Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Thomas Leo McCarey (October 3, 1898 – July 5, 1969) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. During his lifetime he was involved in nearly 200 movies, especially comedies. French director Jean Renoir once said that "Leo McCarey understood people better than any other Hollywood director." Description above from the Wikipedia article Leo McCarey, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Complete Filmography

Laurel & Hardy: Year Two
2024
Director, Writer
Following their initial pairing in early 1927, Laurel and Hardy ended their first year on top. Their success moving into 1928 galvanized the efforts o...

Laurel & Hardy: Year One
2023
Director
Laurel & Hardy: Year One, The Newly Restored 1927 Silents, as proudly presented by Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films®, offers fans new and old the rar...
Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film
2002
as Self (uncredited archive footage)
illustrates how directors pushed boundaries and altered the art of filmmaking during the turbulent, swinging 1960s. Narrated by Woody Harrelson, "Reel...

Love Affair
1994
Original Film Writer
Ex-football star Mike Gambril meets Terry McKay on a flight to Sydney, which is forced to land on a small atoll. They become romantic on board a ship ...

Move Over, Darling
1963
Story
Three years into their loving marriage, with two infant daughters at home in Los Angeles, Nicholas Arden and Ellen Wagstaff Arden are on a plane that ...

Satan Never Sleeps
1962
Director, Producer, Screenplay
A priest arrives at a mission-post in China accompanied by a young native girl who has joined him along the way. His job is to relieve the existing pr...

Something's Got to Give
1962
Story
Remake of "My Favorite Wife," unfinished because of star Marilyn Monroe's firing, rehiring, and sudden August 1962 death.

Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!
1958
Director, Screenplay, Producer
Harry Bannerman, a Connecticut suburbanite, becomes involved in various shenanigans when his wife Grace leads a protest movement against a secret army...

An Affair to Remember
1957
Director, Story, Screenplay
A couple falls in love and agrees to meet in six months at the Empire State Building - but will it happen?
Tom and Jerry
1955
Director
A priest tries to save a marriage that appears to be headed for the rocks in time for Christmas.
Meet the Governor
1955
Writer, Director
A backwoods lawyer's race for the governor's office is thwarted by mainstream opponents who dig up dirt from his past.

My Son John
1952
as John Jefferson (voice) (uncredited)
In this Cold War drama, a woman suspects her son is a Communist spy.

My Son John
1952
Screenplay, Producer, Director
In this Cold War drama, a woman suspects her son is a Communist spy.
The Screen Director
1951
as Self (staged 'archive' footage) (uncredited)
A documentary short film depicting the work of the motion picture director. An anonymous director is shown preparing the various aspects of a film for...

You Can Change The World
1950
Director
Comedian Jack Benny has his butler, Rochester, call several of his celebrity friends over to the house. Benny introduces them to a Catholic priest, wh...

Good Sam
1948
Director, Producer, Screenplay
Sam Clayton has a good heart and likes to help out people in need. In fact, he likes to help them out so much that he often finds himself broke and un...

The Bells of St. Mary's
1945
Producer, Director, Story
Father O'Malley is sent to St. Mary's, a run-down parochial school on the verge of condemnation. He and Sister Benedict work together in an attempt to...

Going My Way
1944
Producer, Director, Story
Youthful Father Chuck O'Malley led a colorful life of sports, song, and romance before joining the Roman Catholic clergy. After being appointed to a r...

Once Upon a Honeymoon
1942
Director, Story
A radio correspondent tries to rescue a burlesque queen from her marriage to a Nazi official.

My Favorite Wife
1940
Producer, Original Story
Years after she was presumed dead in a shipwreck, Ellen Arden returns home to the surprise of her husband recently remarrying. But he too gets a shock...

Love Affair
1939
Director, Producer, Story
A French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship. They arrange to reunite six months later, if neither has changed ...

The Cowboy and the Lady
1938
Original Story
Mary Smith decides after a lifetime of being a shut-in to do something wild while her father is out campaigning for the presidency, so she takes off f...

The Awful Truth
1937
Director, Producer
Unfounded suspicions lead a married couple to begin divorce proceedings, whereupon they start undermining each other's attempts to find new romance.

Make Way for Tomorrow
1937
as Passerby / Man in Overcoat / Carpet Sweeper (uncredited)
At a family reunion, the Cooper clan find that their parents' home is being foreclosed. "Temporarily," Ma moves in with son George's family, Pa with d...

Make Way for Tomorrow
1937
Director, Producer
At a family reunion, the Cooper clan find that their parents' home is being foreclosed. "Temporarily," Ma moves in with son George's family, Pa with d...

