John Litel
Encyclopedia
John Litel was an American film actor. During World War I
, Litel enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery.
Back in the U.S. after the war, Litel enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
and began his stage career. In 1929, he started appearing in films. Part of the "Warner Bros. Stock Company" beginning in the 1930s, he appeared in dozens of Warner Bros.
films. He often played supporting roles such as hard-nosed cops, district attorneys, etc. He appeared in over 200 films, including Declaration of Independence
(1938), They Drive by Night
(1940), Knute Rockne, All American
(1940), They Died with Their Boots On
(1941), The Guilty (1947), Pitfall
(1948), Two Dollar Bettor (1951), Scaramouche
(1952), and his final film role in Nevada Smith
(1966).
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Litel enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery.
Back in the U.S. after the war, Litel enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
and began his stage career. In 1929, he started appearing in films. Part of the "Warner Bros. Stock Company" beginning in the 1930s, he appeared in dozens of Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
films. He often played supporting roles such as hard-nosed cops, district attorneys, etc. He appeared in over 200 films, including Declaration of Independence
Declaration of Independence (film)
Declaration of Independence is a 1938 short drama film directed by Crane Wilbur. It won an Academy Award at the 11th Academy Awards in 1939 for Best Short Subject .-Cast:* John Litel - Thomas Jefferson* Ted Osborne - Caesar Rodney...
(1938), They Drive by Night
They Drive by Night
They Drive by Night is a black-and-white film noir starring George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart, and directed by Raoul Walsh. The picture involves a pair of embattled truck drivers and was released in the UK under the title The Road to Frisco. The film was based on A. I...
(1940), Knute Rockne, All American
Knute Rockne, All American
Knute Rockne, All American is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan, Gale Page, Donald Crisp, Albert Bassermann, Owen Davis, Jr., Nick Lukats, Kane Richmond, William Marshall and William Byrne. It also...
(1940), They Died with Their Boots On
They Died with Their Boots On
They Died with Their Boots On is a 1941 western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Despite being rife with historical inaccuracies, the film was one of the top-grossing films of the year, being the last of eight Flynn–de Havilland collaborations.Like...
(1941), The Guilty (1947), Pitfall
Pitfall (1948 film)
Pitfall is a black-and-white 1948 film noir drama directed by André De Toth. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Jay Dratler, and was titled Tragedia a Santa Monica for its Italian release...
(1948), Two Dollar Bettor (1951), Scaramouche
Scaramouche (1952 film)
Scaramouche is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romantic adventure film based on the 1921 novel Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini as well as the 1923 film version starring Ramón Novarro. The film stars Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, and Mel Ferrer. It was directed by George Sidney and...
(1952), and his final film role in Nevada Smith
Nevada Smith
Nevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film starring Steve McQueen and made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway with Joseph E...
(1966).
Partial filmography
- Give Me LibertyGive Me Liberty (1936 film)Give Me Liberty is a 1936 short drama film, filmed in Technicolor, produced by Vitaphone, released by Warner Brothers and directed by B. Reeves Eason. It won an Academy Award in 1937 for Best Short Subject .-Cast:* John Litel - Patrick Henry...
(1936 short) - The Life of Emile ZolaThe Life of Emile ZolaThe Life of Emile Zola is a 1937 American biographical film about French author Émile Zola. Set in the mid through late 19th century, it depicts his friendship with noted painter Paul Cézanne, and his rise to fame through his prolific writing, with particular focus on his involvement in the Dreyfus...
(1937) - The Man Without a CountryThe Man Without a Country (1937 film)The Man Without a Country is a 1937 short drama film directed by Crane Wilbur in Technicolor. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1937 for Best Short Subject . It is a remake of the 1917 film of the same name, based on the story by Edward Everett Hale. Actor Holmes Herbert appeared in both...
(1937 short) - A Slight Case of MurderA Slight Case of MurderA Slight Case of Murder is a 1938 comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon. The film is based on a play by Damon Runyon and Howard Lindsay. The offbeat comedy stars Edward G...
