Name : John Sturges
Birth : 3 January 1910
Died : 18 August 1992
Nationality :
Comment
John Sturges had an impact as a director of action films and particularly influencial western films. He worked as an assistant produced at RKO to Seleznick before WW2. After the war he joined Columbia directing B-pictures that turned around in 12 days. His directorial debut was in 1946 with The Man Who Dared. His first western was The Walking Hills in (1949). He then moved to MGM and in 1950 directed The Magnificent Yankee. Mystery STreet was unusual for the time in being more a forensic examination of a murder. In The People Against O'Hara he worked with Spencer Tracy who was one of the biggest stars at the time. With Jeopardy staring Barbara Stanwyck his direction lift the script to a better film. Bad Day At Black Rock was a more modern take on the western and the film that he considered to be his best film and got him an Oscar nomination for Best Director. Gun FIght At The OK Coral was a big commercial sucsess for him and arguably the best version of the story. Never So Few was a big star World War 2 drama. In 1960 he made probably his best known and influencial film The Magnificent Seven. This was followed in 1963 with his next best known film The Great Escape. After liht hearted western in Haalujah Trail he moved to the cold war with Ice Station Zebra. He turned to space for Marooned when he took over from Frank Capra for the film. His final film was the Eagal Has Landed.
The action in his films come from the characters in the films and in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape he made two of the best films made.
Director
Eagle Has Landed (1976)
MCQ (1974)
Joe Kidd (1972)
Marooned (1969)
Ice Station Zebra (1968)
The Satan Bug (1965)
Hallelujah Trail (1965)
The Great Escape (1963)
Magnificent Seven (1960)
Never So Few (1959)
The Old Man And The Sea (1958)
Gun FIght At The OK Coral (1957)
Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
Underwater (1955)
Jeopardy (1953)
The People Against O'Hara (1951)
Mystery Street (1950)
The Magnificent Yankee (1950)
The Walking Hills (1949)
The Man Who Dared (1946)
Producer
Great Escape (1963)
Hallelujah Trail (1965)
The Satan Bug (1965)
Magnificent Seven (1960)
Oscars