William A. Seiter - Turner Classic Movies

William A. Seiter

Director
William A. Seiter

About

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Also Known As
William Seiter
Birth Place
New York City, New York, USA
Born
June 10, 1892
Died
July 26, 1964
Cause of Death
Heart Attack

Biography

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Former Keystone Cop who graduated to assistant director and screenwriter before making his directorial debut in 1918. Seiter developed into a proficient and prolific technician in a number of genres and was especially adept at light, breezy fare, such as the wonderful Laurel and Hardy romp, "Sons of the Desert" (1933), the underrated Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers vehicle "Roberta" (1935), a...

Filmography

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Make Haste to Live (1954)
Director
The Lady Wants Mink (1953)
Director
Champ for a Day (1953)
Director
Dear Brat (1951)
Director
Borderline (1950)
Director
One Touch of Venus (1948)
Director

Photos & Videos

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Room Service - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
4 Photos
Why Be Good? (1929) -- (Movie Clip) An Effervescent American Girl
Rafter Romance - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
8 Photos
Rafter Romance - Movie Posters
2 Photos
Why Be Good? (1929) -- (Movie Clip) Boiler Room

Family & Companions

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Laura La Plante
Wife
Actor. Married in 1926; divorced in 1932.
Marian Nixon
Wife
Actor. Married in 1934.

Biography

Former Keystone Cop who graduated to assistant director and screenwriter before making his directorial debut in 1918. Seiter developed into a proficient and prolific technician in a number of genres and was especially adept at light, breezy fare, such as the wonderful Laurel and Hardy romp, "Sons of the Desert" (1933), the underrated Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers vehicle "Roberta" (1935), and the engaging romantic drama, "This is My Affair" (1937). He also helmed the Marx Brothers escapade, "Room Service" (1938) but, like the anarchic trio, was too constrained by the conventional stage original. Formerly married to actresses Laura La Plante and Marian Nixon.

Filmography

 

Director (Feature Film)

Make Haste to Live (1954)
Director
The Lady Wants Mink (1953)
Director
Champ for a Day (1953)
Director
Dear Brat (1951)
Director
Borderline (1950)
Director
One Touch of Venus (1948)
Director
Up in Central Park (1948)
Director
I'll Be Yours (1947)
Director
Little Giant (1946)
Director
Lover Come Back (1946)
Director
That Night with You (1945)
Director
It's a Pleasure! (1945)
Director
The Affairs of Susan (1945)
Director
Belle of the Yukon (1944)
Director
Four Jills in a Jeep (1944)
Director
Destroyer (1943)
Director
A Lady Takes a Chance (1943)
Director
Broadway (1942)
Director
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Director
Appointment for Love (1941)
Director
Nice Girl? (1941)
Director
Hired Wife (1940)
Director
It's a Date (1940)
Director
Allegheny Uprising (1939)
Director
Susannah of the Mounties (1939)
Director
Here I Am a Stranger (1939)
Director
Thanks for Everything (1938)
Director
Three Blind Mice (1938)
Director
Room Service (1938)
Director
Sally, Irene and Mary (1938)
Director
Life Begins in College (1937)
Director
This Is My Affair (1937)
Director
The Life of the Party (1937)
Director
On the Avenue (1937)
Fill-In Director
Dimples (1936)
Director
Stowaway (1936)
Director
The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936)
Director
The Moon's Our Home (1936)
Director
The Daring Young Man (1935)
Director
In Person (1935)
Director
Roberta (1935)
Director
If You Could Only Cook (1935)
Director
Orchids to You (1935)
Director
The Richest Girl in the World (1934)
Director
We're Rich Again (1934)
Director
Love Birds (1934)
Director
Sing and Like It (1934)
Director
Diplomaniacs (1933)
Director
Sons of the Desert (1933)
Director
Professional Sweetheart (1933)
Director
Hello, Everybody! (1933)
Director
Rafter Romance (1933)
Director
Chance at Heaven (1933)
Director
If I Had a Million (1932)
["The Three Marines"]
Girl Crazy (1932)
Director
Young Bride (1932)
Director
Hot Saturday (1932)
Director
Is My Face Red? (1932)
Director
Kiss Me Again (1931)
Director
L'aviateur (1931)
Director
Big Business Girl (1931)
Director
Peach-O-Reno (1931)
Director
Caught Plastered (1931)
Director
Way Back Home (1931)
Director
Too Many Cooks (1931)
Director
Going Wild (1930)
Director
Strictly Modern (1930)
Director
The Flirting Widow (1930)
Director
Back Pay (1930)
Director
Sunny (1930)
Director
The Truth About Youth (1930)
Director
Why Be Good? (1929)
Director
Smiling Irish Eyes (1929)
Director
Synthetic Sin (1929)
Director
The Love Racket (1929)
Director
Prisoners (1929)
Director
Footlights and Fools (1929)
Director
Happiness Ahead (1928)
Director
Thanks for the Buggy Ride (1928)
Director
Waterfront (1928)
Director
Outcast (1928)
Director
Good Morning, Judge (1928)
Director
The Small Bachelor (1927)
Director
Out All Night (1927)
Director
The Cheerful Fraud (1927)
Director
What Happened to Jones (1926)
Director
Rolling Home (1926)
Director
Take It From Me (1926)
Director
Skinner's Dress Suit (1926)
Director
The Teaser (1925)
Director
Dangerous Innocence (1925)
Director
Where Was I? (1925)
Director
The Mad Whirl (1925)
Director
Helen's Babies (1924)
Director
Listen Lester (1924)
Director
Daddies (1924)
Director
The Family Secret (1924)
Director
His Forgotten Wife (1924)
Director
The White Sin (1924)
Director
The Fast Worker (1924)
Director
The Beautiful and Damned (1923)
Director
Little Church Around the Corner (1923)
Director
Bell Boy 13 (1923)
Director
When Love Comes (1922)
Director
Boy Crazy (1922)
Director
Gay and Devilish (1922)
Director
Up and At 'Em (1922)
Director
The Understudy (1922)
Director
Passing Thru (1921)
Director
The Foolish Age (1921)
Director
Eden and Return (1921)
Director
Hearts and Masks (1921)
Director
The Kentucky Colonel (1920)
Director

