Mark Sandrich

Mark Sandrich
Born	Mark Rex Goldstein (1900-10-26)October 26, 1900 New York City, U.S.
Died	March 4, 1945(1945-03-04)(aged 44) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Home of Peace Cemetery
Occupation(s)	Director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1927–1945
Spouse	Freda W.
Children	2, includingJay
Relatives	Ruth Harriet Louise(sister) Carmel Myers(cousin)

Mark Sandrich(bornMark Rex Goldstein;October 26, 1900 – March 4, 1945) was an American film director, writer, and producer.

Early life

Sandrich was born in New York City on October 26, 1900into aJewishfamily. His sister wasRuth Harriet Louise.

He was an engineering student atColumbia Universitywhen he accidentally fell into the film business. While visiting a friend on a film set, he saw that the director had a problem setting up a shot; Sandrich offered his advice, and it worked. He entered the movie business in the prop department.

Career

Shorts director

Sandrich became a director in 1927, making comedy shorts. His first feature wasRunaway Girls,in 1928. In an exciting time in the film business with the arrival of sound, he briefly returned to shorts. In 1933, he directed theAcademy Award-winning shortSo This Is Harris!.

Feature films

Sandrich returned to directing features withMelody Cruise(1933). He followed it withCupid in the Rough(1933) and two starring the team ofWheeler & Woolsey,Hips, Hips, Hooray!(1933) andCockeyed Cavaliers(1934).

Astaire and Rogers

Sandrich did some uncredited second unit work withFlying Down to Rio(1933), a musical featuringFred AstaireandGinger Rogers.In 1934, Sandrich was given the job of directing the first proper Astaire–Rogers musical,The Gay Divorcee,which proved a tremendous success.

The following year, he directedTop Hat(1935), another Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical.He continued working with the team onFollow the Fleet(1936).

After directingKatharine HepburninA Woman Rebels(1936) he returned to Astaire and Rogers forShall We Dance(1937), andCarefree(1938).

Paramount

In 1939, Sandrich leftRKOforParamount,which offered him a chance to be not only a director, but a producer as well.

Sandrich's first film for Paramount was just as director: theJack BennyvehicleMan About Town(1939).He then turned producer as well as director and made two more with Benny,Buck Benny Rides Again(1940) andLove Thy Neighbor(1940). He also did the romantic comedySkylark(1941), starringClaudette ColbertandRay Milland.

While all of these films made profits for the studio,Holiday Inn(1942), starringFred AstaireandBing Crosby,with music byIrving Berlin,is most remembered today.Holiday Innintroduced the song "White Christmas"performed by Crosby." White Christmas "remains the best-selling single of all time.

Sandrich also produced and directed a dramatic war film,So Proudly We Hail!,a 1943 box-office success that starred Claudette Colbert, Paulette Goddard, and Veronica Lake. It was extremely popular and featured a pair of performers –Adrian Booth(billed as "Lorna Gray" in this picture) andGeorge Reeves– whom Sandrich had intended to bring to stardom after the war.Sandrich's last completed films also were war-related --I Love a Soldier(1944) andHere Come the Waves(1944), both withSonny Tufts.

Personal life and death

His sons, Mark Sandrich Jr. andJay Sandrich,went on to careers as directors in film and television.

Mark Sandrich supportedThomas Deweyin the1944 United States presidential election.

In 1945, he was in pre-production on a follow-up toHoliday InncalledBlue Skies,starring Bing Crosby and featuring Irving Berlin's music. At the same time, Sandrich was serving as president of theDirectors Guild.

Insisting that he could complete all of his assignments, and feeling pressure to be an involved and loving family man, Sandrich died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 44.At the time of his death, Sandrich was considered to be one of the most trusted and influential directors in Hollywood. His interment was atHome of Peace Cemetery.

Select credits

Shorts

• Jerry the Giant(1926) – director
• Napoleon, Jr.(1926) – director
• Big Business(1926) – director
• First Prize(1927) – director
• Hot Soup(1927) – director
• Hold That Bear(1927) – director
• Careless Hubby(1927) – director
• A Midsummer Night's Steam(1927) – director
• Night Owls(1927) – director
• The Movie Hound(1927) – director
• Brave Cowards(1927) – director
• Monty of the Mounted(1927) – director
• Hold Fast(1927) – director
• Shooting Wild(1927) – director
• Some Scout(1927) – director
• Hello Sailor(1927) – director
• High Strung(1928) – director
• Sword Points(1928) – director
• A Lady Lion(1928) – director
• A Cow's Husband(1928) – director
• Runaway Girls(1928) – director
• Two Gun Ginsberg(1929) – director
• Gunboat Ginsberg(1930) – writer, director
• General Ginsberg(1930) – writer, director
• Hot Bridge(1930) – director
• Barnum Was Wrong(1930) – writer, director
• Off to Peoria(1930) – writer, director
• Who's Got the Body?(1930) – writer, director
• A Peep on the Deep(1930) – director
• Society Goes Spaghetti(1930) – writer, director
• Razored in Old Kentucky(1930) – director
• Moonlight and Monkey Business(1930) – writer, director
• Aunt's in the Pants(1930) – writer, director
• Trader Ginsberg(1930) – writer, director
• Talking Turkey(1931) – writer, director
• The Wife o' Riley(1931) – writer, director
• The County Seat(1931) – writer, director
• Trouble from Abroad(1931) – writer, director
• The Way of All Fish(1931) – writer, director
• Cowslips(1931) – writer, director
• False Roomers(1931) – writer, director
• Strife of the Party(1931) – writer, director
• Scratch-As-Catch-Can(1931) – writer, director
• A Melon-Drama(1931) – writer, director
• Sightseeing in New York(1931) – writer, director
• Many a Sip(1931) – writer, director
• A Slip at the Switch(1932) – director
• Ex-Rooster(1932) – writer, director
• The Millionaire Cat(1932) – director
• The Iceman's Ball(1932) – writer, director
• Jitters the Butler(1932) – writer, director
• Thru Thin and Thicket, or Who's Zoo in Africa(1933) – director
• Private Wives(1933) – writer, director
• Hokus Focus(1933) – writer, director
• The Druggist's Dilemma(1933) – writer, director
• The Gay Nighties(1933) – writer, director
• So This Is Harris!(1933) – writer, director

Feature films

• Runaway Girls(1928) – director
• The Talk of Hollywood(1929) – writer, director
• Hold 'Em Jail(1932) – writer
• Scratch-As-Catch-Can(1932) – director
• Melody Cruise(1933) – writer, director
• So This Is Harris(1933) – director
• Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men(1933) – director
• Hips, Hips, Hooray!(1934) – director
• The Gay Divorcee(1934) – director
• Top Hat(1935) – director
• Follow the Fleet(1936) – director
• A Woman Rebels(1936) – director
• Shall We Dance(1937) – director
• Carefree(1938) – director
• Man About Town(1939) – director
• Buck Benny Rides Again(1940) – director, producer
• Love Thy Neighbor(1940) – director, producer
• Skylark(1941) – director, producer
• Holiday Inn(1942) – director, producer
• So Proudly We Hail!(1943) – director, producer
• I Love a Soldier(1944) – director, producer
• Here Come the Waves(1944) – director, producer

External links

• Mark SandrichatIMDb
• Mark SandrichatFind a Grave
• ObituaryatVariety