---
name: "Robert Montgomery"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/robert-montgomery"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "21 May 1904"
died: "27 September 1981"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-20T00:25:30.932028+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."
---

# Robert Montgomery

Actor. Born 21 May 1904 in Fishkill Landing [now Beacon], New York, USA. Died 27 September 1981.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 21 May 1904, Fishkill Landing [now Beacon], New York, USA
- **Died:** 27 September 1981
- **Active:** 1930–1941
- **Also known as:** Bob Montgomery, Comdr. Robert Montgomery U.S.N.R., Robert Montgomery Comdr. U.S.N.R., Henry Montgomery Jr.
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 78 (1), 1940s 77 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Montgomery_(actor), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q366956, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0599910/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/19406

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*The Big House*](https://film.one/film/the-big-house.md) (78)
- **The Roku Channel:** [*Here Comes Mr. Jordan*](https://film.one/film/here-comes-mr-jordan.md) (77)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Robert Montgomery

> Robert Montgomery was at his best playing the weak one in *The Big House* (1930), a young man who does not ask us to like him. MGM spent the thirties asking him to be an urbane gentleman beside its leading women instead.

In *The Big House* (1930), Robert Montgomery is the frightened one in the cell. Wallace Beery has the noise and Chester Morris has the brains, and Montgomery's Kent Marlowe has nothing but a young man's terror of the place he has landed in. Most leading men that age would have found a way to make the terror appealing. Montgomery does not ask us to like him, and that refusal is the best thing he ever brought to a screen.

He had come from the New York stage and signed with MGM after *So This Is College* in 1929, and the studio's first idea of him was a well-cut suit standing beside Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford. *The Big House* changed that idea, though not for long; the comedies kept coming. *Night Must Fall* (1937) let him play Danny, a murderer with good manners, and *Here Comes Mr. Jordan* (1941) made him a boxer sent to heaven ahead of schedule. The war took him into the Navy until 1945. He came back to John Ford's *They Were Expendable* the same year, opposite John Wayne, and directed some of it without credit. After that he was a director more than an actor: *Lady in the Lake* and *Ride the Pink Horse*, both 1947, then the television anthology *Robert Montgomery Presents* from 1950 to 1957, and a last feature, *The Gallant Hours*, in 1960.

What he could do was hold still and let a scene come to him. Some have called it stiffness, and whether it is depends on the part. When the man is holding himself together, as Kent is, the stillness reads as fear, and Kent's fear moved us more than anything in the warmer films that followed, because Montgomery plays it without once looking to us for forgiveness. When the man is supposed to be easy company, the same quality fails him. Joe Pendleton is a soft-spoken, well-tailored man doing a Brooklyn accent that never settles, and his catchphrase, 'I'm in the pink', is repeated until it stops being character and becomes a tic. The film is good. He is the thing in it we kept noticing for the wrong reasons.

The odd turn came when he got the camera. *Lady in the Lake* is shot from Marlowe's eyes, so that Montgomery, who plays Marlowe, is on screen only briefly. A man who had spent eighteen years being photographed chose, the first chance he had, to point the lens the other way. Start with *The Big House*, where he is the weak one and does not pretend otherwise, and go to *Mr. Jordan* afterwards for Claude Rains rather than for him.

## Biography

Robert Montgomery (born Henry Montgomery Jr.) was an American actor, director and producer. He was born on 21 May 1904 in Fishkill Landing (now Beacon), New York, and died on 27 September 1981 in New York City. He began his career on the stage in New York before signing with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Montgomery made his film debut in *So This Is College* (1929). He played Kent Marlowe in *The Big House* (1930) and appeared in numerous other films including *The Divorcee* (1930), *Night Must Fall* (1937), *Here Comes Mr. Jordan* (1941) and *Lady in the Lake* (1946), which he also directed. He served in the US Navy during the Second World War. He was the father of actress Elizabeth Montgomery.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, watch.plex.tv, catalog.afi.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Here Comes Mr. Jordan* (1941), Fi1m 77, as Joe Pendleton — [page](https://film.one/film/here-comes-mr-jordan.md)
- *The Big House* (1930), Fi1m 78, as Kent Marlowe — [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-house.md)

