
Directing
David Butler
Born 1894-12-16 · San Francisco, California, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia David Butler (December 17, 1894 – June 14, 1979) was an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and television director. Butler was born in San Francisco, California. His mother was an actress and his father was a theater stage manager. His first acting roles were playing extras in stage plays. He later appeared in two D. W. Griffith films, The Girl Who Stayed Home and The Greatest Thing in Life. He also appeared in the 1927 Academy-Award winning film 7th Heaven. The same year, Butler made his directorial debut with High School Hero, a comedy for Fox. During Butler's nine-year tenure at Fox, he directed over thirty films, including four Shirley Temple vehicles. Butler's last film for Fox, Kentucky, won Walter Brennan an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Butler worked with Bing Crosby in Road to Morocco and If I Had My Way. He directed many films starring Doris Day, among them It's a Great Feeling, Tea for Two, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Lullaby of Broadway, April in Paris, and Calamity Jane. During the late '50s and 1960s, Butler directed primarily television episodes, mainly for Leave It to Beaver and Wagon Train. For his contributions to the film industry, Butler was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 with a motion pictures star located at 6561 Hollywood Boulevard.
Acting credits
7.1The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1916
5.9Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
The Birth of a Nation
1915
6.0A waitress at the Warner Brothers commissary is anxious to break into pictures. She thinks her big break may have arrived when actors Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan agree to help her.
It's a Great Feeling
1949
7.0Society children Madalyn Harlan and Bob Elkins separate the day they are to be married. Madalyn marries her chauffeur, Jerry, while Bob falls in love with unsophisticated Ruth Cassell and, after careful consideration, marries her. Madalyn's marriage is unhappy, ending in a double suicide after Madalyn's parents disown her and Jerry's family proves to be lower class.
Desire
1923
7.0Oswald Lane is welcomed by his hometown as a war hero and enjoys recounting his adventures to anyone who will listen. He accepts an invitation to stay in the home of his rather colorless brother, Andrew, and is soon not only making love to Martha, the Belgian maid, but is also finding Andrew's wife, Hester, receptive to his flirting. After stealing money entrusted to Andrew by his church, Oswald is on his way out of town when he passes a school fire, rescues several children, and is himself seriously burned. Andrew offers his own skin for grafting, and Oswald directs Hester to return the money.
The Hero
1923
7.0Big Hearted Jim, the sheriff, loves the tomboyish Nugget Nell ( Dorothy Gish ), who runs a hash house in the mining country, but although she has romantic feelings, they are not aroused by Jim. Nell agrees to an old miner friend's request to care for his "child," Nell is shocked to meet the six-foot girl, but she cares for her just the same. Nell falls in love with the City Chap, out West to look after his mining property, but he barely notices her, having become intrigued by the Ingenue, whom he met on the stagecoach. The jealous Nell steals stylish clothes to allure him, but she has trouble walking in French high-heels.
Nugget Nell
1919
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
NRA famous singer discovers a newsboy with vocal talent, but he would rather play baseball than develop his singing skills. She'd like to persuade his parents of his potential, but confusion arises when they arrive to discuss the matter.
Prima Donna
1956
6.0John Linden, a victim of wanderlust, jumbles up his life and that of his two daughters. One is a daughter by marriage, the other an offspring of Jessie Walton, a young woman of the village. Noting the resemblance of the two, unscrupulous Mark Lezzard, the sea town's only lawyer, arouses the jealousy of the first daughter's husband Jack Yeulette, the skipper of a fishing smack, hoping to gain her for himself and thereby obtain control over the money John provides for her on a regular basis. After much havoc, happiness is the lot of everyone except Lezzard, whom the crowd "fixes" when they learn of what a wretch he is. A lost film.
Hoodman Blind
1923
7.3In 1910s Paris, a sewer worker disillusioned with Christianity feels his prayers have been answered when he chances upon a street waif and they fall in love.
7th Heaven
1927
5.8A comedy-romance about rival brothers attending a military academy.
Salute
1929
6.2An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943
8.0When eccentric Colonel Wynn threatens to kill Joe Benson if he marries his daughter Dorothy, the couple wed secretly. Their honeymoon at a resort is interrupted by Barbara Dow, a friend who threatens to expose the marriage unless Joe announces that Barbara is his wife.
Don't Ever Marry
1920
8.0Wealthy, spoiled society girl Judith Stafford accepts a marriage proposal from rich European Count Henri and adopts his arrogance and contempt for American "barbarians". This angers her father Tobias, who arranges for Judith and a cowboy friend of his, Larry Saunders, to be marooned on a South Sea island to teach her a lesson and break her spirit. At first the "test" has no effect on her, but she soon begins to warm to Larry--until her snobbish fiance' shows up.
