Richard Dix Movies
Actor Richard Dix originally intended to be a surgeon, but dropped out of the University of Minnesota to take a job at a bank. He then accepted an office job in an architecture firm, attending a dramatics course at a local high school in his spare time. Deciding to become a professional performer, Dix secured work with a stock company, eventually graduating to leading-man parts with the celebrated Morosco stock troupe. Following World War I service and a brief stint on Broadway, Dix made his first film, 1920's Not Guilty. This led to a long-term contract with Paramount Pictures, where Dix starred in a string of rugged adventure films which defined his standard screen characterization: the modest, dependable, strong and silent man of action who was moved to violence only when there was no other recourse. Switching from Paramount to RKO Radio in the early talkie period, Dix starred as empire-building Yancey Cravat in RKO's only Oscar-winning film, Cimarron (1931). This film, for which Dix was himself Oscar-nominated, would remain the high water mark of his talkie career, which gradually diminished into inexpensive programmers and westerns. During the 1940s, Dix altered his long-established screen image, allowing himself to play neurotics and psychopaths. He was particularly effective as the obsessive-compulsive captain in Val Lewton's The Ghost Ship (1943) and was equally convincing in "not what he seems" leading roles in Columbia's Whistler "B"-picture series. Illness forced Richard Dix to retire after his last Whistler effort, 1947's The Thirteenth Hour; two years later, he died of heart failure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1933
Ace of Aces was based on Bird of Prey by John Monk Saunders, an acknowledged master of aviation epics. Richard Dix stars as Rex Thorne, a pacifistic sculptor who registers as a conscientious objector when WWI breaks out. Thorne's unwillingness to fight in a war he believes to be unnecessary is misread as cowardice by his socialite sweetheart Nancy Adams (Elizabeth Allen). In "four feathers" fashion, Thorne signs up with the air corps to prove his courage. Before long, he has established a reputation as a reckless, ruthless flying ace, with little concern for anyone's safety, including his own. This fails to satisfy Nancy -- now also serving her country as a Red Cross nurse -- who feels that Thorne has become too bloodthirsty for his own good (What does this woman want?) The supporting cast includes radio singer Art Jarrett and James Cagney's look-alike brother Bill. Some of the aerial scenes in Ace of Aces were "borrowed" from Howard Hughes's Hell's Angels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Elizabeth Allan, (more)
- 1921
Wife May Collins is convinced by a homewrecking female (Marcia Manon) that her husband Richard Dix is unfaithful. Upon learning that she's been hoodwinked, Collins decides to use a few underhanded feminine wiles herself. By proving herself the equal of the woman who broke up her home, wifey wins back hubby. This is what people used to do before talk radio, we suppose. All's Fair in Love was based on The Bridal Path, a play by Thompson Buchanan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally slated for release through Paramount Pictures but ultimately distributed by United Artists, American Empire is a western "special" from Hopalong Cassidy producer Harry "Pop" Sherman. Set during the Reconstruction period, the film stars Richard Dix and Preston S. Foster as Dan Taylor and Paxton Bryce, two longtime friends seeking their fortune in postwar Texas. With the considerable assistance of Dan's sister and Paxton's wife Abby (Frances Gifford), the two comrades establish a thriving cattle business. Alas, Paxton is seized with the ambition to become a emperor in his own domain, thereby alienating himself from Dan and Abby. Only through a profound personal tragedy does Paxton come back to his senses. Ironically, critics in 1942 suggested that the Mexican accent adopted by supporting player Leo Carrillo was more than a little reminiscent of "The Cisco Kid" -- and this was still several years before Carrillo was established as Pancho in the "Cisco" "B"-film and TV series! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo Carrillo, Preston S. Foster, (more)
- 1941
Up-and-coming Universal leading man Robert Stack made his western-movie debut in Badlands of Dakota. Set in the Dakotas during the days of the Great Gold Boom, the story finds brothers Jim and Bob Holliday (Stack and Broderick Crawford) dukeing it out over the affections of pretty Anne Grayson (Ann Rutherford). While all this is going on, Wild Bill Hickok (Richard Dix) does his best to neutralize the local criminal element-and to fend off the romantic overtures of boisterous Calamity Jane (Frances Farmer). The screenplay juggles the facts a bit, concluding with Calamity performing a self-sacrificing act straight out of Destry Rides Again to save her sweetheart from harm. Just to make sure that the audience doesn't mistake Badlands of Dakota for Real Life, Hugh Herbert is on hand with his patented "Woo woo!" comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stack, Ann Rutherford, (more)
