The Lives of Robert Ryan

by J. R. Jones

  ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951) Director: Nicholas Ray. Producer: John Houseman. Screenwriter: A. I. Bezzerides. Adaptation: A. I. Bezzerides, Nicholas Ray, from Gerald Butler’s novel Mad with Much Heart. Photography: George E. Diskant. Editor: Roland Gross. Music: Bernard Herrmann. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: December 17, 1951. Running time: 82 minutes. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan (Jim Wilson), Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Anthony Ross, Ed Begley, Ian Wolfe, Sumner Williams, Gus Schilling, Frank Ferguson, Cleo Moore, Olive Carey, Richard Irving, Pat Prest, A. I. Bezzerides (uncredited). Black and white.

  CLASH BY NIGHT (1952) Director: Fritz Lang. Producer: Harriet Parsons. Screenwriter: Alfred Hayes, from the play by Clifford Odets. Photography: Nicholas Musuraca. Editor: George Amy. Music: Roy Webb. Production: Wald-Krasna Productions. Distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: June 16, 1952. Running time: 105 minutes. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan (Earl Pfeiffer), Marilyn Monroe, J. Carrol Naish, Silvio Minciotti, Keith Andes. Black and white.

  BEWARE, MY LOVELY (1952) Director: Harry Horner. Producer: Collier Young. Screenwriter: Mel Dinelli, from his play The Man. Photography: George E. Diskant. Editor: Paul Weatherwax. Music: Leith Stevens. Production: The Filmmakers. Distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: August 7, 1952. Running time: 77 minutes. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan (Howard Wilton), Taylor Holmes, Barbara Whiting, James Willmas, O. Z. Whitehead, Dee Pollock, Brad Morrow, Jimmy Mobley, Shelly Lynn Anderson, Ronnie Patterson, Jeanne Eggenweiler. Black and white.

  HORIZONS WEST (1952) Director: Budd Boetticher. Producer: Albert J. Cohen. Screenwriter: Louis Stevens. Photography: Charles P. Boyle. Editor: Ted J. Kent. Music: Joseph Gershenson. Production: Universal-International Pictures. Distribution: Universal Pictures. Release date: October 11, 1952. Running time: 81 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Dan Hammond), Julie Adams, Rock Hudson, Judith Braun, John McIntire, Raymond Burr, James Arness, Dennis Weaver, Frances Bavier, Tom Powers, John Hubbard, Rodolfo Acosta, Douglas Fowley, Walter Reed, Raymond Greenleaf, Dan Poore, Frank Chase, Mae Clarke. Color.

  THE NAKED SPUR (1953) Director: Anthony Mann. Producer: William H. Wright. Screenwriter: Sam Rolfe, Harold Jack Bloom. Photography: William Mellor. Editor: George White. Music: Bronislau (aka Bronislaw) Kaper. Production and distribution: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Release date: February 6, 1963. Running time: 91 minutes. Cast: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan (Ben Vandergroat), Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell, Denver Pyle. Color.

  CITY BENEATH THE SEA (1953) Director: Budd Boetticher. Producer: Albert J. Cohen. Screenwriters: Jack Harvey, Ramon Romero, from Harry E. Rieseberg’s book Port Royal: The Ghost City beneath the Sea. Photography: Charles P. Boyle. Editor: Edward Curtiss. Music: Joseph Gershenson. Production: Universal-International Pictures. Distribution: Universal Pictures. Release date: March 11, 1953. Running time: 87 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Brad Carlton), Mala Powers, Anthony Quinn, Suzan Ball, George Mathews, Karel Stepanek, Hilo Hattie, Lalo Rios, Woody Strode, John Warburton, Peter Mamakos, Barbara Morrison, LeRoi Antoine, Leon Lontoc, Marya Marco. Color.

  INFERNO (1953) Director: Roy Ward Baker. Producer: William Bloom. Screenwriter: Francis M. Cockrell, from his story “The Waterhole.” Photography: Lucien Ballard. Editor: Robert L. Simpson. Music: Paul Sawtell. Production and distribution: 20th Century-Fox. Release date: August 12, 1953. Running time: 83 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Donald Whitley Carson III), Rhonda Fleming, William Lundigan, Larry Keating, Henry Hull, Carl Betz, Robert Burton. Color, 3-D.

