The archetypal studio professional, Hathaway began working in films before the industry had settled in Hollywood. During his 40-year career he directed over 60 features (including Paramount's first Technicolor picture, "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine" 1936), became a pioneer of location shooting, and developed a reputation as a technically accomplished, reliable entertainer. He later bemoaned the familiar and unjust tag of "genial hack" which he had earned, he said, because of his reluctance to indulge in personal promotion. Certainly, though, the director of such fine and craftsmanlike action films like "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer" (1935), "Souls at Sea" (1937) and "Spawn of the North" (1938), as well as the atypical but hauntingly surreal love story "Peter Ibbetson" (1935), deserves more critical respect.

Hathaway began his career in San Diego, as a child actor in one-reelers directed by Allan Dwan, before moving to Hollywood with his actress mother. Both worked for T.H. Ince, and then for Universal, where Hathaway returned after World War I. His first shot at directing came at Paramount in the early 1930s, where he remade eight "Zane Grey" stories that had been shot as silent films, often using footage from the originals. All but one of these starred Randolph Scott, and Hathaway went on to direct Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich and Mae West before moving in 1940 to 20th Century-Fox, where he worked almost exclusively for the next 20 years.

Hathaway's "The House on 92nd Street" (1945) marked the beginning of the semi-documentary filmmaking style popular in Hollywood after World War II, a style he continued with in "Call Northside 777" (1948). His later film noirs "Kiss of Death" (1947) and "Niagara" (1953), meanwhile, had a stylized flair which showed his versatility in adapting with the times while essentially reinforcing his talent for "tough" entertainment. Like John Ford, Hathaway continued to deliver professionally through Hollywood's decline, even helming John Wayne's Oscar-winning performance in "True Grit" (1969).