Robert Florey (September 14, 1900 – May 16, 1979) was a French-American director, screenwriter, film journalist and actor.
Florey directed more than 50 films, the best known likely being the Marx Brothers first feature The Cocoanuts (1929).
Life and work
Early life
Born as
Robert Gustave Fuchs in Paris, he grew up near the studio of
George Melies. In 1920, he worked at first as an assistant and extra in featurettes from
Louis Feuillade.
Hollywood
Florey went to Hollywood in 1921 as a journalist for Cinemagazine. He worked as foreign publicity director for Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford and was European advance manager for Rudolph Valentino.
He was an assistant director on
Parisian Nights (1925). He went to
MGM where he was an assistant on
The Masked Bride (1925),
Exquisite Sinner (1926),
Bardelys the Magnificent (1926),
La Bohème (1926) and
The Magic Flame (1927). He also shot newsreel footage in New York.
Early films
Florey's first film as director was
One Hour of Love (1927) for Tiffany Productions. He did
The Romantic Age (1927) for Columbia and
Face Value (1927) for Stirling Pictures. He was assistant on
The Woman Disputed (1928). He directed and co-wrote the 27-minute experimental film
Johann the Coffinmaker in 1927, said to have been made for $200 in his spare time, shooting at night while working on other films in the daytime. The avant-garde film was made on only three sets, and involved a lot of trick photographic effects.
Shorts
In the late 1920s he produced two experimental short films:
(1928) co-directed with Slavko Vorkapić, and
Skyscraper Symphony the following year. He also directed
The Love of Zero (1928),
Hello New York! (1928) with Maurice Chevalier, and
Pusher-in-the-Face (1929) from a script and story by F. Scott Fitzgerald published for the first time on the magazine
Woman's Home Companion.
Paramount
As a director, Florey's reputation is balanced between his avant-garde expressionist style, most evident in his early career, and his work as a fast, reliable studio-system director called on to finish troubled projects, such as 1939's
Hotel Imperial.
At Paramount, he made The Hole in the Wall (1929), starring Claudette Colbert and Edward G. Robinson, and The Cocoanuts (1929), the first film of the Marx Brothers.
Florey went to England to direct the French musical The Road Is Fine (1930), and to Germany for My Wife's Teacher (1930), a Spanish-language version of the film Rendezvous. While in Germany, he directed Love Songs (1930). He did Black and White (1931) with Raimu, co-directing with Marc Allegret.
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Florey made a significant but uncredited contribution to the script of the 1931 version of
Frankenstein. Florey was to be given the job of directing
Frankenstein, and he filmed a screen test with
Bela Lugosi playing the monster, but Universal Pictures gave the job to
James Whale, who cast
Boris Karloff.
Instead, Universal assigned Florey and Lugosi to Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932). Florey, with the help of cinematographer Karl Freund and elaborate sets representing 19th century Paris, made Murders into an American version of German expressionism films such as Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).[Hughes, Maud (May 21, 1932). "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (director: Robert Florey), Universal. Picture Show; London. Vol. 27, Iss. 681: 7.]
Warner Bros.
Florey went to
Warner Brothers, where he directed a number of "B" movies:
Girl Missing (1933) with
Glenda Farrell and
Ben Lyon,
Ex-Lady (1933) with
Bette Davis,
The House on 56th Street (1933) with
Kay Francis,
Bedside (1934) with
Warren William,
Registered Nurse (1934) with
Bebe Daniels,
Smarty (1934) with
Joan Blondell and William,
I Sell Anything (1934) with Pat O'Brien,
I Am a Thief (1934) with Astor,
The Woman in Red (1935) with
Barbara Stanwyck, and
The Florentine Dagger (1935) with Donald Woods.
He did some uncredited work on Go into Your Dance (1935) with Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler, and he was the assistant director on I've Got Your Number (1934). He also did some location filming in China for Oil for the Lamps of China (1935).[Bedside (First National). Director: Robert Florey Picture Show; London, Vol. 31, Iss. 797, (August 11, 1934): 19.]
Paramount
Florey returned to Paramount where he directed
Ship Cafe (1935) with
Carl Brisson,
The Preview Murder Mystery (1936) with Reginald Denny,
Till We Meet Again (1936) with
Herbert Marshall,
Hollywood Boulevard (1936) with John Halliday and a young
Robert Cummings,
Outcast (1937) with William,
King of Gamblers (1937) with
Claire Trevor and
Lloyd Nolan,
Mountain Music (1937) with Bob Burns and
Martha Raye,
This Way Please (1937) with Charles "Buddy" Rogers and
Betty Grable,
Daughter of Shanghai (1937) with Anna May Wong,
Dangerous to Know (1938) with Wong, and
King of Alcatraz (1938) with
Gail Patrick and Nolan. He did some uncredited work on
Rose of the Rancho (1936). His films were marked by fast pace, cynical tone,
Dutch angles, and dramatic lighting.
Florey directed Hotel Imperial (1939) with Isa Miranda and Ray Milland, The Magnificent Fraud (1939) with Akim Tamiroff and Nolan, Death of a Champion (1939) with Lynne Overman, Parole Fixer (1940) from a book by J. Edgar Hoover, and Women Without Names (1940) with Ellen Drew.
Columbia
Florey went to Columbia for
The Face Behind the Mask (1941) with
Peter Lorre,
Meet Boston Blackie (1941) with
Chester Morris, and
Two in a Taxi (1941) with
Anita Louise.
Warner Bros.
Florey went to Warner Bros. for
Dangerously They Live (1941) with John Garfield,
Lady Gangster (1942) with
Faye Emerson and the big budget musical
The Desert Song (1943) with Dennis Morgan.