  ALASKA SEAS (1954) Director: Jerry Hopper. Producer: Mel Epstein. Screenwriters: Walter Doniger, Geoffrey Homes (aka Daniel Mainwaring). Story: Barrett Willoughby. Photography: William C. Mellor. Editor: Archie Marshek. Production and distribution: Paramount Pictures. Release date: January 27, 1954. Running time: 78 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Matt Kelly), Jan Sterling, Brian Keith, Gene Barry, Richard Shannon, Ralph Dumke, Ross Bagdasarian, Fay Roope, Timothy Carey, Peter Coe, Jim Hayward, Aaron Spelling. Black and white.

  ABOUT MRS. LESLIE (1954) Director: Daniel Mann. Producer: Hal B. Wallis. Screenwriters: Ketti Frings, Hal Kanter, from the novel by Viña Delmar. Photography: Ernest Laszlo. Editor: Warren Low. Music: Victor Young. Production and distribution: Paramount Pictures. Release date: June 27, 1954. Running time: 104 minutes. Cast: Shirley Booth, Robert Ryan (George Leslie), Marjie Millar, Alex Nicol, Sammy White, James Bell, Eilene Janssen, Philip Ober, Harry Morgan, Gale Page, Virginia Brissac, Ian Wolfe, Ellen Corby. Black and white.

  HER TWELVE MEN (1954) Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Producer: John Houseman. Screenwriters: William Roberts, Laura Z. Hobson. Story: Louise Baker. Photography: Joseph Ruttenberg. Editor: George Boemler. Music: Bronislau (aka Bronislaw) Kaper. Production and distribution: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Release date: August 11, 1954. Running time: 91 minutes. Cast: Greer Garson, Robert Ryan (Joe Hargrave), Barry Sullivan, Richard Haydn, Barbara Lawrence, James Arness, Rex Thompson, Tim Considine, David Stollery, Frances Bergen, Ian Wolfe. Color.

  BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955) Director: John Sturgess. Producer: Dore Schary. Screenwriter: Millard Kaufman. Adaptation: Don McGuire, from Howard Breslin’s story “Bad Time at Honda.” Photography: William C. Mellor. Editor: Newell P. Kimlin. Music: André Previn. Production and distribution: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Release date: January 7, 1955. Running time: 81 minutes. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan (Reno Smith), Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Russell Collins, Walter Sande. Color, CinemaScope.

  ESCAPE TO BURMA (1955) Director: Alan Dwan. Producer: Benedict Bogeaus. Screenwriters: Talbot Jennings, Hobart Donavan. Story: Kenneth Perkins. Photography: John Alton. Editors: James Leicester, Carlo Lodato. Music: Louis Forbes. Production: Benedict Bogeaus Production. Distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: April 9, 1955. Running time: 83 minutes. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan (Jim Brecan), David Farrar, Murvyn Vye, Lisa Montell, Robert Warwick, Reginald Denny, Robert Cabal, Peter Coe, Alex Montoya, Anthony Numkena. Color, Superscope.

  HOUSE OF BAMBOO (1955) Director: Samuel Fuller. Producer: Buddy Adler. Screenwriters: Harry Kleiner, additional dialogue by Samuel Fuller. Photography: Joe MacDonald. Editor: James B. Clarke. Music: Leigh Harline. Production and distribution: 20th Century-Fox. Release date: July 1, 1955. Running time: 103 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Sandy Dawson), Robert Stack, Shirley Yamaguchi, Cameron Mitchell, Brad Dexter, Sessue Hayakawa, Biff Elliott, Sandro Giglio, Elko Hanabusa. Color, CinemaScope.

  THE TALL MEN (1955) Director: Raoul Walsh. Producers: William A. Bacher, William B. Hawks. Screenwriters: Sydney Boehm, Frank Nugent, from the novel by Clay Fisher. Photography: Leo Tover. Editor: Louis R. Loeffler. Music: Victor Young. Production and distribution: 20th Century-Fox. Release date: September 22, 1955. Running time: 122 minutes. Cast: Clark Gable, Jane Russell, Robert Ryan (Nathan Stark), Cameron Mitchell, Juan Garcia, Harry Shannon, Emile Meyer, Steve Darrell. Color, CinemaScope.

