His film career began in 1942 at the RKO studio, directing shorts, documentaries, and compilations of forgotten silent features, which he called "Flicker Flashbacks". He won an Academy Award as Producer of the 1947 documentary Design for Death, co-written by Theodor Geisel (later known as Dr. Seuss), which examined the cultural forces that led to Japan's imperial expansion through World War II.
Fleischer moved to Los Angeles and was assigned his first feature, Child of Divorce (1946), a vehicle for Sharyn Moffett. It was successful so Fleischer was assigned to another Moffett vehicle, Banjo, which was a disaster.
His other early films were taut film noir thrillers such as Bodyguard (1948), Follow Me Quietly (1949), Armored Car Robbery (1950), and The Narrow Margin (1952).
RKO's owner, Howard Hughes, was impressed by The Narrow Margin and hired Fleischer to re-shoot portions of His Kind of Woman (1952). Hughes was pleased with the results and agreed to loan out Fleischer to Stanley Kramer to make The Happy Time (1952).
In 1954, he was chosen by Walt Disney (his father's former rival as a cartoon producer) to direct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, and Peter Lorre. While doing post production for the film, Fleischer received an offer from Dore Schary at MGM to direct Bad Day at Black Rock but had to turn it down because of all the post production work still required on Leagues.
Fleischer's first film under his new contract with Fox was The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955). He then made Bandido, a Western with Robert Mitchum.
Fox offered him a movie with John Wayne, North to Alaska which Fleischer originally agreed to do, but pulled out of when he was unhappy with the script. He moved to Paris where Darryl F. Zanuck asked him to make The Ballad of Red Rocks, a vehicle for Zanuck's then-girlfriend Juliette Greco. The film was not made but Fleischer instead directed two other stories for Zanuck starring Greco, Crack in the Mirror (1960) and The Big Gamble (1961).
Fleischer then signed a contract with Dino de Laurentiis to make Barabbas (1962). After that, he and de Laurentiis announced a series of projects, including Lanny Budd (from a novel by Upton Sinclair), Don Camillo, Salvatore Guliano, Dark Angel and Sacco and Vanzetti (from a script by Edward Anhalt), but none were made.
Back in Hollywood, Richard Zanuck had become head of production at Fox and offered Fleischer Fantastic Voyage (1966). It was a success and resurrected his Hollywood career.
He was entrusted with Fox's big "roadshow" musical of 1967, Doctor Dolittle (1967), with Rex Harrison. It was popular but failed to recoup its enormous cost. Most acclaimed was The Boston Strangler (1968), with Tony Curtis.
Che! (1969), a biopic of Che Guevera that starred Omar Sharif, was an expensive flop, as was an account of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). This was his last film for 20th Century Fox.
See No Evil (1971) with Mia Farrow was another thriller. In Hollywood, he made The New Centurions (1972) from the novel by Joseph Wambaugh, again starring George C. Scott.
At MGM, he made a science-fiction film, Soylent Green (1973), with Charlton Heston. Action films followed: The Don Is Dead (1973), with Anthony Quinn, plus two for Walter Mirisch: The Spikes Gang (1974), with Lee Marvin and Mr. Majestyk (1974), with Charles Bronson, written by Elmore Leonard.
He was reunited with De Laurentiis for the popular, if controversial, Mandingo (1975). The Incredible Sarah (1976) was a British biopic of Sarah Bernhardt with Glenda Jackson.
The Prince and the Pauper (1977) was a version of the Mark Twain novel that featured Heston, Harrison and Scott in its cast. Fleischer was then hired to replace Richard Sarafian on Ashanti (1979), starring Michael Caine, which turned out to be a flop. He received another call to replace a Director, in this case Sidney J. Furie, on The Jazz Singer (1980), an unsuccessful attempt to make a film star out of Neil Diamond.
Tough Enough (1983) was about the Toughman Contest starring Dennis Quaid. He made three more for de Laurentiis, Amityville 3-D (1983), Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Red Sonja (1985).
His final theatrical feature was Million Dollar Mystery (1987).
Fleischer's 1993 autobiography, Just Tell Me When to Cry, described his many difficulties with actors, Writers and producers.
Fleischer was chairman of Fleischer Studios, which today handles the licensing of Betty Boop and Koko the Clown. In June 2005, he released his memoirs of his father's career in Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleischer and the Animation Revolution.
