Fred F. Sears - Move To Hollywood

Move To Hollywood

In 1946, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood and eventually appeared in The Jolson Story as a film editor, as well as performing bit parts in Blondie Knows Best, Douglas Sirk’s Shockproof, and a handful of program westerns. In all, from 1947 to 1952, Sears would appear as an actor in 58 films that he did not direct, playing a variety of supporting roles, in addition to his work as a director. He was contracted to Columbia Pictures as a director along with several other "potentials" who began as dialogue directors: Henry Levin, William Castle, Mel Ferrer and Robert Gordon.

In Ray Nazarro’s 1947 western The Lone Hand Texan, Sears played the role of Sam Jason, an oil prospector whose claim is being challenged by the usual band of unscrupulous miscreants. Charles Starrett, as The Durango Kid, comes to Sam’s rescue. Knowing how to communicate with other actors, Sears struck up a friendship with Starrett. In Nazarro’s West of Dodge City (1947), Sears had a chance to play a slightly larger role in the proceedings, sharing several scenes with Starrett, and further cementing their off-screen relationship. In Nazarro’s Law of the Canyon (1947), Sears had an even more conspicuous role, as the villainous Dr. Middleton, who plunges to his well-deserved death in the film’s final moments. After a series of bit parts, Sears got his first major break as a film director on the Durango Kid western Desert Vigilante (1949). By 1950, Sears had assumed directorial control of the series, directing such entries as Lightning Guns (1950), Prairie Roundup (1951), and Ridin’ the Outlaw Trail (1951).