  THE PROUD ONES (1956) Director: Robert D. Webb. Producer: Robert L. Jacks. Screenwriters: Edmund North, Joseph Petracca, from the novel by Verne Athanas. Photography: Lucien Ballard. Editor: Hugh S. Fowler. Music: Lionel Newman. Production and distribution: 20th Century-Fox. Release date: May 1956. Running time: 94 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Marshal Cass Silver), Virginia Mayo, Jeffrey Hunter, Robert Middleton, Walter Brennan, Arthur O’Connell, Ken Clark, Rodolfo Acosta, George Mathews, Fay Roope, Edward Platt, Whit Bissell. Color, CinemaScope.

  BACK FROM ETERNITY (1956) Director: John Farrow. Producer: John Farrow. Screenwriter: Jonathan Latimer, from the story by Richard Carroll. Photography: William Mellor. Editor: Eda Warren. Music: Franz Waxman. Production and distribution: RKO Radio Pictures. Release date: September 7, 1956. Running time: 100 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Bill Lonagan), Anita Ekberg, Rod Steiger, Phyllis Kirk, Keith Andes, Gene Barry, Fred Clark, Beulah Bondi, Cameron Prud’Homme, Jesse White, Adele Mara, Jon Provost. Black and white, RKO-Scope.

  MEN IN WAR (1956) Director: Anthony Mann. Produce
r: Sidney Harmon. Screenwriters: Philip Yordan, Ben Maddow (uncredited), from Van Van Praag’s novel Day Without End (Combat). Photography: Ernest Haller. Editor: Richard C. Meyer. Music: Elmer Bernstein. Production: Security Pictures. Distribution: United Artists. Release date: September 7, 1956. Running time: 98 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Lieutenant Benson), Aldo Ray, Robert Keith, Phillip Pine, Nehemiah Persoff, Vic Morrow, James Edwards, L. Q. Jones, Scott Marlowe, Adam Kennedy, Race Gentry, Walter Kelley, Anthony Ray, Robert Normand, Michael Miller, Victor Sen Yung. Black and white.

  LONELYHEARTS (1958) Director: Vincent J. Donehue. Producer: Dore Schary. Screenwriter: Dore Schary, from Howard Teichmann’s play and Nathanael West’s original novel Miss Lonelyhearts. Photography: John Alton. Editors: Aaron Stell, John Faure. Music: Conrad Salinger. Production: Schary Productions. Distribution: United Artists. Release date: 1958. Running time: 100 minutes. Cast: Montgomery Clift, Robert Ryan (William Shrike), Myrna Loy, Dolores Hart, Jackie Coogan, Mike Kellin, Frank Maxwell, Frank Overton, Onslow Stevens, and introducing Maureen Stapleton. Black and white.

  GOD’S LITTLE ACRE (1958) Director: Anthony Mann. Producer: Sidney Harmon. Screenwriter: Philip Yordan, from the novel by Erskine Caldwell. Photography: Ernest Haller. Editor: Richard C. Meyer. Music: Elmer Bernstein. Production: Security Pictures. Distribution: United Artists. Release date: August 13, 1958. Running time: 118 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Ty Ty Walden), Aldo Ray, Buddy Hackett, Jack Lord, Fay Spain, Vic Morrow, Helen Westcott, Lance Fuller, Rex Ingram, Michael Landon, Russell Collins, Davis Roberts, Janet Brandt, and introducing Tina Louise. Black and white.

  DAY OF THE OUTLAW (1959) Director: André de Toth. Producer: Sidney Harmon. Screenwriter: Philip Yordan, from the novel by Lee E. Wells. Photography: Russell Harlan. Editor: Robert Lawrence. Music: Alexander Courage. Production: Security Pictures. Distribution: United Artists. Release date: July 1959. Running time: 92 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Blaise Starrett), Burl Ives, Tina Louise, Alan Marshal, Venetia Stevenson, David Nelson, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Lambert, Frank DeKova, Lance Fuller, Elisha Cook Jr., Dabbs Greer, Betsey Jones-Moreland, Helen Westcott, Donald Elson, Robert Cornthwaite, Michael McGreevey. Black and white.

  ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (1959) Director: Robert Wise. Producer: Robert Wise. Screenwriters: Abraham Polonsky, Nelson Gidding, from the novel by William P. McGivern. Photography: Joseph Brun. Editor: Dede Allen. Music: John Lewis. Production: HarBel Productions. Distribution: United Artists. Release date: October 15, 1959. Running time: 96 minutes. Cast: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan (Earle Slater), Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Gloria Grahame, Will Kuluva, Kim Hamilton, Mae Barnes, Richard Bright, Carmen De Lavallade, Lew Gallo, Wayne Rogers. Black and white.