- 1938
A French sculptor travels to LA and, with the help of Ace the Wonder Dog, pretends to be blind so he can sneak into a museum and reclaim some missing love letters. The amorous missives were written by his sister and could destroy her reputation. Someone has been using them to blackmail her, so her brother steals them. Unfortunately, they get mixed up in some shipping crates and get sent to California with a bunch of his latest creations. When the crooks learn that the letters are there, they too head for LA making the bulk of this crime drama a race to find those letters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Whitney Bourne, (more)
- 1922
Angela Gaskill (Betty Compson) travels to the South Seas to help sailor John Somers (John Bowers) kick his addition to alcohol. The two are marooned on a desert island after her sober father Captain Gaskill (J. Farrell MacDonald) wrecks the boat, but the drunken sailor has the wherewithal to save everyone from maritime disaster. John takes to the bottle again when he is wrongly accused of stealing. Angela, inexplicably left with several changes of clothes during their island isolation, tries to get John to give up the sauce and repay the loan he took out to purchase his small schooner. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Compson, John Bowers, (more)
- 1943
Originally slated for Paramount release, Buckskin Frontier was ultimately distributed by United Artists. Richard Dix stars as railroad troubleshooter Stephen Bent, assigned to supervise the building of 120 miles of track through the treacherous Santa Fe cutoff. He is opposed in this mission by land baron and freight service owner Jeptha Marr (Lee J. Cobb), who backs up his opposition with hired guns. Marr, in turn, is defied by his daughter Vinnie (Jane Wyatt), who is not only a visionary, but has also fallen in love with Bent. Amusingly, though Lee J. Cobb and Jane Wyatt play father and daughter in Buckskin Frontier, both actors were 31 years old at the time! The film was produced by Harry "Pop" Sherman, of "Hopalong Cassidy" fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Jane Wyatt, (more)
- 1923
As might be expected, director Victor Fleming, who always did well with outdoorsy material, deftly handles this adaptation of Zane Grey's novel. Glenn Kilbourne (Richard Dix) was gassed during the war. When he comes home to New York he discovers that his fiancée, Carley Burch (Lois Wilson), has not only fallen in with a jazzy, wealthy crowd -- she's one of their leaders. Kilbourne can't cope with this and he has a relapse. A doctor recommends that he go to Arizona to recuperate, but once he has been there for a while he falls in love with the place and becomes a rancher. Carley goes out to see him, but she's disgusted by the rough life and goes back to New York. After visiting a hospitalized friend of Kilbourne's, however, Carley realizes that she's a quitter and she returns to Arizona. It's not a moment too soon -- Kilbourne is about to marry Flo Hutter (Marjorie Daw), a rancher's daughter. Flo knows that Kilbourne still loves Carley, so she willingly gives him up and returns to Lee Stanton (Leonard Clapham), who has been patiently waiting for her. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Lois Wilson, (more)
- 1940
Though not based on a Zane Grey story, The Cherokee Strip fits in thematically with producer Harry Sherman's Grey series. Richard Dix stars as Dave Morrell, the new marshal of Goliath, Oklahoma. Immediately upon arrival, Morrell finds himself at odds with banker Coy Barrett (Victor Jory), who is actually the leader of all local criminal activities. Cagily playing a game of cat and mouse, Morrell strongly and silently gathers evidence against Barrett, leading to an outsized climactic shootout-just in time, since the film was beginning to drag a bit. Critical comparisons to Dix's 1931 starrer Cimarron could not be avoided, but Cherokee Strip was more straightforward adventure fare than the earlier film. Florence Rice is the pretty but hardly necessary romantic interest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Florence Rice, (more)
- 1923
Childhood sweethearts with lofty goals do not a good Christian lifetime make, in this doomed romance directed by Maurice Tourneur. Glory Quayle (Mae Busch) and John Storm (Richard Dix) have been in love since their youth. Now, all grown up, they decide to travel to London -- John to enter a monastery and Glory to become a nurse. But the lure of the city is too great, and Glory instead becomes a London stage star. John, who can't get Glory out of his mind, renounces his vows. But the nasty Lord Robert Ure (Cyril Chadwick), who has designs on Glory himself, convinces a London mob that John is predicting the end of the world. Incited, the mob goes after John, trying to make sure that his life ends before the world does. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Mae Busch, (more)
