
Directing
Wesley Ruggles
Born 1889-06-10 · Los Angeles, California, USA
Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director. He was born in Los Angeles, a younger brother of actor Charles Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a dozen or so silent films, on occasion with Charles Chaplin. In 1917, he turned his attention to directing, making more than 50 mostly forgettable films — including a silent film version of Edith Wharton's novel The Age of Innocence (1924) — before he won acclaim with Cimarron in 1931. The adaptation of Edna Ferber's novel Cimarron, about homesteaders settling in the prairies of Oklahoma, was the first Western to win an Academy Award as Best Picture. Although Ruggles followed this success with the light comedy No Man of Her Own (1932) with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, the comedy I'm No Angel (1933) with Mae West and Cary Grant , College Humor (1933) with Bing Crosby, and Bolero (1934) with George Raft and Carole Lombard, few of his later films were in any way memorable (an exception is Arizona). His career was on the downslide when he teamed with the Rank Organisation in 1946 to produce and direct London Town with Sid Field and Petula Clark, based on a story he wrote. The film — British cinema's first attempt at a Technicolor musical extravaganza — is notable as being one of the biggest critical and commercial failures in that country's film history. Ironically, Ruggles had been hired to helm it because as an American, it was thought, he was better equipped to handle a musical — despite the fact that nothing in his past had prepared him to work in the genre. It was his last film. An abridged version was released in the U.S. under the title My Heart Goes Crazy by United Artists in 1953. Ruggles died in 1972 in Santa Monica and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article Wesley Ruggles, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Acting credits
6.0A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale.
Shanghaied
1915
6.7A pawnbroker's assistant deals with his grumpy boss, his annoying co-worker and some eccentric customers as he flirts with the pawnbroker's daughter, until a perfidious crook with bad intentions arrives at the pawnshop.
The Pawnshop
1916
5.0As Colonel Nutt is experimenting with explosives, a new janitor is joining his household. The inept janitor proceeds to make life difficult for the rest of staff.
Triple Trouble
1918
6.3Charlie is released from prison and immediately swindled by a fake parson. A fellow ex-convict convinces Charlie to help burglarize a house.
Police
1916
6.5During the troubled shooting of several movies, David, the prop man's assistant, meets an aspiring actress who tries to find work in the studio. Things get messy when the stagehands decide to go on strike.
Behind the Screen
1916
6.0A Trip Through the World's Greatest Motion Picture Studios (1920) presents a fascinating glimpse into the Thomas H. Ince studios at Culver City.
A Trip Through the World's Greatest Motion Picture Studios
1920
5.0A wealthy invalid tries to add his hard-working cook to his will, but the conniving butler gets in the way.
Her Torpedoed Love
1917
6.2Two disruptive theater patrons, the wealthy drunk Mr. Pest (played by Charlie Chaplin) and the rowdy working-class Mr. Rowdy (also played by Chaplin), attend a live vaudeville theater production. Their constant antics, seat-hopping, and physical altercations quickly overshadow the acts on stage and plunge the entire theater into absolutely hilarious chaos.
A Night in the Show
1915
5.8A stage-struck young woman becomes an heiress, and hopes to use her new-found wealth to fulfill a fantasy.
Her Painted Hero
1915
6.4An impecunious customer creates chaos in a department store while the manager and his assistant plot to steal the money kept in the establishment's safe.
The Floorwalker
1916
5.7Mr. and Mrs. Gussle get up to some hijinks in this Keystone comedy.
A Lover's Lost Control
1915
5.0Gussle (Syd Chaplin) comes home with a cute little dog but doesn't want the wife to see it--leading up to a rather funny bit you'll have to see for yourself. The marriage, at first, seems ideal and Gussle and his wife seem devoted. However, it soon seems that this is an act for Syd and it's obvious he's quite the philanderer. Eventually, the wife catches on and sets out to catch him--leading to a rather cute and unexpected ending.
Gussle's Wayward Path
1915
10.0Peter Sellers makes funny voice narration over the Chaplin film A Burlesque on Carmen (1915).
A Burlesque on the Opera "Carmen"
1951
4.9A waiter tricks his way into command of a sub in order to rob a ship carrying gold bullion.
A Submarine Pirate
1915
5.0Beatrice Fairfax, the original advice-to-the-lovelorn reporter and her friend and not-so-secret admirer Jimmy Barton investigate calls for help and escape exotic perils and dangers. Episodes include exciting and fun stories of baby-napping, blackmail, jewel thievery, disguise, counterfeiting, and the long-unseen episode featuring entrancing cult starlet Olive Thomas and the real New York Yankees and Giants playing a game in the Polo Grounds.
Beatrice Fairfax
1916
Featuring Charlie Chaplin's half-brother as The Husband, Phyllis Allen as The Wife, Slim Summerville as The Boy Friend, Cecile Arnold as The Girl Friend, and Mack Swain as The Bartender.