  ICE PALACE (1960) Director: Vincent Sherman. Producer: Henry Blanke, Harry Kleiner (uncredited). Screenwriter: Harry Kleiner, from the novel by Edna Ferber. Photography: Joseph F. Biroc. Editor: William H. Ziegler. Music: Max Steiner. Production and distribution: Warner Bros. Release date: January 2, 1960. Running time: 143 minutes. Cast: Richard Burton, Robert Ryan (Thor Storm), Martha Hyer, Jim Backus, Carolyn Jones, Ray Danton, Diane McBain. Karl Swenson, Shirley Knight, Barry Kelley, Sheridan Comerate, George Takei, Steve Harris. Color.

  THE CANADIANS (1961) Director: Burt Kennedy. Producer: Herman E. Webber. Screenwriter: Burt Kennedy. Photography: Arthur Ibbetson. Editor: Douglas Robertson. Music: Douglas Gamley. Production: Associated Producers, 20th Century-Fox Productions. Distribution: 20th Century-Fox. Release date: March 11, 1961. Running time: 85 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Inspector William Gannon), John Dehner, Torin Thatcher, Burt Metcalfe, John Sutton, Jack Creley, Scott Peters, Richard Alden, Teresa Stratas.

  KING OF KINGS (1961) Director: Nicholas Ray. Producer: Samuel Bronston. Screenwriters: Philip Yordan, Ray Bradbury (uncredited narration). Photography: Franz F. Planer, Milton Krasner, Manuel Berenguer. Editors: Harold F. Kress, Renee Lichtig (uncredited). Music: Miklos Rozsa. Production: Samuel Bronston Productions (uncredited). Distribution: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Release date: October 11, 1961. Running time: 168 minutes. Cast: Jeffrey Hunter, Siobhan McKenna, Hurd Hatfield, Ron Randell, Viveca Lindfors, Rita Gam, Carmen Sevilla, Brigid Bazlen, Harry Guardino, Rip Torn, Frank Thring, Guy Rolfe, Royal Dano, Robert Ryan (John the Baptist), Orson Welles (voice-over narration, uncredited). Color, Technirama.

  THE LONGEST DAY (1962) Directors: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, Gerd Oswald (uncredited). Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck. Screenwriter: Cornelius Ryan, from his book, with additional scenes by Romain Gary, James Jones, David Pursall, Jack Seddon. Photography: Jean Bourgoin, Walter Wottitz. Editor: Samuel E. Beetley. Music: Maurice Jarre. Production and distribution: 20th Century-Fox. Release date: September 25, 1962. Running time: 178 minutes. Cast: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Curd Jürgens, Richard Todd, Richard Burton, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Irina Demick, Gert Fröbe, Edmond O’Brien, Kenneth More, Robert Ryan (Brigadier General James M. Gavin). Black and white.

  BILLY BUDD (1962) Director: Peter Ustinov. Producer: Peter Ustinov. Screenwriters: Peter Ustinov, DeWitt Bodeen, Robert Rossen (uncredited), from Herman Melville’s story “Billy Budd, Sailor” and Louis O. Coxe and Robert H. Chapman’s play Uniform of Flesh. Photography: Robert Krasker. Editor: Jack Harris. Music: Antony Hopkins. Production: Anglo Allied. Distribution: Allied Artists Pictures. Release date: October 30, 1962. Running time: 123 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (John Claggart, Master of Arms), Peter Ustinov, Melvyn Douglas, Paul Rogers, John Neville, David McCallum, Ronald Lewis, Lee Montague, Thomas Heathcote, Ray McAnnally, Robert Brown, John Meillon, Cyril Luckham, Niall McGinnis, Victor Brooks, Barry Keegan, and introducing Terence Stamp. Black-and-white, CinemaScope.

  THE INHERITANCE (1964) Director: Harold Mayer. Producer: Harold Mayer. Screenwriter: Millard Lampell. Photography: Edmund B. Gerard, Jesse Paley, Leonard Stark. Editor: Lawrence Silk. Music: George Kleinsinger. Production and distribution: Harold Mayer Productions. Release date: November 8, 1964. Running time: 58 min. Cast: Robert Ryan (narrator). Black and white.