Writer (Feature Film)

The Cheerful Fraud (1927)
Scen
Listen Lester (1924)
Adaptation
Up and At 'Em (1922)
Story
The Foolish Age (1921)
Scen

Producer (Feature Film)

Make Haste to Live (1954)
Associate Producer
Champ for a Day (1953)
Associate Producer
The Lady Wants Mink (1953)
Associate Producer
Borderline (1950)
Presented By
Belle of the Yukon (1944)
Producer
Hired Wife (1940)
Producer

Production Companies (Feature Film)

One Touch of Venus (1948)
Company
Little Giant (1946)
Company
Big Business Girl (1931)
Company
Kiss Me Again (1931)
Company

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

Rocket Gibraltar (1988)
Other

Life Events

1919

First feature as director, "Tangled Threads"

Photo Collections

 
4 Photos
Room Service - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are a few photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of RKO's Room Service (1938), featuring Groucho Marx and Ann Miller.
8 Photos
Rafter Romance - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are several photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of RKO's Rafter Romance (1933), directed by William Seiter and starring Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster.
2 Photos
Rafter Romance - Movie Posters
Here are two styles of Window Card from RKO's Rafter Romance (1933), starring Ginger Rogers. Window Cards were mini posters designed to be placed in store windows around town during a film's engagement. A blank space at the top of the poster featured theater and playdate infromation.
23 Photos
Rafter Romance - Publicity Stills
Here are a number of Publicity Stills from RKO's Rafter Romance (1933), starring Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster. Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.
43 Photos
Rafter Romance - Scene Stills
Here are a number of scene stills from RKO's Rafter Romance (1933), starring Ginger Rogers and Norman Foster.

