Arthur Ripley

Biography

Arthur DeWitt Ripley (1897-1961) was an American screenwriter, editor, producer and director who worked around silent and sound-era comedy. His career moved from writing gags to directing, though he never stopped writing screenplays.

In 1923 he joined Mack Sennett's studio as a comedy writer. During the 1920s he worked closely with Frank Capra, producing scripts for many films. After parting ways with Capra and the Sennett studio, he went back to writing gags and screenplays, and directed short films with comedians such as W. C. Fields and Edgar Kennedy. In the 1940s he directed Voice in the Wind (1944) and The Chase (1946); both won praise from critics but neither was a box office hit.

Later he stepped back from shooting to take up teaching: he helped establish the Film Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and worked occasionally in television. He directed one last time, Thunder Road (1958), at Robert Mitchum's request, and remained connected to UCLA until his death in 1961.

Key films

• Alias Jimmy Valentine (1920), starring Bert Lytell, one of his early credits as a writer.
• Voice in the Wind (1944), a drama that was one of his two 1940s films as director.
• The Chase (1946), his other 1940s feature as director, praised by critics.
• Thunder Road (1958), his final film as director, made at Robert Mitchum's request.