by J. R. Jones
TIGER AT THE GATES (1957) Ivar Theater, Los Angeles, January 29 to February 10, 1957. Director: Harold J. Kennedy. Producer: Harold J. Kennedy. Playwright: Jean Giraudoux. Cast: Robert Ryan, John Ireland, Marilyn Erskine, Ray Danton, Mary Astor, Marianne Stewart, Howard Wendell, Peg La Centra, Milton Parsons, Joel Ashley, Jon Poole, Gene Mekler.
MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL (1960) Schoenberg Hall, University of California at Los Angeles, January 17 to January 31, 1960. Director: John Houseman. Playwright: T. S. Eliot. Cast: Robert Ryan (Thomas Beckett), John Hoyt, Alan Napier, Pippa Scott, Theodore Marcuse, Ruth Story.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (1960) American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, Stratford, Connecticut, opened July 31, 1960. Director: Jack Landau. Cast: Robert Ryan (Antony), Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Watson, John Harkins, Donald Davis, Patrick Hines, Earle Hyman, Rae Allen, Anne Fielding, John Ragin, Morris Carnovsky, Will Geer, John Myhers, Stephen Strimpell, Clifton James, Claude Woolman, Sada Thompson, Richard Waring, Ted van Griethuysen, Clayton Corzatte.
MR. PRESIDENT (1962) St. James Theatre, New York, New York, October 20, 1962, to June 8, 1963. Director: Joshua Logan. Producer: Leland Hayward. Book: Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse. Music and lyrics: Irving Berlin. Cast: Nanette Fabray, Robert Ryan (President Stephen Decatur Henderson), David Brooks, Wisa D’Orso, Charlotte Fairchild, Anita Gillette, Stanley Grover, Jack Haskell, John Cecil Holm, Jerry Strickler, Jack Washburn, John Aman.
OTHELLO (1967) Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham, England, opened September 20, 1967. Director: Noel Willman. Cast: Robert Ryan (Othello), Christopher Hancock, Derek Woodward, John Neville, Terence Knapp, David Neal, Alan Dossor, Ronald Magill, Laurence Harrington, James O’Brien, Ann Bell, Ursula Smith, Christine Welch.
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1967) Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham, England, opened September 27, 1967. Director: Michael Rudman. Cast: Robert Ryan (James Tyrone Sr.), Gillian Martell, Anthony Langdon, Alfred Bell, Ursula Smith.
OUR TOWN (1968) Mineola Theater, Mineola, New York, opened September 24, 1968. Director: Edward Hastings. Producers: Martha Scott, Alfred de Liagre Jr., Clifford Stevens. Cast: Henry Fonda, John Beal, Jo Van Fleet, John McGiver, Estelle Parsons, Robert Ryan (Mr. Webb), Katharine Winn.
THE FRONT PAGE (1968) Mineola Theater, Mineola, New York, October 5 to 20, 1968. Director: Leo Brady. Producers: Martha Scott, Alfred de Liagre Jr., Clifford Stevens. Cast: Robert Ryan, John Beal, Mark Bramhall, Henry Fonda, Anthony George, Anne Jackson, John McGiver, Estelle Parsons.
THE FRONT PAGE (1969) Ethel Barrymore Theatre, May 10 to July 5, 1969. Director: Harold J. Kennedy. Producers: Theater 1969 (Edward Albee, Richard Barr, Charles Woodward). Playwrights: Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur. Cast: Robert Ryan (Walter Burns), Val Avery, Peggy Cass, Bert Convy, James Flavin, Conrad Janis, Harold J. Kennedy, John McGiver, Julia Meade, Doro Merande, Charles White, Tom Atkins, Bruce Blaine, Patrick Desmond, Walter Flanagan, Morison Gampel, Geoff Garland, Will Gregory, Rick Hagan, Scott Hagan, Katharine Houghton, Robert Milli, Don Porter, Ed Riley, Arnold Stang.
THE FRONT PAGE (1969–’70) Ethel Barrymore Theatre, October 18, 1969, to February 28, 1970. Directed by Harold J. Kennedy. Producers: Jay H. Fuchs, Jerry Schlossberg, Albert Zuckerman. Playwrights: Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur. Cast: Val Avery, Peggy Cass, Bert Convy, Dody Goodman, Helen Hayes, Conrad Janis, John McGiver, Robert Ryan (Walter Burns), James Flavin, Harold J. Kennedy, Charles White, Bruce Blaine, Jack Collard, Patrick Desmond, Walter Flanagan, Joseph George, Will Gregory, Bob Larkin, Kendall March, Robert Milli, Robert Riesel, Ed Riley, Bernie West.
