Oscar Apfel

Director

About

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Also Known As

Oscar C. Apfel

Birth Place

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Born

January 17, 1879

Died

March 21, 1938

Biography

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Entering film as a director in 1911, Apfel enjoyed several successful collaborations with Cecil B. DeMille (notably on "The Squaw Man" 1914), before moving to Fox and then free-lancing for a number of years. His behind-the-camera career faded by the late 1920s, though, and subsequently he found steady work as a character actor in the sound era, most typically in distinguished, authoritat...

Filmography

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When Seconds Count (1927)

Cheaters (1927)

Code of the Cow Country (1927)

Somebody's Mother (1926)

Perils of the Coast Guard (1926)

The Call of the Klondike (1926)

Photos & Videos

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Sidewalks Of New York (1931) -- (Movie Clip) Raise Your Right Hand

Romance In Manhattan (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Let's See Your Money

Biography

Entering film as a director in 1911, Apfel enjoyed several successful collaborations with Cecil B. DeMille (notably on "The Squaw Man" 1914), before moving to Fox and then free-lancing for a number of years. His behind-the-camera career faded by the late 1920s, though, and subsequently he found steady work as a character actor in the sound era, most typically in distinguished, authoritative roles.

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

When Seconds Count (1927)

Cheaters (1927)

Code of the Cow Country (1927)

Somebody's Mother (1926)

Perils of the Coast Guard (1926)

The Call of the Klondike (1926)

Midnight Limited (1926)

Race Wild (1926)

The Last Alarm (1926)

The Thoroughbred (1925)

Borrowed Finery (1925)

The Sporting Chance (1925)

The Heart Bandit (1924)

The Social Code (1923)

A Man's Man (1923)

In Search of a Thrill (1923)

Trail of the Law (1923)

Bulldog Drummond (1923)

The Wolf's Fangs (1922)

The Man Who Paid (1922)

Auction of Souls (1922)

The Lion's Mouse (1922)

Ten Nights in a Bar Room (1921)

Bringing Up Betty (1919)

An Amateur Widow (1919)

The Oakdale Affair (1919)

The Crook of Dreams (1919)

The Little Intruder (1919)

Phil for Short (1919)

Auction of Souls (1919)

The Steel King (1919)

Mandarin's Gold (1919)

The Rough Neck (1919)

Me and Captain Kidd (1919)

A Man's Man (1918)

Merely Players (1918)

To Him That Hath (1918)

The Turn of a Card (1918)

The Grouch (1918)

The Interloper (1918)

The Price of Her Soul (1917)

The Hidden Children (1917)

The Battle of Hearts (1916)

The Fires of Conscience (1916)

The Man from Bitter Roots (1916)

The End of the Trail (1916)

Fighting Blood (1916)

A Man of Sorrow (1916)

Peer Gynt (1915)

The Wild Olive (1915)

After Five (1915)

The Rug Maker's Daughter (1915)

The Broken Law (1915)

The Little Gypsy (1915)

A Soldier's Oath (1915)

The Only Son (1914)

The Call of the North (1914)

Brewster's Millions (1914)

The Man on the Box (1914)

The Circus Man (1914)

Ready Money (1914)

The Ghost Breaker (1914)

The Master Mind (1914)

The Squaw Man (1914)

The Last Volunteer (1914)

The Bawlerout (1913)

The Passer-By (1912)

Martin Chuzzlewit (1912)

The Black Arrow (1911)

Cast (Feature Film)

Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937)

Jim Hanvey, Detective (1937)

Crack-Up (1937)

Rustler's Valley (1937)

Trouble in Morocco (1937)

Colonel DeRouget

Shadows of the Orient (1937)

The Fire Trap (1937)

Fifty Roads to Town (1937)

The Soldier and the Lady (1937)

Conquest (1937)

The Toast of New York (1937)

We Who Are About to Die (1937)

Career Woman (1936)

Medical examiner

San Francisco (1936)

Singer in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"

Till We Meet Again (1936)

Sutter's Gold (1936)

Hearts in Bondage (1936)

The Plot Thickens (1936)

[H. G.] Robbins

Missing Girls (1936)

Hollywood Boulevard (1936)

And Sudden Death (1936)

Counsel for the defense

Bridge of Sighs (1936)

Bulldog Edition (1936)

Murder at Glen Athol (1936)

Reuben Marshall

Every Saturday Night (1936)

Back to Nature (1936)

36 Hours to Kill (1936)

Man in wash room

15 Maiden Lane (1936)

The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)

