Alfred E. Green

Alfred E. Green (born July 11, 1889, Perris, California, U.S.—died September 4, 1960, Hollywood, California) American film and television director whose career spanned some four decades but was most noted for his movies with Warner Brothers in the early 1930s.

Green was an early worker in the southern California film industry, graduating from directing two-reel comedies to feature work in 1917. He was at Warner when sound came, and he immediately made an impact with Disraeli (1929), Old English (1930), and The Green Goddess (1930), three showcases for stage veteran George Arliss, who won a best actor Academy Award for Disraeli. Smart Money (1931) was a taut crime yarn starring Edward G. Robinson, with James Cagney and Boris Karloff in support. Robinson was in fine form again in Silver Dollar (1932), a fact-based tale about the founding of Denver, Colorado.

Green’s success continued with his 1933 slate, which was highlighted by Baby Face with Barbara Stanwyck; however, The Narrow Corner and Parachute Jumper, both with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and I Loved a Woman, starring Robinson and Kay Francis, also were notable. In 1934 Green shot seven features for Warner, including Housewife, in which Bette Davis starred as an advertising copywriter who steals a colleague (played by George Brent) from his wife. The following year Green directed five more movies, the best of which were two Davis melodramas: Dangerous, which won the actress her first Oscar, and The Girl from 10th Avenue.

The Golden Arrow (1936) marked Green’s exit from Warner. However, he was productive as a freelance filmmaker, directing More Than a Secretary (1936), a romantic comedy in which a secretary (Jean Arthur) falls for her boss (Brent); The League of Frightened Men (1937), featuring Walter Connolly as Nero Wolfe; Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry (1937), the first of many collaborations between Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland; and the comic Philo Vance mystery The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939).

Most of Green’s work in the 1940s was on B-level productions such as the John Garfield dramas Flowing Gold and East of the River (both 1940); the wartime espionage thriller Appointment in Berlin (1943); and the biopic The Jolson Story (1946), a box-office hit that starred Larry Parks as the famed entertainer, with Jolson dubbing his songs. The Fabulous Dorseys (1947) was one of the few biopics that had the stars—Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey—appearing as themselves, while Copacabana (1947) featured Groucho Marx and Carmen Miranda. Of Green’s last pictures, the most notable was The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), a low-budget but well-mounted biography starring the legendary African American ballplayer himself. Invasion USA (1952) has some historical value as an example of red-baiting during the Joseph McCarthy era.

After directing The Eddie Cantor Story (1953) and Top Banana (1954), Green left the film business in 1954. He worked for several years in television, directing more than 30 episodes of The Millionaire before retiring.