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1971) Promenade Theatre, New York, New York, April 21 to August 22, 1971. Director: Arvin Brown. Producers: Edgar Lansbury, Jay H. Fuchs, Stuart Duncan, Joseph Beruh. Cast: Robert Ryan (James Tyrone Sr.), Stacy Keach, Geraldine Fitzgerald, James Naughton, Paddy Croft.
part two Film Chronology
THE GHOST BREAKERS (1940) Director: George Marshall. Producer: Arthur Hornblow Jr. Screenwriter: Walter DeLeon, from a play by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard. Photography: Charles Lang. Editor: Ellsworth Hoagland. Music: Ernst Toch. Production and distribution: Paramount Pictures. Release date: June 7, 1940. Running time: 85 minutes. Cast: Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas, Willie Best, Robert Ryan (Intern, uncredited). Black and white.
QUEEN OF THE MOB (1940) Director: James Hogan. Screenwriters: J. Edgar Hoover, Walter R. Lipman, Horace McCoy, from Hoover’s book Persons in Hiding. Photography: Theodor Sparkuhl. Editor: Arthur Schmidt. Production and distribution: Paramount Pictures. Release date: June 28, 1940. Running time: 61 minutes. Cast: Ralph Bellamy, J. Carrol Naish, Jeanne Cagney, Richard Denning, Hedda Hopper, Jack Carson, Billy Gilbert, Robert Ryan (Jim, uncredited). Black and white.
GOLDEN GLOVES (1940) Directors: Edward Dmytryk, Felix E. Feist. Producer: Carl Krueger. Screenwriters: Joe Ansen, Lewis R. Foster, Maxwell Shane. Photography: John L. Russell, Henry Sharp. Editors: William F. Claxton, Doane Harrison. Production and distribution: Paramount Pictures. Release date: August 2, 1940. Running time: 66 minutes. Cast: Richard Denning, Jeanne Cagney, J. Carrol Naish, Robert Paige, William Farley, Edward Brophy, Robert Ryan (Pete Wells). Black and white.
NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE (1940) Director: Cecil B. DeMille. Producer: Cecil B. DeMille. Screenwriters: Alan Le May, Jesse Laske Jr., C. Gardner Sullivan, from R. C. Fetherstonhaugh’s novel The Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Photography: W. Howard Green, Victor Milner. Editor: Anne Bauchens. Music: Victor Young. Production and distribution: Paramount Pictures. Release date: October 21, 1940 (Canada); October 22, 1940 (US). Running time: 126 minutes. Cast: Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster, Robert Preston, George Bancroft, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr., George E. Stone, Regis Toomey, Robert Ryan (Constable Dumont). Black and white.
THE TEXAS RANGERS RIDE AGAIN (1940) Director: James Hogan. Screenwriters: William R. Lippman, Horace McCoy. Photography: Archie Stout. Editor: Arthur Schmidt. Production and distribution: Paramount Pictures. Release date: December 13, 1940. Running time: 68 minutes. Cast: Ellen Drew, John Howard, Akim Tamiroff, May Robson, Broderick Crawford, Charley Grapewin, Anthony Quinn, Robert Ryan (Eddie, uncredited). Black and white.
BOMBARDIER (1943) Director: Richard Wallace, Lambert Hillyer (uncredited). Producer: Robert Fellows. Screenwriter: John Twist. Story: John Twist, Martin Rackin. Photography: Nicholas Musuraca, Joseph F. Biroc (uncredited). Editor: Robert Wise. Music: Roy Webb. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: May 14, 1943. Running time: 99 minutes. Cast: Pat O’Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley, Eddie Albert, Walter Reed, Robert Ryan (Joe Connors), Barton MacLane, Leonard Strong, Richard Martin, Russell Wade, James Newill, John Miljan, Charles Russell. Black and white.
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT (1943) Director: Edward H. Griffith. Producer: David Hempstead. Screenwriters: Frank Fenton, Lynn Root, S. K. Lauren (uncredited), William T. Ryder (story, uncredited). Photography: Russell Metty. Editor: Roland Gross. Music: Harold Arlen. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: July 13, 1943. Running time: 89 minutes. Cast: Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley, Robert Ryan (Reginald Fenton), Elizabeth Patterson, Marjorie Gateson, Freddie Slack and His Orchestra. Black and white.
