“A good director must be able to inspire whoever he was coaching so that the actor would live the scene. Make-believe must become reality.” — Raoul Walsh

“A good director must be able to inspire whoever he was coaching so that the actor would live the scene. Make-believe must become reality.” — Raoul Walsh

It’s his birthday today. Raoul Wash directed a number of great films (in a career as vast as his, the names stick out), but one also thinks of the great PERFORMANCES in these great films, often from actors who were just finding their footing, or trying to move from one level to the next: They Drive By Night (with Humphrey Bogart, George Raft, Ida Lupino – a star-making unforgettable turn), High Sierra (hugely important in Bogart’s development), …