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This week marks the 119th anniversary of the birth of Academy Award-winning director, screenwriter, and actor John Huston. Born in the small town of Nevada, Missouri on August 5, 1906, John was the son of vaudeville performer/film actor Walter Huston. His own Hollywood career began as a writer. Among the title John scripted or co-scripted were Universal’s Murders in the Rue Morgue and Law and Order (the latter starring dad Walter) and Juarez and High Sierra for Warner Bros.
Happy with his writing work, Warners in 1941 gave Huston the chance to direct a “small picture.” His choice was the twice-filmed Dashiell Hammett mystery The Maltese Falcon, and the result was a breakout hit for star Humphrey Bogart and one of the best-loved thrillers of all time. Huston and Bogey would team up five more times (Across the Pacific, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The African Queen, Beat the Devil).
During World War II John worked for the U.S. Army Signal Corps and crafted a trio of memorable military documentaries: Report from the Aleutians, The Battle of San Pietro, and the controversial Let There Be Light, which chronicled soldiers coping with PTSD. Returning to Hollywood, he would continue to direct for the next 40 years and would helm such features as The Asphalt Jungle, Moby Dick, The Misfits, The Man Who Would Be King, Annie, and Prizzi’s Honor. Huston’s final film, 1987’s The Dead, co-starred his daughter Anjelica and was scripted by his son Tony.
John also stepped in front of the camera many times, appearing in several of his own works as well as such diverse movies as The Cardinal, Myra Breckinridge, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Chinatown, Tentacles, and Winter Kills. What’s more, he was the first actor to portray the wizard Gandalf on the screen, in the 1977 TV movie The Hobbit and its sequel The Return of the King three years later.
Now we’d like to here from you which of Huston’s directorial works is your favorite. Cast your vote below, and if we failed to list it tell us about it in the comments.