Irving Reis (May 7, 1906 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
– July 3, 1953 in
Woodland Hills, California
Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
Geography
Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...
) was a
radio program
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio netwo ...
producer and director, and a film director.
Biography
Irving Reis was born into a Jewish family.
[http://www.hillsidememorial.org/pdfs/DistResBook_webversion3.pdf ]
Reis began his career as a motion picture photographer.
[Reis, Irving, ''Internet Movie Database'' (accessed December 28, 2015).]
/ref> The most notable of his screen efforts was being one of the photographers for '' The Hollywood Revue of 1929''.[
A 1931 notice in ''Variety'' declared that he was transitioning into a playwright. By 1933, ''Variety'' took notice of his radio play ''St. Louis Blues''. His radio play ''Meridian 7-1212'' first broadcast on January 24, 1935, received an "above par" comment from Variety. Observing that he wrote and produced the play, the unnamed reviewer noted the numerous radio effects, and that compared to his two previous radio plays, this was the best.
Reis was the creator of '']Columbia Workshop
''Columbia Workshop'' was a radio series that aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from 1936 to 1943, returning in 1946–47.
Irving Reis
The series began as the idea of Irving Reis. Reis had begun his radio career as an engineer and devel ...
'', the experimental anthology program on the radio, and its initial broadcast took place on July 18, 1936.
Reis departed for Hollywood on January 1, 1938 where he became a scriptwriter for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. In November 1939, Variety announced that Reis would be taking 10 weeks off from his script writing at Paramount to study film direction.
In February 1940, Variety announced that Reis had left Paramount to begin directing at RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...
. Among his motion picture credits are '' Enchantment'', ''Roseanna McCoy
''Roseanna McCoy'' is a 1949 American drama film directed by Irving Reis. The screenplay by John Collier, based on the 1947 novel of the same title by Alberta Hannum, is a romanticized and semi-fictionalized account of the Hatfield–McCoy feud. ...
'', ''The Big Street
''The Big Street'' is a 1942 American drama film starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, based on the 1940 short story "Little Pinks" by Damon Runyon, who also produced it. It was directed by Irving Reis from a screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass.
...
'', and the screen adaptation of Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
's play ''All My Sons'' (1948). Reis also directed the movie '' The Four Poster'', based on Jan de Hartog's play '' The Fourposter''.
Personal
Reis married writer Meta Arenson in Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
on August 10, 1938.
He died of cancer, leaving his wife and three children.["Irving Reis, Director, Dies," ''Boxoffice'' (July 11, 1953), p. 35.] Reis is buried in the Jewish Cemetery Hillside Memorial Park
The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (desi ...
.[
]
Selected filmography
* ''Too Much Business
''Too Much Business'' is a 1922 American silent comedy film directed by Jess Robbins and starring Edward Everett Horton, Ethel Grey Terry and Tully Marshall.Connelly p.285-85
Cast
* Edward Everett Horton as John Henry Jackson
* Ethel Grey ...
'' (1922)
* ''The Ladder Jinx
''The Ladder Jinx'' is a 1922 American silent comedy film directed by Jess Robbins and starring Edward Everett Horton, Margaret Landis and Tully Marshall.Munden p.411
Cast
* Edward Everett Horton as Arthur Barnes
* Margaret Landis as Hel ...
'' (1922)
* ''Breaking Into Society
''Breaking Into Society'' is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Hunt Stromberg and starring Carrie Clark Ward, Bull Montana, and Kalla Pasha.
Plot
As described in a film magazine review, the O'Toole's of Tin Can Alley inherit a gre ...
'' (1923)
* ''The Business of Love
''The Business of Love'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by Irving Reis and Jess Robbins and starring Edward Everett Horton, Barbara Bedford, and Zasu Pitts
Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American ac ...
'' (1925)
* ''Trout Fishing
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera ''Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmonid ...
'' (1932, short)
* ''One Crowded Night
''One Crowded Night'' is a 1940 drama film directed by Irving Reis.
Cast
* Billie Seward as Gladys
* William Haade as Joe Miller
* Charles Lang as Fred Matson (Navy deserter prisoner)
* Adele Pearce as Ruth Matson
* J.M. Kerrigan as Brother 'Doc ...
'' (1940)
* '' I'm Still Alive'' (1940)
* ''Footlight Fever
''Footlight Fever'' is a 1941 sequel to the 1940 comedy '' Curtain Call'', with Alan Mowbray and Donald MacBride.
Plot
Alan Mowbray and Donald MacBride reprise their roles as theatrical producers Donald Avery and Geoffrey 'Jeff' Crandall. This ti ...
'' (1941)
* ''The Gay Falcon
''The Gay Falcon'' is a 1941 B film, the first in a series of 16 films about a suave detective nicknamed The Falcon. Intended to replace the earlier The Saint detective series, the first film took its title from the lead character, Gay Laurenc ...
'' (1941)
* ''Weekend for Three
''Week-End for Three'' is a 1941 comedy film directed by Irving Reis and starring Dennis O'Keefe and Jane Wyatt.
Cast
*Dennis O'Keefe as Jim Craig
* Jane Wyatt as Ellen
*Phillip Reed as Randy
* Edward Everett Horton as Stonebraker
*ZaSu Pitts as ...
'' (1941)
* '' A Date with the Falcon'' (1942)
* ''The Falcon Takes Over
''The Falcon Takes Over'' (also known as ''The Falcon Steps Out''), is a 1942 black-and-white mystery film directed by Irving Reis. The B film was the third, following '' The Gay Falcon'' and '' A Date with the Falcon'' (1941), to star George ...
'' (1942)
* ''The Big Street
''The Big Street'' is a 1942 American drama film starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, based on the 1940 short story "Little Pinks" by Damon Runyon, who also produced it. It was directed by Irving Reis from a screenplay by Leonard Spigelgass.
...
'' (1942)
* '' Hitler's Children'' (1943)
* '' Crack-Up'' (1946)
* ''The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
''The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer'' (released as ''Bachelor Knight'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1947 American screwball romantic comedy-drama film directed by Irving Reis and written by Sidney Sheldon. The film stars Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, a ...
'' (1947)
* ''All My Sons
''All My Sons'' is a three-act Play (theatre), play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller. It opened on Broadway theatre, Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1949, and r ...
'' (1948)
* '' Enchantment'' (1948)
* ''Roseanna McCoy
''Roseanna McCoy'' is a 1949 American drama film directed by Irving Reis. The screenplay by John Collier, based on the 1947 novel of the same title by Alberta Hannum, is a romanticized and semi-fictionalized account of the Hatfield–McCoy feud. ...
'' (1949)
* '' Dancing in the Dark'' (1949)
* '' Of Men and Music'' (1951, documentary)
* ''Three Husbands
''Three Husbands'' is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Irving Reis and starring Eve Arden, Ruth Warrick, and Emlyn Williams.
Plot
When a recently deceased playboy, Max, gets to heaven, he is granted a wish. His request: to watch his ...
'' (1951)
* ''New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex
, Offi ...
'' (1951)
* '' The Four Poster'' (1952)
See also
*Columbia Workshop
''Columbia Workshop'' was a radio series that aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from 1936 to 1943, returning in 1946–47.
Irving Reis
The series began as the idea of Irving Reis. Reis had begun his radio career as an engineer and devel ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reis, Irving
1906 births
1953 deaths
Writers from New York City
American radio directors
American radio producers
American male screenwriters
Jewish American screenwriters
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Film directors from New York City
Screenwriters from New York (state)
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
20th-century American Jews