Arthur Rosson

Arthur Henry Rosson was an English film director whose career spanned the silent era through the golden age of Hollywood, leaving an indelible mark on early American cinema. Born in London on 24 August 1886, Rosson was the first child of jockey‑horse trainer Arthur Richard Rosson and his French wife Hellen Rochefort, and he grew up amid a family deeply connected to the motion‑picture industry, including his brothers Harold and Richard and sister Helene, all of whom pursued filmmaking careers. After graduating from Rogers High School in Newport, Rhode Island in 1902, he worked briefly as a stock‑exchange clerk before turning his ambitions toward film, marrying Louise (Lucille) Irana Niedermeyer in 1912 and soon relocating to California where the nascent Hollywood scene awaited. Rosson entered the film world in 1917 as an assistant director and screenwriter, quickly proving his versatility by penning scripts for Allan Dwan’s adventure pictures such as Bloodhounds of the North and The Honor of the Mounted, and even surviving a harrowing brush with danger when he became lost in a canyon with Lon Chaney during location shooting. Throughout the 1920s he directed a prolific array of features—Polly of the Storm Country, Garrison’s Finish, and The Burning Trail among them—while also collaborating with his brother Harold on projects that showcased his eye for visual storytelling. In the 1930s he broadened his horizons by directing British productions like Ebb Tide and Women Who Pay, and soon after became a trusted second‑unit director for Cecil B. De Mille, contributing to epics such as The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Show on Earth. His later years saw him co‑direct the classic western Red River (1948) and serve as unit director on Samson and Delilah (1949). Rosson’s career, active from 1912 until his death in 1960, reflects a remarkable adaptability and dedication that helped shape both silent and sound cinema, and his legacy endures in the enduring films he helped bring to life.