Richard Thorpe

Directing

Richard Thorpe

Born — Died

1896-02-24 — 1991-05-01

Place of birth

Hutchinson, Kansas, USA

Known for

Directing

Credits

43 titles

Richard Thorpe (February 24, 1896 - May 1, 1991) was an American film director. Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and onstage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred and eighty films. The first full length motion picture he directed for MGM was Last of the Pagans (1935) starring Ray Mala. After directing The Last Challenge in 1967, he retired from the film industry. He died in Palm Springs, California in 1991. Thorpe is also known as the original director of The Wizard of Oz. He was fired after two weeks of shooting, because …

Known for

Tarzan's New York Adventure poster
6.4

Circus owner Buck Rand kidnaps Boy to perform in his show. He forces a pilot to fly him, Boy and his animal trainer out of the jungle. Tarzan and Jane follow them to New York.

Tarzan's New York Adventure

1942

Three Little Words poster
6.3

Song-and-dance man Bert Kalmar can't continue his stage career after an injury, so he has to earn his money as a lyricist. By chance, he meets composer Harry Ruby and their first song is a hit. Ruby gets Kalmar to marry his former partner Jessie Brown, and Kalmar and Jessie prevent Ruby from getting married to the wrong girls. But due to the fact that Ruby has caused a backer's withdrawal for a Kalmar play, they end their professional relationship.

Three Little Words

1950

Jailhouse Rock poster
6.3

Young convict Vince Everett, serving time for manslaughter, discovers his musical talent in prison and becomes a rock and roll star after his release, navigating fame and relationships.

Jailhouse Rock

1957

Knights of the Round Table poster
6.0

In Camelot, kingdom of Arthur and Merlin, Lancelot is well known for his courage and honor. But one day he must quit Camelot and the Queen Guinevere's love, leaving the Round Table without protection.

Knights of the Round Table

1953

Ivanhoe poster
6.8

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

Ivanhoe

1952

The Great Caruso poster
5.9

Enrico Caruso's only passion is to sing. For that, he leaves his hometown of Naples, Italy, and travels to America to sing for the Metropolitan Opera. At first, his lack of education and poor background make him an outcast in the high-class opera world. Eventually, his voice wins him both fans and the hand of his love, Dorothy. But his nonstop pace and desire to perform at any cost eventually take their toll on the singer's health.

The Great Caruso

1951

Film credits

Behind the camera

Tarzan's New York Adventure poster
6.4

Circus owner Buck Rand kidnaps Boy to perform in his show. He forces a pilot to fly him, Boy and his animal trainer out of the jungle. Tarzan and Jane follow them to New York.

Tarzan's New York Adventure

1942

Three Little Words poster
6.3

Song-and-dance man Bert Kalmar can't continue his stage career after an injury, so he has to earn his money as a lyricist. By chance, he meets composer Harry Ruby and their first song is a hit. Ruby gets Kalmar to marry his former partner Jessie Brown, and Kalmar and Jessie prevent Ruby from getting married to the wrong girls. But due to the fact that Ruby has caused a backer's withdrawal for a Kalmar play, they end their professional relationship.

Three Little Words

1950

Jailhouse Rock poster
6.3

Young convict Vince Everett, serving time for manslaughter, discovers his musical talent in prison and becomes a rock and roll star after his release, navigating fame and relationships.

Jailhouse Rock

1957

Knights of the Round Table poster
6.0

In Camelot, kingdom of Arthur and Merlin, Lancelot is well known for his courage and honor. But one day he must quit Camelot and the Queen Guinevere's love, leaving the Round Table without protection.

Knights of the Round Table

1953

Ivanhoe poster
6.8

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

Ivanhoe

1952

The Great Caruso poster
5.9

Enrico Caruso's only passion is to sing. For that, he leaves his hometown of Naples, Italy, and travels to America to sing for the Metropolitan Opera. At first, his lack of education and poor background make him an outcast in the high-class opera world. Eventually, his voice wins him both fans and the hand of his love, Dorothy. But his nonstop pace and desire to perform at any cost eventually take their toll on the singer's health.

The Great Caruso

1951

Carbine Williams poster
6.6

David Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually develops the precursor of the famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in World War II.

Carbine Williams

1952

Tarzan Escapes poster
6.9

White hunter Captain Fry tries to take Tarzan back to civilization, caged for public display. He arrives in the jungle with Jane's cousins, Eric and Rita, who want Jane's help in claiming a fortune left her.

