Ford Ingalsbe Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films. He specialized in

B-movies A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, s ...

– mostly Westerns – and action serials, working on the "Buck Rogers" and "Flash Gordon" serials for

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

Life

Ford Beebe was born on November 26, 1888, in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. Before moving to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

he was a freelance writer who was also experienced in advertising. He arrived in Hollywood in 1916 and began working as a writer for

Western films The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the Frontier Thesis, new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier b ...

. His first credit was as scenario writer for the 1916 film '' A Youth of Fortune''. Beebe directed for the first time when

Leo D. Maloney Leo Daniel Maloney (January 4, 1888 – November 2, 1929) was an American film actor, film director, director, film producer, producer, and screenwriter of the silent film, silent era. Biography Leo Daniel Maloney was born on January 4, 188 ...

, who had been directing a film called ''The Test'', fell ill. Beebe became known as a director of low-budget films and serials. He was once described as being "an expert at making something out of nothing." The first serial directed by Beebe was 1932's '' The Shadow of the Eagle''. He went on to direct several other serials, notably '' Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars'', ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily American newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, b ...

'', ''

The Green Hornet The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell (director), James Jewell. Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas i ...

'', and '' Don Winslow of the Navy''; these were noted by film historian Hal Erickson to be the best of Beebe's works. Beebe preferred to direct westerns; speaking to the ''

Evening Independent The ''Evening Independent'' was St. Petersburg, Florida's first daily newspaper. The sister evening newspaper of the '' St. Petersburg Times'', it was launched as a weekly newspaper in March 1906 under the ownership of Willis B. Powell. In Nove ...

'', he said that westerns were the "bread and butter" of film studios. One western has become a historical landmark: '' Overland Bound'' (1929), written by Ford Beebe, was the very first "all-talking" western. While he was primarily an action specialist, Ford Beebe was a good all-around director capable of handling various genres.

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

hired Beebe to film the live-action reference footage for the "Pastorale" sequence in '' Fantasia'' (1940). Beebe's work on

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

's 1942 thriller ''

Night Monster ''Night Monster'' is a 1942 American black-and-white horror film featuring Bela Lugosi and produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures Company. The movie uses an original story and screenplay by Clarence Upson Young and wa ...

'' was praised by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

, who was impressed with the speed and economy of the production. When singing star

Gloria Jean Gloria Jean (born Gloria Jean Schoonover; April 14, 1926 – August 31, 2018) was an American actress and singer who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films from 1939 to 1959, and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub app ...

's movie contract was due to expire within one month, Universal needed a musical feature quickly, and assigned Ford Beebe to direct '' Easy to Look At'' (1945).

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

launched a string of juvenile jungle adventures in 1949; Ford Beebe directed all 12 entries in the ''

Bomba, the Jungle Boy ''Bomba, the Jungle Boy'' is a series of American boys' adventure books produced by the Stratemeyer Syndicate under the pseudonym Roy Rockwood. and published by Cupples and Leon in the first half of the 20th century, in imitation of the successfu ...

'' series and scripted 10 of them himself.

Personal life

Beebe was married to writer Frances Wiley. The couple had eight children. Their only son, Ford Beebe, Jr., became a director like his father. They lost twin daughters in infancy and had five daughters who survived it: Frances, Mary, Ruthann, Maxine, and Martha. In Beebe's later life he was married to Kitty Delevanti, with whom he had one son, Mike.

Selected filmography

References

; Notes ; Bibliography * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beebe, Ford 1888 births 1978 deaths American male screenwriters Film directors from Michigan Film serial crew Western (genre) film directors American science fiction film directors 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters