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Dick Fleischer was an outstanding man and an underrated director. I had several long interviews/chats with him. He was always candid, humourous and sensitive. Interestingly, the film he was proudest of was "Compulsion" (1959) based on the infamous Leopold-Loeb case with Orson Welles playing Clarence Darrow.

Fleischer was quite sensitive about his directorial work. I remember the genuine hurt in his voice when he told me how hard he worked on "Dr. Dolittle" and after a smashing premiere in London with the Queen present and great reviews, he was horribly crushed when the film was savaged by the American critics. Fleischer taught me that criticism can cause genuine pain even for professionals.

In reviewing the notes and storyboards in Fleischer's shooting script of "The Narrow Margin", there is no doubt that he was an uncommonly bright man who really knew what he was doing with composition, set-ups and camera movement. He also was a fine coach with actors.

While "The Narrow Margin" rightly endures as a true classic and one of the finest "B" films ever made, Fleischer helmed several other worthies during his years of servitude at RKO.

In the noir style, "Armored Car Robbery" (1950) is one of my favorite films while "Trapped" (1949), made on loan out for Brynie Foy at Eagle-Lion with Lloyd Bridges and Barbara Payton, is also a sleeper.

One of my favorite Fleischer pictures is the unabashedly sentimental and amusing "The Happy Time" (1952). This was the first picture Fleischer made after leaving RKO and it is a true 'feel-good' experience. His career took off from there.

(Note: Stanley Kramer gave Marsha Hunt a lead role in "The Happy Time" when no one in Hollywood would hire her after her name got printed in 'Red Channels'- Kramer was another fine person and Marsha still is)

Even though he made some commercial schlock,( particularly towards the end of a long career) Fleischer was a dedicated director who did his best on a project even if it was a damage control job in an attempt to retrieve a lost game like "The Jazz Singer" .

I second the recommendation about Fleischer's memoir. It captures the honesty and humor of the man. He and his wife Mickey raised a terrific family that was completely unsullied by Hollywood.

To wit: I assisted in writing a posthumous tribute to Fleischer that was published and got two lovely notes from both his son and daughter.

Dick Fleischer. Quality filmmaker and quality man.

The majority, if not all, of the Max Fleischer- Walt Disney connection that you relate, involving Dick's hire by Disney for '20,000', is chronicled in Fleischer's memoir. A nice story about two former bitter rivals smoking a peace pipe, as it were.

"The Narrow Margin" boosted the careers of Fleischer and producer Stanley Rubin. After bailing out of the sinking ship at RKO Studios, Fleischer went on to become an "A" feature director and Stanley went to Fox and produced "River of No Return" and "Destination Gobi".

I always believed that Marie Windsor should have gotten better acting opportunities after "The Narrow Margin". Although "The Killing" (1956) was another high point, she got pigeon-holed into second tier Westerns and "B" films. Marie was probably tabbed as being too tall, but she was a fine actress and what a knockout with those eyes and figure!

As nice as person as Marie seemed to be, I think "Catwomen of the Moon" might have been her least favorite film memory but she did have a sense of humor about it.

Perhaps Tom W. could chime in on this one...