October 26 - Mark Sandrich

 

Happy Birthday, Mark Sandrich! Born today in 1900 as Mark Rex Goldstein, this American screenwriter, film producer and film director was one of Hollywood's most gifted and least heralded directors of the 1930s and early 1940s. 

 
Born in New York City, New York, Sandrich, years later, trained as a physicist. Post-graduation, Sandrich got his humble beginnings as an engineering student at Columbia University when he accidentally fell into the film business.  

 
Sandrich began his career as a prop man in 1922 and five years later emerged as a director of comedy shorts, notably two-reelers starring English actor and theatre manager Lupino Lane. 

 
While visiting a friend on a film set, he saw that the director had a problem setting up a shot; Sandrich offered his advice, and it worked. He entered into the movies in the prop department and eventually to full-length feature director. 

 
In 1928, Sandrich directed his first feature. However, lacking enough experience to handle the technical demands accompanying the advent of sound, he was again consigned to shorts. 

 
Five years later, Sandrich won an Oscar for his twenty-eight-minute 1933 American pre-Code black and white short film 'So This Is Harris!' It starred American bandleader, comedian, actor, singer, and musician Phil Harris. 

 
The following year, 'So This is Harris!' won an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Comedy. This occurred at the 6th Academy Awards in mid-March 1934. 

 
The short was very playful with both its editing and its soundtrack. On the strength of this, he advanced to full-length feature direction, specializing in musicals. 

The short had also enabled Sandrich to make another go at filmmaking full-length features. 

 
One year after Sandrich had won an Oscar,he directed the film of which he's is best known. This was the 1935 American black and white screwball musical comedy film 'Top Hat'. 

 
The story centers on wealthy Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers), on holiday in London and Venice. 

She later assumes that American dancer Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is the husband of her friend Madge (Helen Broderick) -- who's actually the wife of Jerry's business manager Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). 

 
The film was based on Hungarian screenwriter Sándor Faragó's 1933 German-Hungarian play Scandal in Budapest and Hungarian journalist Aladar Laszlo's 1933 play A Girl Who Dares. 

 
The songs in 'Top Hat' were written by Irving Berlin. Today, "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" and "Cheek to Cheek" have become American song classics.  

 
The songs have also been nostalgically referred to — particularly its "Cheek to Cheek" segment — in many films. These include Woody Allen's 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' (1985) and Frank Darabont's ('The Shawshank Redemption') 'The Green Mile' (1999). 

 
On a budget of $609,000 ($11,600,000 adjusted for inflation), 'Top Hat grossed $3.2 million ($61,300,000) at the box office. To this day, 'Top Hat' remains the best-known work of Fred and Ginger's partnership. 

 
'Top Hat' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in its second year, 1990, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". 

 
From 1943–1944, Sandrich was President of the Screen Directors Guild. 

This was because he had later passed from a sudden heart attack while playing gin rummy with his wife. He had passed from cardiovascular disease (CVD) on March 4, 1945 in Hollywood, California. Sandrich was 44. 

 
Among his credits, Sandrich is also known for directing 'The Gay Divorcee' (1934), 'Follow the Fleet (1936), 'Shall We Dance', 'Carefree' (1938), and 'Holiday Inn' (1942) 

 
The aesthetics in Sandrich's films were particularly noted for his technical skills, effective synchronizing of action with a pre-recorded soundtrack and weaving the dance routines seamlessly into the plot. 

 
Sandrich was, at the time, one of the most trusted and influential directors in Hollywood, respected by his colleagues and the studio management -- his style was straightforward yet elegant, without pretensions, and he was equally adept at comedy, drama, and musicals.  

 
His sons, American television directors Mark Sandrich Jr. and Jay Sandrich have also gone onto successful careers as directors. 

Mark is also the father-in-law to Austrian-born American actress Vanessa Brown. 

 
Sandrich had been active from 1926–1946. 

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