BEHIND THE RISING SUN (1943) Director: Edward Dmytryk. Producers: Edward Dmytryk (uncredited), Howard Hughes (uncredited). Screenwriter: Emmet Lavery, from the book by James R. Young. Photography: Russell Metty. Editor: Joseph Noriega. Music: Roy Webb. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: August 1, 1943. Running time: 88 minutes. Cast: Margo, Tom Neal, J. Carrol Naish, Robert Ryan (Lefty O’Doyle), Gloria Holden, Donald Douglas, George Givot. Black and white.
THE IRON MAJOR (1943) Director: Ray Enright. Producer: Robert Fellows. Screenwriters: Aben Kandel, Warren Duff. Story: Florence E. Cavanaugh. Photography: Robert De Grasse. Editors: Philip Martin Jr., Robert Wise. Music: Roy Webb. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: October 25, 1943. Running time:
85 minutes. Cast: Pat O’Brien, Ruth Warrick, Robert Ryan (Father Timothy “Tim” Donovan), Leon Ames, Russell Wade, Bruce Edwards, Richard Martin.
GANGWAY FOR TOMORROW (1943) Director: John H. Auer. Producer: John H. Auer. Screenwriter: Arch Oboler. Story: Aladar Laszlo. Photography: Nicholas Musuraca. Editor: George Crone. Music: Roy Webb. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: November 3, 1943. Running time: 69 minutes. Cast: Margo, John Carradine, Robert Ryan (Joe Dunham), Amelita Ward, William Terry, Harry Davenport, James Bell. Black and white.
TENDER COMRADE (1943) Director: Edward Dmytryk. Producer: David Hempstead. Screenwriter: Dalton Trumbo. Photography: Russell Metty. Editor: Roland Gross. Music: Leigh Harline. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: December 29, 1943. Running time: 102 minutes. Cast: Ginger Rogers, Robert Ryan (Chris Jones), Ruth Hussey, Patricia Collinge, Mady Christians, Kim Hunter, Jane Darwell, Richard Martin. Black and white.
MARINE RAIDERS (1944) Director: Harold Schuster. Producer: Robert Fellows. Screenwriters: Warren Duff, Jerome Odlum (uncredited). Story: Martin Rackin, Warren Duff. Photography: Nicholas Musuraca. Editor: Philip Martin Jr. Music: Roy Webb. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: June 30, 1944. Running time: 90 minutes. Cast: Pat O’Brien, Robert Ryan (Captain Dan Craig), Ruth Hussey, Frank McHugh, Barton MacLane, Richard Martin, Edmund Glover, Russell Wade, Robert Andersen, Michael St. Angel, Martha MacVicar (aka Martha Vickers), Harry Brown. Black and white.
TRAIL STREET (1947) Director: Ray Enright. Producer: Nat Holt. Screenwriters: Norman Houston, Gene Lewis, from the novel by William Corcoran. Photography: J. Roy Hunt. Editor: Lyle Boyer. Music: C. Bakaleinikoff. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: February 19, 1947. Running time: 84 minutes. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan (Allen), Anne Jeffreys, George “Gabby” Hayes, Madge Meredith, Steve Brodie, Billy House, Virginia Sale, Harry Woods, Phil Warren, Harry Harvey, Jason Robards (Sr.). Black and white.
THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH (1947) Director: Jean Renoir. Producer: Jack J. Gross. Screenwriters: Frank Davis, Jean Renoir. Adaptation: Michael Hogan, from Mitchell Wilson’s novel None So Blind. Photography: Leo Tover, Harry Wild. Ed itors: Lyle Boyer, Roland Gross. Music: Hanns Eisler. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: June 2, 1947. Running time: 71 minutes. Cast: Joan Bennett, Robert Ryan (Scott), Charles Bickford, Nan Leslie, Walter Sande, Irene Ryan, Glen Vernon, Frank Darien, Jay Norris. Black and white.
CROSSFIRE (1947) Director: Edward Dmytryk. Producer: Adrian Scott. Screenwriter: John Paxton, from Richard Brooks’s novel The Brick Foxhole. Photography: J. Roy Hunt. Editor: Harry Gerstad. Music: Roy Webb. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: July 22, 1947. Running time: 86 minutes. Cast: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan (Montgomery), Gloria Grahame, Paul Kelly, Sam Levene, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, George Cooper, Richard Benedict, Richard Powers, William Phipps, Lex Barker, Marlo Dwyer.
