Joseph Kane
1894 - 1975Jasper Joseph Inman Kane (19 March 1894, San Diego – 25 August 1975, Santa Monica, California) was a prolific American film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for his extensive directorship and focus on western films.
Kane began his career as a professional cellist. In 1934 he took an interest in film directing and, starting in 1935, he co-directed serials for Mascot Pictures and Republic Pictures. He soon became Republic's top Western film director.
Kane's first directorial credit was for The Fighting Marines (1935). When Mascot Pictures and several other small film companies amalgamated into Republic Pictures in 1935, Kane became staff director, remaining at the studio until it ceased production in 1958. He piloted many Gene Autry and Roy Rogers movies and directed John Wayne in films such as The Lawless Nineties (1936) and Flame of Barbary Coast (1944), and Joseph Schildkraut on The Cheaters (1945). Between 1935 and his death in 1975 he directed 119 films and numerous television series episodes.
Unlike most Republic house directors, Kane was also credited as associate producer on many of his films. Between 1939-57 he was a major film producer, producing over 60 films. Kane was also a film editor and screenwriter responsible for the editing process of over 20 of his films, and he had a brief stint as an actor.
During the 1950s Kane worked steadily in television, with emphasis on Westerns and action series. He spent the last decade of his life as a second-unit director on such productions as Universal Studios Beau Geste (1966) and In Enemy Country (1968).
Kane died on August 25, 1975, in Santa Monica, California.
The Great Train Robbery
Joseph Kane
Bob Steele, Claire Carleton
Tom Logan is a railroad detective who takes it upon himself to halt the activities of his crooked brother Duke. Duke and his henchman have stolen an entire gold train, including the passengers......
The Great Train Robbery
Old Los Angeles
Joseph Kane
Bill Elliott, John Carroll
Also known as California Outpost, Old Los Angeles stars Bill Elliot in one of his expanded-budget Republic "specials." The film is set during the early statehood days of California, with Elliot keeping the peace and warding off plunderers and marauders. As always, Elliot is a "peaceable man"--until he beats the tar out of those who rile him. The problem with Elliot's more expensive Republic vehicles is that action invariably took a back seat to plot, romance, costumes and decor. Within a year of Old Los Angeles, Elliot started a more austere, less prettified and far superior western series.
Old Los Angeles
Sea of Lost Ships
Joseph Kane
John Derek, Wanda Hendrix
The son of a deceased Coast Guard hero is raised by a Coast Guard NCO, who also has a son the same age. When they get older both are accepted into the Coast Guard Academy, but the hero's son winds up being thrown out, bringing disgrace to his adopted family.
Sea of Lost Ships
The Gallant Legion
Joseph Kane
Bill Elliott, Lorna Gray
When power-hungry Faulkner and Leroux want to divide Texas into smaller sections, instead of allowing it to enter the Union as a single state, Gary Conway and the Texas Rangers must step in to thwart their chicanery.
The Gallant Legion
Ridin' Down the Canyon
Joseph Kane
Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes
Roy Rogers takes on crooked wartime profiteers in the musical western Ridin' Down the Canyon. Posing as solid citizens, the crooks spend their evening hours stealing horses from local ranchers, then selling the steeds to the government at exorbitant prices. The head of the bad guys runs a dude ranch where Rogers and his pals (The Sons of the Pioneers) are employed.
Ridin' Down the Canyon