Tarzan Escapes

1936

The Tartars poster
6.0

The Tartars and the Vikings maintain a fragile peace in the harsh landscape of the Russian Steppe. When the leader of the Vikings, Oleg, declines to accompany the Tartars on a campaign against the Slavs, there is an explosion of violence. After Oleg kills the Tartar leader and kidnaps his daughter, the dead man's brother, Burandai, retaliates by holding Oleg's wife, Helga, hostage. The stalemate can be resolved only on the battlefield.

The Tartars

1961

All the Brothers Were Valiant poster
6.1

In the South Pacific islands, two brothers, one good and one bad, fight over the same girl and over a bag of pearls.

All the Brothers Were Valiant

1953

Black Hand poster
6.2

In turn-of-the-century New York, an Italian seeks vengeance on the mobsters who killed his father.

Black Hand

1950

Fun in Acapulco poster
5.9

Mike Windgren works on a boat in Acapulco, but when the bratty daughter of its owner gets him fired, Mike finds new work as a lifeguard and singer at a local hotel. Tensions increase when Mike runs afoul of the rival lifeguard—also the champion diver of Mexico.

Fun in Acapulco

1963

Quentin Durward poster
5.8

During the 15th century reign of France's King Louis XI, a young Scottish man is sent by his English Lord to woo a French lady on his behalf. The plan goes awry when the young man falls in love with her. Based on the classic novel by Sir Walter Scott.

Quentin Durward

1955

Fiesta poster
6.2

When a matador leaves town to focus on his music, his twin sister takes on his identity in the bullfighting ring.

Fiesta

1947

Athena poster
5.8

A stuffy young lawyer's outlook on life drastically changes when he meets a perky health food enthusiast and her wacky family.

Athena

1954

The Prodigal poster
4.6

A wealthy young Hebrew traveling in Damascus renounces his faith after he is seduced by an alluring pagan priestess and cheated of his fortune by the High Priest as well.

The Prodigal

1955

Double Wedding poster
6.4

A bohemian free spirit helps meek Waldo win back his fiancée and falls in love with her over-controlling sister in the process.

Double Wedding

1937

On an Island with You poster
5.9

A young navy lieutenant is brought in as technical adviser on a song-dance-and-swim film being made by screen star Rosalind Reynolds. Having once done a number with her at a Forces show, the young lad somehow believes she should be his girl. Her boyfriend is just one of those disagreeing.

On an Island with You

1948

The Earl of Chicago poster
6.3

A behind the times Chicago bootlegger goes to England with his lawyer to claim his estate as the Earl of Gorley.

The Earl of Chicago

1940

It's a Big Country poster
5.9

Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements of African Americans while still another pays tongue-in-cheek tribute to Texas.

It's a Big Country

1951

The Thin Man Goes Home poster
7.1

Hoping for a peaceful visit with his parents in the small town of Sycamore Springs, Nick Charles and his wife Nora soon find themselves surrounded by old rivalries, family tensions, and a mysterious murder. Nick’s father, a respected retired doctor, would much rather see his son give up detective work, but a suspicious shooting quickly draws Nick back into action. As Nick and Nora investigate, they uncover jealousy, deception, hidden motives, and a dangerous secret involving the town’s prominent citizens.

The Thin Man Goes Home

1944

The Last Challenge poster
6.3

An upstart outlaw baits a legendary gunslinger, now a marshal in love with a saloon keeper.

The Last Challenge

1967

The Last Challenge poster
6.3

An upstart outlaw baits a legendary gunslinger, now a marshal in love with a saloon keeper.

The Last Challenge

1967

The Honeymoon Machine poster
6.5

Lt. Fergie Howard teams up with Lt. Beau Gilliam and Navy scientist Jason Eldridge to turn a supercomputer with missile-tracking capabilities into a tool to predict where a roulette ball will land. They dock in Venice, Italy, and begin making a killing at the casino, but their shore-to-ship signals get misinterpreted as signs of attack by Adm. Fitch, putting a serious crimp in the officers' get-rich-quick scheme.

