Irving Rapper
Encyclopedia
Irving Rapper was a British film director. His most successful body of work is 10 films he made while under contract with Warner Brothers.
Rapper emigrated to the United States and became an actor and stage director on Broadway
while studying at New York University
. In 1936, he went to Hollywood, where he was hired by Warner Bros.
as an assistant director and dialogue coach. He proved invaluable in translating and mediating for non-native English-speaking directors. By the early 1940s, he had metamorphosed into one of the hottest directors on the Warner Bros. lot.
He made his directing debut with the 1941 film Shining Victory
, in which his friend Bette Davis
appeared as a show of support for him. He would go on to direct her in four more films, Now, Voyager
(1942), The Corn Is Green
(1945), Deception (1946), and Another Man's Poison
(1952). In later years, Rapper admitted that he found Davis very difficult to work with and that she would, "...hold the whole set hostage, stopping production for a day, because of her mood."
Rapper's film One Foot in Heaven
(1941) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film. Perhaps his best film in a studio other than Warner Bros. was The Brave One
(1956), which earned the then-blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo
an Academy Award for his original screenplay.
Additional credits include The Glass Menagerie
(1950), Marjorie Morningstar
(1958), and The Miracle
, a 1959 remake
of the 1912 Austria
n film Das Mirakel.
Biopics directed by Rapper include The Adventures of Mark Twain
(1944), Pontius Pilate (1962) and his last film, the 1978 flop Born Again
, about convicted Watergate
conspirator and former Richard Nixon
aide Charles Colson
.
Rapper died at the age of 101 on 20 December 1999 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, where he had been a resident since 1995.
Rapper emigrated to the United States and became an actor and stage director on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
while studying at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. In 1936, he went to Hollywood, where he was hired by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
as an assistant director and dialogue coach. He proved invaluable in translating and mediating for non-native English-speaking directors. By the early 1940s, he had metamorphosed into one of the hottest directors on the Warner Bros. lot.
He made his directing debut with the 1941 film Shining Victory
Shining Victory
Shining Victory is a 1941 film based on the play, Jupiter Laughs, by A. J. Cronin. It stars James Stephenson, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, and Barbara O'Neil, and it was the first film directed by Irving Rapper. Bette Davis makes a brief cameo appearance as a nurse in the film.-Plot...
, in which his friend Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
appeared as a show of support for him. He would go on to direct her in four more films, Now, Voyager
Now, Voyager
Now, Voyager is a 1942 American drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty....
(1942), The Corn Is Green
The Corn Is Green (1945 film)
The Corn Is Green is a 1945 drama film starring Bette Davis as a schoolteacher determined to bring education to a Welsh coal mining town, despite great opposition...
(1945), Deception (1946), and Another Man's Poison
Another Man's Poison
Another Man's Poison is a 1951 British drama film directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Val Guest is based on the play Intent to Murder by Leslie Sands.-Plot:...
(1952). In later years, Rapper admitted that he found Davis very difficult to work with and that she would, "...hold the whole set hostage, stopping production for a day, because of her mood."
Rapper's film One Foot in Heaven
One Foot in Heaven
One Foot in Heaven is a 1941 American biographical film starring Fredric March, Martha Scott, Beulah Bondi, Gene Lockhart and Elisabeth Fraser.The movie was adapted by Casey Robinson from the autobiography by Hartzell Spence...
(1941) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film. Perhaps his best film in a studio other than Warner Bros. was The Brave One
The Brave One (1956 film)
The Brave One is a 1956 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper and starring Michel Ray, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., and Elsa Cárdenas. It tells the story of a young Mexican boy who tries to save his beloved bull Gitano from the bullfighting arena....
(1956), which earned the then-blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo
Dalton Trumbo
James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry...
an Academy Award for his original screenplay.
Additional credits include The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie (1950 film)
The Glass Menagerie is a 1950 American drama film directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Tennessee Williams and Peter Berneis is based on the 1944 Williams play of the same title. It was the first of his plays to be adapted for the screen.-Plot:...
(1950), Marjorie Morningstar
Marjorie Morningstar (film)
Marjorie Morningstar is a 1958 melodrama film based on the 1955 novel of the same name. The film, released by Warner Bros. and directed by Irving Rapper tells a fictional coming of age story about a young Jewish girl in New York City in the 1950s...
(1958), and The Miracle
The Miracle (1959 film)
The Miracle is a 1959 remake of a 1912 German film Das Mirakel directed by Cherry Kearton and Max Reinhardt which in turn was based on a 1911 pantomime play of the same name by Karl Vollmöller.-Production history and reception:...
, a 1959 remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 1912 Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n film Das Mirakel.
Biopics directed by Rapper include The Adventures of Mark Twain
The Adventures of Mark Twain
The Adventures of Mark Twain is a 1944 biographical film starring Fredric March as Samuel Clemens and Alexis Smith as his wife, Olivia...
(1944), Pontius Pilate (1962) and his last film, the 1978 flop Born Again
Born Again (film)
Born Again was a 1978 film depicting the involvement of Charles W. Colson in the Watergate scandal, his subsequent conversion to Christianity, and his prison term stemming from Watergate...
, about convicted Watergate
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
conspirator and former Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
aide Charles Colson
Charles Colson
Charles Wendell "Chuck" Colson is a Christian leader, cultural commentator, and former Special Counsel for President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973....
.
Rapper died at the age of 101 on 20 December 1999 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, where he had been a resident since 1995.