Highest rated as cast or director
Bruce Bennett's 7 titles from the 1940s have a median Balasaur Score of 76, led by The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (89) and Mildred Pierce (82), against 67 for those from the 1950s.
Biography
Bruce Bennett (born Harold Herman Brix) was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. His first career was as an athlete. At the University of Washington, where he majored in economics, he played football (tackle) in the 1926 Rose Bowl and was a track-and-field star. Two years later, he won the Silver medal for the shot put in the 1928 Olympic Games. Brix moved to Los Angeles in 1929 after being invited to compete for the Los Angeles Athletic Club and befriended actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who arranged a screen test for him at Paramount. In 1931, MGM, adapting author Edgar Rice Burroughs's popular Tarzan adventures for the screen, selected Brix to play the title character. Brix, however, broke his shoulder filming the 1931 football film Touchdown, so swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller replaced Brix and became a major star. After Ashton Dearholt convinced Burroughs to allow him to form Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises, Inc., and make a Tarzan serial film, Dearholt cast Brix in the lead. Pressbook copy has it that Burroughs made the choice himself, but, in fact, in his biography, Brix confirmed that Burroughs never even saw him until after the contract was signed, and then only briefly. The film was begun on location in Guatemala, under rugged conditions (jungle diseases and cash shortages were frequent). Brix did his own stunts, including a fall to rocky cliffs below. The Washington Post quoted Gabe Essoe's passage from his book Tarzan of the Movies: "Brix's portrayal was the only time between the silents and the 1960s that Tarzan was accurately depicted in films. He was mannered, cultured, soft-spoken, a well educated English lord who spoke several languages, and didn't grunt."[4] Brix shown in the opening credits of the serial The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935). Due to financial mismanagement, Dearholt had to complete filming of much of the serial back in Hollywood, and Brix, although his travel and daily living expenses in Guatemala were covered throughout the shoot, never received his contracted salary, along with the rest of the cast. The finished film, The New Adventures of Tarzan, was released in 1935 by Burroughs-Tarzan, and offered to theatres as a 12-chapter serial or a seven-reel feature. A second feature, Tarzan and the Green Goddess, was culled from the footage in 1938.
Acted in 136
2010s
- 2017
Tarzan: Lord of the Movies
Tarzan (Archive Footage)
2000s
- 2003
Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'
James Cody (archive footage)
1990s
- 1996
Tarzan at the Movies, Part 2: The Many Faces of Tarzan
Tarzan (archive footage)
1980s
- 1980
Laat de dokter maar schuiven
John
1970s
- 1973
- 1972
Deadhead Miles
Johnny Mesquitero
- 1970
Lassie: Well of Love
Bert Daniels
1960s
- 1966
Torpedo of Doom
Lt. Frank Corley
- 1965
- 1963
- 1962
- 1961
The Outsider
Gen. Bridges
- 1960
Fiend of Dope Island
Charlie Davis
1950s
- 1959
The Cosmic Man
Dr. Karl Sorenson
- 1958
Flaming Frontier
Capt. Jim Hewson
- 1957
Ain't No Time for Glory
Lt. Col. Steven Granville
Panic!
