A. Edward Sutherland
Encyclopedia
A. Edward Sutherland aka Eddie Sutherland (January 5, 1895 – December 31, 1973) was a film director
and actor. Born Albert Edward Sutherland in London, he was from a theatrical family. His father, Al Sutherland, was a theatre manager and producer and his mother, Julie Ring, was a vaudeville performer. He was a nephew of both Blanche Ring
and Thomas Meighan
, who was married to another of his mother's sisters Frances Ring. Sutherland acted in 37 known films early in his career, beginning as a Keystone Cop in Tillie's Punctured Romance
(1914), which starred Charles Chaplin, Mabel Normand
, and Marie Dressler
.
(1923), two years before Sutherland began his directing career with the help of Chaplin.
It is as a director that he is best known, and he directed over 50 movies between 1925 and 1956. His breakout film was Behind the Front (1926) which made stars of the two leads and established Sutherland as a comedic director. Frequently billed as "Eddie Sutherland," he is often noted for having an especially hard time working with Stan Laurel
whom he disliked ("I'd rather eat a tarantula than work with Laurel again"), while becoming close friends with the more famously acerbic W.C. Fields, with whom he established a lifelong friendship.
Mr. Sutherland's last directing assignment was working on the Mack & Myer for Hire
TV comedies with Joey Faye and Mickey
Deans for Sandy Howard
TV Productions and Trans-Lux
Television in 1965. (Info can be found at www.tvparty.com.)
Sutherland was married five times. Among his wives were Marjorie Daw (from 1923 to 1925) and Louise Brooks
(from July 1926 to June 1928). He and Brooks met on the set of It's the Old Army Game
, which he directed and also co-starred his aunt Blanche Ring
.
Brooks and Sutherland did not have a happy marriage and there were numerous reports on both sides of infidelity. There were no children born from either marriage to Daw or Brooks.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and actor. Born Albert Edward Sutherland in London, he was from a theatrical family. His father, Al Sutherland, was a theatre manager and producer and his mother, Julie Ring, was a vaudeville performer. He was a nephew of both Blanche Ring
Blanche Ring
Blanche Ring , was an American singer and actress in Broadway theatre productions, musicals, and Hollywood motion pictures....
and Thomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading man roles opposite popular actresses of the day including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he commanded $10,000 a week....
, who was married to another of his mother's sisters Frances Ring. Sutherland acted in 37 known films early in his career, beginning as a Keystone Cop in Tillie's Punctured Romance
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914 film)
Tillie's Punctured Romance is the first feature-length comedy film from Keystone Film Company and the Christie Film Company, produced in 1914. A silent film directed by Mack Sennett, the film stars Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, Charles Chaplin, and the Keystone Cops...
(1914), which starred Charles Chaplin, Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand
Mabel Normand was an American silent film comedienne and actress. She was a popular star of Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and is noted as one of the film industry's first female screenwriters, producers and directors...
, and Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler was a Canadian-American actress and Depression-era film star. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930-31 in Min and Bill.-Early life and stage career:...
.
Career
He was directed by Charles Chaplin in A Woman of ParisA Woman of Paris
A Woman of Paris is a feature-length silent film that debuted in 1923. The film, an atypical drama film for its creator, was written, directed, produced and later scored by Charlie Chaplin. It is also known as A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate....
(1923), two years before Sutherland began his directing career with the help of Chaplin.
It is as a director that he is best known, and he directed over 50 movies between 1925 and 1956. His breakout film was Behind the Front (1926) which made stars of the two leads and established Sutherland as a comedic director. Frequently billed as "Eddie Sutherland," he is often noted for having an especially hard time working with Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
whom he disliked ("I'd rather eat a tarantula than work with Laurel again"), while becoming close friends with the more famously acerbic W.C. Fields, with whom he established a lifelong friendship.
Mr. Sutherland's last directing assignment was working on the Mack & Myer for Hire
Mack & Myer for Hire
Mack & Myer for Hire is an American sitcom that aired in syndication from 1963 to 1964. The show starred Mickey Deems and Joey Faye, and was produced by Trans-Lux Television in New York. Each episode was approximately 12 minutes long, and the show was filmed using a two-camera layout...
