Mark Robson (4 December 1913 – 20 June 1978) was a Canadian-American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, producer, and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

. Robson began his 45-year career in Hollywood as a film editor. He later began working as a director and producer. He directed 34 films during his career, including ''

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

'' (1949), ''

Bright Victory ''Bright Victory'' is a 1951 American drama romance war film directed by Mark Robson, and starring Arthur Kennedy and Peggy Dow. Plot During World War II, American sergeant Larry Nevins is blinded by a German sniper while fighting in North ...

'' (1951), ''

The Bridges at Toko-Ri ''The Bridges at Toko-Ri'' is a 1954 American war film about the Korean War and stars William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney, and Robert Strauss (actor), Robert Strauss. The film, which was directed by Mark Robson (film dire ...

'' (1954), '' Peyton Place'' (1957), '' The Inn of the Sixth Happiness'' (1958), '' Von Ryan's Express'' (1965), '' Valley of the Dolls'' (1967), and ''Earthquake'' (1974). Robson was twice nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Director The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibit ...

– for ''Peyton Place'' and ''The Inn of the Sixth Happiness'' – as well as four nominations for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing in Feature Films. Two of his films were nominated for the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

. In 1960, he received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

for his contributions to the motion picture industry.

Early life and education

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, he attended Roslyn Elementary School and Westmount High School in Montreal. He later studied at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

and Pacific Coast University School of Law. Robson then found work in the prop department at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

studios. He eventually went to work at

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

where he began training as a film editor.

Career

Editor

In 1940, he worked as an assistant to

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American filmmaker. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of Music'' (1965). He was als ...

on the editing of ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'', the film debut of

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. He and Wise also edited Welles' next movie, ''

The Magnificent Ambersons ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' is a 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington, the second in his ''Growth'' trilogy after '' The Turmoil'' (1915) and before ''The Midlander'' (1923, retitled ''National Avenue'' in 1927). It won the Pulitzer Prize for fict ...

'' (1942), and made drastic cuts to the ending of the film, which Welles disagreed with. Robson was promoted to editor for ''

The Falcon's Brother ''The Falcon's Brother'' is a 1942 American crime drama film in which George Sanders, who had been portraying " The Falcon" in a series of films, appears with his real-life brother Tom Conway; with Sanders handing off the series to Conway, who ...

'' (1942), an RKO B picture. He then edited '' Journey into Fear'' (1943), made by Orson Welles' company. The editing was again done without Welles' involvement.

Work with Val Lewton

Both Robson and Wise benefited from producer and screenwriter

Val Lewton Val Lewton (May 7, 1904 – March 14, 1951) was a Russian-American novelist, film producer, and screenwriter best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s. His son, also named Val Lewton, was a pai ...

, who was supervising a series of low budget horror films at RKO that have since become legendary. The first was '' Cat People'' (1942), directed by

Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known as an auteur of stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them for RKO Pictures, including ...

. Robson edited Lewton's next two films, both directed by Tourneur, ''

I Walked with a Zombie ''I Walked with a Zombie'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Val Lewton for RKO Pictures. It stars James Ellison, Frances Dee, and Tom Conway, and follows a Canadian nurse who travels to care for th ...

'' (1943) and '' The Leopard Man'' (1943).

Director

Lewton was so impressed with Robson's work that he promoted him to director for '' The Seventh Victim'' (1943). Lewton liked the result, so Robson directed '' The Ghost Ship'' (1943). Lewton also gave Robert Wise his first directing job, on ''

The Curse of the Cat People ''The Curse of the Cat People'' is a 1944 American psychological supernatural thriller filmEggert, Brian (October 22, 2017)"The Curse of the Cat People" Deep Focus Review. Retrieved 2019-03-16. directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, ...

'' (1944). Lewton wanted to make non-horror films and RKO allowed him to make ''

Youth Runs Wild ''Youth Runs Wild'' is a 1944 B movie directed by Mark Robson and starring Bonita Granville, Kent Smith, Jean Brooks, Glen Vernon and Vanessa Brown. The plot concerns inattentive parents and juvenile delinquency. The film was produced by ...

'' (1944), a juvenile delinquency story; Robson directed, but the film was not a commercial success. More popular was '' Isle of the Dead'' (1945) starring

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

. Lewton, Karloff and Robson reunited on '' Bedlam'' (1946), which lost money at the box office and turned out to be the last horror movie produced by Lewton.Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', ''Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television'', Vol 14, No 1, 1994, p. 46

Leaving RKO

Robson's success at RKO led to work on major film projects, and in 1949 he was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for his work on the

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

'', produced by

Stanley Kramer Stanley Earl Kramer (September 29, 1913February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer, responsible for making many of Hollywood's most famous " message films" (he called his movies ''heavy dramas'') and a liberal movie icon.

. Robson directed another film for Kramer, '' Home of the Brave'' (1949), one of the first films to deal with the issue of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

. Next Robson directed '' Roughshod'' (1949), a Western, for RKO, and '' My Foolish Heart'' (also 1949), a melodrama for producer Sam Goldwyn. Goldwyn then used Robson for '' Edge of Doom'' (1950) and '' I Want You'' (1951). Robson later called his Goldwyn period "one of the worst periods of my career". At Universal Robson made ''

'' (1951). Robson briefly brought Val Lewton and Robert Wise into a partnership for film and television production, only to drop the ailing Lewton without explanation a few months later. Robson and Wise produced '' Return to Paradise'' (1953), starring Gary Cooper. For

Warwick Films Warwick Films was a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick New York Hotel, Warwick Hotel in New York City where Broccoli and his wife were staying at the ...

