Robert Gist

Acting

Robert Gist

Born 1917-10-01 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

Robert Marion Gist (October 1, 1917 – May 21, 1998) was an American actor and film director. Gist was reared around the stockyards of Chicago, Illinois, during the Great Depression. Reform school-bound after injuring another boy in a fistfight, Gist instead ended up at Chicago's Hull House, a settlement house originally established by social worker Jane Addams. There he first became interested in acting. Work in Chicago radio was followed by stage acting roles in Chicago and on Broadway (in the long-running Harvey with Josephine Hull).[citation needed] While acting in Harvey, he made his motion picture debut in 20th Century-Fox's Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Gist was also seen on Broadway in director Charles Laughton's The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (1954) with Henry Fonda and John Hodiak. While shooting Operation Petticoat (1959), Gist told director Blake Edwards that he was interested in directing. Edwards later hired Gist to helm episodes of the TV series Peter Gunn. Gist also directed episodes of TV shows Naked City, The Twilight Zone, Route 66 and many others.

Acting credits

Miracle on 34th Street poster
7.4

Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.

Miracle on 34th Street

1947

Strangers on a Train poster
7.7

A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.

Strangers on a Train

1951

D-Day the Sixth of June poster
5.3

En route to Normandy, an American and a British officer reminisce in flashback about their romances with the same woman.

D-Day the Sixth of June

1956

The Band Wagon poster
7.2

A Broadway artiste turns a faded film star's comeback vehicle into an artsy flop.

The Band Wagon

1953

Operation Petticoat poster
7.2

A World War II submarine commander finds himself stuck with a damaged sub, a con-man executive officer, and a group of army nurses.

Operation Petticoat

1959

Angel Face poster
7.1

Ambulance driver Frank Jessup is ensnared in the schemes of the sensuous but dangerous Diane Tremayne.

Angel Face

1953

Jack the Giant Killer poster
6.6

The terrible and trecherous Pendragon plans to gain the throne of Cornwall by getting the king to abdicate and to marry his lovely daughter. To help him he has his dreadful witches in his castle and his almost unstoppable sorcery. A giant under his control abducts the princess, but on the way home with her the giant meets farming lad Jack who slays him. This is only the beginning.

Jack the Giant Killer

1962

Al Capone poster
6.6

In this unusually accurate biography, small-time hood Al Capone comes to Chicago at the dawn of Prohibition to be the bodyguard of racketeer Johnny Torrio. Capone's rise in Chicago gangdom is followed through murder, extortion, and political fraud. He becomes head of Chicago's biggest "business," but moves inexorably toward his downfall and ignominious end.

Al Capone

1959

The Naked and the Dead poster
5.7

Fighting men in World War II learn the value of courage and quickness at the risk of losing their lives.

The Naked and the Dead

1958

The FBI Story poster
6.2

A dedicated FBI agent recalls the agency's battles against the Klan, organized crime and Communist spies.

The FBI Story

1959

The Stratton Story poster
6.7

Star major league pitcher Monty Stratton loses a leg in a hunting accident, but becomes determined to leave the game on his own terms.

The Stratton Story

1949

A Dangerous Profession poster
5.7

A cop-turned-bail bondsman gets involved in a murder investigation involving a former flame.

A Dangerous Profession

1949

The Jackpot poster
7.0

Bill Lawrence wins a bevy of prizes from a radio program, but ends up having to sell them in order to pay the taxes incurred.

The Jackpot

1950

I Was a Shoplifter poster
5.8

In 1950s California, the police force tries to infiltrate and neutralize a shoplifting crime ring operating in major department stores.

I Was a Shoplifter

1950

Scene of the Crime poster
6.1

A cop investigates the shooting of another policeman... that may have been involved in crooked activities.

Scene of the Crime

1949

One Minute to Zero poster
5.8

An idealistic United Nations official learns the harrowing truth about war when she falls in love with an American officer charged with the evacuation of civilians. As hostilities escalate, the officer and his small detachment are left to hold the line until allied forces can be brought into action.

One Minute to Zero

1952

Wolf Larsen poster
7.0

A mean-spirited ship captain keeps his crew under his autocratic thumb while indulging his more refined side. But when his men rise up in mutiny, Larsen forces the cultured Van Weyden to help him quash the uprising.

Wolf Larsen

1958

Jigsaw poster
5.0

New York Assistant District Attorney Howard Malloy launches an investigation into a series of murders related to a neo-fascist organisation.

Jigsaw

1949

Blueprint for Robbery poster
5.6

A gang of career criminals plots the robbery of an armored car company's headquarters. Although the robbery itself goes off as planned, it's not long before the gang members are fighting among themselves over everybody's share of the loot and trying to avoid capture by the police, who are pouring all their resources into capturing the robbers. Based on a real-life 1950 Brinks Armored Car Co. robbery in Boston.

Blueprint for Robbery

1961

Love That Brute poster
6.8

The story of a crude gangster hopelessly falling for a sweet young city government employee.

Love That Brute

1950

No artwork available
NR

When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardizes the ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

1955

Behind the camera