Coming from a show business family (his parents were stage actors),
Rowland V. Lee began his career as a child actor in stock and on
Broadway. He interrupted his stage career for a stint as a Wall Street
stockbroker, but gave that up after two years and returned to the
stage. Lee was hired by
Thomas H. Ince as an actor in 1915, and after service
in World War I returned to Ince, but this time as a director. Lee
didn't specialize in any particular genre in the many films he
directed, but several of his lower-budget horror films were especially
effective in their grim, gritty atmosphere, and his last film,
Captain Kidd (1945)
with
Charles Laughton, had the potential to be a first-rate adventure yarn, but
was hampered by its low budget.
Captain Kidd(1945)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey(1944)
Powder Town(1942)
The Son of Monte Cristo(1940)
Tower of London(1939)
The Big Fisherman(1959)
The Three Musketeers(1935)
The Count of Monte Cristo(1934)
I Am Suzanne!(1933)
Zoo in Budapest(1933)
Her Husband's Friend(1920)as Billy Westover
His Own Law(1920)as Jean Saval
Dangerous Days(1920)as Graham Spencer
Water, Water, Everywhere(1920)as Arthur Gunther
The Woman in the Suitcase(1920)as W.H. 'Billy' Fiske
The Sun Never Sets(1939)
The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case(1932)
The Son of Frankenstein(1965)
