John Sturges
Encyclopedia
John Eliot Sturges was an American film director. His movies include Bad Day at Black Rock
(1955), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
(1957), The Magnificent Seven
(1960), The Great Escape
(1963) and Ice Station Zebra
(1968).
, he directed documentaries and training films for the US Army Air Corps
. Sturges's mainstream directorial career began in 1946 with The Man Who Dared, the first of many B-movie
s. He made imaginative use of the widescreen CinemaScope
format by placing Spencer Tracy
alone against a vast desert panorama in the suspense film Bad Day at Black Rock
for which he received a Best Director Oscar nomination in 1955. Over the course of his career, Sturges developed a reputation for elevated character-based drama within the confines of genre filmmaking. He was awarded the Golden Boot Award
in 1992 for his lifetime contribution to Westerns.
He once met with Akira Kurosawa
, who told him that he loved The Magnificent Seven
(which was a remake of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai) and presented him with a samurai sword. Sturges considered this the proudest moment of his professional career.
His biography, Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges by Glenn Lovell (former film critic for the San Jose Mercury News) was published by University of Wisconsin Press in 2008.
Bad Day at Black Rock
Bad Day at Black Rock is a 1955 thriller film directed by John Sturges that combines elements of Westerns and film noir. It tells the story of a mysterious stranger who arrives at a tiny isolated town in a desert of the southwest United States in search of a man...
(1955), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957 film)
The film was based on a real event which took place on October 26, 1881. It was directed by John Sturges and featuring a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris, and the movie's supporting cast included Rhonda Fleming, John Ireland, Jo Van Fleet, Martin Milner, Dennis Hopper, Jack Elam, Lee Van...
(1957), The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
(1960), The Great Escape
The Great Escape (film)
The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
(1963) and Ice Station Zebra
Ice Station Zebra (film)
Ice Station Zebra is a 1968 action film directed by John Sturges, starring Rock Hudson, Patrick McGoohan, Ernest Borgnine, and Jim Brown. The screenplay by Alistair MacLean, Douglas Heyes, Harry Julian Fink, and W.R. Burnett is loosely based upon MacLean's 1963 novel of the same name. Both have...
(1968).
Career
He started his career in Hollywood as an editor in 1932. During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he directed documentaries and training films for the US Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
. Sturges's mainstream directorial career began in 1946 with The Man Who Dared, the first of many B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s. He made imaginative use of the widescreen CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
format by placing Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
alone against a vast desert panorama in the suspense film Bad Day at Black Rock
Bad Day at Black Rock
Bad Day at Black Rock is a 1955 thriller film directed by John Sturges that combines elements of Westerns and film noir. It tells the story of a mysterious stranger who arrives at a tiny isolated town in a desert of the southwest United States in search of a man...
for which he received a Best Director Oscar nomination in 1955. Over the course of his career, Sturges developed a reputation for elevated character-based drama within the confines of genre filmmaking. He was awarded the Golden Boot Award
Golden Boot Awards
The Golden Boot Awards honor actors, actresses, and crew members who have made significant contributions to the genre of Western television and movies. The award is sponsored and presented by the Motion Picture & Television Fund...
in 1992 for his lifetime contribution to Westerns.
He once met with Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, who told him that he loved The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
(which was a remake of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai) and presented him with a samurai sword. Sturges considered this the proudest moment of his professional career.
His biography, Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges by Glenn Lovell (former film critic for the San Jose Mercury News) was published by University of Wisconsin Press in 2008.
Filmography
- The Man Who DaredThe Man Who DaredThe Man Who Dared is a 1946 film directed by John Sturges. It tells the story of a reporter who concocts a false case so as to get himself convicted for first degree murder. He does this to prove that the death sentence should be banned, because it can be given based on circumstantial evidence....
(1946) - ShadowedShadowedShadowed is a 1946 film directed by John Sturges....
(1946) - Alias Mr. Twilight (1946)
- For the Love of RustyFor the Love of RustyFor the Love of Rusty is a 1947 drama film directed by John Sturges. It was the third of the "Rusty" film series involving the adventures of German shepherd Rusty and his human companions - young Danny Mitchell and his pals...
