Dean Riesner

Writing

Dean Riesner

Born — Died

1918-11-03 — 2002-08-18

Place of birth

New Rochelle, New York, USA

Known for

Writing

Credits

35 titles

Dean Riesner (November 3, 1918, New Rochelle, New York – August 18, 2002, Encino, California) was an American film and television writer. Riesner's father, Charles Reisner, was a German American silent film director, and Dean began acting in films at the age of five as "Dinky Dean". His most notable role was in Charlie Chaplin's 1923 film The Pilgrim. His career at this young age ended because his mother wanted her son to have a real childhood. As an adult, his first job in films was as a co-writer of the 1939 Ronald Reagan movie Code of the Secret Service. Riesner won an Oscar for directing Bill and Coo (1948), a feature film with a cast of real birds, costumed as humans, acting on the wo…

Known for

Film credits

1920s · 6 titles

The Pilgrim poster
6.9

The Tramp is an escaped convict who is mistaken as a pastor in a small town church.

The Pilgrim

1923

Hollywood poster
9.0

Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtime boyfriend back in Centerville. Despite seeing major movie stars around every corner, and knocking on every casting office door in town, at the end of her first day she is still unemployed. To her horror, when she arrives back at their hotel, she finds that Grandpa has been cast in a movie by William DeMille and quickly becomes a star during the ensuing weeks. Her family, worried that Angela and Grandpa are getting into trouble, come to Hollywood to drag them back home. In short order Aunt, Grandma, brother, boyfriend and even the parrot become superstars, but Angela is still unemployed...

Hollywood

1923

Peck's Bad Boy poster
4.4

This portrayal of small town life before the War is based on a small boys determination to get to see the circus, over all obstacles. Escaped lions, lightheaded blackmail of his father, and playfully planting stolen papers on his sisters boyfriend are all in a days work for little Henry Peck.

Peck's Bad Boy

1921

A Prince of a King poster
7.0

In a kingdom in fifteenth century Italy, Duke Roberto overthrows the king and abandons his heir Gigi in the wilderness to die. However, he is discovered by a troupe of Gypsy acrobats and emerges as their star performer.

A Prince of a King

1923

Grief poster
NR

Begins with a child-cast parody of "The Kid." The Adams portion finds the guy chased about town because they are looking for some crook in a gray derby...and Jimmie happens to have one.

Grief

1921

Square Shoulders poster
8.0

Tad's dream is to attend a military academy so he can grow up to be a great soldier and a war hero, like his father. What he doesn't know is that his father, Slag, is actually a thief and a derelict. Slag robs a factory in order to get the money to send Tad to military school, then gets a job at the academy's horse stables to be close to his son, who doesn't know he's alive.

Square Shoulders

1929

Series credits

Behind the camera

Dirty Harry poster
7.4

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath.

Dirty Harry

1971

Das Boot poster
8.1

A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while stretching both the boat and themselves to their limits.

Das Boot

1981

Coogan's Bluff poster
6.3

Coogan, an Arizona deputy sheriff goes to New York to pick up a prisoner. While escorting the prisoner to the airport, he escapes and Coogan heads into the city to recapture him.

Coogan's Bluff

1968

The Enforcer poster
6.7

Dirty Harry Callahan returns again, this time saddled with a rookie female partner. Together, they must stop a terrorist group consisting of angry Vietnam veterans.

The Enforcer

1976

Sudden Impact poster
6.5

When a young rape victim takes justice into her own hands and becomes a serial killer, it's up to Dirty Harry Callahan, on suspension from the SFPD, to bring her to justice.

Sudden Impact

1983

Play Misty for Me poster
6.6

A brief fling between a late-night radio disc jockey and an obsessed female fan takes a frightening turn when another woman enters the picture.

Play Misty for Me

1971

Charley Varrick poster
7.4

Charley Varrick robs a bank in a small town with his friends, but instead of obtaining a small amount of money, they discover they stole a very large amount of money belonging to the mob. Charley must now come up with a plan to not only evade the police but the mob as well.

Charley Varrick

1973

The Fighting 69th poster
5.9

Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.

The Fighting 69th

1940

Fatal Beauty poster
5.6

Detective Rita Rizzoli is accustomed to donning costumes and going undercover to nail crooks. But she'll be required to use all of her get-ups and more when a major cocaine ring is suspected of turning out a potent new strain of the drug, called "Fatal Beauty." With the help of her partner and a former bodyguard for a local cartel, Rita will do whatever it takes to find out who's dealing Fatal Beauty and stop them.

Fatal Beauty

1987

The Sting II poster
4.7

Hooker and Gondorf pull a con on Macalinski, an especially nasty mob boss with the help of Veronica, a new grifter. They convince this new victim that Hooker is a somewhat dull boxer who is tired of taking dives for Gondorf. There is a ringer. Lonigan, their victim from the first movie, is setting them up to take the fall.

The Sting II

1983

The Man from Galveston poster
5.6

Circuit-riding Texas lawyer Timothy Higgins defends a former girlfriend against a murder charge stemming from an extortionist's threat to reveal her shady past. Through adroit courtroom work, Higgins is able to acquit her and reveal who actually shot the fatal bullet.

The Man from Galveston

1963

The Helen Morgan Story poster
5.3

Torch singer Helen Morgan rises from sordid beginnings to fame and fortune only to lose it all to alcohol and poor personal choices.

The Helen Morgan Story

1957

Paris Holiday poster
5.9

Comedian Bob Hunter is aided by his French counterpart Fernydel and two beautiful blondes when he is targeted for death by a powerful European counterfeiting ring.

Paris Holiday

1958

Skipalong Rosenbloom poster
7.0

Skipalong Rosenbloom is the star of a heavily commercialized TV kiddie show, presided over by a smarmy announcer. He is at odds with western bad guy Butcher Baer.

Skipalong Rosenbloom

1951

Lost Flight poster
4.2

The captain of a downed airliner must help his crew and passengers survive on a deserted jungle island in the midst of a power struggle - an adult version of "Lord of the Flies."

Lost Flight

1970

The Keegans poster
8.0

A professional football player is accused of murdering the man who attacked his sister. His brother, an investigate reporter, sets out to prove his brother's innocence.

The Keegans

1976

Bill and Coo poster
6.7

The feathered residents of Chirpendale are terrorized by an evil black crow by the name of "The Black Menace". But to the citizen's rescue comes a brave young taxi puller named Bill! In other words, every single role in this film is played by birds. Actual birds.

Bill and Coo

1948

Bill and Coo poster
6.7

The feathered residents of Chirpendale are terrorized by an evil black crow by the name of "The Black Menace". But to the citizen's rescue comes a brave young taxi puller named Bill! In other words, every single role in this film is played by birds. Actual birds.

Bill and Coo

1948

The Big Slide poster
NR

A down-and-out vaudeville comedian, Buddy McCoy, becomes a successful silent movie star, but experiences tragedy in his personal life. May Marley is an alcoholic friend who Buddy tries to help.

The Big Slide

1956

Operation Haylift poster
5.0

A pilot devises a plan to airlift hay to thousands of ranch cattle stranded and dying due to severe winter weather.

Operation Haylift

1950