BERLIN EXPRESS (1948) Director: Jacques Tourneur. Producer: Bert Granet. Screenwriter: Harold Medford. Story: Curt Siodmak. Photography: Lucien Ballard. Editor: Sherman Todd. Music: Frederick Hollander. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: May 1, 1948. Running time: 87 minutes. Cast: Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan (Robert Lindley), Charles Korvin, Paul Lukas, Robert Coote, Reinhold Schunzel, Roman Toporow, Peter Von Zerneck, Otto Waldis, Fritz Kortner, Michael Harvey, Richard Powers (aka Tom Keene). Black and white.
RETURN OF THE BAD MEN (1948) Director: Ray Enright. Producer: Nat Holt. Screenwriters: Charles O’Neal, Jack Natteford, Luci Ward. Story: Jack Natteford, Luci Ward. Photography: J. Roy Hunt. Editor: Samuel E. Beetley. Music: Paul Sawtell. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: July 17, 1948. Running time: 90 minutes. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan (Sundance Kid), Anne Jeffreys, George “Gabby” Hayes, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, Richard Powers (aka Tom Keene), Robert Bray, Lex Barker, Walter Reed, Michael Harvey, Dean White, Robert Armstrong, Tom Tyler, Lew Harvey, Gary Gray, Walter Baldwin, Minna Gombell, Warren Jackson, Robert Clarke, Jason Robards (Sr.). Black and white.
THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR (1948) Director: Joseph Losey. Producer: Stephen Ames, Adrian Scott (uncredited). Screenwriters: Ben Barzman, Alfred Lewis Levitt, from the story by Betsy Beaton. Photography: George Barnes. Editor: Frank Doyle. Music: Leigh Harline. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: November 16, 1948. Running time: 82 minutes. Cast: Pat O’Brien, Robert Ryan (Dr. Evans), Barbara Hale, Dean Stockwell, Richard Lyon, Walter Catlett, Samuel S. Hinds, Regis Toomey, Charles Meredith, David Clarke, Billy Sheffield, John Calkins, Teddy Infuhr, Dwayne Hickman, Eilene Janssen. Color.
ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948) Director: Fred Zinnemann. Producer: William H. Wright. Screenwriter: Robert L. Richards. Story: Collier Young. Photography: Robert Surtees. Editor: Conrad A. Nervig. Music: Bronislau (aka Bronislaw) Kaper. Production and distribution: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Release date: December 21, 1948. Running time: 82 minutes. Cast: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan (Joe Parkson), Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, Phyllis Thaxter, Berry Kroeger, Taylor Holmes, Harry Antrim, Connie Gilchrist, Will Wright. Black and white.
CAUGHT (1949) Director: Max Ophuls (aka Max Ophüls). Producer: Wolfgang Reinhardt. Screenwriter: Arthur Laurents, from Libbie Block’s novel Wild Calendar. Photography: Lee Garmes. Editor: Robert Parrish. Music: Frederick Hollander. Production: Enterprise Productions. Distribution: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Release date: February 17, 1949. Running time: 88 minutes. Cast: James Mason, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Ryan (Smith Ohlrig), Frank Ferguson, Curt Bois, Ruth Brady, Natalie Schaefer, Art Smith. Black and white.
THE SET-UP (1949) Director: Robert Wise. Producer: Richard Goldstone. Screenwriter: Art Cohn, from the poem by Joseph Moncure March. Photography: Milton Krasner. Editor: Roland Gross. Music: C. Bakaleinikoff. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: March 29, 1949. Running time: 73 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Stoker Thompson), Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Fieberling (aka Hal Baylor), Darryl Hickman, Kenny O’Morrison, James Edwards, David Clarke, Phillip Pine, Edwin Max. Black and white.
THE WOMAN ON PIER 13 (1949) Director: Robert Stevenson. Producer: Jack J. Gross. Screenwriters: Charles Grayson, Robert Hardy Andrews. Story: George W. George, George F. Slavin. Photography: Nicholas Musuraca. Editor: Roland Gross. Music: Leigh Harline. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: October 8, 1949. Running time: 73 minutes. Cast: Laraine Day, Robert Ryan (Brad Collins aka Frank Johnson), John Agar, Thomas Gomez, Janis Carter, Richard Rober, William Talman, Paul E. Burns, Paul Guilfoyle, G. Pat Collins, Fred Graham, Harry Cheshire, Jack Stoney. Black and white.