TV comedies with Joey Faye and Mickey
Deans for Sandy Howard
Sandy Howard
Sandy Howard was an American film producer and television producer. A native of the Bronx, New York City, Howard wrote short stories for publication in magazines like Liberty, and worked as a publicist for Broadway shows until he became a director for the Howdy Doody show at the age of nineteen;...
TV Productions and Trans-Lux
Trans-Lux
Trans-Lux is a world leader in designing, selling, renting, installing and maintaining multi-color, real-time data and LED large-screen electronic information displays, but is primarily known as a major supplier of national stock ticker display devices for stock exchanges...
Television in 1965. (Info can be found at www.tvparty.com.)
Sutherland was married five times. Among his wives were Marjorie Daw (from 1923 to 1925) and Louise Brooks
Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
(from July 1926 to June 1928). He and Brooks met on the set of It's the Old Army Game
It's the Old Army Game
It's the Old Army Game is a 1926 silent film comedy starring W. C. Fields and Louise Brooks. It was directed by A. Edward Sutherland and co-stars Sutherland's aunt stage actress Blanche Ring in one of her few silent film appearances. It's an original screen story for Fields based on several skits...
, which he directed and also co-starred his aunt Blanche Ring
Blanche Ring
Blanche Ring , was an American singer and actress in Broadway theatre productions, musicals, and Hollywood motion pictures....
.
Brooks and Sutherland did not have a happy marriage and there were numerous reports on both sides of infidelity. There were no children born from either marriage to Daw or Brooks.
Partial Filmography as actor
- Which Woman?Which Woman?Which Woman? is a 1918 mystery film directed by Tod Browning and Harry A. Pollard.-Cast:* Ella Hall - Doris Standish* Priscilla Dean - Mary Butler* A. Edward Sutherland - Jimmy Nevin* Edward Jobson - Cyrus W. Hopkins* Andrew Robson - Peter Standish...
(1918) directed by Tod BrowningTod BrowningTod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras... - Conrad in Quest of His YouthConrad in Quest of His YouthConrad in Quest of His Youth is a 1920 silent film dramedy directed by William C. deMille and starring Thomas Meighan. The film is based on a novel Conrad in Quest of His Youth by Leonard Merrick adapted and written for the screen by Olga Printzlau. This film survives at the Library of Congress...
(1920) directed by William C. deMilleWilliam C. DeMilleWillam C. deMille was an American screenwriter and film director from the silent movie era through the early 1930s. He was also a noted playwright prior to moving into film. Once he was established in film he specialized in adapting Broadway plays into silent films... - The Witching Hour (1921) directed by William Desmond TaylorWilliam Desmond TaylorWilliam Desmond Taylor was an Irish-born American actor, successful film director of silent movies and a popular figure in the growing Hollywood film colony of the 1910s and early 1920s...
- The Dollar-a-Year ManThe Dollar-a-Year ManThe Dollar-a-Year Man is a 1921 comedy film starring Fatty Arbuckle.-Cast:* Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - Franklin Pinney* Lila Lee - Peggy Bruce* Winifred Greenwood - Kate Connelly* J.M. Dumont - Tipson Blair...
(1921) - The Loaded DoorThe Loaded DoorThe Loaded Door is a 1922 American Western film directed by Harry A. Pollard and starring Hoot Gibson.-Cast:* Hoot Gibson as Bert Lyons* Gertrude Olmstead as Molly Grainger* William Ryno as Bud Grainger * A...
(1922)
Silent era
- Coming ThroughComing ThroughComing Through is a 1925 film directed by A. Edward Sutherland. It stars Thomas Meighan and Lila Lee. It was Sutherland's directorial debut.-Cast:*Thomas Meighan as Tom Blackford*Lila Lee as Alice Rand*John Miltern as John Rand...
(1925) with Wallace BeeryWallace BeeryWallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor... - A Regular Fellow (1925) with Tyrone Power, Sr.Tyrone Power, Sr.Frederick Tyrone Edmond Power was an English-born American stage and screen actor, who acted under the name Tyrone Power.-Early life:Power was born in London in 1869, the son of Harold Littledale Power and Ethel Lavenu...
