Joseph H. Lewis
1907 - 2000Joseph H. Lewis (April 6, 1907–August 30, 2000), was an American B-movie film director.
Although he worked with both Béla Lugosi (The Invisible Ghost) and Lionel Atwill in early 1940s horror, he is best known for his work in film noir from the late 40s and the 1950s. His most acclaimed feature, Gun Crazy (1949), is a dark romance about gun-obsession, and notable for its use of location photography.
At the dawn of his career (1937–1940), when Lewis was directing inexpensive westerns, he earned the derogatory nickname "Wagon-Wheel Joe" from the studio editors, because of his tendency to use wagon-wheels for constructing interesting visual compositions within the frame.
Lewis's offbeat and eye-catching compositions added style and value to inexpensive productions. His 1944 musical Minstrel Man, starring singer Benny Fields, is quite possibly the finest film ever made by low-budget PRC Pictures. Industry insiders noticed, prompting Columbia Pictures to hire Lewis to film the musical sequences for its blockbuster musical The Jolson Story.
Toward the end of Lewis's career, he worked in television, directing mostly westerns: The Rifleman, Bonanza, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, and the pilot for Branded.
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Gun Crazy
Joseph H. Lewis
Peggy Cummins, John Dall
Bart Tare is an ex-Army man who has a lifelong fixation with guns, he meets a kindred spirit in sharpshooter Annie Starr and goes to work at a carnival. After upsetting the carnival owner who lusts after Starr, they both get fired. Soon, on Starr's behest, they embark on a crime spree for cash.
Gun Crazy
Blazing Six Shooters
Joseph H. Lewis
Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith
The story revolves around a valuable silver deposit, located between two ranches. Villain Lash Bender cooks up a scheme to gain control of both ranches so that he may have a clear field to the silver lode.
Blazing Six Shooters
The Return of Wild Bill
Joseph H. Lewis
Bill Elliott, Iris Meredith
When Matt Kilgore and his men frame and then hang an innocent man, Lige Saunders sends for his son Wild Bill who arrives to find his father shot by Matt's brother. When the brother is killed in his fight with Bill, Matt sends two fake Deputies to arrest Bill whom he then plans to hang. But Matt's sister, attracted to Bill, overhears the plan and rides for help.
The Return of Wild Bill
The Undercover Man
Joseph H. Lewis
Glenn Ford, Nina Foch
Frank Warren is a treasury agent assigned to put an end to the activities of a powerful mob crime boss. Frank works undercover, posing as a criminal to seek information, but is frustrated when all he finds are terrified witnesses and corrupt police officers.
The Undercover Man
Two-Fisted Rangers
Joseph H. Lewis
Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith
Thad Lawson arrives in Oak Valley to avenge the murder of his brother, the local sheriff. He learns that Jack Rand, powerful overlord of the town is to blame. After Rand murders newspaper publisher Jordan Webster, Thad sets out to put him behind bars.
Two-Fisted Rangers
Retreat, Hell!
Joseph H. Lewis
Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson
During the Korean War, a U.S. Marine battalion must fight its way out of a frozen mountain pass despite diminishing supplies, freezing temperatures and constant attacks by overwhelming numbers of Chinese soldiers.
Retreat, Hell!
Texas Stagecoach
Joseph H. Lewis
Charles Starrett, Iris Meredith
The Kinkaids and the Harpers both run stage lines and are friendly competitors. Appleby is after the stage line and convinces the two owners to build a spur line to the same town. Then he has both projects sabotaged pitting the friends against each other and running them out of money.
Texas Stagecoach
So Dark the Night
Joseph H. Lewis
Steven Geray, Micheline Cheirel
Inspector Cassin, a renowned Paris detective, departs to the country for a much-needed break. There he falls in love with the innkeeper’s daughter, Nanette, who is already betrothed to a local farmer. On the evening of their engagement party, Nanette and the farmer both disappear. Cassin takes up the case immediately to discover what happened to them and who is responsible.
So Dark the Night
The Last Stand
Joseph H. Lewis
Bob Baker, Glenn Strange
Tip Douglas is sent after cattle rustlers, the same rustlers that murdered his father. Posing as a notorious outlaw, he is able to join the gang. Learning that the gang's boss Thorn Evans killed his father, he and sidekick Pepper set a trap when he learns of their next raid.
The Last Stand
