Andrew V. McLaglen

Andrew Victor McLaglen (July 28, 1920 – August 30, 2014) was a British-born American film and television director. He was best known for his Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart.

Early life and career

McLaglen was born in London, the son of English actor Victor McLaglen and his wife, Enid Lamont, who had moved to Hollywood in the early 1920s, shortly after his birth. From a film family that included eight uncles and an aunt, McLaglen grew up on movie sets with his parents as well as John Wayne and John Ford. He attended the Black-Foxe Military Institute, the Carl Curtis School, the Cate School in Santa Barbara and the University of Virginia. In 1960, McLaglen said he was earning between $57,000 and $59,000 a year ().

Focus on feature films

His first big budget feature film as director was McLintock! (1963) starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. McLaglen later said " that put me in the big time."

He directed Monkeys, Go Home! (1967), a Disney movie; The Way West (1967) an epic Western with Kirk Douglas; The Ballad of Josie (1967), a comic Western with Doris Day, made at Universal; the war story The Devil's Brigade (1968) with William Holden, for producer David Wolper; and the western Bandolero! starring Stewart, Raquel Welch, and Dean Martin at Fox.

McLaglen then made three films in a row with John Wayne: Hellfighters (1969), a biopic of Red Adair, for Universal; The Undefeated (1969), a Western with Rock Hudson; and Chisum (1970), a Western for Batjac and Warners.

McLaglen continued to specialise in Westerns. He did One More Train to Rob (1971) with George Peppard, under the director's contract with Universal, then Fools' Parade (1971) with James Stewart and George Kennedy, which McLaglen made for his own company through Columbia and said was his favourite film

Return to television

McLaglen says "Then I had a little bit of a lapse" in his career.

He directed Brooke Shields in Sahara (1983), then did two works for TV: The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) and On Wings of Eagles (1986).

His last feature films were Return from the River Kwai (1989) and Eye of the Widow (1991). McLaglen then retired and moved to San Juan Island, where he directed for the San Juan Island Community Theater.

Personal life

McLaglen and his first wife, Margarita Harrison, had one child: Sharon McLaglen Lannan (born 1944).

He and his second wife, actress Veda Ann Borg were married in 1946 and separated in 1954, divorcing in 1957. They had one child: Andrew Victor McLaglen II (August 3, 1954 – January 16, 2006).

He and his third wife, Sally Pierce, had two children, Josh McLaglen, an assistant director, and Mary McLaglen, a production manager and producer.

Death

McLaglen died August 30, 2014, age 94, in Friday Harbor, Washington.

Critical appraisal

According to one obituary, "His career in many ways mirrored that of Ted Post, another inexhaustible director of series television and undemanding movies: reliable rather than stylish, both were nimble soldiers of fortune renowned for bringing work in on time and on budget... Like the best journeymen, he took us on some heroic, enjoyable excursions."

Filmography

Film

Gun the Man Down — Batjac film (1956)
Man in the Vault — Batjac Film (1956)
The Abductors (1957)
Freckles (1960)
The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1961)
McLintock! — With John Wayne (1963)
Shenandoah — With James Stewart (1965)
The Rare Breed — With James Stewart (1966)
Monkeys, Go Home! (1967)
The Way West (1967)
The Ballad of Josie (1967)
The Devil's Brigade (1968)
Bandolero! — With James Stewart (1968)
Hellfighters — With John Wayne (1968)
The Undefeated — With John Wayne (1969)
Chisum — With John Wayne (1970)
One More Train to Rob (1971)
Fools' Parade — With James Stewart (1971)
Something Big (1971)
Cahill U.S. Marshal — With John Wayne (1973)
Mitchell (1975)
The Last Hard Men (1976)
The Wild Geese (1978)
North Sea Hijack (1979)
Breakthrough (1979)
The Sea Wolves (1980)
Sahara (1983)
Return from the River Kwai (1989)
Eye of the Widow (1991)

Television

Gunsmoke — 96 episodes (1956–1965)
Have Gun – Will Travel — 116 episodes (1957–1963)
Perry Mason — 7 episodes — (1958–1960)
Rawhide — 6 episodes (1959–1962)
Gunslinger — 5 episodes (1961)
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters — episode — The Day of the Taboo Man (1963)
The Virginian — episode — Smile of a Dragon (1964)
Wagon Train — episode — The Silver Lady (1965)
The Magical World of Disney  — episode - The Bluegrass Special (1977)
Banacek — episode — The Three Million Dollar Piracy (1973)
Amy Prentiss — episode — The Desperate World of Jane Doe (1974)
Hec Ramsey — episode — Scar Tissue (1974)
Banacek — episode — Rocket to Oblivion (1974)
The Log of the Black Pearl — TV movie (1975)
Stowaway to the Moon — TV movie (1975)
Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free - TV movie (1976)
Royce — TV movie (1976)
Murder at the World Series — TV movie (1977)
Trail of Danger — TV movie (1978)
The Shadow Riders — TV movie (1982)
The Blue and the Gray — miniseries (1982)
Travis McGee — TV movie (1983)
The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission — TV movie (1985)
On Wings of Eagles — miniseries (1986)

Miscellaneous contributions

Dakota — production assistant (uncredited) (1945)
Bullfighter and the Lady — assistant director (1951)
Big Jim McLain — assistant director (1952)
The Quiet Man — 2nd Assistant Director (uncredited) (1952)
Hondo — unit production manager (1953)
Plunder of the Sun — assistant director (1953)
This Is Your Life — episode — Victor McLaglen — himself (1953)
Island in the Sky — assistant director (1953)
Kansas Pacific — assistant director (1953)
The High and the Mighty — assistant director (1954)
Track of the Cat — assistant director (1954)
Blood Alley — assistant director (1955)
Seven Men From Now — Producer (1956)
This Is Your Life — episode — Ken Curtis — himself (1972)
The Hollywood Greats — episode — John Wayne — himself (1984)
The Making of "The Quiet Man" — Video documentary short — himself (1992)
The Quiet Man: The Joy of Ireland — Video Documentary Short — himself (2002)
American Masters — episode — John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend — himself (2006)
100 Years of John Wayne — TV Movie documentary short — himself (2007)