Joseph H. Lewis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph H. Lewis (April 6, 1907–August 30, 2000), was an American B-movie director.
Although he worked with both Bela 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 love for using wagon-wheels to construct interesting visual compositions within the frame.
Toward the end of his career, he worked in television, directing episodes of The Rifleman, Bonanza, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke as well as the pilot for Branded.
[edit] Notable films directed
- My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)
- So Dark the Night (1946)
- The Undercover Man (1949)
- Gun Crazy (1949)
- A Lady Without Passport (1950)
- Cry of the Hunted (1953)
- The Big Combo (1955)
- 7th Cavalry (1956)
- The Halliday Brand (1957)
- Terror in a Texas Town (1958)
