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Frank Tuttle

For the set decorator, see Frank Tuttle (set decorator). For the Native American artist, see Frank Tuttle (artist). For the American mineralogist, see O. Frank Tuttle.

Frank Wright Tuttle (August 6, 1892 – January 6, 1963) was a Hollywood film director and writer who directed films from 1922 (The Cradle Buster) to 1959 (Island of Lost Women).

Frank Tuttle
On the far right shaking hands with Esther Ralston in 1925
Born
Frank Wright Tuttle

(1892-08-06)August 6, 1892
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 6, 1963(1963-01-06) (aged 70)
Hollywood, California, U.S.
EducationYale University
Occupation(s)Hollywood film director and screenwriter
EmployerParamount Pictures
Known forThis Gun for Hire (1942)
I Stole a Million (1939)
College Holiday (1936)
The Glass Key (1935)
Roman Scandals (1933)
This Is the Night (1932)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
The Untamed Lady (1926)
Kid Boots (1926)
Children3

Biography

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“Frank Tuttle was a director of some skill who showed occasional flashes of talent, but for the greater part of his career he buried himself in irredeemable studio assignments...a long string of routine films, mainly for Paramount Pictures, leaves the impression that Tuttle was a hack with no personal style and no particular skill at grabbing the more interesting assignments...Tuttle, in fact, never lost his youthful zeal and even after years of racing through projects like Waikiki Wedding (1937) and College Holiday (1936) still maintained hopes of creating something not merely artistic but ‘meaningful,’ rather like the fictional director in Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels (1941) ... But Tuttle had neither the talent nor the clout to achieve his aims [and] he soon returned to the practically anonymous production of studio potboilers.”—Film historian Richard Koszarski in Hollywood Directors: 1914-1940 (1976)[1]

Frank Tuttle was educated at Yale University, where he edited campus humor magazine The Yale Record.[2]

After graduation, he worked in New York City in the advertising department of the Metropolitan Music Bureau.[2] He later moved to Hollywood, where he became a film director for Paramount. His films are largely in the comedy and film noir genres.[citation needed]

In 1947, his career ground to a temporary halt with the onset of the first of the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings on Communist infiltration of the movie industry. Tuttle had joined the American Communist Party in 1937 in reaction to Hitler's rise to power. Unable to find work in the United States, he moved to France, where he made Gunman in the Streets (1950) starring Simone Signoret and Dane Clark. In 1951, after a decade as a member of the Communist Party, Tuttle gave 36 names to the HUAC.[3][4]

Death

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Tuttle died in Hollywood, California, on January 6, 1963, aged 70. He was survived by his three daughters.[5]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ Koszarski, 1976 Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 76-9262. p. 350
  2. ^ a b "Frank Wright Tuttle". The twelfth general catalogue of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. New York: Psi Upsilon. May 1917. p. 203.
  3. ^ Tuttle, as 'Informer,' Names 36 in Movies NYHT News Service. The Washington Post (1923-1954) [Washington, DC], May 25, 1951: p. 12.
  4. ^ "The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 25, 1951 · page 8". Newspapers.com. 25 May 1951. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  5. ^ Frank Tuttle at IMDb
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