Conquering the Woman
1922
8.0Gudrun works in the American wheat country as a hired girl to Mrs. Hawes. Charley Holt, the son of a rich family, takes the Swedish girl to a dance where she is snubbed by his mother and sister. Furious by his elitist relatives, Charley marries Gudrun and gets a menial job as a mill worker.
The Unpainted Woman
1919
6.3A wealthy young man disguises himself as a gardener to be near the woman he secretly loves. He discovers that the butler is an enemy spy who plans to steal military secrets, and has to find a way to stop him.
The Man on the Box
1925
10.0After her ex-convict husband Bill is killed in a bank robbery, Nancy Preston and her young son Bubsy are protected by Mike Horgan, a former friend from Sing Sing. Mike is wrongfully jailed, and Nancy—falsely accused of murdering a criminal fence who tried to abuse her—goes on the run. Mike breaks out of prison to join Nancy in a small town where he practices medicine under his real name, Stafford. When a persistent detective tracks them down, he falls ill, gets nursed back to health by the pair, has a change of heart, and proves Nancy's innocence so she and Mike can marry.
The People vs. Nancy Preston
1925
First film adaptation of Arnold Ridley's mystery-thriller play.
The Phantom Express
1925
6.5Elmer Stone, quarterback of the 1899 Colton College football team vows to remain a student until Colton beats its biggest rival, State University. Twenty-seven years later, Elmer is still in school and is a classmate of his son, Jack. Other than driving a milk wagon in his spare time, Jack is also the quarterback of the football team. A matter of his eligibility comes up but he is cleared and goes out to do-or-die for Colton against State University. Maybe they will win The Big Game, and Jack's father can get a life...and a job.
The Quarterback
1926
9.0When Rin-Tin-Tin's master is found murdered, Rinty is accused of the crime.
Tracked in the Snow Country
1925
6.2A man is framed for the murder of his uncle, a bank president, and sentenced to hang. His sister and a mail clerk who's helping her discover information that may clear him, but they have to get to the governor in time to present their new evidence and get a stay of execution.
The Arizona Express
1924
7.0Cal Thurman, a timid fellow, thinking that the woman he is to meet at the train station is an old maid, avoids her when he finds that she is a pretty young woman who flirts with the cowboys. He finally uses rough methods to win her love and, after through flames in a forest fire, succeeds in winning her. A lost film.
Code of the West
1925
7.0Nell Bailey, taking a lesson from the married lives of her sister, Luella Logan, and her mother, agrees to marry Danny Kester provided that he will split his paycheck 50-50 with her. When, after marriage, he refuses to honor the agreement, she goes on strike, getting her sister and mother to join in. The three deserted husbands have a difficult time but hate to give in. A vamp complicates matters, but everything is straightened out in the end with each side meeting the other halfway. —Pamela Short
Wages for Wives
1925
7.0A war drama produced only 7 years after the end of World War I. Based on the play by Henry Wallace it chronicles two Englishmen, Dick Chappell (George O'Brien) and Roddy Dunton (Walter McGrail) at the dawn of The Great War. Both men are in love with the same woman, Violet Deering (Margaret Livingston). Chappell, whose proposal has been accepted by Violet, enlists for the war in Europe hoping to distinguish himself and make his fiancé proud of him.
Havoc
1925
Behind the camera
7.0Sharpshooter Calamity Jane takes it upon herself to recruit a famous actress and bring her back to the local saloon, but jealousy soon gets in the way.
Calamity Jane
1953
6.0A waitress at the Warner Brothers commissary is anxious to break into pictures. She thinks her big break may have arrived when actors Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan agree to help her.
It's a Great Feeling
1949
6.9Princess Margaret is travelling incognito to elope with her true love instead of marrying the man her father has betrothed her to. On the high seas, her ship is attacked by pirates who know her identity and plan to kidnap her and hold her for a king's ransom.
The Princess and the Pirate
1944
6.4Based on Sir Walter Scott's The Talisman, this is the story of the romantic adventures of Christians and Muslims during the battle for the Holy Land in the time of King Richard the Lionheart.
King Richard and the Crusaders
1954
8.0Pete (Nick Stuart) and Bill (John Darrow) are childhood rivals who continue to feud in high school, especially when they both develop feelings for Eleanor Barrett (Sally Phipps). Their rivalry threatens to disrupt the school basketball team, but they eventually make amends.
High School Hero
1927
4.9A series of misunderstandings leads to a chorus girl traveling to Paris to represent the American theater, where she falls in love with a befuddled bureaucrat.
April in Paris
1952
6.4Once the commanding officer of a cavalry patrol is killed, the ranking officer who must take command is an army doctor.
The Command
1954
6.9Two carefree castaways on a desert shore find an Arabian Nights city, where they compete for the luscious Princess Shalmar.
Road to Morocco
1942
NRA famous singer discovers a newsboy with vocal talent, but he would rather play baseball than develop his singing skills. She'd like to persuade his parents of his potential, but confusion arises when they arrive to discuss the matter.