The Milky Way
1936
Director
Timid milkman, Burleigh Sullivan, somehow knocks out a boxing champ in a brawl. The fighter's manager decides to build up the milkman's reputation in ...

Ruggles of Red Gap
1935
Director
In this comedy of an Englishman stranded in a sea of barbaric Americans, Marmaduke Ruggles, a gentleman's gentleman and butler to an Earl is lost in a...

Belle of the Nineties
1934
Director
Cabaret entertainer Ruby Carter shifts her operations to New Orleans and becomes exceedingly popular with the local men.

Six of a Kind
1934
Director
The Whinneys share expenses for their trip to Hollywood with George and Gracie and their great Dane. A clerk in Whinney's bank has put fifty thousand ...

Duck Soup
1933
Director
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.

The Kid from Spain
1932
Director
Eddie and his Mexican friend Ricardo are expelled from college after Ricardo put Eddie in the girl's dormitory when he was drunk. Per chance Eddie get...

Indiscreet
1931
Director
A young woman jeopardizes the relationship with the man she loves when a no-account from her past shows up.

Part Time Wife
1930
Director, Writer
The story concentrates of neglectful husband Jim Murdock (Edmund Lowe) and his frustrated wife Betty (Leila Hyams). For lack of anything else to do, B...
Follies of love
1930
Writer
Locuras de amor is a comedy short from Charley Chase with all speaking Spanish

Let's Go Native
1930
Director, Producer
The company of a musical comedy gets shipwrecked on a tropical island inhabited by a "king" from Brooklyn and his coterie of wild native girls.

Radiomanía
1930
Screenplay
Spanish language version of Hog Wild

Wild Company
1930
Director
The son of a wealthy politician falls in with a notorious gangster planning to rob a night club.

Fast Work
1930
Story
Charley Chase is obsessed with a woman, however his attempt to meet her father is complicated by an asylum escapee.

Hog Wild
1930
Story
First, Ollie can't find his hat. Then he and Stan attempt to install a rooftop radio antenna.

Below Zero
1930
Story
Street musicians Stan and Ollie have no success earning money in the dead of winter in a bad neighborhood. Their instruments are destroyed in an argum...

The Night Life
1930
Writer
Stan lies to his wife about going to a nightclub with Ollie but Mrs. Laurel overhears the plot and outsmarts them both.
The golfer
1930
Writer
Charley Chase's golf film with all speaking Spanish.
The golf player
1930
Writer
With all speaking French, Chase joins a golf club to win its president's daughter. The game descends into chaos when the other players conspire agains...

Brats
1930
Story
Stanley and Oliver are trying to spend a relaxing night at home playing checkers, but the antics of their mischievous sons keep interrupting their rec...

Blotto
1930
Story
Stan fakes receiving a telegram so he can go to a club with Ollie and a bottle of his unsuspecting wife's liquor, but she overhears his plans.

Angora Love
1929
Writer
Stanley and Oliver are adopted by a runaway goat, whose noise and aroma in turn get the goat of their suspicious landlord.

Red Hot Rhythm
1929
Director, Story
Walter, a songwriter who is in love with Mary, a nightclub singer, prefers to make a living by fleecing crackpot songwriters and promoting their creat...

Stepping Out
1929
Story
Charley goes out for an evening on the town without his wife.

Bacon Grabbers
1929
Writer
Laurel and Hardy are debt collectors trying to repossess a console radio.

Sky Boy
1929
Writer
Harry lands on an iceberg with his rival.

Crazy Feet
1929
Story
Charley intervenes in a fight between Eddie and Thelma inside her small car. Cop Kennedy misinterprets things, and Charley hides in the theatre Thelma...

The Sophomore
1929
Director
Joe Collins arrives at Hanford College to begin his second year with $200 to pay his tuition, is enticed into a craps game, and loses all in this nost...

Perfect Day
1929
Writer
Two families embark on a pleasant Sunday picnic but manage to run into a variety of issues with their temperamental automobile. Each incident requires...

Snappy Sneezer
1929
Story
Charley falls in love with Mary, but his attack of hay fever alienates her father.
Dad's Day
1929
Story
A middle-aged dad gets no respect from his ungrateful family at home, so he goes to the beach for the day. The family decides to go too, bringing the ...

Men O' War
1929
Writer
Sailors Stan and Ollie offer to buy sodas for two women they meet in a park, even though they are short on cash. Luckily Stan wins the jackpot on a sl...

Leaping Love
1929
Writer
Charley falls for both a mother and her daughter.
Madame Q
1929
Director, Story
An attractive young woman on trial for murder employs her feminine wiles to charm the judge and jury.

