Robert F. Hill (April 14, 1886 – March 18, 1966) was a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter, and actor.
Career
Bob Hill began his screen career in 1915 at Universal Pictures. In those early days, members of film crews were sometimes called upon to do double duty, and young actor Hill also showed a talent for writing and directing. Universal had several popular series of short subjects, and Hill contributed to several. He became an action specialist, working in Westerns, outdoor adventures, and serials.
Like other established silent-film directors Christy Cabanne, William Beaudine, Elmer Clifton, Lambert Hillyer, and Harry Fraser, Hill was given fewer major assignments in talking pictures. Although Hill began the sound era with Universal, he soon was forced to freelance for independent producers like Sol Lesser, Max and Arthur Alexander, and Sam Katzman. Sometimes the producers' budgets were so very low that Hill was challenged to make his films look presentable. His 1935 serial Queen of the Jungle was largely composed of silent footage filmed in 1922 for The Jungle Goddess; Hill shot new "jungle" scenes on an indoor soundstage to tie the silent material together. Likewise, Hill's 1937 serial Shadow of Chinatown, starring Bela Lugosi, suffered from Sam Katzman's typically cheap production mountings, but Hill (under the pseudonym Rock Hawkey) fashioned a serviceable screenplay that kept the various perils within the budget.
Hill became one of Katzman's standbys, sometimes directing Olympic athlete and action star Herman Brix. Hill's last film for Katzman was East Side Kids (1940), launching a popular knockoff of the Dead End Kids. Hill returned to direct major-studio work only once; he co-directed Universal's 1938 serial Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars.
Hill often played cameo roles in films he directed – not out of vanity, but because he was handy if an actor was suddenly needed. In the 1940s Hill gave up the feverish pace of low-budget filmmaking and returned to acting full-time. Now white-haired and bespectacled, he played doctors, ministers, judges, and professional men.
He retired from the industry in 1950, and died in Los Angeles on March 18, 1966 at the age of 79.
Selected filmography
Year Film Role Notes1915Destiny's Trump CardStory1919The Great Radium MysteryDirector1919Almost a HusbandStory1919JubiloStory1919Full of PepStory1920The Flaming DiscDirector1920Water, Water, EverywhereStory1921The Adventures of TarzanDirector, writer1922The Adventures of Robinson CrusoeDirector1923Around the World in Eighteen DaysDirectorThe Social BuccaneerDirectorThe Phantom FortuneDirector1925IdahoDirectorWild WestDirector1926The Bar-C MysteryDirector1927The Return of the Riddle RiderDirectorBlake of Scotland YardDirector, writerThe Cat and the CanaryAdaptation1928Life's MockeryDirectorHaunted IslandDirectorA Million for LoveDirector1931Heroes of the FlamesDirectorSundown TrailDirector1932Love BoundShip passengerDirectorThe Last FrontierWriter1933Tarzan the FearlessDirector1934A Demon for TroubleDirector Frontier Days DirectorCowboy HolidayMr. Hopkins, Ruth's FatherDirector, writer1935Queen of the JungleDirector Danger Trails Director 1936Prison ShadowsDirectorRip Roarin' BuckarooDirectorThe Phantom of the RangeAuctioneer RobertDirector Idaho Kid DirectorShadow of ChinatownSerial and/or Feature filmDirector1937Cheyenne Rides AgainTownsmanDirector1938Flash Gordon's Trip to MarsDirector 1939Overland Mail Director1941Flying Wild Mr. Woodward1943Keep 'Em SluggingMr. Woodward Credited as Bob HillWild Horse RustlersJudge Wolves of the RangeJudge BrandonCalling Dr. DeathJudge Uncredited1944Men on Her MindUndetermined roleUncredited
References
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