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- 1931
In this crime drama, a crime lord adopts the little brother of a slain colleague. Later a child-care inspector intervenes, deems the gangster a bad influence, and takes the lad away from him. The gangster is outraged and begins an unequaled crime spree until a local minister's daughter convinces him to reform and get an honest job at the ironworks where she is employed. He does well until the payroll is stolen. Naturally, he is the one accused. Unfortunately, this time, he is innocent. Fortunately, he manages to get it back from his old gang members--the real culprits--and return to the arms of the woman who loves him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Jackie Cooper, (more)
- 1930
Richard Dix plays a working stiff who submits to an odd experiment. It is scientist Allen Kearns' contention that a man and a woman can be made to fall in love via prearranged circumstances. Kearns introduces Dix as a society gent and sets up a marriage with wealthy Renee Macready. Nature proves stronger than Nurture, and Dix ends up with Lois Wilson--Kearns' own fiancee. Lovin' the Ladies was actually based on the stage play I Love You, written by the film's producer, William LeBaron. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Lois Wilson, (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)
- 1930
In this lively drama, a gambler believes he has killed a man and so boards the first train out of town. Unfortunately, a crash ensues and the wounded fugitive ends up recuperating at the home of a minister who has mistaken the card sharp for a traveling evangelist. The opportunistic gambler begins playing along. Time passes and he finds himself falling in love with the preacher's lovely daughter. The gambler is doing well in his new role, but just as he settles down into his happy new life, his past exploits return to haunt him. Luckily he is exonerated and his love finds forgiveness in her heart. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Mary Lawlor, (more)
- 1929
The old Winchell Smith-Victor Mapes stage comedy The Boomerang was the source for the Richard Dix vehicle The Love Doctor. Dix plays Dr. Gerald Sumner, an expert on romantic relationships. The story inevitably evolves into a case of "physician heal thyself" when Sumner falls head over heels in love with pretty nurse Virginia Moore (June Collyer). Typical comedy situations include the old one about the hero being caught without his trousers when the heroine comes a-calling. Some crackling good dialogue by Guy Bolton, Herman Mankiewicz and J. Walter Ruben helps this creaky early talkie over its rough spots. Billed last in The Love Doctor is Gale Henry, a once-popular star of comedy shorts here making one of her only talkie appearances. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Collyer, Richard Dix, (more)
- 1929
Intended as a follow-up (and improvement upon) the 1926 epic western The Vanishing American, Redskin was partially filmed in two-color Technicolor -- and, during its first big-city road show engagements, was shown in Magnascope, an early wide-screen process. Written by Elizabeth Pickett, an expert on the Pueblo Indian tribe of New Mexico, the film is in part an indictment of the government's ham-handed efforts to "civilize" the Native American population. Dragged off his reservation by Indian agent John Walton (Larry Steers), Wing Foot (Philip Anderson), the 9-year-old son of a Navajo chief, is forced to speak English and acclimate himself to the ways of the white man. When Wing Foot refuses to salute the American flag, he is brutally whipped by Walton, earning himself the unenviable nickname of Do-Atin, or "The Whipped One." Overcoming his initial resentments, the grown-up Wing Foot (now played by Richard Dix) becomes the first Indian to attend Thorpe College. He excels scholastically and also distinguishes himself as a star athlete, yet still he is subjected to the bigotry of his snobbish classmates. Nor are things any better when Wing Foot graduates from medical school and returns to his own people, hoping to replace their ancient superstitions with modern medical advances. Banished from his tribe for being "too white," Wing Foot finds himself literally a man without a country. Only when he discovers oil on the reservation and manages to avert a tribal war between the Pueblo and Navajo is Wing Foot fully accepted by the two worlds he now straddles. Far superior to The Vanishing American, Redskin is well worth seeing again, if only for the documentary value of its location-filmed Technicolor sequences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Jane Novak, (more)
- 1929
