Richard Thorpe: Wikis

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Categories: 1896 births > 1991 deaths > Actors from Kansas > American film directors > American silent film actors > American stage actors > People from Hutchinson, Kansas > Vaudeville performers

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Richard Thorpe

Born	Rollo Smolt Thorpe February 24, 1896 Hutchinson, Kansas
Died	May 1, 1991

For the London Irish rugby union player, see Richard Thorpe (rugby union).

For the historian and biographer, see D. R. Thorpe.

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 it was felt that his scenes did not have the right air of fantasy about them. Thorpe notoriously gave Judy Garland a blonde wig and cutesy "baby-doll" makeup that made her look like a girl in her late teens rather than an innocent Kansas farm girl of about thirteen. Both makeup and wig were discarded at the suggestion of George Cukor, who was brought in temporarily. Stills from Thorpe's work on the film survive today.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Thorpe has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6101 Hollywood Blvd.

Partial filmography (director)

Rarin' to Go (1924)
Gold and Grit (1925)
Deuce High (1926)
The Meddlin' Stranger (1927)
Ride 'em High (1927)
Desperate Courage (1928)
Vultures of the Sea (1928)
The Vanishing West (1928)
The Fatal Warning (1929)
The King of the Kongo (1929)
The Utah Kid (1930)
The Lady From Nowhere (1931)
Slightly Married (1932)
Notorious But Nice (1933)
Green Eyes (1934)
Secret of the Chateau (1934)
Last of the Pagans (1935)
Strange Wives (1935)
Tarzan Escapes (1936) with Johnny Weismuller and Maureen O'Sullivan
Dangerous Number (1937)
The Crowd Roars (1938) with Robert Taylor, Edward Arnold, Frank Morgan, and Maureen O'Sullivan
Man-Proof (1938) with Myrna Loy, Franchot Tone, Rosalind Russell, and Walter Pidgeon
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939) with Mickey Rooney, Walter Connolly, and William Frawley
20 Mule Team (1940) with Wallace Beery
Wyoming (1940) with Wallace Beery
Barnacle Bill (1941) with Wallace Beery
The Bad Man (1941) with Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Laraine Day, and Ronald Reagan
Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942) with Johnny Weismuller and Maureen O'Sullivan
White Cargo (1942) with Hedy Lamarr as Tondelayo
Above Suspicion (1943)
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) with William Powell and Myrna Loy
Thrill of a Romance (1945) with Esther Williams
Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945) with Hedy Lamarr and Robert Walker

Fiesta (1947) with Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán
This Time for Keeps (1947) with Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante
On an Island with You (1948) with Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, and Jimmy Durante
A Date With Judy (1948) with Wallace Beery, Jane Powell, and Elizabeth Taylor
Malaya (1949) with Spencer Tracy and James Stewart
Big Jack (1949) with Wallace Beery, Richard Conte, Marjorie Main, and Edward Arnold
Challenge to Lassie (1949) with Donald Crisp and Alan Napier
Black Hand (1950) with Gene Kelly
Three Little Words (1950) with Fred Astaire and Red Skelton
The Unknown Man (1951) with Walter Pidgeon
Vengeance Valley (1951) with Burt Lancaster
Carbine Williams (1952) with James Stewart
Ivanhoe (1952) with Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, and Joan Fontaine
The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) with Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, and James Mason
The Girl Who Had Everything (1953) with Elizabeth Taylor, Fernando Lamas, and William Powell
Knights of the Round Table (1953) with Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner
All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953) with Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger
Athena (1954) with Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds
The Student Prince (1954), based on the famous operetta, with Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, and the singing voice of Mario Lanza.
The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955) with Robert Taylor and Robert Morley
Tip on a Dead Jockey (1957) with Robert Taylor and Dorothy Malone
Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957) with Dean Martin (Martin's first non-Martin and Lewis movie)
Jailhouse Rock (1957) with Elvis Presley
Killers of Kilimanjaro (1959) with Robert Taylor and Anthony Newley
The House of the Seven Hawks (1959) with Robert Taylor
The Honeymoon Machine (1961) with Steve McQueen
The Tartars (1961)
The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962) with Jim Hutton and Paula Prentiss
Follow the Boys (1963)
Fun in Acapulco (1963) with Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress
The Golden Head (1964) with George Sanders and Buddy Hackett
The Truth About Spring (1964)
That Funny Feeling (1965) with Sandra Dee, Bobby Darin, and Donald O'Connor
The Last Challenge (1967)