  THE CROOKED ROAD (1965) Director: Don Chaffey. Producer: David Henley. Screenwriters: J. Garrison, Don Chaffey. Adaptation: J. Garrison, from Morris L. West’s novel The Big Story. Photography: Stephen Dade. Editor: Peter Tanner. Music: Bojan Adamic. Production: Argo Film Productions, Triglar Films, Trident Films. Distribution: Seven Arts Pictures. Release date: February 3, 1965. Running time: 92 minutes. Cast: Robert Ryan (Richard Ashley), Stewart Granger, Nadia Gray, Marius Goring, Katherine Woodville, George Coulouris, Robert Rietty, Milan Micic, Demeter Bitenc, Slobodan Dimitrijevic, Murray Kash, Vladimir Bacic, Niksa Stefani. Black and white.

  THE SECRET AGENTS (1965) Directors: Christian-Jaque, Werner Klingler, Carlo Lizzani, Terence Young. Producers: Richard Hellman, Eugéne Tucherer. Screenwriters: Philippe Bouvard, Jacques Caborie, Christian-Jaque, Ennio De Concini, Jo Eisinger, Jacques Rémy. Photography: Richard Angst. Editor: Franco Fraticelli. Music: Robert Mellin, Gian Piero Reverberi. Production: American International Pictures, Eichberg-Film, Euro International Film, Fair Film, Franco London Films, Landau/Unger. Distribution: American International Pictures. Release date: June 23, 1965 (France); April 13, 1966 (US). Running time: 118 minutes. Cast: Henry Fonda, Vittorio Gassman, Annie Girardot, Robert Ryan (General Bruce), Bourvil, Peter van Eyck, Maria Grazia Bucella, Jacques Sernas, Robert Hossein. Black and white. Note: Released in the United States as The Dirty Game, with a running time of 87 minutes and no credit for director Werner Klingler, whose scenes were deleted.

  BATTLE OF THE BULGE (1965) Director: Ken Annakin. Producers: Sidney Harmon, Milton Sperling, Philip Yordan. Screenwriters: Philip Yordan, Milton Sperling, John Melson. Photography: Jack Hildyard. Editor: Derek Parsons. Music: Benjamin Frankel. Production: United States Pictures, Cinerama Productions Corp., and Warner Bros. Distribution: Warner Bros. Release date: December 16, 1965. Running time: 167 minutes. Cast: Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, Robert Ryan (General Grey), Dana Andrews, George Montgomery, Ty Hardin, Pier Angeli,
Barbara Werle, Charles Bronson, Hans Christian Blech, Werner Peters, James MacArthur, Telly Savalas. Color, Ultra-Panavision.

  THE PROFESSIONALS (1966) Director: Richard Brooks. Producer: Richard Brooks. Screenwriter: Richard Brooks, from Frank O’Rourke’s novel A Mule for the Marquesa. Photography: Conrad Hall. Editor: Peter Zinner. Music: Maurice Jarre. Production: Pax Enterprises. Distribution: Columbia Pictures. Release date: November 2, 1966. Running time: 117 minutes. Cast: Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan (Hans Ehrengard), Woody Strode, Burt Lancaster, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy, Claudia Cardinale, Joe De Santis, Rafael Bertrand, Jorge Martinez de Hoyos, Marie Gomez, José Chavez, Carlos Romero, Vaughn Taylor. Color.

  THE BUSY BODY (1966) Director: William Castle. Producer: William Castle. Screenwriter: Ben Starr, from the Donald Westlake novel. Photography: Harold Stine. Editor: Edwin H. Bryant. Music: Vic Mizzy. Production: William Castle Productions. Distribution: Paramount Pictures. Release date: March 12, 1966. Running time: 101 minutes. Cast: Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan (Charley Barker), Anne Baxter, Kay Medford, Jan Murray, Richard Pryor, Arlene Golonka, Charles McGraw, Ben Blue, Dom DeLuise, Bill Dana, Godfrey Cambridge, Marty Ingels, George Jessel. Color.

  THE DIRTY DOZEN (1966) Director: Robert Aldrich. Producer: Kenneth Hyman. Screenwriters: Nunnally Johnson, Lukas Heller, from the novel by E. M. Nathanson. Photography: Edward Scaife. Editor: Michael Luciano. Music: Frank De Vol. Production: MKH and Seven Arts Productions. Distribution: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Release date: June 15, 1967. Running time: 150 minutes. Cast: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Trini Lopez, Ralph Meeker, Robert Ryan (Colonel Everett Dasher Breed), Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Clint Walker, Robert Webber. Color.