Joseph H. Lewis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Joseph H. Lewis (April 6, 1907–August 30, 2000), was an American B-movie film director. Although he worked with both Béla Lugosi (The Invisible Ghost) and Lionel Atwill in early 1940s horror, he is best known for his work in film noir from the late 40s and the 1950s. His most acclaimed feature, Gun Crazy (1949), is a dark romance about gun-obsession, and notable for its use of location photography. At the dawn of his career (1937–1940), when Lewis was directing inexpensive westerns, he earned the derogatory nickname "Wagon-Wheel Joe" from the studio editors, because of his tendency to use wagon-wheels for constructing interesting visual compositions within the frame. Lewis's offbeat and eye-catching compositions added style and value to inexpensive productions. His 1944 musical Minstrel Man, starring singer Benny Fields, is quite possibly the finest film ever made by low-budget PRC Pictures. Industry insiders noticed, prompting Columbia Pictures to hire Lewis to film the musical sequences for its blockbuster musical The Jolson Story. Toward the end of Lewis's career, he worked in television, directing mostly westerns: The Rifleman, Bonanza, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, and the pilot for Branded. Description above from the Wikipedia article Joseph H. Lewis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known for
DirectingBirthday
April 6, 1907Deathday
August 30, 2000Gender
MaleKnown Movie Credits
47Place of birth
New York City, New York, USACast credits
Crew credits
A Lady Without Passport
DirectorThe Big Combo
DirectorInvisible Ghost
DirectorThe Undercover Man
DirectorPride of the Bowery
DirectorThe Halliday Brand
DirectorCry of the Hunted
DirectorSo Dark the Night
DirectorThe Mad Doctor of Market Street
DirectorMy Name Is Julia Ross
Director7th Cavalry
DirectorA Lawless Street
DirectorSharad of Atlantis
Supervising EditorTerror in a Texas Town
DirectorThe Falcon in San Francisco
DirectorGun Crazy
DirectorBombs Over Burma
Director, ScreenplayBoys of the City
DirectorDesperate Search
DirectorHitch Hike Lady
EditorRetreat, Hell!
Director