THE SECRET FURY (1950) Director: Mel Ferrer. Producer: Jack H. Skirball. Screenwriter: Lionel Houser. Story: Jack R. Leonard, James O’Hanlon. Photography: Leo Tover. Editor: Harry Marker. Music: Roy Webb. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: February 21, 1950. Running time: 85 minutes. Cast: Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan (David McLean), Jane Cowl, Paul Kelly, Philip Ober, Elisabeth Risdon, Doris Dudley, Dave Barbour, Vivian Vance. Black and white.
BORN TO BE BAD (1950) Director: Nicholas Ray. Producer: Robert Sparks. Screenwriter: Edith Sommer, additional dialogue by Robert Soderberg, George Oppenheimer. Adaptation: Charles Schnee, from Anne Parish’s novel All Kneeling. Photography: Nicholas Musuraca. Editor: Frederic Knudtson. Music: Frederick Hollander. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: August 27, 1950. Running time: 94 minutes. Cast: Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan (Nick Bradley), Zachary Scott, Joan Leslie, Mel Ferrer, Harold Vermilyea, Virginia Farmer, Kathleen Howard, Dick Ryan, Bess Flowers, Joy Hallward, Hazel Boyne, Irvin Bacon, Gordon Oliver. Black and white.
HARD, FAST AND BEAUTIFUL (1951) Director: Ida Lupino. Producer: Collier Young. Screenwriter: Martha Wilkerson, from John R. Tunis’s novel American Girl. Photography: Archie Stout. Editors: George C. Shrader, William Ziegler. Music: Roy Webb.
Production: The Filmmakers. Distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: May 23, 1951. Running time: 78 minutes. Cast: Claire Trevor, Sally Forrest, Carleton G. Young, Robert Clarke, Kenneth Patterson, Marcella Cisney, Joseph Kearns, William Hudson, George Fisher, Ida Lupino (uncredited), Robert Ryan (uncredited). Black and white. Note: Ryan and Lupino appear as extras in the Seabright tennis match sequence.
BEST OF THE BADMEN (1951) Director: William D. Russell. Producer: Herman Schlom. Screenwriters: Robert Hardy Andrews, John Twist. Story: Robert Hardy Andrews. Photography: Edward Cronjager. Editor: Desmond Marquette. Music: Paul Sawtell. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: August 9, 1951. Running time: 84 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Jeff Clanton), Claire Trevor, Robert Buetel, Robert Preston, Walter Brennan, Bruce Cabot, John Archer, Lawrence Tierney, Barton MacLane, Tom Tyler, Robert J. Wilke, John Cliff, Lee MacGregor, Emmett Lynn, Carleton Young. Color.
FLYING LEATHERNECKS (1951) Director: Nicholas Ray. Producer: Edmund Grainger. Screenwriters: James Edward Grant, Beirne Lay Jr. (uncredited). Story: Kenneth Gamet. Photography: William E. Snyder. Editor: Sherman Todd. Music: Roy Webb. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: August 28, 1951. Running time: 102 minutes. Cast: John Wayne, Robert Ryan (Captain Carl “Griff” Griffin), Don Taylor, Janis Carter, Jay C. Flippen, William Harrigan, James Bell, Barry Kelley, Maurice Jara, Adam Williams, James Dobson, Carleton Young, Michael St. Angel, Brett King, Gordon Gebert. Color.
THE RACKET (1951) Directors: John Cromwell, Mel Ferrer (uncredited), Tay Garnett (uncredited), Nicholas Ray (uncredited), Sherman Todd (uncredited). Producer: Edmund Grainger. Screenwriters: William Wister Haynes, W. R. Burnett, from the play by Bartlett Cormack. Photography: George E. Diskant. Editor: Sherman Todd. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: December 12, 1951. Running time: 89 minutes. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan (Nick Scanlon), William Talman, Ray Collins, Joyce MacKenzie, Robert Hutton, Virginia Huston, William Conrad, Walter Sande, Les Tremayne, Don Porter, Walter Baldwin, Brett King, Richard Karlan, Tito Vuolo. Black and white.