Cimarron was the first Western to win the Oscar for Best Picture--and, until Dances with Wolves in 1990, the only one. The film begins on April 22, 1889, the opening day of the great Oklahoma Land Rush on the Cherokee Strip. Boisterous Yancey Cravat (Richard Dix) is cheated out of his land claim by the devious Dixie Lee (Estelle Taylor). Instead of becoming a homesteader, Cravat establishes a muckraking newspaper, and with pistols in hand he becomes a widely respected (and widely feared) peacekeeper. He also displays a compassionate streak by coming to the defense of Dixie Lee, who is about to be arrested for prostitution. Cravat's insistence on sticking his nose into everyone's affairs drives a wedge between him and his young wife Sabra (Irene Dunne), but she stands by him--until he deserts her and her children, ever in pursuit of new adventures. Sabra takes over the newspaper herself, and with the moral support of her best friend, Mrs. Wyatt (Edna May Oliver), she creates a powerful publishing empire. Cimarron makes the mistake of placing most of the action early in the film, so that everything that follows the spectacular opening land-rush sequence may feel anti-climactic. While it's always enjoyable to watch Irene Dunne persevering through the years, it's rather wearing to sit through the overblown performance of Richard Dix, who seems to think that he can't make a point unless it's at the top of his lungs. Cimarron creaks badly when seen today, but it still outclasses the plodding 1960 remake. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Irene Dunne, (more)
- 1921
When she starred in this drama, Helene Chadwick was being referred to as "the most photographed girl in America." Phoebe Mabee (Chadwick) has two suitors: Harley Jones (Richard Dix) and the wealthy Anson Newton (Maurice B. Flynn). Jones wins her and the newly married couple move to the big city and start a family. They are happy for the most part -- only the occasional appearance of Newton and his socially prominent aunt, Mrs. Noxon (Kate Lester), annoys Jones. But after a number of years and several children, Phoebe begins longing for a social life. She accepts a dinner invitation from Mrs. Noxon, even though her daughter is sick. Jones believes she is going just to see Newton, which Phoebe vehemently denies. She comes to her senses and rushes home from the dinner party to the little girl, who is calling for her. The lure of hearth overcomes Phoebe's desire for social prominence, and all is well with the Joneses. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helene Chadwick, Richard Dix, (more)
- 1933
In this brutal prison drama a hen-pecked husband is sentenced to prison after getting caught with his hand in the company till. He is sent to a high-rise facility in LA. It seems the fellow was only following the instructions of his domineering, constantly nagging wife who, as soon as he is put away, takes up with a more successful businessman. This causes her new lover's ex-lover to get insanely jealous and kill the conniving wife. The businessman decides to take the blame for the death and he is sent to the same jail as the dead woman's husband. One of the two meets a violent end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Madge Evans, (more)
- 1937
A remake of Frank Capra's Submarine (1928), Devil's Playground is a snappy Columbia "B plus" picture starring Richard Dix and Chester Morris. Submarine officers Dorgan (Dix) and Mason (Morris) battle on land for the affections of dance-hall girl Carmen (Dolores del Rio). She marries Dorgan but makes a play for Mason when her husband is on duty. The romantic rivalry is forgotten when Dorgan must rescue
Mason and his crew from a sunken sub. Devil's Playground was one of Columbia's bigger moneymakers of 1937. Excerpts from the underwater scenes later found their way into the Three Stooges two-reeler Three Little Sew and Sews (1939). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Mason and his crew from a sunken sub. Devil's Playground was one of Columbia's bigger moneymakers of 1937. Excerpts from the underwater scenes later found their way into the Three Stooges two-reeler Three Little Sew and Sews (1939). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Dolores Del Rio, (more)
- 1936
In this action film, a courageous test pilot works with experimental aircraft for the US Armed Forces. When an important airplane manufacturer dies, his daughter is left to run the company. The company seems to be producing dangerous prototypes; many test pilots die during test runs. The woman decides that she will have no more blood on her hands; she decides to close the company. The pilot changes her mind when he successfully flies one of the prototypes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Karen Morley, (more)
- 1928