, Robson directed

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...

in '' Hell Below Zero'' (1954). He made a comedy at Columbia, '' Phffft'' (1954), then had one of the biggest hits in his career with ''

'' (1954). This film won him another DGA nomination. Warwick Films used him again for '' A Prize of Gold'' (1955). He went to MGM to make ''

Trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

'' (1955). His boxing film, '' The Harder They Fall'' (1956), was based on a novel by

Budd Schulberg Budd Schulberg (born Seymour Wilson Schulberg; March 27, 1914 – August 5, 2009) was an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and sports writer. He was known for his novels '' What Makes Sammy Run?'' (1941) and ''The Harder They ...

. '' The Little Hut'' (1957), for MGM, was a huge hit. Even bigger was '' Peyton Place'' (1957), for 20th Century Fox. Robson was nominated for an

. He was nominated again the following year for directing

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, Bergman is often regarded as one of the most influential screen figures in cin ...

in '' The Inn of the Sixth Happiness''. For these films, he also received his third and fourth Directors Guild of America nominations.

Producer

Robson produced and directed ''

From the Terrace ''From the Terrace'' is a 1960 American DeLuxe Color romantic drama film in CinemaScope directed by Mark Robson from a screenplay by Ernest Lehman, based on the 1958 novel of the same name by John O'Hara. The film stars Paul Newman, Joanne Wo ...

'' (1960) starring

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...

. He produced '' The Inspector'' (1962) and ''

Nine Hours to Rama ''Nine Hours to Rama'' is a1963 British-American neo noir crime film directed by Mark Robson (film director), Mark Robson that follows a fictionalised Nathuram Godse in the hours before he Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated the India ...

'' (1963), the latter of which he also directed. After completing that film, Robson left Fox after a five-year association. Robson and Newman reunited on '' The Prize'' (1963) for MGM. It was a hit, as was '' Von Ryan's Express'' (1965), starring

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

, back at Fox. Robson produced and directed ''

Lost Command ''Lost Command'' (aka ''Les Centurions'') is a 1966 American war film directed and produced by Mark Robson (film director), Mark Robson and starring Anthony Quinn, Alain Delon, George Segal, Michèle Morgan, Maurice Ronet and Claudia Cardinale. I ...

'' (1966), a tale of the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

, and directed 1967's '' Valley of the Dolls'', a film panned by the critics, but a success at the box office.

Later films

Robson made a series of films that were commercially disappointing: '' Daddy's Gone A-Hunting'' (1969), '' Happy Birthday, Wanda June'' (1971), and ''

Limbo The unofficial term Limbo (, or , referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition in medieval Catholic theology, of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. However, it has become the gene ...

'' (1972). In 1974, he directed ''

Earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

'', the film that introduced "

Sensurround Sensurround is the brand name for a process created by MCA Inc., MCA and developed by Cerwin-Vega in conjunction with Universal Studios, Inc., Universal Studios to enhance the audio experience during film screenings, specifically for the 1974 film ...

Personal life

Robson was married to Sarah Naomi Riskind from 1936 until his death on 20 June 1978, from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in London after completing '' Avalanche Express''. The film was released a year after his death. The couple had three children. Robson is interred in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, he has a star on the

at 1722 Vine Street.

Filmography

Editor

* ''

'' (1941, assistant editor, uncredited) * ''

'' (1942, assistant editor, uncredited) * ''Mail Trouble'' (1942) * ''

'' (1942) * '' Cat People'' (1942) * '' Journey into Fear'' (1943) * ''

'' (1943) * '' The Leopard Man'' (1943)

Director

* '' The Seventh Victim'' (1943) * '' The Ghost Ship'' (1943) * ''

'' (1944) * '' Isle of the Dead'' (1945) * '' Bedlam'' (1946, also screenwriter) * ''

'' (1949) * '' Roughshod'' (1949) * '' Home of the Brave'' (1949) * '' My Foolish Heart'' (1949) * '' Edge of Doom'' (1950) * ''

'' (1951) * '' I Want You'' (1951) * '' Return to Paradise'' (1953, also producer) * '' Hell Below Zero'' (1954) * '' Phffft'' (1954) * ''

'' (1955) * '' A Prize of Gold'' (1955) * ''

'' (1955) * '' The Harder They Fall'' (1956) * '' The Little Hut'' (1957, also producer) * '' Peyton Place'' (1957) * '' The Inn of the Sixth Happiness'' (1958) * ''

'' (1960, also producer) * '' The Inspector'' (1962, producer only) * ''

'' (1963, also producer) * '' The Prize'' (1963) * '' Von Ryan's Express'' (1965) * ''

'' (1966, also producer) * '' Valley of the Dolls'' (1967, also producer) * '' Daddy's Gone A-Hunting'' (1969, also producer) * '' Happy Birthday, Wanda June'' (1971, also producer) * ''

'' (1972) * ''

'' (1974, also producer) * '' Avalanche Express'' (1979, also producer)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Mark 1913 births 1978 deaths Film directors from Los Angeles American film producers American film editors American people of Russian-Jewish descent Anglophone Quebec people Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery Film producers from Quebec Canadian film editors Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Film directors from Montreal University of California, Los Angeles alumni Naturalized citizens of the United States