writer and director of motion pictures in traditional Hollywood genres but particularly noted for his sensitive treatment of American Indians on screen.

Daves began as a draftsman and commercial artist, and in 1928 started working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as an actor and screenwriter. His major films were done after 1943 with Warner Brothers, beginning with Destination Tokyo (1943). A suspense-filled tribute to Navy men in World War II, it is representative of Daves' work in its technical proficiency and intelligent story.

Many of Daves' best films were westerns—among them Broken Arrow (1950), The Last Wagon (1956), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), Cowboy (1958), and The Hanging Tree (1959). One of his more interesting abilities was the gift for helping type-cast actors to break out of stereotyped roles. He also consistently used minor characters to enrich his stories.