LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Andre De Toth: Alexander Korda
built 232 days ago
As with his previous Western, RAMROD, Andre de Toth's sophomore effort in the popular 1940s and 1950s film genre features an honourable cowboy forced to fight a greedy, evil adversary for his land. Owen Merritt (Randolph Scott) is ‘a man who rides alone’ as Tennessee Ernie Ford sings in the soulful theme. His ambitious sweetheart, Laurie (Joan Leslie), has left him for cold, ruthless cattle rancher Will Isham (Alexander Knox) despite still having feelings for him. Owen... refuses to fight Isham for Laurie, or over his land grabbing to expand his Rancho Skull. Trouble soon arises on Owen’s ranch, with mysterious gunslingers stampeding his herd and killing his men –the most likely suspect being Isham’s sinister foreman, Fay Dutcher (Richard Rober). Owen is torn between running and fighting--and between the two women who want to help him, his former love, Laurie, and tough, spunky farmer, Nan (Ellen Drew).
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Born to a Hussar soldier, de Toth was a disappointment to his family, becoming a writer rather than a professional soldier. Playwright Molnar became his mentor and helped him on his way. "Paying his dues" as a camera operator for cinematographer Eiden in Hungary, he went on to work for the Korda brothers among others. After several trips to the US, de Toth realized he had to establish himself as a professional filmmaker in Hungary first. In nine months he made five movies, some of which met with critical notice back in the States, playing in the cities where large minorities of Hungarian refugees had settled."
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By the late 1930s, de Toth had fathered a child, qualified as a pilot in the Hungarian air corps, learned to drive a racing car and play polo. He was initiated into the world of international cinema by working for Alexander Korda in London on The Elephant Boy (1938): "It is not enough to be Hungarian," Korda told him. "Talent alone is not enough. You must have luck."
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Der Ausbruch des Zweiten Weltkrieges zwang De Toth, nach Großbritannien zu flüchten. Dort traf er auf Alexander Korda, der ihm Arbeit verschaffte. 1942 wanderte de Toth in die USA aus. Wiederum wurde er von Korda unterstützt, der ihn als Regieassistent bei Das Dschungelbuch (1942) arbeiten ließ.
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The Kordas soon crossed the Atlantic too and de Toth got work on The Thief of Baghdad (1940). During filming of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book (1942) he and Korda were trapped in a cage with an ill-tempered tiger.
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Alexander Korda