Henry Hathaway: Biography

Henry Hathaway, born Henri Leopold de Fiennes, was a child actor in western one-reelers (often for director Allan Dwan) of the early 1900s, and appeared in numerous films through the teens. An assistant director in the '20s, he became a director with a string of Randolph Scott westerns in the early '30s, and soon made his mark with the Gary Cooper films Now and Forever (1934), The Lives Of A Bengal Lancer (1935), and Peter Ibbetson (1935). He also directed the Mae West comedy Go West,Young Man (1936). In the '40s he made several memorable crime films, including Johnny Apollo (1940), Kiss Of Death (1947), and Call Northside 777 (1948), as well as two documentary-style espionage thrillers for producer Louis de Rochemont, The House on 92nd Street (1945) and 13 Rue Madeleine (1946). He continued to make solid and exciting films in a range of genres through the mid '70s, but is most fondly remembered for his westerns From Hell To Texas (1958) and True Grit (1969). ~ All Movie Guide