Previously filmed in 1917 and 1925, the evergreen George M. Cohan-Earl Derr Biggers stage mystery Seven Keys to Baldpate was remade as a talkie in late 1929 (and there were still three more remakes to come). Richard Dix stars as novelist William Magee, who's having trouble completing his latest manuscript. Promising his agent (Crauford Kent) that he'll finish the book within 24 hours if only he gets some peace and quiet, Magee heads off to the Baldpate Inn -- for which he thinks he holds the only key. Unfortunately, the mildewed old inn turns into a hotbed of intrigue as several mysterious characters, all bearing duplicate keys, intrude upon Magee's solitude in search of $200,000 in stolen bonds. In the course of the long, long night, a woman is seemingly murdered and a crooked sheriff lays claim to the money himself before Magee takes a hand in matters -- and then, the owner of the seventh key to Baldpate shows up. Even after repeated viewings, the film's double surprise ending holds up beautifully. Beyond bringing a classic theatrical piece to the talkie screen, Seven Keys to Baldpate served an important technical purpose: RKO Radio Pictures used the film to test out its new repertoire of sound effects, ranging from rolling thunder to realistic gunfire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Miriam Seegar, (more)
- 1929
This second of three film versions of the durable James Montgomery stage farce Nothing But the Truth was also the first "talkie" version. Richard Dix stars as Robert Bennett, a rising young stockbroker who bets $10,000 that he can go 24 hours without telling a fib. Bennett's prospective father-in-law E.M. Burke (Berton Churchill) stands to lose big-time if our hero wins, thus Burke does everything he can to throw Bennett into embarrassing situations where the truth is not necessarily the best weapon. The day is saved when Burke's scheme to trick Bennett into losing the wager backfires-- but Bennett still has to explain his boorish behavior during the past 24 hours to all the people he's offended. Nothing but the Truth was memorably remade in 1941 with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard, and in 1997 the basic premise was exhumed for the hilarious Jim Carrey vehicle Liar Liar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Berton Churchill, (more)
- 1929
In his second talking picture, Richard Dix is cast as British officer Capt. Leslie Yeullat, at present on leave in London. Falling in love with Ruth Dangan (Esther Ralston), the wife of his commanding officer (O.P. Heggie), Yeullat does the gentlemanly thing by suppressing his own emotions for the sake of the Regiment. He goes so far as to resign from his commission and returns to India as a civilian. The paths of Yeullat and Ruth cross again when he is called upon to rescue the heroine, and several other British subjects who have been trapped in a Buddhist monastery by Indian insurrectionists. The plot is resolved by a curious combination of traditional stiff-upper-lip heroics and Buddhist mysticism, the latter dispensed by unctuous high priest Tseuring Lama (Nigel de Brulier). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Esther Ralston, (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)
- 1928
Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer, Warming Up is an early baseball film starring Richard Dix and Jean Arthur. After pitcher Bert Tolliver (Dix) is heckled by the members of a major-league team he's trying out for, he comes to believe that one of the players has hexed him. Luckily, a pretty girl named Mary (Arthur), who happens to be the daughter of the man who owns the Green Sox, discovers Bert at the local park, where he's amazing concession stand customers with his pitching accuracy. When it's time for the Green Sox to play the last game of the series, the team manager is forced by unforseen circumstances to let Bert pitch. As he faces the batter, Mary signals her love for him, in doing so giving Bert the inspiration he needed to end the jinx. Warming Up also features Claude King, Philo McCullough, and Billy Kent.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Jean Arthur, (more)
- 1928
Sports-loving inventor Richard Shelby (Richard Dix) develops an "Elasto-Tweed" golf suit then hits the road in hopes of making a few sales. Along the way, he meets Alice Elliott (Gertrude Olmstead), who mistakes Shelby for millionaire sportsman Timothy Stanfield (Claude King). Forced to go through with the masquerade, Shelby ends up spending what little money he has, and then some. Only the timely intervention of eccentric department-store owner Jordan (Ford Sterling) saves our hero from drowning in a sea of debts by purchasing the revolutionary new golf suit. And, of course, Jordan plays Cupid for Shelby and Alice, paving the way for the hardly surprising happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Ford Sterling, (more)
- 1927
