Ford Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a screenwriter and director. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films.He specialized in B-movies – mostly Westerns – and action serials, working on the "Buck Rogers" and "Flash Gordon" serials for Universal Pictures.
[on J.P. McGowan] He was the toughest man, physically, I have ever known . . . He wrote his own scripts, directed them and played the character lead in most of them. Then when he washed up for the day and the rest went home, he'd go in the cutting room and cut and title until 2 or 3 a.m., then go in the office and sleep on the floor 'til the janitor woke him up, go home, have breakfast and be back on the stage before the cast showed up. This was not something he did once in a while. It was the way he worked all the time.
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Fact
1
His work "The Phantom Creeps"(1939) was constantly referenced in riffs on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988-1999).
2
American second feature director and occasional producer. Began as a scenario writer in 1916. In the course of a half century-long career, Beebe turned out scores of low-budget westerns, melodramas and serials, including the classic Buck Rogers (1939) and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940). Until 1934, Beebe worked primarily for independent producers and Poverty Row companies like Mascot. After a brief spell at Columbia, he spent the better part of his career at Universal (1936-1945) and Monogram (1947-1952), where he directed various instalments of "Bomba the Jungle Boy".
3
Ford Beebe had one son, Ford Beebe Jr., and four daughters by his first wife, whom he married in 1912; and one son, Michael, by his second wife, whom he married in 1933.
4
Son by his first wife, Frances Caroline Willey, is Ford Beebe Jr..
5
His second wife, Kitty Delevanti, is the daughter of actor, Cyril Delevanti.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
King of the Wild Stallions
1959
written by
Lord of the Jungle
1955
written by
Killer Leopard
1954
The Golden Idol
1954
written by
Safari Drums
1953
writer
Bomba and the Jungle Girl
1952
original screenplay
African Treasure
1952
original story / screenplay
Elephant Stampede
1951
original screenplay
The Lion Hunters
1951
screenplay
The Girl from San Lorenzo
1950
Davy Crockett, Indian Scout
1950
story
Bomba on Panther Island
1949
writer
Red Desert
1949
uncredited
The Dalton Gang
1949
written by
Shep Comes Home
1948
original screenplay
Courtin' Trouble
1948
story - uncredited
My Dog Shep
1946
original screenplay
Riders of Pasco Basin
1940
original screenplay
The Stranger from Texas
1939
story "The Mysterious Avenger"
Oklahoma Frontier
1939
story and screenplay
Riders of Black River
1939
story
Trouble at Midnight
1937
screenplay
West Bound Limited
1937
story
Stampede
1936
story - uncredited
Code of the Range
1936
original screenplay
The Mysterious Avenger
1936
original story and screenplay
Gallant Defender
1935
screenplay
Tumbling Tumbleweeds
1935
screenplay
The Man from Guntown
1935
Riding Wild
1935
screenplay / story
The Outlaw Deputy
1935
adaptation - uncredited
Justice of the Range
1935
Fighting Shadows
1935
The Revenge Rider
1935
screenplay / story
Law Beyond the Range
1935
Prescott Kid
1934
screenplay
The Law of the Wild
1934
story
Laughing at Life
1933
original story
Pride of the Legion
1932
The Last of the Mohicans
1932
screenplay
The Shadow of the Eagle
1932
story
The Lightning Warrior
1931
screenplay
The Galloping Ghost
1931
story and screenplay
Alias the Bad Man
1931
original story
The Vanishing Legion
1931
original screenplay
King of the Wild
1931
story and scenario
The Phantom of the West
1931
screenplay
The Indians Are Coming
1930
continuity - as Ford I. Beebe
The Lightning Express
1930
adaptation and scenario / titles
Brothers
1929
story
Tarzan the Tiger
1929
titles - as Ford I. Beebe
Overland Bound
1929
screenplay / story
Come Across
1929
dialogue - as Ford I. Beebe, titles
45 Calibre War
1929
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe / titles - as Ford I. Beebe
Yellow Contraband
1928
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe
The Black Ace
1928
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe
The Code of the Scarlet
1928
titles - as Ford I. Beebe
The Upland Rider
1928
titles
The Canyon of Adventure
1928
titles
The Bronc Stomper
1928
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / titles - as Ford I. Beebe
The Wagon Show
1928
as Ford I. Beebe
The Apache Raider
1928
as Ford I. Beebe
The Boss of Rustler's Roost
1928
adaptation - as Ford I. Beebe
The Devil's Twin
1927
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe
Border Blackbirds
1927
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe
Two-Gun of the Tumbleweed
1927
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe
Don Desperado
1927
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe
The Man from Hard Pan
1927
story - as Ford I. Beebe
The Long Loop on the Pecos
1927
as Ford I. Beebe
The Outlaw Express
1926
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe
The High Hand
1926
screenplay - as Ford I. Beebe / story - as Ford I. Beebe