion picture he directed…

Known For

How the West Was Won

How the West Was Won · 1962

How the West Was Won

The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.

Jailhouse Rock

Jailhouse Rock · 1957

MovieMusicDrama

Young convict Vince Everett, serving time for manslaughter, discovers his musical talent in prison and becomes a rock and roll star after his release, navigating fame and relationships.

Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe · 1952

MovieAdventureRomance

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

Tarzan Escapes

Tarzan Escapes · 1936

MovieActionAdventure

White hunter Captain Fry tries to take Tarzan back to civilization, caged for public display. He arrives in the jungle with Jane's cousins, Eric and Rita, who want Jane's help in claiming a fortune left her.

Fun in Acapulco

Fun in Acapulco · 1963

Fun in Acapulco

MovieMusicComedy

Mike Windgren works on a boat in Acapulco, but when the bratty daughter of its owner gets him fired, Mike finds new work as a lifeguard and singer at a local hotel. Tensions increase when Mike runs afoul of the rival lifeguard—also the champion diver of Mexico.

Tarzan's Secret Treasure

Tarzan's Secret Treasure · 1941

Tarzan's Secret Treasure

MovieActionAdventure

A scientific expedition happens to discover that gold exists on Tarzan's escarpment. The villainous Medford and Vandermeer kidnap Jane and Boy to extort from Tarzan the location of the gold.

Knights of the Round Table

Knights of the Round Table · 1953

Knights of the Round Table

MovieRomanceAction

In Camelot, kingdom of Arthur and Merlin, Lancelot is well known for his courage and honor. But one day he must quit Camelot and the Queen Guinevere's love, leaving the Round Table without protection.

Athena

MovieRomanceComedy

A stuffy young lawyer's outlook on life drastically changes when he meets a perky health food enthusiast and her wacky family.

Filmography

Sort

How the West Was Won

How the West Was Won · 1962

How the West Was Won

The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.

Special Guest Director

Jailhouse Rock

Jailhouse Rock · 1957

MovieMusicDrama

Young convict Vince Everett, serving time for manslaughter, discovers his musical talent in prison and becomes a rock and roll star after his release, navigating fame and relationships.

Director

Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe · 1952

MovieAdventureRomance

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

Director

Tarzan Escapes

Tarzan Escapes · 1936

MovieActionAdventure

White hunter Captain Fry tries to take Tarzan back to civilization, caged for public display. He arrives in the jungle with Jane's cousins, Eric and Rita, who want Jane's help in claiming a fortune left her.

Director

Fun in Acapulco

Fun in Acapulco · 1963

Fun in Acapulco

MovieMusicComedy

Mike Windgren works on a boat in Acapulco, but when the bratty daughter of its owner gets him fired, Mike finds new work as a lifeguard and singer at a local hotel. Tensions increase when Mike runs afoul of the rival lifeguard—also the champion diver of Mexico.

Director

Tarzan's Secret Treasure

Tarzan's Secret Treasure · 1941

Tarzan's Secret Treasure

MovieActionAdventure

A scientific expedition happens to discover that gold exists on Tarzan's escarpment. The villainous Medford and Vandermeer kidnap Jane and Boy to extort from Tarzan the location of the gold.

Director

Knights of the Round Table

Knights of the Round Table · 1953

Knights of the Round Table

MovieRomanceAction

In Camelot, kingdom of Arthur and Merlin, Lancelot is well known for his courage and honor. But one day he must quit Camelot and the Queen Guinevere's love, leaving the Round Table without protection.

Director

Athena

MovieRomanceComedy

A stuffy young lawyer's outlook on life drastically changes when he meets a perky health food enthusiast and her wacky family.

Director

Vengeance Valley

Vengeance Valley · 1951

Vengeance Valley

A cattle baron takes in an orphaned boy and raises him, causing his own son to resent the boy. As they get older the resentment festers into hatred, and eventually the real son frames his stepbrother for fathering an illegitimate child that is actually his, seeing it as an opportunity to get his half-brother out of the way so he can have his father's empire all to himself.

Director

Tarzan's New York Adventure

Tarzan's New York Adventure · 1942

Tarzan's New York Adventure

MovieActionAdventure

Circus owner Buck Rand kidnaps Boy to perform in his show. He forces a pilot to fly him, Boy and his animal trainer out of the jungle. Tarzan and Jane follow them to New York.

Director

The Prisoner of Zenda

The Prisoner of Zenda · 1952

The Prisoner of Zenda

A kingdom's ascending heir, marked for assassination, switches identities with a lookalike, who takes his place at the coronation. When the real king is kidnapped, his followers try to find him, while the stand-in falls in love with the king's intended bride, the beautiful Princess Flavia.

Director

Double Daring

Double Daring · 1926

A timid bank clerk has to toughen up during the search for a gang of bank robbers.

Director

Beauty Parlor

Beauty Parlor · 1932

MovieDramaRomance

Film follows the romantic exploits of two depression-era manicurists, one of whom is being woo'd by a true gentleman of means, the other of whom lets herself become a pawn of operators of a call-girl ring.

Director

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn · 1939

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

MovieAdventureDrama

Huckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River.

Director

Tarzan Finds a Son!

Tarzan Finds a Son! · 1939

Tarzan Finds a Son!

MovieActionAdventure

A young couple die in a plane crash in the jungle. Their son is found by Tarzan and Jane who name him Boy and raise him as their own. Five years later a search party comes to find the young heir to millions of dollars. Jane agrees, against Tarzan's will, to lead them to civilization.

Director

Above Suspicion

Above Suspicion · 1943

Above Suspicion

Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.

Director

The Last Challenge

The Last Challenge · 1967

The Last Challenge

An upstart outlaw baits a legendary gunslinger, now a marshal in love with a saloon keeper.

Producer

The Thin Man Goes Home

The Thin Man Goes Home · 1944

The Thin Man Goes Home

MovieComedyMystery

On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.

Director

Fiesta

MovieDramaMusic

When a matador leaves town to focus on his music, his twin sister takes on his identity in the bullfighting ring.

Director

All the Brothers Were Valiant

All the Brothers Were Valiant · 1953

All the Brothers Were Valiant

In the South Pacific islands, two brothers, one good and one bad, fight over the same girl and over a bag of pearls.

Director

Skedaddle Gold

Skedaddle Gold · 1927

MovieDramaWestern

1927 American silent Western film directed by Richard Thorpe.

Director

Big Jack

Big Jack · 1949

MovieAdventureWestern

Wallace Beery, in his final film, plays a bandit in this period drama set in Colonial America.

Director

Two Girls and a Sailor

Two Girls and a Sailor · 1944

Two Girls and a Sailor

MovieMusicComedy

A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also in love with him.

Director

Three Little Words

Three Little Words · 1950

Three Little Words

MovieMusicComedy

Song-and-dance man Bert Kalmar can't continue his stage career after an injury, so he has to earn his money as a lyricist. By chance, he meets composer Harry Ruby and their first song is a hit. Ruby gets Kalmar to marry his former partner Jessie Brown, and Kalmar and Jessie prevent Ruby from getting married to the wrong girls. But due to the fact that Ruby has caused a backer's withdrawal for a Kalmar play, they end their professional relationship.

Director