## Complete filmography (67)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *That's Entertainment, Part II* (1976), as (archive footage)
- *That's Entertainment!* (1974), as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- *The Gallant Hours* (1960), as Narration (American scenes) · Producer, Director
- *Your Witness* (1950), as Adam Heyward · Director
- *Robert Montgomery Presents* (1950), series, Producer
- *Once More, My Darling* (1949), as Collier Laing · Director
- *June Bride* (1948), as Carey Jackson
- *The Secret Land* (1948), as Narrator
- *The Saxon Charm* (1948), as Matt Saxon
- *Ride the Pink Horse* (1947), as Lucky Gagin · Director
- *Lady in the Lake* (1946), as Phillip Marlowe · Director
- *They Were Expendable* (1945), as Lt. John Brickley
- *Unfinished Business* (1941), as Tommy Duncan
- *Here Comes Mr. Jordan* (1941), as Joe Pendleton — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/here-comes-mr-jordan.md)
- *Rage in Heaven* (1941), as Philip Monrell
- *Mr. & Mrs. Smith* (1941), as David
- *Busman's Honeymoon* (1940), as Lord Peter Wimsey
- *The Earl of Chicago* (1940), as Robert Kilmount
- *Fast and Loose* (1939), as Joel Sloane
- *Three Loves Has Nancy* (1938), as Malcolm 'Mal' Niles
- *Yellow Jack* (1938), as John O'Hara
- *The First Hundred Years* (1938), as David Conway
- *Live, Love and Learn* (1937), as Bob Graham
- *Ever Since Eve* (1937), as Freddy Matthews
- *Night Must Fall* (1937), as Danny
- *The Last of Mrs. Cheyney* (1937), as Lord Arthur Dilling
- *Piccadilly Jim* (1936), as James Crocker, Jr.
- *Trouble for Two* (1936), as Prince Florizel
- *Petticoat Fever* (1936), as Dascom Dinsmore
- *No More Ladies* (1935), as Sheridan 'Sherry' Warren
- *Screen Snapshots Series 14, No. 8* (1935), Actor
- *Vanessa: Her Love Story* (1935), as Benjamin Herries
- *Biography of a Bachelor Girl* (1935), as Richard 'Dickie' Kurt
- *Forsaking All Others* (1934), as Dillon 'Dill" Todd
- *Hide-Out* (1934), as Jonathan 'Lucky' Wilson
- *Riptide* (1934), as Tommie L. Trent
- *The Mystery of Mr. X* (1934), as Nicholas Revel
- *Fugitive Lovers* (1934), as Paul Porter, aka Stephen Blaine
- *Night Flight* (1933), as Auguste Pellerin
- *Another Language* (1933), as Victor Hallam
- *When Ladies Meet* (1933), as Jimmie
- *Hell Below* (1933), as Lieut. Thomas Knowlton USN
- *Made on Broadway* (1933), as Jeff
- *Faithless* (1932), as William 'Bill' Wade
- *Blondie of the Follies* (1932), as Larry Belmont
- *Letty Lynton* (1932), as Hale Darrow
- *But the Flesh Is Weak* (1932), as Max Clement
- *Lovers Courageous* (1932), as Willie Smith
- *Private Lives* (1931), as Elyot Chase
- *The Man in Possession* (1931), as Raymond Dabney
- *Shipmates* (1931), as John Paul Jones
- *Strangers May Kiss* (1931), as Steve
- *The Easiest Way* (1931), as Jack Madison
- *Inspiration* (1931), as André Montell
- *War Nurse* (1930), as Wally O'Brien
- *Love in the Rough* (1930), as Kelly
- *The Voice of Hollywood* (1930), Actor
- *Our Blushing Brides* (1930), as Tony Jardine
- *The Sins of the Children* (1930), as Nick Higginson
- *The Big House* (1930), as Kent Marlowe — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-house.md)
- *The Divorcee* (1930), as Don
- *Free and Easy* (1930), as Larry
- *Their Own Desire* (1929), as John 'Jack' Douglas Cheever
- *Untamed* (1929), as Andy McAllister
- *So This Is College* (1929), as Biff
- *Three Live Ghosts* (1929), as William Foster
- *The Single Standard* (1929), as Party Boy (uncredited)

## Gallery

- ![Robert Montgomery](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-9db607f0e49d.jpg) Robert Montgomery — NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Robert_Montgomery_circa_1950s.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Title: Movie star before senate committee. Washington, D.C., April 3. The S.R.O. sign was hung out today at the Senate Interstate Commerce Committee Hearing as  (1939)](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-f3faf3d590c0.jpg) Title: Movie star before senate committee. Washington, D.C., April 3. The S.R.O. sign was hung out today at the Senate Interstate Commerce Committee Hearing as  (1939) — Harris & Ewing, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Movie_star_before_senate_committee._Washington%2C_D.C.%2C_April_3._The_S.R.O._sign_was_hung_out_today_at_the_Senate_Interstate_Commerce_Committee_Hearing_as_Robert_Montgomery%2C_movie_star%2C_LCCN2016875364.jpg/1280px-thumbnail.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Screenshot from the trailer for Lady in the Lake, featuring Robert Montgomery and Audrey Totter, reflected in a mirror (1947)](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-b7c73940ec95.jpg) Screenshot from the trailer for Lady in the Lake, featuring Robert Montgomery and Audrey Totter, reflected in a mirror (1947) — Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Lady-in-the-Lake-trailer-mirror.jpg/1280px-Lady-in-the-Lake-trailer-mirror.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Lobby card for the American comedy film Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-2b9797683fe6.jpg) Lobby card for the American comedy film Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) — RKO Radio Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Mr._%26_Mrs._Smith_1941_Lobby_Card.jpg/1280px-Mr._%26_Mrs._Smith_1941_Lobby_Card.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Robert Montgomery](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-e8c1b608657a.jpg) Robert Montgomery — Image via TMDB
- ![Robert Montgomery](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-57a81017504e.jpg) Robert Montgomery — Image via TMDB
- ![Robert Montgomery](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-7dcd179e4f40.jpg) Robert Montgomery — Image via TMDB
- ![Lobby card for the 1932 film Faithless](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-f0b6609ffa0b.jpg) Lobby card for the 1932 film Faithless — Employee(s) of MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Poster_-_Faithless_05.jpg/1280px-Poster_-_Faithless_05.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Lobby card for the American comedy-drama film film The First Hundred Years (1938).](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-f79b263f72d1.jpg) Lobby card for the American comedy-drama film film The First Hundred Years (1938). — MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/First_Hundred_Years_lobby_card.jpg/1280px-First_Hundred_Years_lobby_card.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Robert Montgomery](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-f928d35f46f0.jpg) Robert Montgomery — Image via TMDB
- ![Robert Montgomery](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-307c850ea560.jpg) Robert Montgomery — Image via TMDB
- ![Robert Montgomery](https://film.one/media/person/1224805/gallery-e5499730561e.jpg) Robert Montgomery — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1942: Best Actor (nominated), for *Here Comes Mr. Jordan*
- 1938: Best Actor (nominated), for *Night Must Fall*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Tony Award for Best Director 1955: Tony Award for Best Director (won)

*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/robert-montgomery