One of the busiest directors in the field of low-budget action fare, Canadian-born Robert F. Hill is especially remembered for his contributions to serials. A one-time screen villain and a member of the Edison stock company, Hill later switched to Universal, where he was made a director. Although high-strung and nervous, the gangly Hill possessed the most important qualification for success at Carl Laemmle's San Fernando film factory: an ability to finish a project on time and under budget. By 1925, Hill assumed that he had earned a raise but "Uncle Carl" thought otherwise and the disappointed director bolted to join independent producer C.W. Patton. Their joint venture, the Western serial Idaho (1925), proved a disappointment, however, and despite Laemmle's very vocal doubts, Hill returned to Universal. There was an aborted (and frankly bizarre) attempt to produce Universal films in Japan, after which Hill returned to the serial and Western grind for good. He remained with Universal until 1940 when a new regime at the studio practically forced him to retire. The prolific Hill returned instead to Poverty Row, where he became an actor for hire and wrote screenplays under the name Rock Hawkey. A true screen veteran, Robert F. Hill retired in the mid-'50s.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Beast of Hollow Mountain
Screenwriter |
1956 | |||
|
Arctic Flight
Screenwriter |
1952 | |||
|
Paper Gallows
Producer |
1950 | |||
|
Bless 'em All
Director, Producer |
1949 | |||
|
High Jinks in Society
Director, Producer, Screenwriter |
1949 | |||
|
Melody in the Dark
Director, Producer |
1948 | |||
|
Wanderers of the West
Director |
1941 | |||
|
East Side Kids
Director |
1940 | |||
|
Drifting Westward
Director |
1939 | |||
|
Overland Mail
Director |
1939 | |||
|
Wild Horse Canyon
Director, Screenwriter |
1939 | |||
|
Cheyenne Rides Again
Director |
1938 | |||
|
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars [Serial]
Director |
1938 | |||
|
Man's Country
Director |
1938 | |||
|
Mars Attacks the World
Director |
1938 | |||
|
Silks and Saddles
Director |
1938 | |||
|
The Deadly Ray From Mars
Director |
1938 | |||
|
The Flying Fists
Director, Screen Story |
1938 | |||
|
The Painted Trail
Director |
1938 | |||
|
Whirlwind Horseman
Director |
1938 | |||
|
$1,000,000 Racket
Director |
1937 | |||
|
Blake of Scotland Yard [Serial]
Director |
1937 | |||
|
Feud of the Trail
Director |
1937 | |||
|
Fighting Playboy
Director |
1937 | |||
|
Law and Lead
Director, Screen Story |
1937 | |||
|
Mystery Range
Director |
1937 | |||
|
Roamin' Cowboy
Director |
1937 | |||
|
Taming the Wild
Director |
1937 | |||
|
The Idaho Kid
Director |
1937 | |||
|
The Roaming Cowboy
Director |
1937 | |||
|
Two Minutes to Play
Director |
1937 | |||
|
A Face in the Fog
Director |
1936 | |||
|
Kelly of the Secret Service
Director |
1936 | |||
|
Men of the Plains
Director |
1936 | |||
|
Prison Shadows
Director |
1936 | |||
|
Put on the Spot
Director |
1936 | |||
|
Rio Grande Romance
Director |
1936 | |||
|
Rip Roarin' Buckaroo
Director |
1936 | |||
|
Shadow of Chinatown [Serial]
Actor, Director, Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
|
The Phantom of the Range
Director |
1936 | |||
|
The Rogue's Tavern
Director |
1936 | |||
|
Too Much Beef
Director, Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
|
West of Nevada
Director, Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
|
Cyclone Ranger
Director |
1935 | |||
|
Danger Trails
Actor, Director, Screenwriter |
1935 | |||
|
Queen of the Jungle [Serial]
Director |
1935 | |||
|
Six Gun Justice
Director |
1935 | |||
|
The Texas Rambler
Director |
1935 | |||
|
Vanishing Riders
Director |
1935 | |||
|
A Demon for Trouble
Director |
1934 | |||
|
Cowboy Holiday
Director, Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
|
Frontier Days
Director |
1934 | |||
|
Inside Information
Director |
1934 | |||
|
Tarzan the Fearless [Serial]
Director |
1933 | |||
|
The Cheyenne Kid
Director |
1933 | |||
|
Come On, Danger!
Director |
1932 | |||
|
Love Bound
Director |
1932 | |||
|
Spell of the Circus
Director |
1931 | |||
|
Sundown Trail
Director, Screenwriter, Songwriter |
1931 | |||
|
Melody Lane
Director, Screenwriter |
1929 | |||
|
Silks and Saddles
Director |
1929 | |||
|
The Last Warning
Screenwriter |
1929 | |||
|
A Million for Love
Director |
1928 | |||
|
Life's Mockery
Director |
1928 | |||
|
Blazing Days
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
Range Courage
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
The Cat and the Canary
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
Bar-C Mystery
Director |
1926 | |||
|
Breathless Moment
Director |
1924 | |||
|
Dangerous Blonde
Director |
1924 | |||
|
Dark Stairways
Director |
1924 | |||
|
Excitement
Director |
1924 | |||
|
Jack O'Clubs
Director |
1924 | |||
|
Young Ideas
Director |
1924 | |||
|
Around the World in Eighteen Days
Director |
1923 | |||
|
Crooked Alley
Director |
1923 | |||
|
His Mystery Girl
Director |
1923 | |||
|
Shadows of the North
Director |
1923 | |||
|
Lonely Heart
Actor |
1921 | |||
|
The Adventures of Tarzan [Serial]
Director, Screenwriter |
1921 | |||
|
Jubilo
Screenwriter |
1919 | |||
|
Nancy Comes Home
Screenwriter |
1918 | |||
|
The Trap
Screenwriter |
1918 | |||
|
Babbling Tongues
Actor |
1917 | |||
|
Temptation and the Man
Director |
1916 |