It's a shame that so many of the silent directorial efforts of the innovational Gregory La Cava no longer exist. LaCava's Paradise for Two certainly sounds interesting, and any film combining the talents of Richard Dix and Betty Bronson can't have been too shabby. In addition, the witty subtitles were provided by renowned New York-wit Robert Benchley, representing one of his first forays into moviemaking. The story concerns a bachelor named Steve Porter (Richard Dix) who must be married within two days to collect his family fortune. Not wishing to tie the matrimonial knot just yet, Steve hires budding actress Sally Lane (Betty Bronson) to pose as his wife. The plot is predictable in the extreme, but surely LaCava and Benchley imbued the story with a clever surprise or two. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Edmund Breese, (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)
- 1927
This rugged Richard Dix vehicle casts the star as rough-and-tumble sea captain Jim Bucklin. Landing at a Chinese port, Bucklin and his passengers are threatened by a marauding war lord, who intends to kill the captain and hold the others hostage as part of his campaign of destruction against all white men. Rallying the passengers and a few nervous hotel guests, our hero decides to "hang tough" and hold out against the bandit hordes. The climax finds Bucklin and the principal heavy fighting to the death, while several feet underwater! Mary Brian and Jocelyn Lee provide glamour as, respectively, the virginal Mary and the been-around Shanghai Rose (guess which one survives?) Shanghai Bound was partially remade, again with Richard Dix, as Roar of the Dragon (1932). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Mary Brian, (more)
- 1927
This two-fisted Richard Dix vehicle casts the muscular star as virile caterpillar-tractor operator Tom Roberts. It is Roberts' mission to deliver a fragile cargo of dynamite, to be denoted for the purposes of redirecting an anticipated flood. The hero's odyssey is fraught with peril as he burrows his way through a torrential downpour, and at times it seems as if both Roberts and his shipment will "go to pieces" at any moment. Upon reaching his destination, Roberts is nearly engulfed when the dam bursts, but when the sturm und drang has subsided, the audience realizes that it takes more than Mother Nature to wipe out Richard Dix. Mary Brian provides romantic interest, while questionable comic relief is in the hands of black performer Oscar Smith. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Mary Brian, (more)
- 1927
Steelworker Dundee Reilly (Richard Dix) comes to the defense of Mary Malone (Mary Brian), who is being annoyed by a brawny masher. Reilly knocks the cad out, but only later does he realize that he's just k.o.'d heavyweight boxing champion Killer Agera (Jack Renault). Mary's brother Pat (Harry Gribbon) decides to groom our hero for a ring career under the moniker of "Knockout Reilly." There's many an obstacle on Reilly's road to success, including a brief term in jail for a crime he didn't commit, but by film's end Knockout Reilly has won the championship crown himself. Osgood Perkins, the father of Anthony Perkins, is his usual slimy self as gambler Spider Cross. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Mary Brian, (more)
- 1926
This characteristically free-wheeling Greg LaCava production was based on The Man From Mexico, a play by Harry A. Douchet. Richard Dix stars as razzmatazz college football hero Billie Dexter, who lives to party -- until he meets demure Mary Corbin (Lois Wilson). Certain that Mary is just another "jazz baby," Billie's dad (Joseph Kilgour) orders him to stay away from her, sending him out of town to entertain an important business client, Bible salesman J. W. Smith. Imagine Billie's dismay when "Mr." Smith turns out to be a high-stepping old lady (Edna May Oliver) with a fondness for liquor. As it turns out, however, Ms. Smith is the fairy godmother who ultimately brings Billie and Mary together again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Lois Wilson, (more)
- 1926
The Quarterback is Jack Stone (Richard Dix), captain of the 1899 Colton College football team. Though by rights he should have graduated years before, Jack insists upon remaining at Colton until his team can defeat their bitter rivals at State University. Even the death of his wife Louise (Esther Ralston) does not deter our hero from his mission. Ultimately, Stone emerges triumphant, demonstrating a stick-to-it-tiveness that would have put a Vince Lombardi or Mike Ditka to shame! Though it sounds silly and contrived, The Quarterback is actually quite wonderful entertainment, thanks in great part to the knowing direction of Fred C. Newmeyer, himself a former professional athlete. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Harry Beresford, (more)
