From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Richard Sale, (17 December 1911, New York – 4 March 1993, Los Angeles) was an American screenwriter and film director. He started his career writing for the pulps in the Thirties, appearing regularly in Detective Fiction Weekly (with the Daffy Dill series), Argosy, Double Detective, and a number of other magazines. In the Forties, he graduated to slick publications like The Country Gentleman and The Saturday Evening Post. In the mid-Forties, he made a career change from writing magazine fiction to screenplays. A big boost to Sale's success was his novel Not Too Narrow...Not Too Deep, filmed as Strange Cargo (1940) starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable. He directed several films, including A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950), Meet Me After the Show (1951) with Betty Grable, Let's Make It Legal (1951) with one of Marilyn Monroe's earliest film appearances, Suddenly (1954), Malaga (1954), and Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955) with Jane Russell. He also authored many screenplays, The French Line (1954) and Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, both with Mary Loos, The Oscar (1966) and Assassination (1987) Together with his wife, they created the TV series Yancy Derringer. Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Sale, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- December 17, 1911
- March 4, 1993 (aged 81)
- New York City, New York, USA
- Writer and director
- 24 on MovieCove · 42 credits in all
What are Richard Sale's films like?
Across their 22 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 22
Light 16 · Serious 3 · Dark 3
Grounded 14 · Stylized 8 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 13 · Charged 4 · Intense 5
Steady 15 · Shifting 6 · Whiplash 1
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 5 · Funny 11
Slow burn 7 · Even-paced 14 · Relentless 1
Casual 14 · Engaged 6 · Full focus 2
Easy watch 16 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 2
Resolved 18 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy16
- Bittersweet6
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Richard Sale's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 24 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Richard Sale's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
42 credits, 24 with a MovieCove page.
Assassination(1987)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
The White Buffalo(1977)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Accidental Family (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
The High Chaparral (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
Custer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
The Oscar(1966)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
The F.B.I. (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1965)
Bewitched(1964)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all shows
Torpedo Run(1958)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Yancy Derringer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
Seven Days from Now(1957)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Over-Exposed (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1956)
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1955)
Woman's World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1954)
Suddenly(1954)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Malaga (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1954)
The French Line(1953)
Midcredits score: 16th percentile of all films
Let's Do It Again(1953)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
The Girl Next Door(1953)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
My Wife's Best Friend (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1952)
Let's Make It Legal(1951)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Meet Me After the Show(1951)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
Half Angel(1951)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
I'll Get By (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1950)
This Side of the Law(1950)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
A Ticket to Tomahawk(1950)
Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
Father Was a Fullback(1949)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Mother Is a Freshman (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1949)
Lady at Midnight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1948)
The Dude Goes West(1948)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
The Inside Story(1948)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Campus Honeymoon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1948)
Driftwood(1947)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Northwest Outpost (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1947)
Spoilers of the North (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1947)
Calendar Girl(1947)
Midcredits score: 28th percentile of all films
Rendezvous with Annie (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1946)
Strange Cargo(1940)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Shadows Over Shanghai(1938)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all films
Find the Witness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1937)
Career shape
A full career of 42 titles from 1937 to 1987.
Biggest box office
Assassination (1987)
Highest rated
Seven Days from Now (1957)
Most popular right now
The White Buffalo (1977)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Richard Sale's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 46th percentile, the median of all 23; across their 22 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 47th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up5
- 50th to 74th6
- 25th to 49th9
- Below 25th4
Shape of the crowd
12 of their 24 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser12
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed8
Reviewers score the dialogue 50/100 and the plot and story 43/100 in their films, across 22 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Richard Sale work with?
People who share at least 2 of Richard Sale's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Mary Loos shares the most, 11.
Directors
- Allan DwanShared titles: The Inside Story (1948), Calendar Girl (1947), Driftwood (1947)See all 3 shared titles with Allan Dwan
Writers
- Mary LoosShared titles: Let's Do It Again (1953), The French Line (1953), Meet Me After the Show (1951), A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950), When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950), Father Was a Fullback (1949), Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949), The Dude Goes West (1948), The Inside Story (1948), Calendar Girl (1947), Driftwood (1947)See all 11 shared titles with Mary Loos
Actors
- Dan DaileyShared titles: The Girl Next Door (1953), A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950), When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950)See all 3 shared titles with Dan Dailey
- Charles BronsonShared titles: Assassination (1987), The White Buffalo (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Charles Bronson
- Cara WilliamsShared titles: The White Buffalo (1977), The Girl Next Door (1953)See all 2 shared titles with Cara Williams
- James GleasonShared titles: Suddenly (1954), The Dude Goes West (1948)See all 2 shared titles with James Gleason
Composers and editors
- Cyril J. MockridgeShared titles: Half Angel (1951), Let's Make It Legal (1951), A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950), Father Was a Fullback (1949)See all 4 shared titles with Cyril J. Mockridge
- Nathan ScottShared titles: The Inside Story (1948), Calendar Girl (1947), Driftwood (1947)See all 3 shared titles with Nathan Scott
- J. Watson Webb Jr.Shared titles: Meet Me After the Show (1951), Father Was a Fullback (1949)See all 2 shared titles with J. Watson Webb Jr.
- Robert FritchShared titles: Half Angel (1951), Let's Make It Legal (1951)See all 2 shared titles with Robert Fritch
Producers
- Robert BasslerShared titles: Suddenly (1954), The Girl Next Door (1953), Let's Make It Legal (1951), A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950)See all 4 shared titles with Robert Bassler
- Pancho KohnerShared titles: Assassination (1987), The White Buffalo (1977)See all 2 shared titles with Pancho Kohner
- Edmund GraingerShared titles: Torpedo Run (1958), The French Line (1953)See all 2 shared titles with Edmund Grainger
- Darryl F. ZanuckShared titles: A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950), Father Was a Fullback (1949)See all 2 shared titles with Darryl F. Zanuck
