Mervyn LeRoy

MINI BIO:

Mervyn LeRoy hovered just below the cream of Hollywood directors for more than 30 years, during which time he made some of its best-remembered and often-revived films. For his films -- Little Caesar, Five Star Final, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Gold Diggers of 1933, They Won't Forget, Random Harvest, Madame Curie, The Bad Seed and Gypsy -- LeRoy has well earned his place in the upper echelons of Hollywood's Hall of Fame.

A child actor from 1912, and in vaudeville from 1916, LeRoy arrived in Hollywood in 1919 and slaved away in various unlikely jobs -- wardrobe assistant, laboratory technician, assistant cameraman and extra -- before a brief period as an actor in silent films from 1920 to 1924.

He began to write for films from 1925, notably for several films featuring Colleen Moore, and turned director at Warners two years later. He made his name (and that of Edward G. Robinson) with Little Caesar, a rough-hewn gangster drama. Two better LeRoy films (from a directorial point of view) were 'social reform' dramas Five Star Final (again with Robinson) and I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang with Paul Muni.

Easily the best of LeRoy's later 1930's films is They Won't Forget, a striking condemnation of lynch law with Claude Rains as the self-seeking prosecutor in the case of a murdered girl in a southern states town. Some of LeRoy's camera angles and lighting effects are exceptionally well organized and intelligent and the film, memorably bitter, hammers home its points to great effect.

When LeRoy moved across to MGM in 1938, he seemed to undergo something of a personality change, at first turning producer (i.e. The Wizard of Oz), then making glossy up-market films including Random Harvest and Madame Curie.