Caught in a Park
1915
Gussle Rivals Jonah is a silent comedy
Gussle Rivals Jonah
1915
Behind the camera
5.6A college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful coed.
College Humor
1933
5.5When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.
Cimarron
1931
5.5When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.
Cimarron
1931
6.5Phoebe Titus is a tough, swaggering pioneer woman, but her ways become decidedly more feminine when she falls for California bound Peter Muncie. But Peter won't be distracted from his journey and Phoebe is left alone and plenty busy with villains Jefferson Carteret and Lazarus Ward plotting at every turn to destroy her freighting company. She has not seen the last of Peter, however.
Arizona
1940
6.5Phoebe Titus is a tough, swaggering pioneer woman, but her ways become decidedly more feminine when she falls for California bound Peter Muncie. But Peter won't be distracted from his journey and Phoebe is left alone and plenty busy with villains Jefferson Carteret and Lazarus Ward plotting at every turn to destroy her freighting company. She has not seen the last of Peter, however.
Arizona
1940
5.7Journalist brothers feud over a woman they both fall for while covering World War II in the far east.
Somewhere I'll Find You
1942
5.7Journalist brothers feud over a woman they both fall for while covering World War II in the far east.
Somewhere I'll Find You
1942
NRWhen World War I breaks out, young West Point cadet Gerald Ackland, who is studying in Paris, joins the French army as a fighter pilot. His French fiancee, Martha Landeau, and her father flee to the family farm, which is near the Marne River, for safety. When German troops take over the area, they raid Marthe's farm and attempt to ravage her--but suddenly, out of the sky, comes a French fighter plane that scatters the Germans--and its pilot is none other than Gerald. However, that's not the end of their troubles, by any means.
For France
1917
6.2Hugh Carver is an athletic star and a freshman at Prescott College. He falls in love with Cynthia Day, a popular girl who loves to party, and finds that it's impossible to please her and still keep up with his studies and athletic training. Soon the two face some difficult decisions.
The Plastic Age
1925
6.3Bold performer Tira works as dancing beauty and lion tamer at a fair. Out of an urgent financial need, she agrees to a risky new number: she'll put her head into the lion's mouth! With this attraction, the circus makes it to New York and Tira can pursue her dearest occupation — flirting with rich men and accepting expensive presents.
I'm No Angel
1933
6.7Secretary Marilyn David falls in love with British aristocrat Charles Gray, to the dismay of her best friend, reporter Peter Dawes, who secretly loves her. When Peter learns that the already-engaged Charles has hurt Marilyn, he fabricates an article casting her as the "No Girl" who refused to marry a callous aristocrat. But when the publicity brings Marilyn unexpected fame, and Charles returns, she is forced to choose between the two men.
The Gilded Lily
1935
6.5Long-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.
Too Many Husbands
1940
6.5Long-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.
Too Many Husbands
1940
6.1A writer takes a job as a secretary because her scrupulous husband isn't bringing in the dough as an attorney. When her new employer is murdered, she can't seem to make up her mind as to whether she "dunnit" or not.
True Confession
1937
6.1Kay Denham is off for a fling in Paris, leaving her suitor Berk behind. There, she meets two new suitors, Gene and George. Gene smooth-talks her into a junket to Switzerland, but George (with no illusions about his friend) appoints himself chaperone. Through a series of slapstick winter sports, Kay remains puzzled about George's disapproval of Gene...but there's a reason.
I Met Him in Paris
1937
6.1Kay Denham is off for a fling in Paris, leaving her suitor Berk behind. There, she meets two new suitors, Gene and George. Gene smooth-talks her into a junket to Switzerland, but George (with no illusions about his friend) appoints himself chaperone. Through a series of slapstick winter sports, Kay remains puzzled about George's disapproval of Gene...but there's a reason.
I Met Him in Paris
1937
6.0Small-town soda-jerk Peggy Evans quits her dead-end job and moves to New York where she invents a new identity.
Slightly Dangerous
1943
6.5Journalist Marion Hargrove enters the Army intending to supplement his income by writing about his training experiences. He muddles through basic training at Fort Bragg with the self-serving help of a couple of buddies intent on cutting themselves in on that extra income.
See Here, Private Hargrove
1944
6.1A playboy marries a woman doctor then grows jealous of her male patients.
You Belong to Me
1941
6.1A playboy marries a woman doctor then grows jealous of her male patients.
You Belong to Me
1941
8.0Sam and Molly Thornhill, a married couple very much in love, are nevertheless continually quarreling. On the eve of their wedding anniversary, Sam fails to notice a pair of silk stockings slipped into his pocket by a lady.
Silk Stockings
1927
6.4The complicated relationship between an ambitious, ruthless nightclub dancer and the woman he loves.
Bolero
1934
7.0An egotistical boxer romances a rich backer's daughter.
Invitation to Happiness
1939
7.0An egotistical boxer romances a rich backer's daughter.
Invitation to Happiness
1939