TV
- 1956
Three Violent People
Commissioner Harrison
The Three Outlaws
Charlie Trenton
The Bottom of the Bottle
Brand
Hidden Guns
Stragg
- 1955
Robbers' Roost
'Bull' Herrick
The Big Tip Off
Bob Gilmore
- 1954
Dragonfly Squadron
Dr. Stephen Cottrell
With This Ring
Frederick C. Miller
- 1953
Dream Wife
Charlie Elkwood
- 1952
- 1951
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Judge Paul Maston · 1 episode
The Great Missouri Raid
Cole Younger
- 1950
The Second Face
Paul Curtis
Shakedown
David Glover
1940s
- 1949
Undertow
Reckling
Without Honor
Fred Bandle
The Doctor and the Girl
Dr. Alfred Norton
The House Across the Street
Matthew J. Keever
The Younger Brothers
Jim Younger
- 1948
To the Victor
Henderson
Smart Girls Don't Talk
Marty Fain
- 1947
- 1946
A Stolen Life
Jack R. Talbot
Beer Barrel Polecats
Prison Guard (archive footage)
- 1945
Danger Signal
Dr. Andrew Lang
- 1944
I'm from Arkansas
Bob Hamlin
U-Boat Prisoner
Archie Gibbs
- 1943
There's Something About a Soldier
Frank Molloy
Frontier Fury
Clem Hawkins (uncredited)
The More the Merrier
FBI Agent Evans
Murder in Times Square
Supai George
- 1942
Underground Agent
Lee Graham
Sabotage Squad
Lieutenant John Cronin
Atlantic Convoy
Capt. Morgan
Submarine Raider
1st Office Russell
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Tommy Lydel
- 1941
Honolulu Lu
Skelly
Three Girls About Town
Reporter
The Officer and the Lady
Bob Conlon
Two Latins from Manhattan
Federal Agent
Dutiful But Dumb
Vulgarian Soldier in General's Office (uncredited)
So Long Mr. Chumps
Prison Guard / Truck Driver (uncredited)
- 1940
The Phantom Submarine
Paul Sinclair
The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date
Scotty
West of Abilene
Frank Garfield
No Census, No Feeling
Football Player #20 (uncredited)
Glamour for Sale
Cop (uncredited)
The Spook Speaks
Mordini's former assistant
Before I Hang
Dr. Paul Ames
The Secret Seven
Patrick Norris
How High Is Up?
Workman with Leaky Lunchpail (uncredited)
Girls of the Road
Officer Sullavan
The Taming of the Snood
Detective
Babies for Sale
Policeman
Boobs in the Woods
Park Ranger (uncredited)
The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady
McManus
Island of Doomed Men
Hazen - Guard (uncredited)
Escape to Glory
Ship's gunnery officer
The Man from Tumbleweeds
Prison Warden
The Man with Nine Lives
State Trooper (uncredited)
Hi-Yo Silver
Bert Rogers
Blazing Six Shooters
Geologist Winthrop
The Heckler
Ole Margarine
Five Little Peppers at Home
Jim - King's Chauffeur
Convicted Woman
Reporter (uncredited)
Cafe Hostess
Budge
1930s
- 1939
My Son Is Guilty
Lefty
Blondie Brings Up Baby
Mason's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Five Little Peppers And How They Grew
Tom - King's Chauffeur
Daredevils of the Red Circle
Tiny Dawson
- 1938
Hawk of the Wilderness
Lincoln Rand Jr / Kioga
Land of Fighting Men
Fred Mitchell
The Fighting Devil Dogs
Lieutenant Frank Corby
The Lone Ranger
Bert Rogers
- 1937
Amateur Crook
Jimmy Baxter
Danger Patrol
Joe
Sky Racket
Eric Lane - Agent 17
Million Dollar Racket
Larry Duane
Flying Fists
Hal "Chopper' Donovan, aka Hal Smith
- 1936
A Million to One
Johnny Kent
Silks and Saddles
Jimmy Shay
Two Minutes to Play
Martin Granville
Shadow of Chinatown
Martin Andrews
Shadow of Chinatown
Martin Andrews
- 1935
The New Adventures of Tarzan
Tarzan
The New Adventures of Tarzan
Tarzan
- 1934
Student Tour
Hercules
Death on the Diamond
Man on Ticket Line (uncredited)
- 1933
Meet the Baron
Train Passenger (uncredited)
College Humor
Student
- 1932
Movie Crazy
Dinner Guest (Uncredited)
Million Dollar Legs
Klopstokian Athlete (uncredited)
Wrote 1
1960s
- 1960
Fiend of Dope Island
Writer