Edwin L. Marin

Entering films as an assistant cameraman in 1919, Edwin L. Marin worked his way up to director in the early talkie era. At poverty-row World Wide films, Marin directed a brace of intriguing murder mysteries, The Death Kiss (1933) and A Study in Scarlet (1933). He moved on to the "B" unit at MGM, helming several entries in the "Philo Vance" and "Maisie" series, as well as the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol (which was diverted from the "A" unit when Reginald Owen replaced an ailing Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge). Free-lancing at Universal and RKO after 1941, Marin excelled in fast-moving westerns, the best of which was John Wayne's Tall in the Saddle. He was also among the few directors to survive three pictures with the combustible George Raft. From 1949 until his death in 1951, Edwin L. Marin was principal director of the well-received Randolph Scott western programmers. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide