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Joseph H. Lewis

A former editor and B-movie director who was elevated to auteur status in the 1960s by such noted critics as Paul Schrader and Jay Cocks, Joseph H Lewis began his film career as a camera loader during the infancy of the medium in the 20s. He joined the Poverty Row studio Mascot and rose to head of its editing department, receiving credit on such efforts as "Adventures of Rex and Rinty," "Ladies Crave Excitement" and "One Frightened Night" (all 1935). When Mascot and three other studios were combined to form Republic, Lewis remained as a supervising editor. Within two years, he had segued to the director's chair, sharing credit on the now forgettable programmer "Navy Spy" (1937). Lewis handled several of the studios musical Westerns with such stars as Bob Baker and Fuzzy Knight (e.g., "Singing Outlaw" 1938), Charles Starrett (i.e., "Blazing Six Shooters" 1940) and Johnny Mack Brown (e.g., "The Silver Bullet" 1942). Many contemporary reviewers of his work praised his direction and faulted the scripts he was forced to handle by the studios. Lewis proved capable of working in several genres helming everything from the dreadful sci-fi film "The Mad Doctor of Market Street" (1942) to the underrated musical "Minstrel Man" (1944).