Alexander Hall

Highest Rated: 100% Little Miss Marker (1934)

Lowest Rated: 23% Limehouse Blues (1934)

Birthday: Jan 11, 1894

Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

A workmanlike technician with a flair for light comedy who began his career as as an actor in 1914 and graduated to directing in 1932, Hall worked for Paramount until 1937 and then spent a decade with Columbia, after which he free-lanced until his directed career ended in 1956 with "Forever, Darling" (1956). Among Hall's better or best-remembered efforts are one of his first, "Madame Racketeer" (1932), a vehicle for comedienne Alison Skipworth; "Torch Singer" (1933), a most enjoyable showcase for Claudette Colbert; "Little Miss Marker" (1934), one of Shirley Temple's more amusing starring films; "Goin' to Town" (1935), probably Mae West's best comedy after the establishment of Hollywood's censorship body, the Production Code Administration; and "My Sister Eileen" (1942), which gave Rosalind Russell one of her best roles. Hall received his only Oscar nomination as Best Director for a big hit, "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941), a clever comedy-fantasy (later remade as "Heaven Can Wait" 1978) starring Robert Montgomery as a boxer who accidentally is summoned to heaven "too soon" and is given another body in recompense. Hall was married to actress Lola Lane.