Wesley Ruggles

Born: 1889-06-10

Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director. He was born in Los Angeles, a younger brother of actor Charles Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a dozen or so silent films, on occasion with Charles Chaplin. In 1917, he turned his attention to directing, making more than 50 mostly forgettable films — including a silent film version of Edith Wharton's novel The Age of Innocence (1924) — before he won acclaim with Cimarron in 1931. The adaptation of Edna Ferber's novel Cimarron, about homesteaders settling in the prairies of Oklahoma, was the first Western to win an Academy Award as Best Picture. Although Ruggles followed this success with the light comedy No Man of Her Own (1932) with Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, the comedy I'm No Angel (1933) with Mae West and Cary Grant , College Humor (1933) with Bing Crosby, and Bolero (1934) with George Raft and Carole Lombard, few of his later films were in any way memorable (an exception is Arizona). His career was on the downslide when he teamed with the Rank Organisation in 1946 to produce and direct London Town with Sid Field and Petula Clark, based on a story he wrote. The film — British cinema's first attempt at a Technicolor musical extravaganza — is notable as being one of the biggest critical and commercial failures in that country's film history. Ironically, Ruggles had been hired to helm it because as an American, it was thought, he was better equipped to handle a musical — despite the fact that nothing in his past had prepared him to work in the genre. It was his last film. An abridged version was released in the U.S. under the title My Heart Goes Crazy by United Artists in 1953. Ruggles died in 1972 in Santa Monica and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article Wesley Ruggles, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia


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The Pawnshop

as Ring Client (uncredited)
Released: 1916-10-02

A pawnbroker's assistant deals with his grumpy boss, his annoying co-worker and some eccentric...

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Police

as Jailbird and Thief
Released: 1916-05-27

Charlie is released from prison and immediately swindled by a fake parson. A fellow ex-convict...

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Triple Trouble

as Crook
Released: 1918-08-11

As Colonel Nutt is experimenting with explosives, a new janitor is joining his household. The...

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A Night in the Show

as Second Man in Balcony Front Row
Released: 1915-11-20

Mr. Pest tries several theatre seats before winding up in front in a fight with the conductor....

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Behind the Screen

as Actor (uncredited)
Released: 1916-11-13

During the troubled shooting of several movies, David, the prop man's assistant, meets an...

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The Floorwalker

as Policeman (uncredited)
Released: 1916-05-15

An impecunious customer creates chaos in a department store while the manager and his assistant...

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Shanghaied

as Shipowner
Released: 1915-10-04

A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie,...

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A Trip Through the World's Greatest Motion Picture Studios

as Himself
Released: 1920-08-15

A Trip Through the World's Greatest Motion Picture Studios (1920) presents a fascinating glimpse...

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A Submarine Pirate

as His accomplice / Sub Officer
Released: 1915-12-26

A waiter tricks his way into command of a sub in order to rob a ship carrying gold bullion.

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Gussle's Wayward Path

as Clergyman
Released: 1915-04-09

Gussle (Syd Chaplin) comes home with a cute little dog but doesn't want the wife to see...

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Beatrice Fairfax

as #15 Wristwatches
Released: 1916-08-07

Beatrice Fairfax, the original advice-to-the-lovelorn reporter and her friend and not-so-secret...

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Her Painted Hero

as Effeminate Party Guest (uncredited)
Released: 1915-11-20

A stage-struck young woman becomes an heiress, and hopes to use her new-found wealth to fulfill...

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A Lover's Lost Control

as Shoe Clerk
Released: 1915-08-02

Mr. and Mrs. Gussle get up to some hijinks in this Keystone comedy.

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A Burlesque on the Opera Carmen

as uncredited
Released: 1951-03-01

Peter Sellers makes funny voice narration over the Chaplin film A Burlesque on Carmen (1915).

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Her Torpedoed Love

as Messenger Inside the House
Released: 1917-05-13

A wealthy invalid tries to add his hard-working cook to his will, but the conniving butler gets...

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