Dante's Inferno (1935)

Romance in Manhattan (1935)

O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935)

Carnival (1935)

Mary Jane's Pa (1935)

Party Wire (1935)

Cappy Ricks Returns (1935)

T. Osgood Blake

His Night Out (1935)

The Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)

President Malloy

Death Flies East (1935)

[Wallace P.] Burroughs

The Nut Farm (1935)

Rainbow's End (1935)

The Best Man Wins (1935)

Chief of police

Another Face (1935)

Dr. H. J. Buler

This Is the Life (1935)

Department. of Justice chief

Silk Hat Kid (1935)

School principal

Page Miss Glory (1935)

Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

Speaker of assembly

The Big Shakedown (1934)

The Old Fashioned Way (1934)

I Am a Thief (1934)

Crimson Romance (1934)

Take the Stand (1934)

White Lies (1934)

Whirlpool (1934)

Madame Spy (1934)

Fifteen Wives (1934)

District Attorney Kerry

Are We Civilized? (1934)

Dr. Leonard Gear

The House of Rothschild (1934)

Prussian officer

Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934)

A Wicked Woman (1934)

The Firebird (1934)

Rasputin and the Empress (1933)

Emergency Call (1933)

Tomorrow at Seven (1933)

Ladies Must Love (1933)

The Bowery (1933)

Before Dawn (1933)

Chief John F. O'Hara

Hold the Press (1933)

Only Yesterday (1933)

The Story of Temple Drake (1933)

District Attorney

The World Changes (1933)

One Man's Journey (1933)

Symphony of Six Million (1932)

Hot Saturday (1932)

Mr. [Ed. W.] Randolph

A Successful Calamity (1932)

Make Me a Star (1932)

You Said a Mouthful (1932)

Two Against the World (1932)

The World and the Flesh (1932)

When a Fellow Needs a Friend (1932)

False Faces (1932)

The Famous Ferguson Case (1932)

Business and Pleasure (1932)

P. D. Weatheright

The Man Who Played God (1932)

High Pressure (1932)

The Heart of New York (1932)

It's Tough to Be Famous (1932)

Shopworn (1932)

State's Attorney (1932)

Mr. Ulric [sic]

Alias the Doctor (1932)

The Impatient Maiden (1932)

Hell's Highway (1932)

[William] Billings

The Woman from Monte Carlo (1932)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)

Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce

Madame Racketeer (1932)

J. Harrington Hagney

When a Feller Needs a Friend (1932)

The Maltese Falcon (1931)

District Attorney

Huckleberry Finn (1931)

The King, [Senior]

Inspiration (1931)

Misbehaving Ladies (1931)

Mayor Twitchell

Way Back Home (1931)

Judge Edwin Luther

Big Business Girl (1931)

Sidewalks of New York (1931)

The Finger Points (1931)

Managing editor Wheeler

Men in Her Life (1931)

The attorney [Bill Blake]

The Bargain (1931)

Five Star Final (1931)

[Bernard] Hinchecliffe

The Spoilers (1930)

The Virtuous Sin (1930)

The Right To Love (1930)

Man Trouble (1930)

The Texan (1930)

Abraham Lincoln (1930)

Secretary of War

Half-way to Heaven (1929)

True Heaven (1929)

Not Quite Decent (1929)

Marianne (1929)

Smiling Irish Eyes (1929)

Romance of the Underworld (1928)

The Valley of Hunted Men (1928)

The Heart of Broadway (1928)

Writer (Feature Film)

Somebody's Mother (1926)

The Hidden Children (1917)

The Battle of Hearts (1916)

A Man of Sorrow (1916)

The End of the Trail (1916)

Fighting Blood (1916)

The Man from Bitter Roots (1916)

Peer Gynt (1915)

A Soldier's Oath (1915)

The Broken Law (1915)

Producer (Feature Film)

The Oakdale Affair (1919)

The Steel King (1919)

Me and Captain Kidd (1919)

Cast (Short)

Angel of Mercy (1939)

The Perfect Tribute (1935)

You Said a Hatful! (1934)

It Happened One Day (1934)

You Bring the Ducks (1934)

Helping Grandma (1930)

Life Events

1911

Film directing debut

1914

Co-directed C.B. DeMille's directorial debut "The Squaw Man," which was also one of the earliest feature-length films made in the US

1916

Joined Fox studios

1927

Directed last film

1928

Focused career on acting; earliest films in which he only acted included "The Heart of Broadway"

1937

Last acting roles in features included those in "History Is Made at Night" and "The Toast of New York"

Videos

Sidewalks Of New York (1931) -- (Movie Clip) Raise Your Right Hand Rich landlord Harmon (Buster Keaton) and minion Poggle (Cliff Edwards) arrive at court where the judge (Oscar Apfel) is investigating the giant neighborhood brawl, in Keaton’s third MGM talkie, into which he had no creative input, in Sidewalks Of New York, 1931.