Berth Marks
1929
Story
Stan and Ollie are musicians attempting to travel by train to Pottsville.

The Big Squawk
1929
Story
Shy Charley tries to win his girl.

Double Whoopee
1929
Story
Stan and Ollie wreak havoc at an upper class hotel in their jobs as footman (Hardy) and doorman (Laurel). They partially undress blonde bombshell Jean...

Movie Night
1929
Story
A family goes on its weekly outing to the movies. Complications ensue...

Hurdy Gurdy
1929
Writer
A heat wave sends the residents of a New York City tenement to their fire escapes for whatever breeze is stirring. The tenants are a cross section of...

Unaccustomed as We Are
1929
Story
Laurel and Hardy try to entertain a female neighbor, unbeknown to Hardy’s wife.

The Unkissed Man
1929
Director

Big Business
1929
Co-Director
Stan and Ollie play door-to-door Christmas tree salesmen in California. They end up getting into an escalating feud with grumpy would-be customer Jame...
Thin Twins
1929
Story
Thin Twins is a comedy short.

Why Is a Plumber?
1929
Director

Wrong Again
1929
Director, Story
Stable hands Stan and Ollie are tending a thoroughbred named "Blue Boy." But when they overhear two men talking about a $5000 reward for the return of...
Off to Buffalo
1929
Story
Off to Buffalo is a comedy short

A Pair of Tights
1929
Supervising Producer
Two girls are invited by one of the girls boy-friend's tight boss for dinner. On the way they stop for a cheap ice-cream. But swinging doors, ventilat...

Liberty
1929
Writer, Director
While changing clothes in a getaway car, escaped convicts Stan and Ollie mistakenly put on each other's pants. They spend the rest of the film trying ...

Ruby Lips
1929
Story
Ruby Lips is a comedy short
Going Ga-Ga
1929
Supervising Producer, Writer
Anita and Marion realize that an abandoned baby they sneaked into an orphanage was kidnapped from a millionaire. For the reward, they proceed to break...

We Faw Down
1928
Director
Stan & Ollie attempt to fool their wives by sneaking out to a poker game, but instead get involved with two flirty ladies, one of whom is the girlfrie...

Chasing Husbands
1928
Writer
Feed 'em and Weep
1928
Supervising Producer
Anita and Marion take a temporary job as waitresses in Max's diner, next to a train station. When the train stops off, pandemonium erupts when the pas...

Habeas Corpus
1928
Co-Director
Loony scientist hires Laurel and Hardy to raid the cemetery to keep him supplied with dead bodies for his experiments.

The Booster
1928
Writer
The Booster is a silent comedy short

The Boy Friend
1928
Director, Writer
The pretty daughter of a bank clerk meets a handsome college student who attempts to romance her. Due to the comical nature of the two kids meeting, t...
All Parts
1928
Writer
All Parts is a silent comedy short

Should Married Men Go Home?
1928
Writer, Co-Director
Mrs. Hardy throws Ollie and Stan out of the house. They try to impress two young ladies at a golf course and end up fighting with other golfers.

Imagine My Embarrassment
1928
Director, Story
Imagine My Embarrassment is a silent comedy short
Should Women Drive?
1928
Director, Story
The momentous question of the day- "Should Women Drive" is hilariously answered by Max Davidson in this Hal Roach comedy.
The Fight Pest
1928
Story, Director
The Fight Pest is a silent movie short.

From Soup to Nuts
1928
Writer
Inexperienced waiters (Laurel & Hardy) are hired for a swank dinner party.

Aching Youth
1928
Story
Aching Youth is a silent comedy short

The Finishing Touch
1928
Co-Director
Stan and Ollie are hired to build a house in just one day. When they are done, a bird lands on the house and it collapses. Naturally, the owner wants ...

The Family Group
1928
Director
Charley tries to get a photograph taken with his wife and child.

Pass the Gravy
1928
Director, Writer
Schultz raises prize chickens and roosters that are always getting into neighbor Max Davidson's garden and eating the seeds, leading to constant feudi...

The Battle of the Century
1927
Production Supervisor
Fight manager takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect.

Flaming Fathers
1927
Director, Writer
Papa Gimplewart chaperones his daughter and her "steady" during a beach adventure.
Fighting Fathers
1927
Director, Writer
One of many LOST MGM silent films.

Putting Pants on Philip
1927
Story
Pompous J. Piedmont Mumblethunder greets his nephew from Scotland who arrives in kilts. He is immediately taken to a tailor for a pair of proper pants...