Videos

Movie Clip

Why Be Good? (1929) -- (Movie Clip) An Effervescent American Girl From one Manhattan party scene to the next, this time introducing top-billed Colleen Moore as aptly-named flapper Pert, again with emphasis on synchronized music and sound effects, also meeting dandified Jimmy (Louis Natheaux), William A. Seiter directing the slick Why Be Good?, 1929.
Why Be Good? (1929) -- (Movie Clip) Boiler Room In the third consecutive Manhattan party scene opening the picture, this time at a nautically-themed night club where Prohibition is openly flaunted, flapper Pert (Colleen Moore) with hustling Jimmy (Louis Natheaux), spotted by blue-blood Peabody (Neil Hamilton) and pals, in Why Be Good?, 1929.
Susannah Of The Mounties (1939) -- (Movie Clip) I Want You To Meet My Daughter Randolph Scott as officer Monty, having rescued the star (Shirley Temple) following an Indian massacre, is eager to report to his C-O (Moroni Olsen), not realizing he'd meet knockout Margaret Lockwood, then berating his orderly Mac (J. Farrell MacDonald), early in Susannah Of The Mounties, 1939.
Susannah Of The Mounties (1939) -- (Movie Clip) Is That Your Pony? Cordial when you consider that, broadly speaking, his tribe probably just slaughtered her family and wagon train, survivor Shirley Temple (title character) and Canadian Blackfeet “Little Chief,” who’s been left with the white men as a de facto hostage during peace talks, have a normal juvenile spat, Randolph Scott intervening, in Susannah Of The Mounties, 1939.
Susannah Of The Mounties (1939) -- (Movie Clip) One Little Word Pretty horrifying opening, at least in the Shirley Temple canon, as she’s found by Northwest Mounted Police officer “Monty” (Randolph Scott), the sole survivor of an outright massacre by Blackfeet Indians in Canada, in 20th Century Fox’s Susannah Of The Mounties, 1939, also starring Margaret Lockwood.
Susannah Of The Mounties (1939) -- (Movie Clip) I'll Teach You To Waltz Shirley Temple (title character, survivor of a wagon-train massacre) helps Monty (Randolph Scott), her rescuer and Northwest Mounted Police officer, with dance technique, J. Farrell MacDonald accompanying, and Margaret Lockwood, the commander’s daughter, his object, in Susannah Of The Mounties, 1939.
You'll Never Get Rich (1941) -- (Movie Clip) Boogie Barcarolle Dance director Robert (Fred Astaire) takes a call from frisky financier Cortland (Robert Benchley), then rehearses with not-intimidated Sheila (Rita Hayworth), their first on-screen dance together and a Cole Porter tune, early in You'll Never Get Rich, 1941.
Life Begins In College (1937) -- (Movie Clip) The Flower Of Young Womanhood This is the wind-up of the preliminaries, before the starring Ritz Brothers appear, with mean jocks (led by Dick Baldwin, and a young Elisha Cook Jr.) pranking on Indian freshman George (Nat Pendleton), and co-ed Janet (Gloria Stuart) gets unwillingly involved, in the 20th Century-Fox comedy vehicle Life Begins In College, 1937.
Life Begins In College (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Klassy Kampus Kleaners First scene for the stars, the Ritz Brothers, beginning here with Jimmy, Harry and Al, left to right, whom we learn are the struggling tailors in the college town, Frank Melton their first customer, and George (Nat Pendleton) the next, an oil-rich Indian freshman whose pants got mangled in a hazing by the football team, in Life Begins In College, 1937.
Life Begins In College (1937) -- (Movie Clip) Our Accents Are Cheesy There’s no defined plot premise for this, we’re at the college dance, various stories in play, when the starring Ritz Brothers (Jimmy left, Harry in drag and Al right), who run a failing laundry business, appear with a specialty song, credited to Sam Pokrass, Sid Kuller and Ray Golden, in in Life Begins In College, 1937.
Four Jills In A Jeep (1943) -- (Movie Clip) You Look Like Somebody I've Seen Just arrived on a base in England, in a story supposedly based on their own real experience on USO tours, Kay Francis, sparky Martha Raye, blonde Carole Landis and Mitzi Mayfair get collected by their minder Eddie (Phil Silvers), and meet handsome flier Ted (John Harvey), early in Four Jills In A Jeep, 1943.
Four Jills In A Jeep (1943) -- (Movie Clip) How Blue The Night Joining a number from Dick Haymes, playing a soldier, song an original by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson, Mitzi Mayfair as herself on the USO Tour in Europe, also Dick’s love interest, in 20th Century-Fox’s Four Jills In A Jeep, also starring Carole Landis, Martha Raye and Kay Francis.

Trailer

Room Service - (Original Trailer) The Marx Brothers are three zany producers trying to extend their hotel credit until they can get a play mounted in Room Service (1938).
Going Wild - (Original Trailer) A lovesick fool pretends to be an ace flyer in Going Wild (1930).
Destroyer - (Re-issueTrailer) The crew of a torpedoed ship fights to take out an enemy sub in Destroyer (1943) starring Edward G. Robinson and Glenn Ford.
Big Business Girl - (Original Trailer) A college girl (Loretta Young) uses her brains and her legs to conquer the business world in Big Business Girl (1931).
Allegheny Uprising - (Re-issue Trailer) It's John Wayne versus the Redcoats as a rebel in Colonial America in Allegheny Uprising (1939) co-starring Claire Trevor and George Sanders.
You Were Never Lovelier - (Original Trailer) Rita Hayworth is an Argentine heiress who thinks Fred Astaire is her secret admirer in You Were Never Lovelier (1942).
Life of the Party, The -- (Original Trailer) A millionaire's heir and a countess' daughter take a roundabout way to get both love and money in The Life of the Party (1937).
Belle of the Yukon - (Original Trailer) Randolph Scott and Gypsy Rose Lee heat up the frozen north in Belle of the Yukon (1944).
It's A Date - (Original Trailer) Teenage songbird Deanna Durbin squares off with Kay Francis in love and career in It's A Date (1940) co-starring Walter Pidgeon.
Rafter Romance - (Original Trailer) Ginger Rogers falls for a night worker without realizing they share the same apartment. It's a Rafter Romance (1933).
Roberta - (Original Trailer) A football player inherits a chic Paris fashion house in the musical Roberta (1935) starring Randolph Scott, Irene Dunne and Fred Astaire.

Companions

Laura La Plante
Wife
Actor. Married in 1926; divorced in 1932.
Marian Nixon
Wife
Actor. Married in 1934.

Bibliography

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