Known for Directing
Sam Nelson was a director and assistant director who worked from the end of the silent era right up through the early 1960s. While most of his film work was in the assistant director role, he did direct over 20 films during the 1930s and 1940s, all of which were westerns. As an assistant director he worked on such notable films as Pennies from Heaven, And Then There Were None, All the King's Men, the original 3:10 to Yuma, Some Like It Hot, A Raisin in the Sun, and Spartacus. In addition he appeared in over a dozen films in small roles. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born
May 11, 1896
Died
May 1, 1963 (age 66)
Birthplace
Whttier, California, USA
Filmography
98 films


Experiment in Terror
1962 · 2h 3m · US
A man with an asthmatic voice telephones and assaults clerk Kelly Sherwood at home and coerces her into helping him steal a large sum from her bank.


By Love Possessed
1961 · 1h 55m · US
An unhappily married woman engages in an affair with her husband's law partner.


A Raisin in the Sun
1961 · 2h 8m · US
Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.


The Wackiest Ship in the Army
1960 · 1h 39m · US
Lieutenant Rip Crandall is hoodwinked into taking command of the "Wackiest Ship in the Navy" – a real garbage scow with a crew of misfits who don't know a jib from a jigger. What none of them knows, including Crandall, is that this ship has a very important top-secret mission to complete in waters patrolled by the Japanese fleet. Their mission will save hundreds of allied lives – if only they can get there in one piece.


Let No Man Write My Epitaph
1960 · 1h 45m · US
Nick Romano lives in a poor tenement building on the south side of Chicago with his well-meaning but drug-addicted mother, Nellie. She encourages him to pursue his piano-playing talent in hopes that it will bring him a better life. Nellie's neighbors, like the alcoholic ex-lawyer who secretly loves her, help her in keeping Nick away from Louie, the resident drug dealer. But a chance meeting between Nick and Louie could change things forever.


Comanche Station
1960 · 1h 14m · US
A white man trades with the Comanche for the release of a female stranger and the pair cross paths with three outlaws who have their eyes on the handsome reward for bringing her home and Comanche on the warpath.


Some Like It Hot
1959 · 2h 3m · US
In Prohibition-era Chicago, musicians Joe and Jerry witness a mob hit, and flee the state in an all-female band disguised as Josephine and Daphne, but further complications set in.


Good Day for a Hanging
1959 · 1h 25m · US
When the local sheriff is killed after a bank robbery, ex-lawman Ben Cutler collars the apparent killer, Eddie Campbell. Because of his background as a local youth who spent time living with the Cutlers, Eddie gets the benefit of the doubt from Ben's daughter and his wife-to-be. Ben is firm that Eddie is guilty, and as the matter is debated in a divisive court battle, it will soon become clear whether he's right.


The Last Hurrah
1958 · 1h 57m · US
In a changing world where television has become the main source of information, Adam Caulfield, a young sports journalist, witnesses how his uncle, Frank Skeffington, a veteran and honest politician, mayor of a New England town, tries to be reelected while bankers and captains of industry conspire in the shadows to place a weak and manageable candidate in the city hall.


Fifi Blows Her Top
1958 · 17m · US
The stooges reminisce about their wartime romances in Europe. After they finish their tales, they discover that Joe's girl Fifi, whom he left behind in Paris, has moved in next door. The only problem is that she's now married, with a very jealous husband. The husband turns out to be a real cad, and when Fifi overhears him tell about his plans to find a new wife, she clobbers him and goes back to Joe.


Cowboy
1958 · 1h 32m · US
Chicago hotel clerk Frank Harris dreams of life as a cowboy, and he gets his chance when, jilted by the father of the woman he loves, he joins Tom Reece and his cattle-driving outfit. Soon, though, the tenderfoot finds out life on the range is neither what he expected nor what he's been looking for...


Decision at Sundown
1957 · 1h 18m · US
A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.


Rusty Romeos
1957 · 17m · US
The stooges don't know it, but they are all engaged to the same girl, a gold-digger who plans to get an engagement ring from each of them and then abandon them. When all three show up at her house at the same time, a wild fight ensues, as each stooge accuses the others of making time with "his" girl. The gold-digger gets it in the end (literally) with tacks shot from a repeating rifle.


