In 1923, he joined the Mack Sennett studio as a comedy writer. In the 1920s, he worked closely with Frank Capra churning out screenplays for many movies. After breaking with Capra and the Sennett studio, Ripley again returned to being a gag-writer, screenwriter, and occasional director, making short films with such comedians as W. C. Fields and Edgar Kennedy. His directorial work in the 1940s, Voice in the Wind (1944) and The Chase (1946), were both critical successes, but neither film was a box office hit.
