Roy Rowland(1910-1995)
- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Roy Rowland studied law at the University of Southern California, then
joined MGM as a script clerk. As if getting that job wasn't enough good
luck in the middle of the Depression, he also married the niece of MGM
chief Louis B. Mayer.
He sharpened his directing chops at MGM with a series of shorts
starting in the 1930s, then moved up to features in 1943. He spent
quite a bit of time at the studio, from 1943-51 and again from 1954-58.
While not one of the studio's top-rank directors, he could be counted
on to deliver sold "B" pictures--which, at MGM, were often better than
most other studios' "A" pictures--and an occasional "A" production, in
a variety of genres, including musicals
(Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956))
and dramas
(Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)).
He was also responsible for the tough, fast-paced
Rogue Cop (1954), one of the few MGM
films that could be considered "film noir".
The last film he made at MGM was a "B" western with
Stewart Granger,
Gun Glory (1957), after which he made
an action picture for independent release based on a
Mickey Spillane "Mike Hammer" novel
starring Spillane himself
(The Girl Hunters (1963)), and
then he traveled to Europe for a string of Italian-made westerns and
costume dramas. His final film as director was a somewhat cheesy pirate
movie (he was uncredited; his Italian co-director
Sergio Bergonzelli got sole credit))
called
Il grande colpo di Surcouf (1966).
He was associate producer on Nathan Juran's
Italian-shot Land Raiders (1969),
after which he retired. He was the father of actor
Steve Rowland.
Roy Rowland died in 1995, at age 84, in Orange, California..
joined MGM as a script clerk. As if getting that job wasn't enough good
luck in the middle of the Depression, he also married the niece of MGM
chief Louis B. Mayer.
He sharpened his directing chops at MGM with a series of shorts
starting in the 1930s, then moved up to features in 1943. He spent
quite a bit of time at the studio, from 1943-51 and again from 1954-58.
While not one of the studio's top-rank directors, he could be counted
on to deliver sold "B" pictures--which, at MGM, were often better than
most other studios' "A" pictures--and an occasional "A" production, in
a variety of genres, including musicals
(Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956))
and dramas
(Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945)).
He was also responsible for the tough, fast-paced
Rogue Cop (1954), one of the few MGM
films that could be considered "film noir".
The last film he made at MGM was a "B" western with
Stewart Granger,
Gun Glory (1957), after which he made
an action picture for independent release based on a
Mickey Spillane "Mike Hammer" novel
starring Spillane himself
(The Girl Hunters (1963)), and
then he traveled to Europe for a string of Italian-made westerns and
costume dramas. His final film as director was a somewhat cheesy pirate
movie (he was uncredited; his Italian co-director
Sergio Bergonzelli got sole credit))
called
Il grande colpo di Surcouf (1966).
He was associate producer on Nathan Juran's
Italian-shot Land Raiders (1969),
after which he retired. He was the father of actor
Steve Rowland.
Roy Rowland died in 1995, at age 84, in Orange, California..