Prima Donna
1956
8.0Set on the Maine coast, a young sloop skipper Bramdlet Dickery discovers a plot to smuggle alien Chinese into the United States. Bramdlet's younger brother Thad is enamored with daughter of the captain of the smuggling ship. A struggle over the smuggling ensues. Masked Emotions is a 1929 American sound adventure crime drama film produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation starring George O'Brien and Nora Lane. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process.
Masked Emotions
1929
Nick Naylor receives an order to take a picture of the camera-shy millionaire A.K. Wellington. As the millionaire is traveling with his daughter, Nick follows them to Lake Placid, Palm Beach and even Havana. In Havana, he is then able to shoot the photos of the millionaire. There, they are both kidnapped.
News Parade
1928
6.6After Southern belle Elizabeth Lloyd runs off to marry Yankee Jack Sherman, her father, a former Confederate colonel during the Civil War, vows to never speak to her again. Several years pass and Elizabeth returns to her home town with her husband and young daughter. The little girl charms her crusty grandfather and tries to patch things up between him and her mother.
The Little Colonel
1935
6.4Virgie Cary's father, a rebel officer, sneaks back to his rundown plantation to see his dying wife and is arrested. A Yankee officer takes pity and sets up an escape. Everyone is captured and the officers are to be executed. Virgie and Uncle Billy beg President Lincoln to intercede.
The Littlest Rebel
1935
6.1Rancher Clay Hardin arrives in San Antonio to search for and capture Roy Stuart, notorious leader of a gang of cattle rustlers. The vicious outlaw is indeed in the Texan town, intent on winning the affections of a beautiful chanteuse named Jeanne Starr. When the lovely lady meets and falls in love with the charismatic Hardin, the stakes for both men become higher.
San Antonio
1945
6.8A little girl named Star lives with a lighthouse keeper who rescued her when her parents drowned. A truant officer decides she should go to boarding school but she's rescued by relatives.
Captain January
1936
6.0Horse trainer Shawn O'Hara and his lovely niece, Margaret, come to America to escape the memory of an accident involving Margaret's brother, Danny. Working with thoroughbreds in Kentucky, Shawn takes a liking to a yearling named Seabiscuit, and fights to convince the horse's owner that the tiny horse with big knees will become a top-notch racehorse. Meanwhile, Margaret begins a tentative relationship with jockey Ted Knowles, but is haunted by her brother's death in a steeplechase spill. Written by Ray Hamel
The Story of Seabiscuit
1949
5.8New York, 1980: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food, government-arranged marriages have replaced love, and test tube babies have replaced ... well, you get the idea. Scientists revive a man struck by lightning in 1930; he is rechristened "Single O". He is befriended by J-21, who can't marry the girl of his dreams because he isn't "distinguished" enough -- until he is chosen for a 4-month expedition to Mars by a renegade scientist. The Mars J-21, his friend, and stowaway Single O visit is full of scantily clad women doing Busby Berkeley-style dance numbers and worshiping a fat middle-aged man.
Just Imagine
1930
6.1In this reworking of "No, No, Nanette," wealthy heiress Nanette Carter bets her uncle $25,000 that she can say "no" to everything for 48 hours. If she wins, she can invest the money in a Broadway show featuring songs written by her beau, and of course, in which she will star. Trouble is, she doesn't realize her uncle's been wiped out by the Stock Market crash.
Tea for Two
1950
7.4A man finds himself the father, by proxy, of a ten-month-old baby and becomes involved in the turbulent lives of the child's family.
East Side of Heaven
1939
6.2An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943
6.8Biographical movie about the early 20th century broadway stars Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth.
Shine on Harvest Moon
1944
6.0Pretty Melinda Howard has been abroad singing with a musical troupe. She decides to return home to surprise her mother whom she thinks is a successful Broadway star with a mansion in Manhattan. She doesn't know that her mother is actually a burnt-out cabaret singer with a love for whiskey. When she arrives at the mansion, she is taken in by the two servants who are friends of her mother's. The house actually belongs to Adolph Hubbell, a kind-hearted Broadway producer who also gets drawn into the charade. Hubbell takes a shine to Melinda and agrees to star her in his next show. Melinda also finds romance with a handsome hoofer who's also in the show. All is going well for Melinda except that she wants to see her mother who keeps putting off their reunion.
Lullaby of Broadway
1951
6.7An orphaned girl is taken in by a snobbish family at the insistence of their rich, crotchety uncle, even as her devoted aviator godfather fights for custody.
Bright Eyes
1934
7.0Construction worker Buzz Blackwell becomes the guardian of 12-year-old Pat Johnson after one of his buddies, her father, is killed. Buzz and Pat, along with their chum Axel Swensen, head to New York to look for the girl's uncle. The trio soon unexpectedly become owners of a tired restaurant.
If I Had My Way
1940