From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Russell Rouse (20 November 1913 – 2 October 1987) was an American screenwriter, director, and producer who is noted for the "offbeat creativity and originality" of his screenplays and for film noir movies and television episodes produced in the 1950s. Rouse was the son of film pioneer Edwin Russell. His first employment in films was in the prop department at Paramount Studios, where he began writing screenplays. His play, Yokel Boy, was filmed in 1942 and became his first film writing credit. Rouse has 18 credits as a screenwriter between 1942 and 1988.. Commencing with his third writing credit, The Town Went Wild (1944), Rouse co-wrote many stories and scripts with Clarence Greene. The partners are noted for their work on a series of six film noir movies commencing with D.O.A (directed by Rudolph Maté-1950). With the second film in the series, The Well (1951), they also took on directing and producing: Rouse as director, and Greene as producer. This collaboration continued through the noir series (The Thief (1952), Wicked Woman (1953), New York Confidential (1955), and House of Numbers (1957)) and beyond. In the late 1950s Greene and Rouse formed a production company, Greene-Rouse Productions, which created the film noir television series Tightrope that ran for one season (1959-60) as well as two films in the 1960s. In addition to their noir work, Rouse and Greene produced two westerns (The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) and Thunder in the Sun (1959). The 1959 film, Pillow Talk, was based on their story. Their careers drew to a close shortly after the unsuccessful film, The Oscar (1966). Rouse and Greene were nominated for the Academy Award for writing The Well (1951). They received the Academy Award for Pillow Talk (1959) (with Maurice Richlin and Stanley Shapiro). D.O.A. has been preserved in the National Film Registry; the film has been remade several times, and Rouse was credited as a writer on two: Color Me Dead (1969) and D.O.A (1988). Rouse's son Christopher Rouse is a noted film editor. Description above from the Wikipedia article Russell Rouse, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- November 20, 1913
- October 2, 1987 (aged 73)
- New York City, New York, USA
- Writer and director, also producer
- 12 on MovieCove · 20 credits in all
What are Russell Rouse's films like?
Across their 12 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Morality.
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 1 · Wry 1 · Earnest 10
A split, not a type: Light 6 · Serious 4 · Dark 2
A split, not a type: Grounded 7 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 2
Gentle 5 · Charged 5 · Intense 2
A split, not a type: Steady 6 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 2
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 5 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 4
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 8 · Relentless 2
Casual 8 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 6 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 1
Resolved 9 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy4
- Bittersweet4
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous3
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 Russell Rouse's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 4 of their 12 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Russell Rouse'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
20 credits, 12 with a MovieCove page.
D.O.A.(1988)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Color Me Dead (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1969)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films
The Oscar(1966)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
A House Is Not a Home(1964)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films
Pillow Talk(1959)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Tightrope (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1959)
Thunder in the Sun(1959)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
House of Numbers (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1957)
The Fastest Gun Alive(1956)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
New York Confidential (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1955)
Wicked Woman(1953)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
The Thief (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1952)
The Well (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1951)
The Great Plane Robbery (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1950)
D.O.A.(1949)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
The Town Went Wild (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1944)
Nothing But Trouble(1944)
Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films
Yokel Boy(1942)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Career shape
A full career of 19 titles from 1942 to 1988.
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 Russell Rouse's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 45th percentile, the median of all 12; across their 12 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 50th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th4
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 12 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed6
Reviewers score the dialogue 50/100 and the plot and story 48/100 in their films, across 11 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 Russell Rouse work with?
People who share at least 2 of Russell Rouse's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Clarence Greene shares the most, 10.
Writers
- Clarence GreeneShared titles: D.O.A. (1988), The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967), The Oscar (1966), A House Is Not a Home (1964), Pillow Talk (1959), Thunder in the Sun (1959), The Fastest Gun Alive (1956), Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers (1956), Wicked Woman (1953), D.O.A. (1949)See all 10 shared titles with Clarence Greene
Actors
- Broderick CrawfordShared titles: The Oscar (1966), A House Is Not a Home (1964), The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)See all 3 shared titles with Broderick Crawford
- Stephen BoydShared titles: The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967), The Oscar (1966)See all 2 shared titles with Stephen Boyd
- Connie GilchristShared titles: A House Is Not a Home (1964), Nothing But Trouble (1944)See all 2 shared titles with Connie Gilchrist
Cinematographers and editors
- Chester W. SchaefferShared titles: The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967), A House Is Not a Home (1964), Thunder in the Sun (1959), Unidentified Flying Objects: The True Story of Flying Saucers (1956), Wicked Woman (1953)See all 5 shared titles with Chester W. Schaeffer
- Harold E. StineShared titles: The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967), A House Is Not a Home (1964)See all 2 shared titles with Harold E. Stine