- 1926
Injured in a small European kingdom during a revolution, American soldier-of-fortune Bob Howard (Richard Dix) lies in a hospital bed, his face swathed with bandages. Assuming that Bob is her country's long-lost prince, Princess Eleana (Alyce Mills) nurses him back to health. So long as Bob's identity remains a mystery, the peasants are willing to cease their revolt, but when the truth is revealed they proceed as planned and topple the royal family from power. Rather than be upset by this turn of events, Eleana is delighted; now that she's a "commoner," she can marry the handsome, unwrapped Bob without worrying about protocol. Former Keystone comic Chester Conklin shows up as Howard's sidekick, who turns out to be the real prince. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Alyce Mills, (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
- 1925
Will Prescott (Richard Dix) is a bank cashier whose assistant, Ned Seabury (Neil Hamilton), has made a killing in the stock market. With his newfound riches, Seabury proceeds to woo Prescott's wife, Agnes (Claire Adams), by buying her luxurious items that her husband can not afford. Seabury makes no secret of his aim, and Prescott desperately steals some of the bank's bonds, hoping to make enough money to keep Agnes by his side. He invests the bonds with Seabury's broker, Arnold Kirke (Henry Stephenson), but they're wiped out. Kirke kills himself, and when bank president Culman (Robert Edeson) finds the bonds missing, he blames Seabury. Although it is tempting to let Seabury hang, Prescott fesses up. He is thrown in jail, but the repentant Agnes begs Culman to give him another chance. He does, and sends Prescott and Agnes to South America to manage his coffee plantation. This drama was based on a turn-of-the-century stage play by David Belasco and Henry C. DeMille. Henry C. DeMille's elder son, William C. DeMille, directed (his younger son was filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Claire Adams, (more)
- 1925
When Geoffrey Farnell (Richard Dix) returns from the war, the only job he can find is as a reporter on a New York scandal sheet. The editor, Job Hardcastle (George Nash), becomes angry with Farnell, who isn't hard-hearted enough to write the kind of material the paper requires. Farnell is sent off to cover the story of a society divorcée who has become a cheap cabaret dancer. He finds "Mops" Collins (Jacqueline Logan), but instead of writing the story, he takes pity on her and takes her in. The chagrined Hardcastle is about to fire Farnell, who asks for one more chance. He gets his opportunity when he discovers Clive Ross-Fayne (Charles Beyer), his old war buddy, in a courtroom, charged with dealing drugs. Ross-Fayne was believed to be dead and had been posthumously recognized for valor, but he was actually shell-shocked and had lost his memory. Farnell believes that this is the story that will save his job, but then he discovers that Ross-Fayne is the brother of Eleanor (Edna Murphy), a girl he loves. He tries to stop the story from being published, but Hardcastle pushes it through. Farnell is furious and assaults the editor. Eleanor finally understands Farnell's desperation and forgives him, and a lawsuit makes him rich, so he never has to hunt down a scandalous story again. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Jacqueline Logan, (more)
- 1925
Richard Dix and Esther Ralston starred together in several films during the latter half of the 1920s. This Western-comedy was especially good, due in no small part to lively direction by Gregory LaCava. Bill Dana, a member of New York society (Dix), meets Molly (Ralston) when he saves her from drowning in a small pond in Central Park. Molly proceeds to spout off her disdain for all things Eastern, especially the "womenhandled" men. In order to impress her, Dana heads out West to become a cowboy. Unfortunately, he discovers that the West of the 1920s bears little relation to the rootin' tootin', lawless days of old. There's no gunplay to be had -- it has been abolished -- and all the "real cowboys" have gone to Hollywood to be in the movies. All that's left are a bunch of Easterners, and the ranch is loaded with modern amenities. When Dana finds out that Molly is coming to see how he is progressing, he quickly turns the ranch into the kind of raw, rough place she's expecting, down to acquiring some fake Indians. It doesn't take long for Molly to see through the ruse, however, and she and Dana get into a fight. But then she gets caught in a very real cattle stampede, and Dana comes to her rescue. This picture was based -- as many silents were -- on a Saturday Evening Post story. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Dix, Esther Ralston, (more)
