Irving G. Reis on AllMovie

A pioneer in the field of radio drama, Manhattan-born Irving Reis was the creator and supervisor of CBS' Columbia Workshop, which signed on in July of 1936 and remained on the air for ten years. Among the many talented folks given a leg-up on the Workshop were Archibald MacLeish, Norman Corwin, Bernard Herrmann, and Orson Welles. Reis was brought to Hollywood in 1940 by RKO Radio Pictures, an RCA-owned company staffed to the gills with radio veterans. After serving an apprenticeship as director of several RKO B's (including the first three Falcon films), Reis was promoted to A-productions with The Big Street (1942), an excellent Damon Runyon adaptation starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball. After serving in World War II, Irving Reis returned to direct such audience pleasers as The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), All My Sons (1948), and The Four Poster (1952).