Ray Nazarro (aka "Ray" and "Nat;" né Raymond Alfred Nazarro;
September 25, 1902 â€" September 8, 1986) was an American film and
television director, producer, and screenwriter. Budd Boetticher
called him a "ten day picture guy".Born in Boston, Nazarro entered the
movie business during the silent era. He initially worked in
two-reelers, honing an approach to filmmaking that was quick, lean and
eminently desirableâ€"to producers,[according to whom?] at
leastâ€"before he became a feature film director at Columbia Pictures,
beginning with Outlaws of the Rockies (1945).Nazarro did the vast
majority of his work for Columbia, and was one of the busiest
directors on the lot of any major studioâ€"from 1945-55 he worked at a
furious pace, directing as many as 13 pictures in one year. These were
almost all B-westerns, made very quickly but with some polish. They
were lean and unclutteredâ€"a technique he learned in his years
directing shortsâ€"with an emphasis on action but also a serious
elegiac view of the west. Among them were Al Jennings of Oklahoma
(1951) and The Black Dakotas (1954).In 1952, Navarro received an
Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Story for
Bullfighter and the Lady. Budd Boetticher, who had been a bullfighter,
told his life story to Nazarro when he was working for him as an
assistant director. Boetticher says he wrote it down and Nazarro typed
it up and sold the project to Dore Schary at MGM. Boetticher says this
is why Nazarro has credit.
September 25, 1902 â€" September 8, 1986) was an American film and
television director, producer, and screenwriter. Budd Boetticher
called him a "ten day picture guy".Born in Boston, Nazarro entered the
movie business during the silent era. He initially worked in
two-reelers, honing an approach to filmmaking that was quick, lean and
eminently desirableâ€"to producers,[according to whom?] at
leastâ€"before he became a feature film director at Columbia Pictures,
beginning with Outlaws of the Rockies (1945).Nazarro did the vast
majority of his work for Columbia, and was one of the busiest
directors on the lot of any major studioâ€"from 1945-55 he worked at a
furious pace, directing as many as 13 pictures in one year. These were
almost all B-westerns, made very quickly but with some polish. They
were lean and unclutteredâ€"a technique he learned in his years
directing shortsâ€"with an emphasis on action but also a serious
elegiac view of the west. Among them were Al Jennings of Oklahoma
(1951) and The Black Dakotas (1954).In 1952, Navarro received an
Academy Award nomination for Academy Award for Best Story for
Bullfighter and the Lady. Budd Boetticher, who had been a bullfighter,
told his life story to Nazarro when he was working for him as an
assistant director. Boetticher says he wrote it down and Nazarro typed
it up and sold the project to Dore Schary at MGM. Boetticher says this
is why Nazarro has credit.
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