Richard Dix's star power goes a long way towards assuring the success of Easy Come, Easy Go. Dix plays radio announcer Robert Parker, working at a station run by his girlfriend's father. Becoming a bit overexcited on the air, our hero lets slip a few (fortuitously unheard) profanities. Fired from his job, Parker enters into an amusing series of misadventures with veteran bank robber Jim Bailey (Charles Sellon). Wide-eyed Nancy Carroll is delightful as ever as Dix's love interest. Easy Come, Easy Go was adapted from a play by the prolific Owen Davis Sr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Nancy Carroll, (more)
- 1942
Some unexpected casting choices distinguish this so-so Universal actioner. Richard Dix stars as police chief Richard Barry, whose present respectable veneer obscures the fact that he once served a prison sentence. When Barry is threatened with exposure by silky-smooth gangster functionary Thomas (played by the usually lovable Lloyd Corrigan), he is bailed out by his affable ex-con chauffeur Benny (played by the usually villainous Lon Chaney Jr.) The perfunctory romantic angle is handled by Wendy Barrie as Barry's faithful secretary and Don Porter as the chief's rival-in-love. A remake of a 1929 crime flick of the same name, this 1942 version of Eyes of the Underworld updates the material by having the bad guys dip their crooked mitts into the bootlegged rubber-tire trade. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Wendy Barrie, (more)
- 1926
Fascinating Youth was designed as a showcase for the winners of Paramount's Junior Star contest of 1926. Newcomer Charles "Buddy" Rogers heads the cast as Teddy Ward, the son of a wealthy hotelier (Ralph Lewis). Disturbed by Teddy's hedonistic lifestyle, Ward Sr. orders the boy to take over management of a winter resort hotel. With the help of talented sketch artist Jeanne King (Ivy Harris), Teddy mounts a big-time advertising campaign and transforms the dormant resort into a smashing success. Outside of Buddy Rogers and Ivy Harris, the other Junior Stars given a boost in Fascinating Youth include future cowboy hero Jack Luden and the delightful comedienne Thelma Todd. Also performing box-office duty in cameo roles are such established Paramount luminaries as Richard Dix, Adolphe Menjou, Clara Bow, Lois Wilson and Thomas Meighan, not to mention contract directors Lewis Milestone and Mal St. Clair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivy Harris
- 1922
This crime thriller, "suggested by" the story by Hugh McNain Kahler, benefited from the fine directorial hand of Marshall Neilan. Tommy Frazer (Richard Dix) is one of a gang of crooks lead by "Tony the Wop" (Raymond Griffith). Frazer gets caught and is sent up the river for three years on a forgery rap. When he gets out of prison, he finds his girl, Ann Whittaker (Claire Windsor), waiting for him -- and she's got a scheme. She is working in a bank and wants to pull an inside heist. She and Frazer spend a year plotting out the robbery, which is successful. But Frazer has guilt pangs over what he has done and resolves to return the loot. On his way back with the box of money, he encounters his old gang, who steals it from him. Frazer and Ann go to the bank president, Denton Drew (Claude Gillingwater), and confess. But Drew reveals that he knew about their scheme, and the box held only plain paper. He forgives the wayward lovers, who decide to go straight. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Claire Windsor, (more)
- 1927
The freewheeling direction of Gregory LaCava helps to enliven the otherwise standard actioner The Gay Defender. Decked out with sideburns and mustache, Richard Dix stars as real-life outlaw Joaquin Murietta, who (according to this film, anyway) is a latter-day Robin Hood, dedicated to driving land-grabbers and corrupt politicians out of Spanish California. The fictional love interest, played by Thelma Todd (long before establishing herself as a comedienne), is Ruth Ainsworth, the daughter of a United States commissioner whose murder Murietta hopes to avenge. A festival of cliches, the film manages to avoid the most obvious plot ploy of all: the attack on the heroine by the villains (the girl manages to get through the entire picture without having to be rescued). The Joaquin Murietta story would be told again -- once more with scant fidelity to the facts -- in 1936's Robin Hood of El Dorado. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Thelma Todd, (more)
- 1922
Even though this light comedy never leaves the confines of its hospital setting, it's still highly amusing. Billy Grant (Richard Dix) winds up in the hospital after going on a wild spree when his fiancée breaks up with him. Jane Brown (Helene Chadwick) is his nurse, and he begs her to marry him. She agrees because she believes that he is dying. The truth is that Grant has married her just to get back at his relatives, who helped ruin his relationship with his fiancée. Jane asks to be transferred to the maternity ward, and she helps a newborn baby and its mother reunite with its father. While searching for the man, however, Jane breaks some hospital rules and she's in danger of being fired. Grant comes to her aid and also claims her as his wife. This picture was based on two stories by author Mary Roberts Rinehart. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helene Chadwick, Richard Dix, (more)
- 1932