(1938) - Gold is Where You Find ItGold Is Where You Find It"Gold is Where You Find It" is a Technicolor feature film, released on February 12, 1938 by Warner Brothers. It has a running time of 91 minutes.-Cast & Credits:* Director: Michael Curtiz* Producers: Jack L. Warner, Hal B...
(1938) - Jezebel (1938)
- My BillMy BillMy Bill is a 1938 drama film starring Kay Francis as a poor widow raising four children. It was based on the play Courage by Tom Barry.-Cast:*Kay Francis as Mary Colbrook*Bonita Granville as Gwendolyn Colbrook*John Litel as John C...
(1938) - The Amazing Dr. ClitterhouseThe Amazing Dr. ClitterhouseThe Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse is a 1938 American crime film starring Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor and Humphrey Bogart. It was directed by Anatole Litvak for Warner Bros. and written by John Wexley and John Huston, based on the first play written by short-story writer Barré Lyndon, which ran for...
(1938) - Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of Independence (film)Declaration of Independence is a 1938 short drama film directed by Crane Wilbur. It won an Academy Award at the 11th Academy Awards in 1939 for Best Short Subject .-Cast:* John Litel - Thomas Jefferson* Ted Osborne - Caesar Rodney...
(1938 short) - Nancy Drew and the Hidden StaircaseNancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (film)Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase is the fourth and last in a series of films starring Bonita Granville as teenage amateur detective Nancy Drew, Frankie Thomas as her boyfriend, and John Litel as her father. It was loosely based on the novel of the same name by Mildred Wirt Benson.-Plot:The...
(1939) - Nancy Drew... ReporterNancy Drew... ReporterNancy Drew... Reporter is a 1939 American film directed by William Clemens and starring Bonita Granville, as Nancy Drew.- Synopsis :Nancy Drew, competing in the local newspaper's amateur reporter contest, clears a girl named Eula Denning of murder charges.- Cast :*Bonita Granville as Nancy...
(1939) - Dust Be My DestinyDust Be My DestinyDust Be My Destiny is a drama film released in 1939. John Garfield stars as a man who gets into trouble after being sentenced to a work farm.-Plot:...
(1939) - On Dress ParadeOn Dress ParadeOn Dress Parade is a 1939 Warner Bros. film that marked the first time The Dead End Kids headlined a film without any other well-known actors.-Plot:...
(1939) - Dodge City (1939)
- The Return of Doctor XThe Return of Doctor XThe Return of Doctor X is a 1939 American science fiction-horror film directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Wayne Morris, Rosemary Lane, and Humphrey Bogart as the title character. It was based on the short story "The Doctor's Secret" by William J. Makin...
(1939) - The Fighting 69th (1940)
- Castle on the HudsonCastle on the HudsonCastle on the Hudson is a 1940 American drama film directed by Anatole Litvak and starring John Garfield, Ann Sheridan, and Pat O'Brien. A thief gets sent to Sing Sing Prison, where he is befriended by the reform-minded warden. The film was based on the book Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing,...
(1940) - Virginia CityVirginia City (film)Virginia City is a 1940 black-and-white movie starring Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, and Randolph Scott, and featuring a mustachioed Humphrey Bogart in the role of the real-life outlaw John Murrell. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz...
(1940) - It All Came TrueIt All Came TrueIt All Came True is a 1940 comedy film. It stars Humphrey Bogart as a gangster who hides from the police in a boarding house. Costar Ann Sheridan introduced the hit song "Angel in Disguise".-Cast:*Ann Sheridan as Sarah Jane Ryan...
(1940) - They Drive by NightThey Drive by NightThey Drive by Night is a black-and-white film noir starring George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart, and directed by Raoul Walsh. The picture involves a pair of embattled truck drivers and was released in the UK under the title The Road to Frisco. The film was based on A. I...
