--- name: "Irving Cummings" canonical: "https://film.one/person/irving-cummings" roles: ["Director"] born: "8 October 1888" died: "18 April 1959" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "director" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-19T22:41:28.012943+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Irving Cummings Director. Born 8 October 1888 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 18 April 1959. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 8 October 1888, New York City, New York, USA - **Died:** 18 April 1959 - **Active:** 1928–1934 - **Also known as:** Irving Caminsky - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Cummings, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q727791, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191899/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/129422 ## Fi1m on Irving Cummings > Irving Cummings is remembered for a microphone in a desert, on a film he did not start, then spent twenty years as Fox's dependable hand on Shirley Temple and Betty Grable musicals. The studio's style was his, which is neither insult nor compliment. The thing people remember from *In Old Arizona* (1928) is not a shot but a sound: hooves on hard ground, cattle, eggs in a pan. It was the first talkie to take its microphones outdoors, and Cummings came on to it after Raoul Walsh, so the two men share the credit and it is impossible to say whose desert we are hearing. We scored it 61. It is a landmark and a slog in about equal measure, and we admit that for long stretches we found ourselves listening rather than watching, which tells you where the achievement lies and where it does not. He had been on the other side of the camera first. Cummings began on the stage around 1903, went into films as an actor in 1909 and was a popular leading man in silents into the early 1920s. He started directing shorts in 1921 and features in 1922, handled early sound Westerns and crime dramas, and then, from the mid-1930s, settled into what he would do for the rest of his working life: musicals at 20th Century-Fox. *Curly Top* (1935) with Shirley Temple, *Down Argentine Way* (1940) with Betty Grable, *The Dolly Sisters* (1945), with a co-directing credit on the Western *Jesse James* (1939) along the way. He retired in 1954. What did he bring to them? The honest answer, and the one the reference books settle on, is that his style is hard to tell from the studio's. Fox in those years wanted big, bright Technicolor pictures built around a star, and Cummings gave it four with Temple and three with Grable, and *Down Argentine Way* is generally credited with helping to make Grable one. We have not reviewed those films and will not pretend to judge them at length. What we can say is that nobody has ever pointed at a Cummings musical and said that could only have been him, and that even the picture his name is attached to in the histories is half somebody else's. There is a kind of director whose job is to get the star into the light, keep the numbers moving and bring the picture in on time, and it is not a small job or a dishonourable one. Cummings did it for twenty years, and the studio kept asking him back. If you want to know what he did, watch the person he was pointing the camera at. See *In Old Arizona* once, for the eggs; for the rest, the name to look for on the poster is the one above his. ## Biography Irving Cummings (born Irving Caminsky) was an American film director and actor. He began his career as a stage actor in New York before entering films as an actor around 1909 and directing from the early 1920s. Cummings directed the early sound Western *In Old Arizona* (1928), for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He later specialised in musicals at 20th Century Fox, including *Curly Top* (1935) and *Little Miss Broadway* (1938). Other notable credits include *Jesse James* (1939, co-director) and *The Cisco Kid* (1931). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *In Old Arizona* (1928), Fi1m 61, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/in-old-arizona.md) ## Complete filmography (122) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Double Dynamite* (1951), Director - *The Dolly Sisters* (1945), Director - *The Impatient Years* (1944), Director, Producer - *What a Woman* (1943), Director, Producer - *Sweet Rosie O'Grady* (1943), Director - *Springtime in the Rockies* (1942), Director - *My Gal Sal* (1942), Director - *Louisiana Purchase* (1941), Director - *Belle Starr* (1941), Director - *That Night in Rio* (1941), Director - *Down Argentine Way* (1940), Director - *Lillian Russell* (1940), Director - *Everything Happens at Night* (1939), Director - *Hollywood Cavalcade* (1939), Director - *The Story of Alexander Graham Bell* (1939), Director - *Jesse James* (1939), Co-Director - *Just Around the Corner* (1938), Director - *Little Miss Broadway* (1938), Director - *Merry Go Round of 1938* (1937), Director - *Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938* (1937), Director - *White Hunter* (1936), Director - *Girls' Dormitory* (1936), Director - *Poor Little Rich Girl* (1936), Director - *Curly Top* (1935), Director - *It's A Small World* (1935), Director - *The White Parade* (1934), Director - *Grand Canary* (1934), Director - *I Believed in You* (1934), Director - *The Mad Game* (1933), Director - *The Woman I Stole* (1933), Director - *Man Hunt* (1933), Director - *Man Against Woman* (1932), Director - *The Night Club Lady* (1932), Director - *Attorney for the Defense* (1932), Director - *The Cisco Kid* (1931), Director - *A Holy Terror* (1931), Director - *A Devil with Women* (1930), Director - *On the Level* (1930), Director - *Cameo Kirby* (1930), Director - *Not Quite Decent* (1929), Director - *Behind That Curtain* (1929), Director - *In Old Arizona* (1928), Director — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/in-old-arizona.md) - *Romance of the Underworld* (1928), Director - *The Port of Missing Girls* (1928), Director - *Dressed to