[1] He was an All-American at USC and was one of the models for the Tommy Trojan statue.

[2] He was MVP in the 1930 Rose Bowl when he led the Trojans to a 47–14 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers.

[3] In 1938 he was nominated for an Oscar for best Assistant Director for The Life of Emile Zola.

He was assistant or Second Unit director on more than 85 films [4] including PT 109, Hatari!, Arsenic and Old Lace, High Sierra and production manager for Stripes, The Amityville Horror and Bonnie and Clyde among others.

In that film, Saunders appeared along with John Wayne—a teammate from the USC team—and worked on many of Wayne's movies over the following decades.