(1947) - Keeper of the Bees (1947)
- Thunderbolt!Thunderbolt!Thunderbolt! is a 1947 film documenting the American aerial operations of Operation Strangle in early 1944, when American flyers based on Corsica successfully impeded Axis supply lines to the Gustav Line and Anzio beachhead....
(1947) - The Sign of the RamThe Sign of the RamThe Sign of the Ram is an American film noir directed by John Sturges and written by Charles Bennett, based on a novel written by Margaret Ferguson. The drama features Susan Peters, Alexander Knox, among others.-Plot:The story tells of Leah St...
(1948) - Best Man Wins (1948)
- The Walking Hills (1949)
- The Magnificent Yankee (1950)
- The CaptureThe Capture (film)The Capture is a 1950 drama film starring Lew Ayres and Teresa Wright. The story deals with an ex-oil worker driven by guilt at causing the death of an innocent man to find out the truth about a robbery.-Synopsis:...
(1950) - Mystery StreetMystery StreetMystery Street is a black-and-white film noir directed by John Sturges with cinematography by famed lensman John Alton. The film stars Ricardo Montalban, Bruce Bennett, and Elsa Lanchester....
(1950) - Right CrossRight CrossRight Cross is a 1950 drama film directed by John Sturges, written by Armand Deutsch and starring June Allyson, Ricardo Montalban, Dick Powell, Lionel Barrymore, and Marilyn Monroe.-Cast:*June Allyson ... Pat O'Malley...
(1950) - Kind Lady (1951)
- The People Against O'HaraThe People Against O'HaraThe People Against O'Hara is a 1951 film noir based on Eleazar Lipsky's novel. The movie stars Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien, and James Arness, and is directed by John Sturges, who also directed the The Great Escape.- Plot :...
(1951) - It's a Big CountryIt's a Big CountryIt's a Big Country is a 1951 anthology film directed by Clarence Brown, Don Hartman, John Sturges, Richard Thorpe, Charles Vidor, Don Weis, and William A. Wellman.-External links:...
(1951) - The Girl in WhiteThe Girl in WhiteThe Girl in White is a 1952 anthology film directed by John Sturges....
(1952) - JeopardyJeopardy (1953 film)Jeopardy is a 1953 suspense film directed by John Sturges. The black-and-white film stars Ralph Meeker as an escaped killer. The film was based on a 22 minute radio play, "A Question of Time."-Plot:...
(1953) - Fast Company (1953)
- Escape from Fort BravoEscape from Fort BravoEscape from Fort Bravo is a 1953 western film set during the American Civil War. It stars William Holden, Eleanor Parker, and John Forsythe.-Plot:...
(1953) - Bad Day at Black RockBad Day at Black RockBad Day at Black Rock is a 1955 thriller film directed by John Sturges that combines elements of Westerns and film noir. It tells the story of a mysterious stranger who arrives at a tiny isolated town in a desert of the southwest United States in search of a man...
(1955) - Underwater!Underwater!Underwater! is a 1955 adventure film directed by John Sturges and starring Jane Russell and Richard Egan.-Plot synopsis:Johnny and his wife Theresa , along with mercenary Dominic Quesada , priest Father Cannon and Gloria , the boat owner, go searching for sunken treasure in the Caribbean...
(1955)
- The Scarlet CoatThe Scarlet CoatThe Scarlet Coat is an Eastmancolor 1955 American historical drama and swashbuckler directed by John Sturges, based upon the events in the American Revolution in which Benedict Arnold offered to surrender the fort at West Point to the British in exchange for money.The film purports to tell the...
(1955) - BacklashBacklash (1956 film)Backlash is a 1956 Technicolor film released by Universal-International Pictures. It was directed by John Sturges , and unfolds in the vein of the psychological Western Backlash is a 1956 Technicolor film released by Universal-International Pictures. It was directed by John Sturges (with whom...
(1956) - Gunfight at the O.K. CorralGunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957 film)The film was based on a real event which took place on October 26, 1881. It was directed by John Sturges and featuring a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris, and the movie's supporting cast included Rhonda Fleming, John Ireland, Jo Van Fleet, Martin Milner, Dennis Hopper, Jack Elam, Lee Van...