(1940) - Knute Rockne, All AmericanKnute Rockne, All AmericanKnute Rockne, All American is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien, Ronald Reagan, Gale Page, Donald Crisp, Albert Bassermann, Owen Davis, Jr., Nick Lukats, Kane Richmond, William Marshall and William Byrne. It also...
(1940) - Santa Fe TrailSanta Fe Trail (film)Santa Fe Trail is a 1940 western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The film was one of the top-grossing films of the year, being the seventh Flynn-de Havilland collaboration. The film also has nothing to do with its namesake, the famed Santa Fe Trail...
(1940) - They Died with Their Boots OnThey Died with Their Boots OnThey Died with Their Boots On is a 1941 western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Despite being rife with historical inaccuracies, the film was one of the top-grossing films of the year, being the last of eight Flynn–de Havilland collaborations.Like...
(1941) - Kid Glove KillerKid Glove KillerKid Glove Killer is a 1942 crime film starring Van Heflin as a criminologist investigating the murder of a mayor. The B film was the feature-length directorial debut of Fred Zinnemann.-Cast:*Van Heflin as Gordon McKay*Marsha Hunt as Jane Mitchell...
(1942) - So Proudly We Hail!So Proudly We Hail!So Proudly We Hail! is a 1943 film directed by Mark Sandrich, and starring Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard – who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance – and Veronica Lake...
(1943) - Crime DoctorCrime Doctor (film)Crime Doctor is a crime film starring Warner Baxter as a man with amnesia determined to remember his past. The film, released by Columbia Pictures, was based on the Crime Doctor radio program and was followed by nine sequels:...
(1943) - Brewster's MillionsBrewster's Millions (1945 film)Brewster's Millions is one of a number of adaptations of the novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon. An ex-serviceman, played by Dennis O'Keefe, receives an unusual inheritance....
(1945) - The Enchanted ForestThe Enchanted ForestThe Enchanted Forest is a 1945 family film starring Harry Davenport as a hermit who finds and raises a young boy in a forest. The film and story served as the inspiration for a 1998 music composition/recording "Enchanted Forest" by Loren Connors and Suzanne Langille.-Plot:The hermit, Uncle John,...
(1945) - Northwest TrailNorthwest TrailNorthwest Trail is a 1945 American contemporary Northwestern film directed by Derwin Abrahams shot in Cinecolor at Lake Hemet, California. It stars Bob Steele, Joan Woodbury and Madge Bellamy making a comeback appearance in her final film.-Plot:...
(1945) - San AntonioSan Antonio (film)San Antonio is a 1945 western Technicolor film starring Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith. The movie was written by W. R. Burnett and Alan Le May, and directed by David Butler as well as uncredited Robert Florey and Raoul Walsh....
(1945) - Sister KennySister KennySister Kenny is a 1946 biographical film about Sister Elizabeth Kenny, an Australian bush nurse, who fought to help people who suffered from polio, despite opposition from the medical establishment...
(1946) - The Beginning or the EndThe Beginning or the EndThe Beginning or the End is a 1947 film about the development of the atomic bomb in World War II.It was directed by Norman Taurog and starred Brian Donlevy and Hume Cronyn...
(1947) - The Guilty (1947)
- Christmas EveChristmas Eve (film)Christmas Eve is a 1947 United Artists comedy film directed by Edwin L. Marin. The movie is based on the story by Richard H. Landau and stars George Raft, George Brent and Randolph Scott...
(1947) - Cass TimberlaneCass TimberlaneCass Timberlane is a novel written by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1945. It is Sinclair Lewis' nineteenth novel and one of his last.It was made into a romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner, directed by George Sidney, and released in 1947.Timberlane is a minor character in...
(1947) - PitfallPitfall (1948 film)Pitfall is a black-and-white 1948 film noir drama directed by André De Toth. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Jay Dratler, and was titled Tragedia a Santa Monica for its Italian release...
