John Sturges

Director

About

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Also Known As

John Eliot Sturges

Birth Place

Oak Park, Illinois, USA

Born

January 03, 1910

Died

August 18, 1992

Cause of Death

Emphysema

Biography

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Reliable Hollywood craftsman who established his reputation in the mid-1950s with a series of intense, morally charged features such as "Bad Day at Black Rock" (1954) and "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957), before moving on to bigger--though not especially better--productions.Sturges began his career as an editor, co-directed the war documentary, "Thunderbolt" (1945), with William Wyle...

Filmography

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The Eagle Has Landed (1976)

Joe Kidd (1972)

Marooned (1969)

Photos & Videos

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Underwater! (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Telling Theresa

Underwater! (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Don't Go Down There!

Family & Companions

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Dorothy Lynn Brooks

Wife

Married on January 5, 1945; divorced.

Katherine Sturges

Wife

Survived him.

Biography

Reliable Hollywood craftsman who established his reputation in the mid-1950s with a series of intense, morally charged features such as "Bad Day at Black Rock" (1954) and "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957), before moving on to bigger--though not especially better--productions.

Sturges began his career as an editor, co-directed the war documentary, "Thunderbolt" (1945), with William Wyler, and subsequently specialized in action and western features. Other notable films include "The Magnificent Seven" (1960), "The Great Escape" (1963) and--Howard Hughes' favorite movie--"Ice Station Zebra" (1968).

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

The Eagle Has Landed (1976)

Joe Kidd (1972)

Marooned (1969)

Ice Station Zebra (1968)

Hour of the Gun (1967)

The Satan Bug (1965)

The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

The Great Escape (1963)

Sergeants 3 (1962)

A Girl Named Tamiko (1962)

By Love Possessed (1961)

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Never So Few (1959)

Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)

The Law and Jake Wade (1958)

The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Backlash (1956)

Underwater! (1955)

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

The Scarlet Coat (1955)

Jeopardy (1953)

Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)

Fast Company (1953)

It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1952)

Seq [two] Director

The Girl in White (1952)

The Magnificent Yankee (1951)

Kind Lady (1951)

The People Against O'Hara (1951)

Right Cross (1950)

The Capture (1950)

Mystery Street (1950)

The Walking Hills (1949)

Best Man Wins (1948)

The Sign of the Ram (1948)

Keeper of the Bees (1947)

For the Love of Rusty (1947)

The Man Who Dared (1946)

Shadowed (1946)

Alias Mr. Twilight (1946)

Cast (Feature Film)

The Spencer Tracy Legacy (1986)

Producer (Feature Film)

Hour of the Gun (1967)

The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

The Satan Bug (1965)

The Great Escape (1963)

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Editing (Feature Film)

Syncopation (1942)

Scattergood Meets Broadway (1941)

Tom, Dick and Harry (1941)

They Knew What They Wanted (1940)

Gunga Din (1939)

Production Companies (Feature Film)

Marooned (1969)

Hour of the Gun (1967)

Life Events

1932

Worked as assistant in blueprint department, then in art department, RKO-Radio Pictures

1934

Became assistant film editor, then production assistant for David O. Selznick

1946

Signed as a director by Columbia; diretorial debut "The Man Who Dared"

1949

Joined MGM

1960

Began working on independent productions; co-founded The Mirisch Company

1977

Directed last film, "The Eagle Has Landed"

Photo Collections

Marooned - Movie Poster

Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Marooned (1969), starring Gregory Peck, David Janssen, and Gene Hackman. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Bad Day at Black Rock - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here is a group of photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), starring Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan and Anne Francis.

Mystery Street - Movie Poster

Here is an original release American window card poster for Mystery Street (1950), starring Ricardo Montalban.

Videos

Underwater! (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Telling Theresa Johnny (Richard Egan) narrates as he and pal Dom (Gilbert Roland) spring their sunken treasure scheme on Theresa (who turns out to be a Latina Jane Russell), early in producer Howard Hughes' Underwater!, 1955.

Underwater! (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Don't Go Down There! In a big payoff scene, Johnny (Richard Egan) dives to the sunken wreck and Theresa (Jane Russell) finally unveils the red suit (featured in the promotional campaign, seen above-decks for the first time) then gets trapped, in Underwater!, 1955, produced by Howard Hughes.

Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) My First Name Is Captain At a Scottish naval base, American sub commander Ferraday (Rock Hudson) and crew (Ted Hartley, Sherwood Price) receive smug British agent Jones (Patrick McGoohan) who’s not explaining his mission, relating to a polar research outpost, in Ice Station Zebra, 1968, from an Alistair MacLean novel.

Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) If You Must Have A Suspect British spy Jones (Patrick McGoohan), Russian defector Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine) and Commander Ferraday (Rock Hudson) discuss a submarine sabotage attempt in Ice Station Zebra, 1968, from the Alistair MacLean novel.

Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) Now Now, Comrade! Commander Ferraday (Rock Hudson) surfaces to pick up Russian defector Vaslov (Ernest Borgnine), warmly greeted by British spy Jones (Patrick McGoohan) in John Sturges' Ice Station Zebra, 1968, from the Alistair MacLean novel.

Ice Station Zebra (1968) -- (Movie Clip) I Measure An Officer's Weakness Commander Ferraday (Rock Hudson) has just met tough Marine captain Anders (Jim Brown), brought aboard his sub to command an untested combat team, taking over for junior Lt. Walker (Tony Bill), in writer Alistair MacLean’s Cold War espionage thriller Ice Station Zebra, 1968.

People Against O'Hara, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) Three Beers Nicely staged urban crime by director John Sturges, photographed by John Alton, character actor Jay C. Flippen the sailor-bystander who will turn up later, opening The People Against O'Hara, 1951.

People Against O'Hara, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) No Thanks, Knuckles Recovering alcoholic prosecutor turned defense lawyer Curtayne (Spencer Tracy) is summoned to see gangster "Knuckles" Lanzetta (Eduardo Ciannelli) and trophy wife (Yvette Duguay), early in MGM's The People Against O'Hara, 1951.

People Against O'Hara, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) We Plead Not Guilty First court appearance for Spencer Tracy as recovering-alcoholic and ex-prosecutor Curtayne, defending accused killer and family friend Johnny (James Arness), John Hodiak the prosecutor, Henry O’Neill the judge, then a jail visit, angered because Johnny isn’t telling him everything, in The People Against O’Hara, 1951.

People Against O'Hara, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) Old Friends The O'Hara's (Louise Lorimer, Arthur Shields) appeal to their old neighbor, the recovering alcoholic prosecutor-turned-defense lawyer Curtayne (Spencer Tracy) on behalf of their son, early in John Sturges' The People Against O'Hara, 1951.

Right Cross (1950) -- (Movie Clip) He's A Good Boy Second scene, we meet the leading man, boxer Johnny (Ricardo Montalban) who, it turns out, is not only professionally involved with Pat (June Allyson), the daughter of his manager, and who himself has other prospects (Barry Kelley), early in MGM's Right Cross, 1950, directed by John Sturges.

Right Cross (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Nice Future Picking Lettuce Injured boxer Johnny (Ricardo Montalban) is sharing about family back in Mexico with writer pal Rick (Dick Powell) when his girlfriend Pat (June Allyson, who was also Mrs. Powell), the daughter of Johnny's manager arrives, bringing some tension, in MGM's Right Cross, 1950.

Great Escape, The - (Original Trailer) Thrown together by the Germans, a group of captive Allied troublemakers plot a daring prison breakout in The Great Escape (1963) starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough.

By Love Possessed - (Original Trailer) Lana Turner's desperate search for love leads to an affair with her husband's law partner in John Sturges' By Love Possessed (1961).

Old Man and the Sea, The - (Original Trailer) A Cuban fisherman (Spencer Tracy) believes his long dry spell will end when he catches a legendary fish in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea (1958).

Kind Lady - (Original Trailer) A con artist (Maurice Evens) and his criminal cohorts hold an old lady (Ethel Barrymore) hostage in her own home in KInd Lady, 1951, directed by John Sturges.

Escape From Fort Bravo -- (Original Trailer) William Holden has to keep Confederate prisoners in while keeping Apaches out in the color western Escape From Fort Bravo (1953).

Marooned - (Original Trailer) Three U.S. astronauts face a slow death when their rockets fail during a space voyage in Marooned (1969) starring Gregory Peck.

Underwater! -- (Original Trailer) Divers race the clock to find a Caribbean treasure before modern-day pirates can catch up to them in Underwater! (1955).

Hallelujah Trail, The - (Original Trailer) Indians, soldiers and temperance women fight to control a wagon train hauling whiskey along The Hallelujah Trail (1965).

Magnificent Yankee, The - (Original Trailer) Lionel Barrymore, though not appearing in the film himself, takes the lead in MGM's trailer for The Magnificent Yankee 1950, starring Louis Calhern as the famed American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Law and Jake Wade, The - (Original Trailer) An outlaw (Richard Widmark) forces his reformed buddy (Robert Taylor) to lead him to buried loot in The Law and Jake Wade (1958).

Scarlet Coat, The - (Original Trailer) An American officer (Cornel Wilde) goes undercover to unmask a Revolutionary War traitor in the adventure movie The Scarlet Coat (1955).

Never So Few - (Black-and-white Trailer) A U.S. military troop takes command of a band of Burmese guerillas during World War II in Never So Few (1959).

Family

Deborah Lynn Sturges Wyle

Daughter

Michael Eliot Sturges

Son

Companions

Dorothy Lynn Brooks

Wife

Married on January 5, 1945; divorced.

Katherine Sturges

Wife

Survived him.

Bibliography

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