Arthur Ripley

Who was Arthur Ripley?

Arthur DeWitt Ripley was an American film screenwriter, editor, producer and director.

In 1923, he joined the Mack Sennett studio as a comedy writer. In the 1920s, he worked closely with Frank Capra churning out screenplays for many movies. After breaking with Capra and the Sennett studio, Ripley again returned to being a gag-writer, screenwriter, and occasional director, making short films with such comedians as W. C. Fields and Edgar Kennedy. His directorial work in the 1940s, Voice in the Wind and The Chase, were both critical successes, but neither film were boxoffice hits.

Ripley entered the world of academia, helping to establish the Film Center at U.C.L.A. while also working occasionally on TV. Ripley returned to directing one more time, at the request of Robert Mitchum, for Thunder Road before returning to U.C.L.A. and working until his death in 1961.