3:10 to Yuma
1957 · 1h 32m · US
Dan Evans, a small time farmer, is hired to escort Ben Wade, a dangerous outlaw, to Yuma. As Evans and Wade wait for the 3:10 train to Yuma, Wade's gang is racing to free him.


The Tall T
1957 · 1h 18m · US
Pat Brennan's luck is about to go from bad to worse; after gambling his horse away, he gets a ride from Willard and Doretta Mims. However, their stagecoach is hijacked by a trio of merciless bandits, led by ruthless Frank Usher. As Usher holds the passengers hostage, Brennan falls in love with Doretta and develops a risky plan to free himself and the Mimses, leading to a bloody final standoff.


The Man Who Turned to Stone
1957 · 1h 11m · US
A new social worker at a girls' reformatory discovers that her charges are being used by a group of ancient alchemists, who have insinuated themselves as the prison's chief staffers, to keep themselves alive and free from an insidious petrification, which is already afflicting one of their number.


Don't Knock The Rock
1956 · 1h 24m · US
Rock-and-roller Arnie Haynes returns to his hometown as a hero to the teenagers. However, the mayor and other concerned adults have banned him from performing in his hometown because they consider him and his music a negative influence on the youth. But with the help of disc jockey/publicist Alan Freed and fellow artists (including Bill Haley and the Comets and Little Richard), they hope to convince everyone that rock and roll is not as dangerous as the adults think.


Reprisal!
1956 · 1h 14m · US
New ranch owner Frank Madden, half Indian but posing as white, arrives just as an all white jury finds the three white Shipley brothers who lynched three Indians innocent. There is soon trouble between Frank and the Shipleys who are using Frank's land to graze their cattle. When the brother of one of the Indian victims kills a Shipley, Frank is accused and put in jail. The Shipleys then organize a lynch mob and head for the jail.


The White Squaw
1956 · 1h 13m · US
A Swedish settler starts a war when he tries to drive Dakotas off their Wyoming reservation.


The Last Frontier
1955 · 1h 38m · US
Three trappers become scouts for a cavalry captain who loses his fort to a hated colonel.


My Sister Eileen
1955 · 1h 48m · US
Ruth and her beautiful sister Eileen come to New York's Greenwich Village looking for "fame, fortune and a 'For Rent' sign on Barrow Street". They find an apartment, but fame and fortune are a lot more elusive. Ruth gets the attention of playboy publisher Bob Baker when she submits a story about Eileen. She tries to keep his attention by convincing him that she and the gorgeous, man-getting Eileen are one and the same person.


The Violent Men
1955 · 1h 36m · US
A former Union Army officer plans to sell out to Anchor Ranch and move east with his fiancée, but the low price offered by Anchor's crippled owner and the outfit's bullying tactics make him reconsider. When one of his hands is murdered he decides to stay and fight, utilizing his war experience. Not all is well at Anchor with the owner's wife carrying on with his brother who also has a Mexican woman in town.


Three Hours to Kill
1954 · 1h 17m · US
After three years on the run, Jim Guthrie returns with the scar of a rope burn on his neck. In a flashback, we learn how he was framed for murder but then escaped from the lynch mob just as he was about to be hung. Tired of running, he has returned to find the real killer and the Sheriff has given him just three hours to do it.


Affair in Trinidad
1952 · 1h 38m · US
A nightclub singer enlists her brother-in-law to track down her husband's killer.


Santa Fe
1951 · 1h 28m · US
After their service in the Civil War, four brothers go their separate ways, but later find themselves on opposite sides of a final showdown.


No Sad Songs for Me
1950 · 1h 28m · US
Mary Scott learns she only has ten months to live before dying of an incurable disease. She manages to keep the news from her husband, Brad and daughter, Polly. She tries to make every moment of her life count, but her effort is weakened by the discovery that Brad is interested in his assistant, Chris Radner. But when she learns that Brad does indeed love her and not Chris, and that Chris is leaving town, she realizes what she must do to ensure the future happiness of Brad and Polly. She persuades Chris to stay, makes a genuine friend of her and watches Polly grow towards Chris.