Romance In Manhattan (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Let's See Your Money Sweeping introduction to New York for hunky Francis Lederer, Prague-born, already an international stage and screen star, in one of his first Hollywood roles as Czech immigrant Karel Novak, running into trouble with Immigration, opening Romance In Manhattan, 1934, also starring Ginger Rogers.

Shopworn (1932) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Not Cheap, I'm Not Common! Society doyenne Mrs. Livingston (Clara Blandick) and friend Judge Forbes (Oscar Apfel) drop in on working-class Kitty (Barbara Stanwyck) where her college-man son David Livingston (Regis Toomey) delivers shocking news, in Shopworn, 1932.

I Am A Thief (1934) -- (Movie Clip) Impertinent Fellow After an opening with worried bankers plotting to trap jewel thieves, we meet the principals at a Paris auction, Ricardo Cortez as "Londais," Mary Astor as "Odette," the losing bidder, and Dudley Digges as the bumbling American "Jackson," in I Am A Thief, 1934, directed by Robert Florey.

World Changes, The (1933) -- (Movie Clip) The Smell Of Our Business More compressed history, cattle man Orin Nordholm (Paul Muni) becomes partner to his mentor (Guy Kibbee), marries his daughter (Mary Astor) and parries cynical mourners (Sidney Toler, Oscar Apfel, William Burress) when the man expires, in the meat industry quasi-epic The World Changes, 1933.

Squaw Man, The (1914) -- (Movie Clip) Beginning Of The Feud Wacky sequence from C.B. DeMille in his first feature, first in England, then hero Jim (Dustin Farnum) in scenes introducing the Indian characters (Joseph E. Singleton, Princess Red Wing) in The Squaw Man, 1914.

Match King, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Your Vast Holdings Having swindled his pals back in Chicago, Paul (Warren William) home in Sweden with his thoroughly conned uncle (Oscar Apfel), who needs a bailout, old pal Erik (Hardie Albright) later posing questions, in Warner Bros.' fact-based The Match King, 1932.

Hell's Highway (1932) -- (Movie Clip) The Kid's Soft Work sequence from director Roland Brown, old hand Duke (Richard Dix) appeals to chain gang boss Skinner (C. Henry Gordon) on behalf of new man Carter (John Arledge), in RKO's Hell's Highway, 1932.

Firebird, The - (Original Trailer) A young girl's secret romance is exposed when her lover is murdered in The Firebird (1934) starring Ricardo Cortez.

Finger Points, The - (Original Trailer) A naive reporter (Richard Barthelmess) takes payoffs for keeping a prominent gangster out of the papers in The Finger Points (1931) co-starring Fay Wray.

Big Business Girl - (Original Trailer) A college girl (Loretta Young) uses her brains and her legs to conquer the business world in Big Business Girl (1931).

Alias the Doctor - (Original Trailer) Brothers with different work ethics clash while attending medical school in Alias the Doctor (1932) starring Richard Barthelmess.

Heart of New York, The - (Original Trailer) When he invents a new washing machine, a plumber becomes a millionaire in The Heart of New York (1932).

High Pressure - (Original Trailer) William Powell is a scheming promoter who tries to get rich selling artificial rubber in the comedy High Pressure (1932).

Rasputin and the Empress - (Original Trailer) John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore star in Rasputin and the Empress (1932), the true story of the mad monk who plotted to rule Russia.

Successful Calamity, A -- (Original Trailer) Rich George Arliss is ignored by his family, so he tells them he's gone broke in A Successful Calamity (1932).

Page Miss Glory - (Original Trailer) A con artist creates a composite photo to win a beauty contest, then has to find the real thing in Page Miss Glory (1935) starring Marion Davies.

O'Shaughnessy's Boy - (Original Trailer) Circus performer Wallace Beery searches for the son his wife stole from him in O'Shaughnessy's Boy (1935).

Conquest - (Original Trailer) Charles Boyer is Napoleon, Greta Garbo the Polish countess sent to seduce him to gain her country's independence.

Famous Ferguson Case, The - (Original Trailer) Two reporters interested in different stories write about a murder, The Famous Ferguson Case (1932).

Bibliography

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