Often referred to as an imitation of Warner's legendary prison drama I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932), RKO's stirring Hell's Highway was actually released a few months earlier. The two films were in production at the same time, but RKO was determined to beat the competition (which also included Universal's Laughter in Hell, 1933) and not a few corners were cut. All three films were set in a generic Southern state (read Georgia) and depicted a horrid penal system more akin to the Middle Ages than the supposedly enlightened 1930s. In Hell's Highway, the chain gang prisoners wear uniforms with a large target printed on the back and the torture instrument du jour is a so-called sweatbox, in constant operation so that unscrupulous contractor Billings (Oscar Apfel) may construct his "Liberty Highway" on time and under budget. When a prisoner dies from exposure in the dreaded contraption, Duke Ellis (Richard Dix) concocts a plan to escape. The escape comes to an abrupt halt with the sudden arrival of his kid brother, Johnny (Tom Brown). The latter ends up in the sweatbox, but Duke has the kid transferred to office duty by using a bit of blackmail. There is a climactic prison riot, during which Duke is killed after saving his brother once again. Or at least that was what a preview audience saw. The death of the film's hero proved so shocking that RKO hastily filmed an alternative ending and Hell's Highway, as it survives today, concludes with Billings being charged with murder (the sweatbox situation) and Duke asked to testify against him. Typical of pre-code Hollywood, Hell's Highway features an openly gay prisoner (who bats his eyes at the prison guards), several scenes of torture, an appearance of near equality between black and white inmates, a bible-quoting polygamist (Charles Middleton), a wife-murdering guard (Warner Richmond), and, for added verisimilitude, a handicapped character who, when mortally wounded during the riot, signs his farewell to this world. Hell's Highway may not have enjoyed the status of I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, but it remains a powerful indictment of the Georgian penal system of 1931 and a fine, well-acted film in its own right. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Tom Brown, (more)
- 1939
In this drama, a miserable wife takes her son and leaves her alcoholic spouse. She ends up traveling to England to begin her new life. There she meets a wealthy Englishman whom she weds. Time passes. The boy grows up and want to return to the States to go to his father's alma mater. Because his father was an athletic hero at the school, he is fondly remembered. The curious boy, hearing all the accolades for his dad, begins looking for him. He finds his estranged father, renews their relationship, and helps his father sober up and begin leading a more productive life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Greene, Richard Dix, (more)
- 1934
The "greatest gamble" in the life of Philip Eden (Richard Dix) is to restore his long-estranged daughter Alice's (Dorothy Wilson) will to live. Escaping from prison after serving 15 years for unintentional homicide, Eden discovers that Alice has been raised as a weak, vacillating neurotic by her vengeful mother Florence (Erin O'Brien-Moore). He promptly "kidnaps" the girl and builds up her health and spirit, finally turning her over to her sweetheart Stephen (Bruce Cabot) before voluntarily giving himself up to the Law. His Greatest Gamble allows Richard Dix to combine both his established screen personae: The misunderstood hero and the virile man of action. Not surprisingly, Dix's legions of fans ate it up like candy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Dorothy Wilson, (more)
- 1924
It seems like the flashier Cecil B. DeMille made his films, the more intimate were those made by his older brother William C. DeMille. This drama, based on the stage play by Owen Davis, concerns a greedy New England family. The most broad-minded one of the bunch is Ben Jordan (Richard Dix). Ben has a wild streak, and one day he accidentally sets fire to a barn, and has to leave home to avoid being prosecuted. When he learns that his mother (Alice Chapin) is on her deathbed, he returns to find the rest of the family hovering over her like vultures. After she dies, and the will is read, everyone is surprised to find that she has left all her money to her ward, the very nice Jane Crosby (Lois Wilson). But there is a condition--Jane only gets the money if she marries Ben and straightens him out. Jane helps Ben with his legal trouble by bailing him out and having him work for her. But when Ben becomes infatuated with another girl, Jane decides to give up the money. Eventually, Ben realizes that he is a fool and reconciles with Jane. Edna May Oliver, who played the maid Hannah on stage, reprises her role here. It was her first time on film, and she would be reunited with Dix and Wilson again in 1926 in the film, Let's Get Married. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lois Wilson, Richard Dix, (more)
