Ranald MacDougall (March 10, 1915 – December 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter who scripted such films as Mildred Pierce (1945), The Unsuspected (1947), June Bride (1948), and The Naked Jungle (1954), and shared screenwriting credit for 1963's Cleopatra. He also directed a number of films, including 1957's Man on Fire with Bing Crosby and 1959's The World, the Flesh and the Devil, both of which featured actress Inger Stevens. Born in Schenectady, New York, MacDougall came from an impoverished working-class family. His father was a crane operator and union organizer, whose frequent strikes forced MacDougall to leave school before finishing the eighth grade to help support the family. He held a variety of odd jobs and during the Great Depression found work as an usher at Radio City Music Hall. He saw greater potential across the street in Rockefeller Center, where he was hired as a page, working alongside Gregory Peck. As a page MacDougall had the opportunity to closely observe the radio industry, and in his spare time he wrote and submitted scripts to his boss under pseudonyms, and was finally hired as a staff writer for NBC Radio despite being underage at the time.
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Biography from TMDB.
- March 10, 1915
- December 12, 1973 (aged 58)
- Schenectady, New York, USA
- Writer, director and producer
- 22 on MovieCove · 30 credits in all
What are Ranald MacDougall's films like?
Across their 22 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Power.
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 2 · Earnest 20
A split, not a type: Light 6 · Serious 4 · Dark 12
Grounded 9 · Stylized 11 · Heightened 2
Gentle 3 · Charged 10 · Intense 9
Steady 10 · Shifting 12 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 15 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 3
Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 13 · Relentless 1
Casual 10 · Engaged 12 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 7 · Affecting 7 · Heavy 8
Resolved 18 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy6
- Bittersweet10
- Tragic2
- Ambiguous4
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 Ranald MacDougall's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 22 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on HBO Max (3).
Subscription and free streaming for Ranald MacDougall'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
30 credits, 22 with a MovieCove page.
We're No Angels(1989)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films
That Man Bolt (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
Magic Carpet (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Jigsaw (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1968)
Dark of the Sun(1968)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Fame Is the Name of the Game (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1966)
Cleopatra(1963)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Go Naked in the World(1961)
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films
The Subterraneans (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Man on Fire (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1957)
The Mountain(1956)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Queen Bee(1955)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
We're No Angels(1955)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Secret of the Incas(1954)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
The Naked Jungle(1954)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
The House in the Square (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1951)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
The Breaking Point(1950)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Bright Leaf(1950)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Stage Fright(1950)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
The Hasty Heart(1949)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Task Force(1949)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
The Decision of Christopher Blake (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1948)
June Bride(1948)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
The Unsuspected(1947)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
Possessed(1947)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Mildred Pierce(1945)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Objective, Burma!(1945)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 29 titles from 1945 to 1989.
Biggest box office
Cleopatra (1963)
Highest rated
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Most popular right now
Cleopatra (1963)
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 Ranald MacDougall's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 76th percentile, the median of all 22; across their 22 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 72nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up12
- 50th to 74th7
- 25th to 49th3
Shape of the crowd
17 of their 22 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved3
- Crowd Pleaser17
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the dialogue 58/100 and the plot and story 51/100 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.
Is Ranald MacDougall's work okay for kids?
Across up to 5 MovieCove titles with content scores, 1 of the 5 categories sits near the median of all films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Ranald MacDougall work with?
People who share at least 2 of Ranald MacDougall's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Jerry Wald shares the most, 6.
Directors
- Michael CurtizShared titles: We're No Angels (1955), Bright Leaf (1950), The Breaking Point (1950), The Unsuspected (1947), Mildred Pierce (1945)See all 5 shared titles with Michael Curtiz
Writers
- Albert HussonShared titles: We're No Angels (1989), We're No Angels (1955)See all 2 shared titles with Albert Husson
Actors
- Joan CrawfordShared titles: Queen Bee (1955), Possessed (1947), Mildred Pierce (1945)See all 3 shared titles with Joan Crawford
- Patricia NealShared titles: Bright Leaf (1950), The Breaking Point (1950), The Hasty Heart (1949)See all 3 shared titles with Patricia Neal
- Charlton HestonShared titles: Secret of the Incas (1954), The Naked Jungle (1954)See all 2 shared titles with Charlton Heston
- Gary CooperShared titles: Bright Leaf (1950), Task Force (1949)See all 2 shared titles with Gary Cooper
Composers and editors
- Franz WaxmanShared titles: Task Force (1949), Possessed (1947), The Unsuspected (1947), Objective, Burma! (1945)See all 4 shared titles with Franz Waxman
- Daniele AmfitheatrofShared titles: The Mountain (1956), The Naked Jungle (1954)See all 2 shared titles with Daniele Amfitheatrof
- David ButtolphShared titles: Secret of the Incas (1954), June Bride (1948)See all 2 shared titles with David Buttolph
- Alan Crosland Jr.Shared titles: The Breaking Point (1950), Task Force (1949)See all 2 shared titles with Alan Crosland Jr.
Producers
- Jerry WaldShared titles: Queen Bee (1955), The Breaking Point (1950), Task Force (1949), Possessed (1947), Mildred Pierce (1945), Objective, Burma! (1945)See all 6 shared titles with Jerry Wald
- Jack L. WarnerShared titles: June Bride (1948), Possessed (1947), Mildred Pierce (1945), Objective, Burma! (1945)See all 4 shared titles with Jack L. Warner
- George EnglundShared titles: Dark of the Sun (1968), The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)See all 2 shared titles with George Englund
- Henry BlankeShared titles: Bright Leaf (1950), June Bride (1948)See all 2 shared titles with Henry Blanke
Mixed roles
- George AmyShared titles: The Unsuspected (1947), Objective, Burma! (1945)See all 2 shared titles with George Amy