At 20th Century Fox he did some assisting on Bomber's Moon (1943) and directed Roger Touhy, Gangster (1944) with Preston Foster. He went to Republic for Man from Frisco (1944).
In April 1944, he was burned when his car was on fire.
He did some uncredited work on San Antonio (1945) with Errol Flynn and returned to the horror genre with The Beast with Five Fingers (1946).
He was also associate director to Charlie Chaplin on Chaplin's film Monsieur Verdoux (1947).
Freelance director
Florey directed
Tarzan and the Mermaids (1948) with Johnny Weissmuller for
Sol Lesser in Mexico, and two French Foreign Legion films:
Rogues' Regiment (1948) with
Dick Powell and
Outpost in Morocco (1949) with
George Raft.
He did The Crooked Way (1949) with John Payne, The Vicious Years (1950), Johnny One-Eye (1950) with Pat O'Brien, and Charlie's Haunt (1950) with Edgar Bergen then did some uncredited work on Flynn's The Adventure of Captain Fabian (1951).
Television
Florey's early works for television included
The Walt Disney Christmas Show (1951) and
Operation Wonderland (1951) for Disney.
He soon devoted himself to television almost exclusively, doing episodes of Your Favorite Story, The Loretta Young Show, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, The Star and the Story, Four Star Playhouse, Ethel Barrymore Theater, Wire Service, Telephone Time, Studio 57, Fireside Theatre, General Electric Theater, Schlitz Playhouse, M Squad, Wagon Train, The Restless Gun (the pilot), Goodyear Theatre, Alcoa Theatre, Black Saddle, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, The Rough Riders, The David Niven Show, Lock Up, Zane Grey Theater, The Untouchables, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Markham, The Texan, Checkmate, Michael Shayne, Hong Kong, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Adventures in Paradise, Thriller, Alcoa Premiere, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Dick Powell Theatre, Going My Way, The Great Adventure, The Twilight Zone ("Perchance to Dream", "The Fever", "The Long Morrow") and The Outer Limits.
He also wrote a number of books, including Pola Negri (1927) and Charlie Chaplin (1927), Hollywood d'hier et d'aujord'hui (1948), La Lanterne magique (1966), and Hollywood annee zero (1972).
In 1950, Florey was made a knight in the French Légion d'honneur.
His 1937 thriller Daughter of Shanghai (1937), starring Anna May Wong, was added to the National Film Registry in 2006.[
]
He was married once from 1928 to 1936,
He is buried at the Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles with his second wife.
Complete filmography
As an actor
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The Masque of Life (1915–1916)
This filmography lists Florey's credits as director of feature films, and is believed to be complete.
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That Model from Paris, 1926 (uncredited)
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One Hour of Love, 1927
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The Romantic Age, 1927
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Face Value, 1927
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The Hole in the Wall, 1929
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The Cocoanuts, 1929
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The Battle of Paris, 1929
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Skyscraper Symphony, 1929
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El amor solfeando (My Wife's Teacher), 1930
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The Road Is Fine ( La Route est belle), 1930
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Love Songs ( L'Amour chante), 1930
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Rendezvous, 1930
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Black and White ( Le Blanc et la noir) (co-director), 1931
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Murders in the Rue Morgue, 1932
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The Man Called Back, 1932
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Those We Love, 1932
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Girl Missing, 1933
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Ex-Lady, 1933
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The House on 56th Street, 1933
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Bedside, 1934
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Registered Nurse, 1934
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Smarty, 1934
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I Sell Anything, 1934
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I Am a Thief, 1934
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The Woman in Red, 1935
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The Florentine Dagger, 1935
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Go Into Your Dance (uncredited), 1935
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Going Highbrow, 1935
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Don't Bet on Blondes, 1935
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Ship Cafe, 1935
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The Payoff, 1935
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The Preview Murder Mystery, 1936
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Till We Meet Again, 1936
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Hollywood Boulevard, 1936
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Outcast, 1937
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King of Gamblers, 1937
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Mountain Music, 1937
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This Way Please, 1937
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Daughter of Shanghai, 1937
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Dangerous to Know, 1938
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King of Alcatraz, 1938
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Disbarred, 1939
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Hotel Imperial, 1939
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The Magnificent Fraud, 1939
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Death of a Champion, 1939
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Parole Fixer, 1940
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Women Without Names, 1940
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The Face Behind the Mask, 1941
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Meet Boston Blackie, 1941
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Two in a Taxi, 1941
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Dangerously They Live, 1941
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Lady Gangster (billed as Florian Roberts), 1941
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Bomber's Moon (second-unit director), 1943
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The Desert Song, 1943
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Roger Touhy, Gangster, 1944
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Man from Frisco, 1944
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God Is My Co-Pilot, 1945
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Danger Signal, 1945
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San Antonio, 1945
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The Beast with Five Fingers, 1946
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Tarzan and the Mermaids, 1948
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Rogues' Regiment, 1948
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Outpost in Morocco, 1949
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The Crooked Way, 1949
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The Vicious Years, 1950
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Johnny One-Eye, 1950
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Adventures of Captain Fabian (uncredited), 1951
Short subjects
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The Love of Zero, 1928
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Hello New York! (aka Bonjour New York), 1928
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, 1928
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Skyscraper Symphony, 1929
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Fifty-Fifty, 1932
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"The Incredible Dr. Markesan" Thriller Series, costars Boris Karloff, 1962
Footnotes
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Koszarski, Richard. 1976. Hollywood Directors: 1914-1940. Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 76-9262.
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External links