The Way of All Pants
1927
Director
A man delivering a pair of trousers loses his own pants, setting off a chaotic sequence of events.

Should Second Husbands Come First?
1927
Director, Writer
A woman's two sons pretend to be insane in order to de-rail their mother's plans to remarry.

Call of the Cuckoo
1927
Production Supervisor
Mishaps befall a new home owner located next door to an insane asylum.

The Second 100 Years
1927
Story
Laurel and Hardy are convicts making an escape from prison.

Sugar Daddies
1927
Co-Director
After a night of carousing, a rich oil tycoon awakes to find that he was married the night before. He calls in his lawyer to straighten things out.

Don't Tell Everything
1927
Director
Max and his son Asher are invited to a party, where Max meets a rich widow, but Asher keeps annoying all of the guests, so Max refuses to speak to him...

Eve's Love Letters
1927
Director
Agnes Ayres was apparently a star of feature film who is top billed in this one-off Hal Roach short. She does well as the woman at the centre of the s...

Jewish Prudence
1927
Director, Writer
Papa Gimplewart, father to three children is unimpressed by the young lawyer who wants to marry his daughter.

Why Girls Say No
1927
Director
A short comedy by Leo McCarey about a Jewish father who is worried about his daughter.

Should Men Walk Home?
1927
Director
Mabel plays an out-and-out crook, a "Girl Bandit," no less. And she quickly hooks up with a male partner in crime, in this case a Gentleman Crook play...

Be Your Age
1926
Director
Charley needs $10,000 right away. Mrs. Schwartzkopple has inherited $2 million from her late husband and wants to marry a younger man. Mr. Blaylock, h...

Tell 'Em Nothing
1926
Director
Charlie is the great divorce attorney, in demand by all women wishing to shed their husbands. While explaining to one woman how to obtain a divorce by...

Bromo and Juliet
1926
Director
A young man puts on the play "Romeo and Juliet" as a fundraiser, but has to keep a close eye on his dad, who's had several drinks too many, and a pesk...

Crazy Like a Fox
1926
Director
Two rich capitalists want to marry their children, but they don't like the idea at all. She tries to run away, and meets him at the station. They fall...

Mighty Like a Moose
1926
Director
After a homely married couple separately undergo plastic surgery, they unwittingly plan an extramarital affair with each other.

Long Fliv the King
1926
Director
This offbeat comedy from future Hollywood screwball director McCarey is about a princess who must find a husband in 24 hours or forfeit her throne. Sh...

Mum's the Word
1926
Director
A widow has married rich, but didn't tell her husband about her son. And he's coming for a surprise visit. To hide his identity he is introduced as th...

Dog Shy
1926
Director
Charley is chased into a phone booth by a dog and agrees to help a young woman on the phone avoid getting married.

Mama Behave
1926
Director
A man finds out that his wife wishes he would act more like his twin brother, so he decides to impersonate his twin in an attempt to determine his wif...

Charley My Boy!
1926
Director
A daughter's rich father wants to marry her off to a rich but older man. The daughter has other ideas however and sets out to find a nice young man sh...

His Wooden Wedding
1925
Director
A few moments before Charley is going to marry, a friend, gives him an anonymous note, stating that the bride has a wooden leg.

The Uneasy Three
1925
Director, Writer
Often hysterical spoof of Tod Browning's THE UNHOLY THREE (and several others of his crime movies) has Charley Chase playing the mastermind of a dimwi...

The Caretaker's Daughter
1925
Director
The two-reel silent film comedy The Caretaker's Daughter was distributed by Pathe in 1925. Produced by the prolific Hal Roach, the film stars the grea...

No Father to Guide Him
1925
Director
Charley's battle-axe mother-in-law breaks up his marriage and tries to separate him from his son. Charlie abducts the boy for a father-son outing to t...

Innocent Husbands
1925
Director
Despite his faithfulness, Melvin is always under suspicion by wife Mame. Complications erupt when a woman from a party across the hall passes out in M...

Isn't Life Terrible?
1925
Director
Charley is plagued with failure and with his brother-in-law, who's allergic to labor. When he decides to take the family on a camping trip, his wife l...

What Price Goofy?
1925
Director
Jamison has a very jealous wife. Mrs. Jamison has a very gossipy friend. When the friend spots Jamison on the street talking to an attractive young wo...

Looking for Sally
1925
Director, Writer
Jimmie Jump is returning from Europe to the USA. His parents and an old girl-friend, Sally - whom he hasn't seen for years, are expecting him at the d...

Big Red Riding Hood
1925
Director
Jimmy Jump is asked by the Swedish Government to translate for educational purposes "Little Red Riding Hood", but he can't afford to buy the book, so ...

