About

Known credits:
52
Birthday:
1901-10-26
Place of birth:
New York City, New York, USA
Website:
N/A

Mark Sandrich

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mark Sandrich (birth name: Mark Rex Goldstein) (October 26, 1900 – March 4, 1945) was a Jewish American film director, writer and producer.

One of the most gifted and least heralded directors of the 1930s and early 1940s, Sandrich was an engineering student at Columbia University when he started the movie business by accident. When visiting a friend on a film set, he saw that the director had a problem in setting up a shot; Sandrich offered his advice. It worked. He then entered into the movies in the prop department, and became a director specializing in several comedy shorts in 1927. He then made his first feature the next year, but returned to shorts after the sound arrival. In 1933 he directed the Academy Award-winning short, So This Is Harris!. He later returned to feature films, most notably comedies, starring the team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey in Hips, Hips, Hooray!. In 1934, Sandrich soon got his first directing assignment on the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical The Gay Divorcee, which proved a success.

The following year, he directed what is widely regarded as the best movie ever made by the legendary dance team, Top Hat, which excelled in every department, including music and choreography. It was all pulled together seamlessly by Sandrich. After that, several other movies such as Follow the Fleet, Shall We Dance, and Carefree followed. In 1940, Sandrich left RKO for Paramount, which offered him a chance to be not only a director but as well as a producer. He made other several successful films in this capacity, including two with Jack Benny, Buck Benny Rides Again and Love Thy Neighbor, both released in 1940, and the romantic comedy Skylark, starring Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland. However, while all these were hits, it was Holiday Inn in 1942 starring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, with music by Irving Berlin that showed Sandrich at his best. The musical/comedy actually started on the eve of America's entry into World War II. It featured sufficient serious overtones to capture the mood of the time, and showed Crosby and Astaire to brilliant advantage as performers who are rivals for the same woman; and it introduced the song "White Christmas", highlighted by the crooner Crosby which remained the biggest selling popular song in history for fifty-two years. So Proudly We Hail! was a Sandrich-produced and directed adaptation of the hit play. It was extremely popular and successful, and featured a pair of performers – Adrian Booth and George Reeves -- whom Sandrich had intended to bring to stardom after the war. However, it wasn't to be.

In 1945, while in pre-production on a follow up to Holiday Inn called Blue Skies, starring Bing Crosby and featuring Irving Berlin's music, and serving as president of the Directors Guild, Sandrich died suddenly, of heart failure. He was at this time one of the most trusted and influential directors in Hollywood, respected by his colleagues and the studio management. His sons Mark Sandrich Jr. and Jay Sandrich have gone onto successful careers as directors. His interment was located at Home of Peace Cemetery.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Sandrich, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Directing
1944 Here Come the Waves Directing Director 58
Average
1944 I Love a Soldier Directing Director 58
Average
1943 So Proudly We Hail Directing Director 58
Average
1942 Holiday Inn Directing Director 62
Fair
1941 Skylark Directing Director 59
Average
1940 Love Thy Neighbor Directing Director 59
Average
1940 Buck Benny Rides Again Directing Director N/A
N/A
1939 Man About Town Directing Director 58
Average
1938 Carefree Directing Director 59
Average
1937 Shall We Dance Directing Director 61
Fair
1936 A Woman Rebels Directing Director 58
Average
1936 Follow the Fleet Directing Director 59
Average
1935 Top Hat Directing Director 64
Fair
1934 The Gay Divorcee Directing Director 60
Fair
1934 Cockeyed Cavaliers Directing Director 59
Average
1934 Hips, Hips, Hooray! Directing Director 59
Average
1933 Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men Directing Director 58
Average
1933 So This Is Harris! Directing Director 58
Average
1933 Melody Cruise Directing Director 58
Average
1933 The Gay Nighties Directing Director 58
Average
1933 The Druggist's Dilemma Directing Director N/A
N/A
1932 Jitters the Butler Directing Director 59
Average
1932 The Iceman's Ball Directing Director N/A
N/A
1932 A Slip at the Switch Directing Director N/A
N/A
1931 Sightseeing in New York Directing Director N/A
N/A
1931 Scratch-As-Catch-Can Directing Director 58
Average
1931 False Roomers Directing Director N/A
N/A
1930 Moonlight and Monkey Business Directing Director N/A
N/A
1930 General Ginsberg Directing Director N/A
N/A
1929 The Talk of Hollywood Directing Director 59
Average
1928 A Lady Lion Directing Director N/A
N/A
1928 Sword Points Directing Director 58
Average
1927 Monty of the Mounted Directing Director N/A
N/A
1927 The Movie Hound Directing Director N/A
N/A
1927 A Midsummer Night's Steam Directing Director N/A
N/A
1927 Hello Sailor Directing Director N/A
N/A
1926 Napoleon, Jr. Directing Director N/A
N/A
1926 Jerry the Giant Directing Director N/A
N/A

Writing
1933 So This Is Harris! Writing Story 58
Average
1933 The Gay Nighties Writing Adaptation 58
Average
1933 Melody Cruise Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1932 Hold 'Em Jail Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1932 The Iceman's Ball Writing Adaptation N/A
N/A
1931 Sightseeing in New York Writing Story N/A
N/A
1930 Moonlight and Monkey Business Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1930 General Ginsberg Writing Writer N/A
N/A

Production
1944 Here Come the Waves Production Producer 58
Average
1943 So Proudly We Hail Production Producer 58
Average
1942 Holiday Inn Production Producer 62
Fair
1941 Skylark Production Producer 59
Average
1940 Love Thy Neighbor Production Producer 59
Average
1940 Buck Benny Rides Again Production Producer N/A
N/A