Tay Garnett

A prolific, skillful director of adventure films, westerns and other hard-hitting fare, Tay Garnett began in films around 1920 as a writer. Becoming as a director near the end of the silent period, Garnett quickly demonstrated the narrative verve and technical competence typical of his work with the early talkie landmarks, the rough-housing romance, "Her Man" (1930) and the intriguing gangster film, "Bad Company" (1931). Though his output is variable, Garnett was a reliable and very talented craftsman who helmed such fine genre fare as "One Way Passage" (1932), a lovely romantic duet for Kay Francis and William Powell; "China Seas" (1935), a lively comic adventure at sea teaming up Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Wallace Beery; "Slave Ship" (1937), a grim, potent seafaring saga with Beery and Warner Baxter; "Stand In" (1937), a highly enjoyable spoof of Hollywood filmmaking with Leslie Howard and Joan Blondell; and one of Marlene Dietrich's best films, the rowdy yet touching "Seven Sinners" (1940). His most famous film, though, is arguably that classic film noir pairing of Lana Turner's blondeness and John Garfield's swarthiness, "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946).