Bad Boy
1925
Director
In this two-reeler, Jimmy Jump wants to please both of his parents, but they disagree about everything. His father wants him to act more manly, althou...

Is Marriage the Bunk?
1925
Director
Charley has in-laws that look down on him because he's not rich. So, to try to keep up, he rushes out to buy a car--but no matter, they still think he...

Hard Boiled
1925
Director
Charley Chase slapstick comedy short where he gets involved with a ventriloquist dummy among other wacky adventures.

Should Husbands Be Watched?
1925
Director
Mr. Jump has come into some money and informs his wife that they can now hire a maid and won't have to do anymore housework. Circumstances cause Mrs. ...

Plain and Fancy Girls
1925
Director
Jimmy Jump has a "plain" girlfriend, and becomes intrigued by a "fancy" girl he spots in a park. Eventually he realizes he is better off with his no-f...

The Family Entrance
1925
Director
Jimmy Jump and his family go to the movies for their regular Saturday evening recreation. Jimmy likes the picture, but his small daughter is bored and...

Fighting Fluid
1925
Director
Charley Chase plays the type of character he does best, which is a weak nerd who is constantly letting people push him around. This happens at his wor...

Hello Baby!
1925
Director
Jimmy Jump (Charley Chase) and his wife find a baby left at their door. They happily take the baby in but find themselves at a loss when they want to ...

The Rat's Knuckles
1925
Director
Charley Chase is a hapless inventor with a better mouse trap in this silent comedy from 1925.

The Royal Razz
1924
Director
A doting father who plays Santa Claus for Christmas annoys a trolley full of people when he lugs a giant Christmas tree home.

The Poor Fish
1924
Director
Charley, frustrated by his office job, quarrels with his wife, after which they decide to switch jobs. She goes to the office and Charley does the hou...

Accidental Accidents
1924
Director
Jimmy Jump gets rather wet.

Bungalow Boobs
1924
Director
Jimmy Jump brings his bride to a new bungalow home, selected and furnished by him. All the neighbors come to call that first evening. The man next doo...

Too Many Mammas
1924
Director
Charley is called upon to go out with his boss on a date with the boss' mistress, to act as a beard.

Sittin' Pretty
1924
Director
When Charlie borrows the policeman's uniform of his girl's father and captures a lunatic, his prospective father-in-law dons the uniform just in time ...

Outdoor Pajamas
1924
Director
This funny Hal Roach comedy has Jimmy Jump (Charley Chase) waking up late for his wedding so in the mad rush he ends up leaving his house only dressed...

Why Men Work
1924
Director
A movie cameraman is on the lookout for new material but a rival plans to copy everything he films.

Sweet Daddy
1924
Director
Jimmy Jump's boss asks him to meet his small niece and her dog and entertain them between trains. Jimmy buys a balloon or two and looks over the stati...

Seeing Nellie Home
1924
Director
The situation is typically embarrassing and unlikely-but-possible for Charley, but it is at the same time such a simple idea -- Charley shows off by t...

A Ten-Minute Egg
1924
Director
The main premise for the comedy is the Jimmy discovers he can convince people he is a tough figure to be reckoned with merely by giving them a busines...
Why Husbands Go Mad
1924
Director
When Charley's wife buys a bulldog for his birthday present and has a special key made for the room in which she keeps it, trouble begins. He finds th...

Stolen Goods
1924
Director, Writer
A man starts working in a department store and has to deal with a female kleptomaniac.

Young Oldfield
1924
Director
Jimmy always fantasied about racing. But now he has to pay the mortgage before noon or else he won't own his shop any longer.

Publicity Pays
1924
Director, Writer
Jimmy Jump's young wife goes in strongly for amateur theatricals. After one of her performances a theater manager signs her up. He opens a publicity c...

Jeffries, Jr.
1924
Writer, Director
A man contacts a boxer in order to get in shape.

All Wet
1924
Director
Charley Chase has car trouble.

White Tiger
1923
Assistant Director
Three crooks pull off a magnificent crime. As they're forced to hide out together they slowly begin to distrust each other.

Drifting
1923
Assistant Director
In Shanghai, an American girl who helps runs an opium ring meets an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she has t...

Society Secrets
1921
Director
Amos Kerran and his wife live a traditional, old-fashioned life on a Connecticut farm, while their son and daughter, Arthur and Maybelle, are successe...

Outside the Law
1921
Assistant Director
Silent Madden and his daughter Molly have left the criminal underworld of San Francisco thanks to the wise teachings of Chang Low, a Confucian master....