Tell It to the Judge
1949 · 1h 27m · US
Marsha Meredith, an attorney-at-law, is nominated for a federal judgeship, but her nomination is opposed by a 'Good-Government' group that thinks her divorce makes her unfit for the job. This evolves into situations, happening in Florida, New England, Washington D.C., and the Adirondacks, such as the misunderstood husband trying to win back his wife, and the misunderstood wife trying to make her husband jealous, and one case of mistaken identity after another, after another.


All the King's Men
1949 · 1h 49m · US
A man of humble beginnings and honest intentions rises to power by nefarious means. Along for the wild ride are an earnest reporter, a heretofore classy society girl, and a too-clever-for-her-own-good political flack.


The Doolins of Oklahoma
1949 · 1h 30m · US
When the Daltons are killed at Coffeyville, gang member Bill Doolin, arriving late, escapes but kills a man. Now wanted for murder, he becomes the leader of the Doolin gang. He eventually leaves the gang and tries to start a new life under a new name, but the old gang members appear and his true identity becomes known. Once again he becomes an outlaw trying to escape from the law.


The Walking Hills
1949 · 1h 18m · US
A study in greed in which treasure hunters seek a shipment of gold buried in Death Valley.


The Return of October
1948 · 1h 38m · US
A wholesome girl believes her new racehorse, October, is the reincarnation of her favorite uncle, Willie.


The Lady from Shanghai
1947 · 1h 27m · US
A romantic drifter gets caught between a corrupt tycoon and his voluptuous wife.


It Had to Be You
1947 · 1h 38m · US
A chronic runaway bride is haunted by her conscience, who becomes reality.


Gallant Journey
1946 · 1h 25m · US
Director William A. Wellman adds another to his long line of salutes-to-aviation films in this bio of an aviation pioneer, John Montgomery (Glenn Ford.) In 1883 he built a practical glider despite the opposition of his friends, who thought he was crazy, and of his family, who were afraid that his dreams of flying would hurt his father's political ambitions. He pursues his education at Santa Clara University where the Jesuits lend a helping and understanding hand. An earthquake destroys what appears to be a working model for an airplane, but a gold-sorting machine Montgomery invented, and then neglected, promises to provide for his financial needs to keep working on his aircraft until he gets involved in costly lawsuits defending his invention.


A Walk in the Sun
1945 · 1h 57m · US
It's 1943 and the allied landings in and around the town of Salerno,Italy are underway.A platoon from the U.S 36th Infantry Division is tasked with advancing 6 miles inland to blow a bridge before clearing a nearby farmhouse, with the hope of blocking an expected counter attack on the Division's bridgehead.


And Then There Were None
1945 · 1h 38m · US
Ten strangers are summoned to a remote island and while they are waiting for the mysterious host to appear, a recording levels serious accusations at each of the guests. Soon they start being murdered, one by one. As the survivors try to keep their wits, they reach a disturbing conclusion: one of them must be the killer.


Guest in the House
1944 · 2h 1m · US
Evelyn, an emotionally vulnerable and unstable woman, stays at the home of her doctor Dan Proctor. There she meets and falls in love with his brother, Douglas, who is happily married to Ann. Evelyn then sets forth to break up the happy marriage and win the love of Douglas.


Jack London
1943 · 1h 34m · US
The adventurous and remarkable life of the US writer Jack London (1876-1916).


The Outlaw
1943 · 1h 56m · US
Newly appointed sheriff Pat Garrett is pleased when his old friend Doc Holliday arrives in Lincoln, New Mexico on the stage. Doc is trailing his stolen horse, and it is discovered in the possession of Billy the Kid. In a surprising turnaround, Billy and Doc become friends. This causes the friendship between Doc and Pat to cool. The odd relationship between Doc and Billy grows stranger when Doc hides Billy at his girl Rio's place after Billy is shot.


The Corsican Brothers
1942 · 1h 51m · US
Cultured Mario and outlaw Lucien, twins separated at birth, join forces to avenge their parents' death at the hands of evil Colonna. Because each feels all the same sensations experienced by the other, swordplay is difficult for them. Worse yet, raised very differently, they struggle to find common ground between their conflicting personalities. But to defeat their enemy, the two will have to overcome the obstacles and work as a team.