The Honeymoon Machine

1961

That Funny Feeling poster
6.4

Joan Howell, a young and pretty maid-for-hire, meets and begins dating wealthy New York City businessman Tom Milford. Embarrassed about bringing him back to her tiny apartment that she shares with her roommate Audrey, Joan brings Tom over to a fancy apartment that she cleans on a daily basis not knowing that it's his place. Tom plays along with the charade despite not knowing who Joan really is, while she tries to tidy up Tom's place not knowing who he really is.

That Funny Feeling

1965

Tarzan Finds a Son! poster
6.1

A young couple die in a plane crash in the jungle. Their son is found by Tarzan and Jane who name him Boy and raise him as their own. Five years later a search party comes to find the young heir to millions of dollars. Jane agrees, against Tarzan's will, to lead them to civilization.

Tarzan Finds a Son!

1939

Ten Thousand Bedrooms poster
5.6

In this musical-comedy, Dean Martin plays an American hotel mogul who becomes smitten with a young Italian woman (Anna Maria Alberghetti) when buying a hotel in Rome. To marry this gal, he has to get her three older sisters married off.

Ten Thousand Bedrooms

1957

Vengeance Valley poster
5.4

A cattle baron takes in an orphaned boy and raises him, causing his own son to resent the boy. As they get older the resentment festers into hatred, and eventually the real son frames his stepbrother for fathering an illegitimate child that is actually his, seeing it as an opportunity to get his half-brother out of the way so he can have his father's empire all to himself.

Vengeance Valley

1951

Killers of Kilimanjaro poster
6.3

An American engineer reaches Mombasa to finish the works of an African railroad and to find his predecessor, who has mysteriously disappeared. While the work continues, will have to face several obstacles, especially violent local tribes, Arabs slave traders and wild animals.

Killers of Kilimanjaro

1959

Apache Trail poster
6.9

The brother of a notorious outlaw is put in a charge of a stagecoach line way station in dangerous Apache territory. A stagecoach arrives at the station with a valuable box of cargo, and the outlaw brother soon shows up, though denying that he's planning to take the cargo box. Soon, however, rampaging Apaches attack the station, and the station manager, his brother and a disparate group of passengers and employees must fight them off.

Apache Trail

1942

The Truth About Spring poster
6.9

Tommy Tyler, a lazy Caribbean sailor, and his tom-boy daughter, Spring, are out to search for a buried treasure. Tommy brings aboard William Ashton, a young lawyer, to help with the search. Ashton turns out to be handy when they encounter dangerous rivals. Tommy also tries to play match maker between Ashton and Spring – a difficult task indeed.

The Truth About Spring

1965

Her Highness and the Bellboy poster
6.5

In a fictional European country, a beautiful princess meets a handsome American reporter and falls in love with him. On a trip to New York, she hopes to find him again. While staying at one of the city's finest hotels she meets a kind-hearted bellhop who mistakes her for a maid. She invites him to be her escort, not realizing that he believes he has fallen in love with her. Every nice thing the princess does encourages him to believe that she feels the same way he does.

Her Highness and the Bellboy

1945

The Girl Who Had Everything poster
6.2

Attorney's daughter falls for one of his gangster clients.

The Girl Who Had Everything

1953

A Date with Judy poster
6.1

Best friends Judy and Carol compete for the affection of an older man during their high school dance. As Carol tries to rekindle Judy's relationship with Carol's bumbling brother, Oogie, Judy suspects that her father is having an affair with a beautiful dance instructor. The two girls team up to expose Judy's father -- who is only taking innocent dance lessons.

A Date with Judy

1948

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn poster
6.7

Huckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1939

Two Girls and a Sailor poster
5.8

A U.S. Navy sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also in love with him.

Two Girls and a Sailor

1944

Love Is a Headache poster
6.5

A press agent for a Broadway actress whose career is going downhill attempts to get her some publicity by having her adopt two orphans, without her knowledge.

Love Is a Headache

1938

The Prisoner of Zenda poster
6.9

A kingdom's ascending heir, marked for assassination, switches identities with a lookalike, who takes his place at the coronation. When the real king is kidnapped, his followers try to find him, while the stand-in falls in love with the king's intended bride, the beautiful Princess Flavia.

The Prisoner of Zenda

1952

Thrill of a Romance poster
6.6

A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.

Thrill of a Romance

1945

Beauty Parlor poster
7.5

Film follows the romantic exploits of two depression-era manicurists, one of whom is being woo'd by a true gentleman of means, the other of whom lets herself become a pawn of operators of a call-girl ring.

Beauty Parlor

1932