External links

Richard Thorpe at the Internet Movie Database
Richard Thorpe at Find a Grave

The films of Richard Thorpe

1920s	Rough Ridin' (with John P. McCarthy) • Rarin' to Go • Battling Buddy • Fast and Fearless • Hard Hittin' Hamilton • Rip Roarin' Roberts • Bringin' Home the Bacon • Thundering Romance • Gold and Grit • Full Speed • Fast Fightin' • On the Go • Double Action Daniels • Quicker 'n Lightnin' • Tearin' Loose • The Desert Demon • Saddle Cyclone • Galloping On • A Streak of Luck • The Last Card • The Roaring Rider • Trumpin' Trouble • The Fighting Cheat • Coming an' Going • The Twin Triggers • Deuce High • Easy Going • Rawhide • Speedy Spurs • Double Daring • The Dangerous Dub • Twisted Triggers • The Bonanza Buckaroo • College Days • Josselyn's Wife • The Bandit Buster • The First Night • The Cyclone Cowboy • Between Dangers • The Galloping Gobs • Tearin' Into Trouble • The Ridin' Rowdy • The Meddlin' Stranger • Pals in Peril • Skedaddle Gold • White Pebbles • The Interferin' Gent • The Soda Water Cowboy • Ride 'em High • The Obligin' Buckaroo • Roarin' Broncs • The Desert of the Lost • The Ballyhoo Buster • Desperate Courage • The Cowboy Cavalier • The Valley of Hunted Men • Saddle Mates • Flyin' Buckaroo • The Bachelor Girl • Border Romance

1930s	The Dude Wrangler • Wings of Adventures • The Thoroughbred • Under Montana Skies • The Utah Kid • The Lawless Woman • The Sky Spider • The Lady from Nowhere • Wild Horse • Grief Street • Neck and Neck • Forgotten Women • The Devil Plays • Cross Examination • Murder at Dawn • Probation • Escapade • The Midnight Lady • Forbidden Company • Beauty Parlor • Thrill of Youth • The King Murder • Slightly Married • Women Won't Tell • Secrets of Wu Sin • Forgotten • Love Is Dangerous • I Have Lived • Strange People • Notorious But Nice • A Man of Sentiment • Murder on the Campus • Rainbow Over Broadway • The Quitter • Stolen Sweets • City Park • Green Eyes • Cheating Cheaters • Secret of the Chateau • Strange Wives • Last of the Pagans • The Voice of Bugle Ann • Tarzan Escapes • Dangerous Number • Night Must Fall • Double Wedding • Man-Proof • Love Is a Headache • The First Hundred Years • The Toy Wife • The Crowd Roars • Three Loves Has Nancy • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • Tarzan Finds a Son!

1940s	The Earl of Chicago • 20 Mule Team • Wyoming • The Bad Man • Barnacle Bill • Tarzan's Secret Treasure • Joe Smith, American • Tarzan's New York Adventure • Apache Trail • White Cargo • Three Hearts for Julia • Above Suspicion • Cry 'Havoc' • Two Girls and a Sailor • The Thin Man Goes Home • Thrill of a Romance • Her Highness and the Bellboy • What Next, Corporal Hargrove? • Fiesta • This Time for Keeps • On an Island with You • A Date with Judy • The Sun Comes Up • Big Jack • Challenge to Lassie • Malaya

1950s	Black Hand • Three Little Words • Vengeance Valley • The Great Caruso • The Unknown Man • It's a Big Country (with Clarence Brown, Don Hartman, John Sturges, Charles Vidor, Don Weis, and William A. Wellman) • Carbine Williams • Ivanhoe • The Prisoner of Zenda • The Girl Who Had Everything • All the Brothers Were Valiant • Knights of the Round Table • The Student Prince • Athena • The Prodigal • The Adventures of Quentin Durward • Ten Thousand Bedrooms • Tip on a Dead Jockey • Jailhouse Rock • The House of the Seven Hawks • Killers of Kilimanjaro

1960s	The Honeymoon Machine • The Horizontal Lieutenant • Follow the Boys • Fun in Acapulco • The Truth About Spring • The Golden Head (with James Hill) • That Funny Feeling • The Last Challenge

Serials	Vultures of the Sea • The Vanishing West • The Fatal Warning • The King of the Kongo • The Lone Defender • King of the Wild (with B. Reeves Eason)

Screenplays	The Fightin' Comeback (1927) (with • Red Clay (1927) (with Charles Logue)

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Partial filmography (director)

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