Arthur Ripley started his movie career as an apprentice at Kalem Pictures and then worked for several studios, including Vitagraph and Metro. By early 1920s he had become a gag writer for 马克·森内特. In 1923 Sennett signed vaudeville comic 哈里·朗顿 and gave his writers the job of developing something for Langdon's character. Ripley and fellow Sennett gagman 弗兰克·卡普拉 created the perfect story lines for the pantomime of Langdon and soon his two-reel comedies were hugely popular. For the next few years Sennett cranked out film after film with Langdon, written by Ripley and Capra and directed by Harry Edwards. The last film on the Sennett lot was Saturday Afternoon (1926), which was released as a three-reeler.
In 1926 Langdon left Sennett to form his own company, the Harry Langdon Corporation, and took Edwards, Capra and Ripley with him. The first picture they made together was 流浪，流浪，流浪 (1926), which became a big hit. After one film Edwards left and Capra became director, although still writing with Ripley. Capra directed the next two films, 强人 (1926) and 长裤 (1927), and then he also departed, leaving Ripley as head writer and Langdon not only starring but taking over as director. Without Capra, however, the next three films flopped and Ripley was soon looking for another job. During the 1930s he would work as gag writer in a number of shorts, not unlike the job he held a decade before. He would also occasionally direct and in the 1940s he would add producer to his credits.
When Ripley retired from fims, he was asked by The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to become its first Professor of Cinema Arts. In that capacity he founded the UCLA Film Center, and was responsible for it becoming the world-famous film school that it is today.