Kill* (1928), Director, Story - *The Brute* (1927), Director - *Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl* (1926), Director - *The Country Beyond* (1926), Director, Scenario Writer - *The Midnight Kiss* (1926), Director - *Rustlin' for Cupid* (1926), Director - *The Johnstown Flood* (1926), Director - *Infatuation* (1925), Director - *The Desert Flower* (1925), Director - *Just a Woman* (1925), Director - *One Year to Live* (1925), Director - *As Man Desires* (1925), as Major Singh · Director - *The Rose of Paris* (1924), Director - *In Every Woman's Life* (1924), Director - *Riders Up* (1924), Director - *The Dancing Cheat* (1924), Director - *Stolen Secrets* (1924), Director - *Fools Highway* (1924), Director - *Rupert of Hentzau* (1923), as Von Bernenstein - *Broken Hearts of Broadway* (1923), Director - *East Side - West Side* (1923), Director - *Environment* (1922), Director, Producer, Writer - *The Jilt* (1922), Director - *Broad Daylight* (1922), Director - *The Eternal Flame* (1922), as Count de Marsay - *Paid Back* (1922), Director - *Flesh and Blood* (1922), Producer, Director - *The Man from Hell's River* (1922), as Pierre de Barre · Director, Writer, Producer - *Campbell of the Mounted* (1922), Director - *Don't Get Personal* (1922), Story - *Cameron of the Royal Mounted* (1921), as Dick Raven - *The Blasphemer* (1921), as Chinese Opium Den Operator - *Patsy's Jim* (1921), as Cpl. Jim Campbell, N.W.M.P. · Director - *Beautifully Trimmed* (1920), as Count Bonzi - *Old Dad* (1920), as Sheridan Kaire - *The Round-Up* (1920), as Dick Lane - *Harriet and the Piper* (1920), as Anthony Pope - *The Saphead* (1920), as Mark Turner - *The Ladder of Lies* (1920), as Ralph Brent - *Sex* (1920), as Dave Wallace - *The Tree of Knowledge* (1920), as Loftus Roupelle - *The 13th Commandment* (1920), as Thomas Warwick Duane - *Everywoman* (1919), as Passion - *What Every Woman Learns* (1919), as Dick Gaylord - *The Better Wife* (1919), as Comte de Cheveral - *Secret Service* (1919), as Benton Arrelsford - *Men, Women, and Money* (1919), as Julian Chadwick - *Some Bride* (1919), as Henry Morley - *Her Code of Honor* (1919), as Jacques - *Mandarin's Gold* (1919), as Blair Cardon - *Auction of Souls* (1919), as Andranik - *The Woman Who Gave* (1918), as Adrien Walcott - *Toys of Fate* (1918), as Greggo - *An American Widow* (1917), as Jasper Mallory - *Rasputin, the Black Monk* (1917), as Prince Felix - *Wrath of Love* (1917), as Bob Lawson - *A Royal Romance* (1917), as Emperor Maximilian - *The Whip* (1917), as Herbert Brancaster - *Sister Against Sister* (1917), as Dunsmore - *The Hidden Scar* (1916), as Dale Overton - *The Gilded Cage* (1916), as Prince Boris - *The World's Great Snare* (1916), as Bryan - *The Saleslady* (1916), as Bruce - *The Diamond from the Sky* (1915), as Arthur Stanley, II alias John Powell - *His Brother's Debt* (1915), Story - *The Derelict* (1915), Scenario Writer - *The Last Volunteer* (1914), as Prince Ludwig - *Uncle Tom's Cabin* (1914), as George Harris - *Pamela Congreve* (1914), Actor - *A Leech of Industry* (1914), as Ivan Romanoff - *In the Mesh of Her Hair* (1914), as Harry Forbes - *A Sword of Damocles* (1914), as Paul Hodgson - the Composer - *Jane Eyre* (1914), as Rochester - *The Finger of Fate* (1913), as Dr. Wilbur - *The Grey Sentinel* (1913), Actor - *The Bells* (1913), Actor - *Marked Cards* (1913), as Harry Wade - *Revolution in a Bachelors' Club* (1911), Actor ## Gallery - ![Irving Cummings](https://film.one/media/person/1224214/gallery-78d6fba2522e.jpg) Irving Cummings — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Silent_film_actor_Irving_Cummings_%28SAYRE_22341%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Profile portrait of Irving Cummings from the Film Daily Yearbook for 1925 (1924)](https://film.one/media/person/1224214/gallery-e00eb41c90a2.jpg) Profile portrait of Irving Cummings from the Film Daily Yearbook for 1925 (1924) — AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Irving_Cummings%2C_Film_Daily_Year_Book%2C_1925.jpg/1280px-Irving_Cummings%2C_Film_Daily_Year_Book%2C_1925.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Irving Camisky (October 9, 1888 - April 18, 1959) was an American movie actor, director, producer and writer. This is a publicity image published in a 1914 maga](https://film.one/media/person/1224214/gallery-01f4052832f7.jpg) Irving Camisky (October 9, 1888 - April 18, 1959) was an American movie actor, director, producer and writer. This is a publicity image published in a 1914 maga — Motion Picture magazine, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Irvingcummings-motionpicturemagazine-1914.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Silent film actor Irving Cummings. He made a series of films made in 1921 starring as Corporal Campbell of the Canadian Royal Northwest Mounted Police. Subjects (1922)](https://film.one/media/person/1224214/gallery-4a0125498859.jpg) Silent film actor Irving Cummings. He made a series of films made in 1921 starring as Corporal Campbell of the Canadian Royal Northwest Mounted Police. Subjects (1922) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Silent_film_actor_Irving_Cummings_%28SAYRE_21940%29.jpg/1280px-Silent_film_actor_Irving_Cummings_%28SAYRE_21940%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Irving Cummings](https://film.one/media/person/1224214/gallery-cc4d655e1cc4.jpg) Irving Cummings — Image via TMDB - ![Irving Cummings](https://film.one/media/person/1224214/gallery-7e173d82ffc7.jpg) Irving Cummings — Image via TMDB - ![Lobby card for the American western film Jules of the River (1922).](https://film.one/media/person/1224214/gallery-c4ee27342d25.jpg) Lobby card for the American western film Jules of the River (1922). — Maple Leaf Productions, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Jules_of_the_River_1922.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated - 1929: Best Director (nominated), for *In Old Arizona* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/irving-cummings