- Behind the Front (1926) with Wallace BeeryWallace BeeryWallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
and Raymond HattonRaymond HattonRaymond William Hatton was an American movie actor who appeared in almost five hundred movies, including a stint of being paired in 1920s comedies with Wallace Beery.... - It's the Old Army GameIt's the Old Army GameIt's the Old Army Game is a 1926 silent film comedy starring W. C. Fields and Louise Brooks. It was directed by A. Edward Sutherland and co-stars Sutherland's aunt stage actress Blanche Ring in one of her few silent film appearances. It's an original screen story for Fields based on several skits...
(1926) with W. C. FieldsW. C. FieldsWilliam Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
, Louise BrooksLouise BrooksMary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
and Blanche RingBlanche RingBlanche Ring , was an American singer and actress in Broadway theatre productions, musicals, and Hollywood motion pictures.... - We're in the Navy Now (1926) with Wallace BeeryWallace BeeryWallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
- Love's Greatest MistakeLove's Greatest MistakeLove's Greatest Mistake is a 1927 silent American drama film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Evelyn Brent.- Cast :* Evelyn Brent as Jane* William Powell as Don Kendall* James Hall as Harvey Gibbs* Josephine Dunn as Honey McNeil...
(1927) - Fireman, Save My ChildFireman, Save My ChildFireman, Save My Child is a 1927 film featuring the part-time screen comedy team of Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton. The film was written by Monte Brice and Thomas J. Geraghty, and directed by A. Edward Sutherland...
(1927) with Wallace BeeryWallace BeeryWallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor... - Tillie's Punctured RomanceTillie's Punctured Romance (1928 film)Tillie's Punctured Romance is a 1928 circus comedy starring W. C. Fields as a ringmaster and Louise Fazenda as a runaway. Written by Monte Brice and Keene Thompson and directed by A. Edward Sutherland, this movie has nothing to do with the revered 1914 Charles Chaplin film aside from sharing the...
(1928) with W.C. Fields (completely different from the 1914 film)
Sound era
- Pointed HeelsPointed Heels__notoc__Pointed Heels is an early sound musical film from Paramount Pictures starring William Powell, Helen Kane, Richard "Skeets" Gallagher, and Fay Wray. This movie was originally filmed in color sequences by Technicolor, but today those color sequences only survive in black-and-white...
(1929) with William PowellWilliam PowellWilliam Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
and Fay WrayFay WrayFay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong... - Fast CompanyFast Company (1929 film)Fast Company is a 1929 American comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Evelyn Brent.-Preservation status:According to the Internet Movie Database entry, the UCLA Film and Television Archive has reels 1, 2, and 3 of this film, with reel 4 having disintegrated in 1990.- Cast :*...
(1929) - Paramount on ParadeParamount on ParadeParamount on Parade is a all-star revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Victor Heerman, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H...
(1930) co-director with 10 other directors; all-star Paramount revueRevueA revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932... - June MoonJune MoonJune Moon is a play by George S. Kaufman and Ring Lardner. Based on the Lardner short story "Some Like Them Cold," about a love affair that loses steam before it ever gets started, it includes songs with words and music by Lardner but is not considered a musical per se.At its center is Fred...
(1931) with Jack OakieJack OakieJack Oakie was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television.-Early life:...
and Frances DeeFrances DeeFrances Marion Dee was an American actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical, The Playboy of Paris... - Up Pops the DevilUp Pops the DevilUp Pops the Devil is a film about an advertising man who quits his job to become a novelist, upsetting his wife and straining their marriage. The film was directed by A...
(1931) with Carole LombardCarole LombardCarole Lombard was an American actress. She was particularly noted for her comedic roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s... - Palmy DaysPalmy DaysPalmy Days is a 1931 musical comedy written by Eddie Cantor, Morrie Ryskind, and David Freedman, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, and choreographed by Busby Berkeley...
(1931) with Eddie CantorEddie CantorEddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter... - Sky Devils (1932) with Spencer TracySpencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
- Mr. Robinson CrusoeMr. Robinson CrusoeMr. Robinson Crusoe is a 1932 American film. It is one of the few "talkie" films starring Douglas Fairbanks in his penultimate film role, who also produced the film and provided the story. The film was directed by A. Edward Sutherland, a veteran silent film director, for Fairbanks's Elton...
