Henry Levin (film director)
Henry Levin (5 June 1909 – 1 May 1980) began as a stage actor and director but was most notable as an American film director of over fifty feature films. His best known credits were "Jolson Sings Again" (1949), "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1959) and "Where the Boys Are" (1960). Biography. Acting. Levin began as an actor. He was on Broadway in "Somewhere in France" (1941) and appeared in summer stock in "Cuckoos on the Hearth" (1941). He worked for Brock Pemberton stage productions. Columbia Pictures. Dialogue Director. In May 1943 Levin signed a  contract to work at Columbia Pictures. He was one of three stage director recruited by the studio – the others were William Castle and Leslie Urbach. Levin's job was to work with the younger Columbia actors. In April Levin was hired to work as dialogue director on "The Clock Struck Twelve" (later titled "Passport to Suez") with Warren William, one of the Lone Wolf films. He later went on to be dialogue director on "Dangerous Blondes" (1943), "Appointment in Berlin" (1943) and "Two Man Submarine" (1944). Levin then was contracted to Columbia Pictures as a director along with several other  potentials who began as dialogue directors: Fred Sears, William Castle, Mel Ferrer and Robert Gordon. Director. His first film as director was "Cry of the Werewolf" (1944) with Nina Foch. He followed it with "Sergeant Mike" (1944) with Larry Parks, "Dancing in Manhattan" (1944), a documentary "The Negro Sailor" (1945) and "I Love a Mystery" (1945), based on the radio show. Levin directed a swashbuckler "The Fighting Guardsman" (1945) and was called in to do some work on "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest" (1946), a Robin Hood movie that was hugely popular. He directed "Night Editor" (1946), another based on  a radio show, and two sequels to "I Love a Mystery", "The Devil's Mask" (1946) and "The Unknown" (1946). Levin did another swashbuckler, "The Return of Monte Cristo" (1946). Charles Vidor. Levin's next credit was the drama "The Guilt of Janet Ames" (1947), replacing Charles Vidor during filming. By now he was one of Columbia's leading directors, making "The Corpse Came C.O.D." (1948), "The Gallant Blade" (1948) with Larry Parks, "The Mating of Millie" (1948) with Glenn Ford, and "The Man from Colorado" (1949) with Ford and William Holden; on "Colorado" he replaced Vidor again during filming . Levin helped direct "Mr. Soft Touch" (1949) with Ford, and had the biggest hit of his career with "Jolson Sings Again" (1949) starring Parks. He made a romantic comedy "And Baby Makes Three" (1949) then replaced Vidor another time on a musical with Joan Caulfield, "The Petty Girl" (1950). Levin was reunited with Ford for "Convicted" (1950), and "The Flying Missile" (1950). He did some film noirs, "Two of a Kind" (1951) and "The Family Secret" (1951). 20th Century Fox. In April 1951 Levin signed an exclusive contract with 20th Century Fox. His first film for them was meant to  be "Mabel and Me" Instead he did "Belles on Their Toes" (1952); "The President's Lady" (1952) a biopic of Andrew Jackson with Charlton Heston; "The Farmer Takes a Wife" (1953) with Betty Grable; "Mister Scoutmaster" (1953) with Clifton Webb; "Three Young Texans" (1954), a Western with Jeffrey Hunter; and "The Gambler from Natchez" (1954) a Western with Dale Robertson. He did some uncredited work on "Way of a Gaucho" (1952). Levin went to England to make "The Dark Avenger" (1954) with Errol Flynn, a co production between Fox and Allied Artists. In 1956 he was announced for "Love Story  with Barbara Stanwyck and producer Paul Goldstein but the film was not made. For Allied he made Let's Be Happy" (1957). Pat Boone. Back at Fox Levin directed Pat Boone's first film, "Bernardine" (1957). At Paramount he did a Western with Jack Palance, "The Lonely Man" (1957), then Fox called him back to do Boone's second film, "April Love" (1957). He went to England to do a film for Fox, "A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed" (1958), then back in Hollywood did two with Clifton Webb, "The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker" (1959) and "Holiday for Lovers  (1959). Webb was also meant to be in Levin's Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1959) but fell ill and was replaced by James Mason; Pat Boone co-starred and the film was a huge hit. MGM. Levin went to MGM where he did "Where the Boys Are" (1960), an ensemble romantic comedy for producer Joe Pasternak. It was a hit and MGM signed him to a four-year contract to make one film a year. For the same studio he did "The Wonders of Aladdin" (1961) and "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" (1962), the latter  an expensive costume picture which he did for George Pal in Cinerama; Pal did the fairy tale sequences and Levin did the Grimm brother scenes. At Universal, Levin made "If a Man Answers" (1962) with Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin. Back at MGM he did the last two pictures on his contract, "Come Fly with Me" (1963), a "Where the Boys Are" style comedy about air stewardesses, and "Honeymoon Hotel" (1964). While making the latter he said he was living in Rome. Irving Allen. Levin returned to Columbia for "Genghis Khan" (1965), produced by Irving Allen. Columbia also released "Kiss  the Girls and Make Them Die" (1965) which Levin directed for Dino de Laurentis. Levin was going to do a film about the Danish resistance for Allen, "The Savage Canary" from a script by John Paxton but it was not made. Instead Levin did two Matt Helm films with Dean Martin for Allen, "Murderers' Row" (1966) and "The Ambushers" (1967). During the making of the latter, a newspaper profile was published which claimed Levin's marriage was in trouble. He made a Western, "The Desperados" (1969). Later years. Levin's later credits included "That Man Bolt" (1973), "Run for the  Roses" (1977), and "The Treasure Seekers" (1979). At the end of his career, he finally did some television work, directing some episodes of "Knots Landing" in 1979 and his last work, the television movie "Scout's Honor" where he died on the last day of production. Despite having been a stage actor, his only screen acting credit was in an episode of the 1974 television series "Planet of the Apes".