(1957) - Saddle the WindSaddle the WindSaddle the Wind is a Western film directed Robert Parrish and written by Rod Serling.-Plot:Retired gunslinger and former Confederate soldier Steve Sinclair is living as a rancher in a small western community. He collaborates with the main landowner Dennis Deneen , from whom he rents the ranch, to...
(1958) (uncredited) - The Law and Jake WadeThe Law and Jake WadeThe Law and Jake Wade is a 1958 western released by MGM, based on the 1956 novel by Marvin H. Albert and directed by the legendary John Sturges. The title name, Jake Wade is a now reformed town sheriff marshal with a past that will soon catch up with him...
(1958) - The Old Man and the SeaThe Old Man and the Sea (1958 film)The Old Man and the Sea is a 1958 film starring Spencer Tracy, in a portrayal for which he was nominated for a best actor Oscar. The screenplay was adapted by Peter Viertel from the novella of the same name by Ernest Hemingway, and the film was directed by John Sturges...
(1958) - Last Train from Gun HillLast Train from Gun HillLast Train from Gun Hill is a 1959 Western by action director John Sturges. It stars Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones and Earl Holliman. Douglas and Holliman had previously appeared together in Sturges' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which used much of the same crew.The script is by James...
(1959) - Never So FewNever So FewNever So Few 1959 CinemaScope war film directed by John Sturges and starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Charles Bronson, Dean Jones and Steve McQueen with uncredited roles by renowned Asian actors Mako, George Takei and James Hong. The script was loosely based on an actual OSS...
(1959) - The Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
(1960) - By Love PossessedBy Love Possessed (film)By Love Possessed is a 1961 drama film distributed by United Artists. The movie was directed by John Sturges, and written by Charles Schnee, based on the novel by James Gould Cozzens...
(1961) - Sergeants 3 (1962)
- A Girl Named TamikoA Girl Named TamikoA Girl Named Tamiko is a 1962 drama film directed by John Sturges.He was half Oriental...but he used the women of two continents WITHOUT SHAME OR GUILT!....
(1963) - The Great EscapeThe Great Escape (film)The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
(1963) - The Satan BugThe Satan BugThe Satan Bug is a science fiction film directed by John Sturges that stars George Maharis and Anne Francis. It was loosely adapted from Alistair MacLean's 1962 novel of the same name...
(1965) - The Hallelujah TrailThe Hallelujah TrailThe Hallelujah Trail is a 1965 Western spoof directed by John Sturges and starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick, Brian Keith, Donald Pleasence, and Martin Landau, amongst others.-Plot synopsis:...
(1965) - Hour of the GunHour of the GunHour of the Gun is 1967 Western film starring James Garner and depicting Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday during their 1881 battles against Ike Clanton and his brothers in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and the gunfight's aftermath in and around Tombstone, Arizona.The film is based on the non fiction...
(1967) - Ice Station ZebraIce Station Zebra (film)Ice Station Zebra is a 1968 action film directed by John Sturges, starring Rock Hudson, Patrick McGoohan, Ernest Borgnine, and Jim Brown. The screenplay by Alistair MacLean, Douglas Heyes, Harry Julian Fink, and W.R. Burnett is loosely based upon MacLean's 1963 novel of the same name. Both have...
(1968) - MaroonedMarooned (film)Marooned is a 1969 American film directed by John Sturges and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus, and Gene Hackman....
(1969) - Joe KiddJoe KiddJoe Kidd is a 1972 American western film starring Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall, written by Elmore Leonard and directed by John Sturges....
(1972) - Chino (1973)
- McQMcQMcQ is a 1974 crime drama starring John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, and Colleen Dewhurst. The film made extensive use of actual Seattle locations. The beach scenes were filmed on the Pacific coast at Moclips.The film features a young Roger E...
(1974) - The Eagle Has LandedThe Eagle Has Landed (film)The Eagle Has Landed is a 1976 film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. It was directed by John Sturges and starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall...
(1976)