(1932) with Douglas FairbanksDouglas FairbanksDouglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro.... - Too Much Harmony (1933) with Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
- International HouseInternational House (1933 film)International House is a comedy film, directed by A. Edward Sutherland and released by Paramount Pictures. The tagline of the film was "the Grand Hotel of comedy".-Actors:*Peggy Hopkins Joyce as herself*W. C. Fields as Prof. Henry R...
(1933) comedy film with W. C. FieldsW. C. FieldsWilliam Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer... - Murders in the ZooMurders in the ZooMurders in the Zoo is 1933 horror film directed by A. Edward Sutherland, written by Philip Wylie and Seton I. Miller. Considered particularly dark for it's time, film critic Leonard Maltin has called the film "Astonishingly grisly".-Plot:...
(1933) with Lionel AtwillLionel AtwillLionel Atwill was an English stage and film actor born in Croydon, London, England.He studied architecture before his stage debut at the Garrick Theatre, London in 1904. He become a star in Broadway theatre by 1918, and made his screen debut in 1919. He acted on the stage in Australia but was most... - Mississippi (1935) with Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and W. C. Fields - Diamond JimDiamond JimDiamond Jim is a 1935 biographical film based on the published biography Diamond Jim Brady by Parker Morell. It follows the life of legendary entrepreneur James Buchanan Brady, including his romance with entertainer Lillian Russell, and stars Edward Arnold, Jean Arthur, Cesar Romero and Binnie...
(1935) biographical drama - Every Day's a Holiday (1937) with Mae WestMae WestMae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
- The Flying DeucesThe Flying DeucesThe Flying Deuces, also known as Flying Aces, is a 1939 comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy, in which the duo join the French Foreign Legion. It is a partial remake of their 1931 short film Beau Hunks.- Plot :...
(1939) with Stan LaurelStan LaurelArthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
and Oliver HardyOliver HardyOliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:... - The Invisible WomanThe Invisible WomanThe Invisible Woman is a science fiction, comedy film that was released near the end of 1940 by Universal. It is the third film follow Invisible Man and The Invisible Man Returns which had been released earlier in the year. The comedic writers Robert Lees and Fred Rinaldo wrote the screenplay in...
(1940) with John BarrymoreJohn BarrymoreJohn Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III... - Beyond TomorrowBeyond Tomorrow (1940 film)Beyond Tomorrow is a 1940 American fantasy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland. In it, a trio of ghosts try to help two young lovers whom they knew when alive ....
(1940) fantasy film - One Night in the TropicsOne Night in the TropicsOne Night in the Tropics is a 1940 comedy film noteworthy for being the film debut of Abbott and Costello. The team play minor roles but steal the picture with five classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On First?" Their work earned them a two-picture deal with Universal, and...
(1940), Abbot and Costello movie - The Boys from SyracuseThe Boys from Syracuse (film)The Boys from Syracuse is a 1940 musical film directed by A. Edward Sutherland, based on a stage musical by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, which in turn was based on the play The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare...
(1940) - The Navy Comes Through (1942)
- DixieDixie (film)Dixie is a 1943 Technicolor biographical film of American songwriter Daniel Decatur Emmett, starring Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. The movie is a musical directed by A. Edward Sutherland.The movie was only a moderate success and received mixed reviews...
(1943) with Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.... - Follow the BoysFollow the BoysFollow the Boys , also known as Three Cheers for the Boys, is a musical film made by Universal Pictures as an all-star cast morale booster to entertain the troops abroad and the civilians at home. The film was directed by A. Edward "Eddie" Sutherland and produced by Charles K. Feldman...
(1944) with George RaftGeorge RaftGeorge Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s... - Abie's Irish RoseAbie's Irish RoseAbie's Irish Rose is a popular comedy by Anne Nichols familiar from stage productions, films and radio programs. The basic premise involves an Irish Catholic girl and a young Jewish man who marry despite the objections of their families.-Theater and films:...
(1946) - Bermuda Affair (1956) with Kim HunterKim HunterKim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire...