George Nicholls Jr.


George Nicholls Jr., also known as George Nichols Jr., was an American director and editor during the 1930s. Born to show business parents, and son of prolific actor and director George Nichols, he entered the film industry at the tail end of the silent film era, working as an editor for the Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. After moving to RKO Pictures in 1933, Nicholls shortly began directing films by the end of the year. His career was cut short when he died in a car accident while driving to the location of his final film.

Life and career

Born George Alberti Nichols on May 5, 1897 in San Francisco, his father was the American actor and director George Nichols, and his mother was the actress Viola Alberti. While his father was working at Biograph Studios, Nicholls made his film debut, acting in shorts during the 1910s. In 1912, as a child actor he had the lead in the comedy short Pa's Medicine at the Thanhouser Film Corporation, a film directed by his father.
He returned to the film industry behind the camera in 1928, as the editor on the Paramount film Wife Savers, directed by Ralph Ceder, and starring Wallace Beery, Raymond Hatton, ZaSu Pitts. For the next five years he worked primarily at Paramount as an editor. While at Paramount, he went by George Nichols Jr. When he moved to RKO in 1933, he began using the original spelling of his last name, and became known as George Nicholls Jr. His first film at his new studio was Sweepings, directed by John Cromwell. By the end of the year he was tapped to be an associate director to Thornton Freeland on Flying Down to Rio, the first film to team Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers. The following year he would make his directorial debut, co-directing Finishing School with Wanda Tuchock.
For the remainder of the decade, he worked consistently as a director at RKO, although occasionally loaned out to other studios such as Republic and 20th-Century. He directed several notable films, including: Anne of Green Gables, starring Anne Shirley and Tom Brown; 1935's The Return of Peter Grimm, starring Lionel Barrymore, Helen Mack, Edward Ellis, and Donald Meek; the 1936 sound remake of the 1918 silent film of the same name, M'liss, starring Anne Shirley again, this time with John Beal; and the 1939 Western, Man of Conquest, starring Richard Dix. Nicholls directed the retakes on the John Ford film, The Plough and the Stars in 1937.
In 1939 he was working on the action film The Marines Fly High. On November 13, while driving to the film's location shoot at Lake Sherwood, his car ran off the road on Coldwater Canyon Drive, killing him instantly.

Filmography

YearFilmPositionNotes
1915'ActorRole - Bob
1928'Editor
1928Forgotten FacesEditor
1928'Editor
1928'Editor
1928'Editor
1928Wife SaversEditor
1929'Editor
1929'Editor
1929Fashions in LoveEditor
1929IllusionEditor
1929InterferenceEditor
1929IllusionEditor
1929'Editor
1929'Editor
1930DerelictEditor
1930'Editor
1930For the DefenseEditor
1930Seven Days' LeaveEditor
1931Rich Man's FollyEditor
1932'Editor
1933Ann VickersEditor
1933SweepingsEditor
1933'Editor
1933Double HarnessEditor
1933Flying Down to RioAssociate director
1934Finishing SchoolDirector
1934Anne of Green GablesDirector
1935'Director
1935Chasing YesterdayDirector
1936M'LissDirector
1936'Director
1936'Director
1936ChatterboxDirector
1937'Directed re-takes
1937Portia on TrialDirectorOscar-nominated for Best Music
1937'Director
1938Army GirlDirector
1939Man of ConquestDirector
1940High SchoolDirector
1940'Director