Pennies from Heaven
1936 · 1h 21m · US
Larry Poole, in prison on a false charge, promises an inmate that when he gets out he will look up and help out a family. The family turns out to be a young girl, Patsy Smith, and her elderly grandfather who need lots of help. This delays Larry from following his dream and going to Venice and becoming a gondolier. Instead, he becomes a street singer and, while singing in the street, meets a pretty welfare worker, Susan Sprague. She takes a dim view of Patsy's welfare under the guardianship of Larry and her grandfather and starts proceedings to have Patsy placed in an orphanage.


Ann Carver's Profession
1933 · 1h 11m · US
Newlyweds experience marital problems when the wife's highly successful job as an attorney overshadows her husband's stagnant career.


No More Orchids
1932 · 1h 11m · US
Despite loving another man, a young woman is talked into marrying a wealthy and boorish prince in order to help her financially-strapped father.


Virtue
1932 · 1h 8m · US
A relationship gradually develops between a savvy New York City street girl and a good-hearted cab driver, but other matters keep getting in their way, including financial problems and a murder.


Washington Merry-Go-Round
1932 · 1h 19m · US
Button Gwinett Brown is a freshman congressman on a mission to rid Washington of corruption. He quickly runs afoul of the powerful Senator Norton...


Way Back Home
1931 · 1h 21m · US
A rural Maine farmer fights for custody of the boy who he's raised as his own.


The Miracle Woman
1931 · 1h 30m · US
After an unappreciated minister dies, his daughter loses her faith in God, prompting her to open a phony temple with a con man. Can the love of a blind former aviator restore her faith and happiness?


Rain or Shine
1930 · 1h 28m · US
Young Mary Rainey takes the reins of her deceased father's failing circus. With the help of the Inimitable Smiley Johnson, she hopes to bring fortune back to her ragtag band of ragged shoeleather performers.


Guilty?
1930 · 1h 7m · US
A Senator, accused of bribery on circumstantial evidence and sent to prison, decides to commit suicide so that his daughter will feel free to marry the son of a judge. A story told through the eyes of ten people, all familiar with the victim and all with varying versions.


Personality
1930 · 1h 7m · US
Directed by Victor Heerman. With Sally Starr, Johnny Arthur, Blanche Friderici, Frank Hammond.


Mexicali Rose
1929 · 1h · US
The owner of a border town gambling saloon falls in love with a promiscuous young girl. When she has an affair with another, he tosses her out of town. She gets revenge by marrying his younger brother.


Song of Love
1929 · 1h 22m · US
Tom and Anna Gibson, along with their little boy, Buddy, form a successful vaudeville song-and-dance act and a happy family. Anna, however, is worried about her son's future when she finds him playing ball, forgetting a performance.


The Yellowback
1929 · 1h 10m · US
The Yellowback is a 1929 American drama film directed by Jerome Storm.


The Fightin' Redhead
1928 · 50m · US
Red Hepner and his sidekick Sidewinder Steve go in search of an outlaw


Driftin' Sands
1928 · 50m · US
A drifter nicknamed "Driftin' Sands" is hired by a wealthy rancher to protect his spoiled daughter. Driftin', of course, falls for the lady and is immediately banished from the ranch.


Her Father Said No
1927 · 1h 17m · US
While taking a morning workout, young prizefighter Danny Martin encounters Charlotte Hamilton in distress over her balky roadster. Martin wins his fight but is counted a loser by a crooked referee. Later, he is invited to a barbecue at Charlotte's home, but when John Hamilton, who strongly dislikes fighters, learns of Martin's profession, he shows him the door. Danny gives up his career for Charlotte and opens a health resort for obese millionaires. Hamilton and his prospective son-in-law, Penrod, arrive at the resort for treatment, and their indignation and disgust at the treatment provide comic complications. Learning that Danny and Charlotte have already eloped, Hamilton is at first furious, then resigns himself to their happiness.
Red Hot Hoofs
Red Hot Hoofs
1926 · 50m · US
When heavyweight contender Battling Jack Riley uses the Bar X Ranch for his training quarters, foreman Tom Buckely becomes concerned over Riley's attentions to Frances Morris, the owner's daughter, whom Tom loves. Gerald, Frances' twin brother, confesses to a theft of money from the bank in which he works, and to retrieve the money Tom agrees to fight Riley for three rounds, to the disgust of Frances.


The Midnight Flyer
1925 · 1h 10m · US
The speed of lightning; the roar of thunder; the thrills of an earthquake; it's "The midnight flyer".