(1948) - Kiss Tomorrow GoodbyeKiss Tomorrow GoodbyeKiss Tomorrow Goodbye is a 1950 film noir starring James Cagney, directed by Gordon Douglas and based on the novel by Horace McCoy. The film was banned in Ohio as "a sordid, sadistic presentation of brutality and an extreme presentation of crime with explicit steps in commission."Supporting Cagney...
(1950) - The Fuller Brush GirlThe Fuller Brush GirlThe Fuller Brush Girl is a 1950 slapstick comedy starring Lucille Ball and directed by Lloyd Bacon. Animator Frank Tashlin wrote the script. Ball plays a quirky door-to-door cosmetics salesperson for the Fuller Brush Company...
(1950) - Two-Dollar BettorTwo-Dollar BettorTwo Dollar Bettor is a 1951 black-and-white film. It is both a camp morality story and B-movie film noir.-Plot:A middle-aged man who places a two-dollar bet on a horse at the track and wins. The widower with two teenaged daughters becomes hooked on gambling and within a week he begins cashing in...
(1951) - Flight to MarsFlight to Mars (film)Flight to Mars is a Cinecolor science fiction film, written for the screen by Arthur Strawn, produced by Walter Mirisch for Monogram Pictures and directed by Lesley Selander. The film has some similarities to the Russian silent film Aelita...
(1951) - ScaramoucheScaramouche (1952 film)Scaramouche is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romantic adventure film based on the 1921 novel Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini as well as the 1923 film version starring Ramón Novarro. The film stars Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, and Mel Ferrer. It was directed by George Sidney and...
(1952) - Montana BelleMontana BelleMontana Belle is a 1952 western film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Jane Russell. The story is a fictionalised biography of Montana outlaw Belle Starr.-Plot:...
(1952) - The KentuckianThe KentuckianThe Kentuckian is a 1955 adventure film directed by Burt Lancaster, who also starred. It also marked the feature film debut of Walter Matthau. The picture is an adaptation of the novel The Gabriel Horn by Felix Holt...
(1955) - Texas LadyTexas LadyTexas Lady is a 1955 film made by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Tim Whelan, and starring Claudette Colbert, Barry Sullivan and Ray Collins It tells the story of a female publisher who finds that two ranch owner have been using the newspaper company to give back their debt.-Cast:*Claudette Colbert...
(1955) - ComancheComanche (1956 film)Comanche is a 1956 western film directed by George Sherman and starring Dana Andrews. The film has a theme song "A Man Is As Good As His Word" sung by The Lancers.-Plot synopsis:...
(1956) - Decision at SundownDecision at SundownDecision at Sundown is a 1957 western directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott.One of seven Boetticher/Scott western collaborations that also includes Seven Men from Now, The Tall T, Buchanan Rides Alone, Westbound, Ride Lonesome and Comanche Station.-Plot synopsis:Bart Allison ...
(1957) - HouseboatHouseboat (film)Houseboat is a 1958 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer, Paul Petersen, Charles Herbert and Mimi Gibson. The movie was directed by Melville Shavelson, who also directed the original 1968 version of Yours, Mine and Ours....
(1958) - Pocketful of MiraclesPocketful of MiraclesPocketful of Miracles is a 1961 American comedy film that stars Bette Davis and Glenn Ford, directed by Frank Capra. The screenplay by Hal Kanter and Harry Tugend is based on the screenplay Lady for a Day by Robert Riskin, which was adapted from the Damon Runyon short story "Madame La Gimp".The...
(1961) - Voyage to the Bottom of the SeaVoyage to the Bottom of the SeaVoyage to the Bottom of the Sea is an American science fiction film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, released by 20th Century Fox in 1961. The story was written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett. Walter Pidgeon starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson, with Robert Sterling as Captain Lee Crane...
(1961) - The Sons of Katie ElderThe Sons of Katie ElderThe Sons of Katie Elder is a 1965 Technicolor western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. The movie was filmed principally in Mexico....
(1965) - Nevada SmithNevada SmithNevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film starring Steve McQueen and made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway with Joseph E...
(1966)