Frank Borzage
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Borzage (April 23, 1894 – June 19, 1962) was an Academy Award-winning American film director and actor, known for directing 7th Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), Bad Girl (1931), A Farewell to Arms (1932), Man's Castle (1933), History Is Made at Night (1937), The Mortal Storm (1940) and Moonrise (1948).
In 1912 Borzage found employment as an actor in Hollywood; he continued to work as an actor until 1917. His directorial debut came in 1915 with the film The Pitch o' Chance.
He was a successful director throughout the 1920s, but reached his peak in the late silent and early sound era. Absorbing visual influences from the German director F.W. Murnau, who was also resident at Fox at this time, Borzage developed his own style of lushly visual romanticism in a hugely successful series of films starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, including 7th Heaven (1927), for which he won the first Academy Award for Best Director, Street Angel (1928) and Lucky Star (1929). He won a second Oscar for 1931's Bad Girl.
He directed 14 films between 1917 and 1919 alone. His greatest success in the silent era was with Humoresque, a box office winner starring Vera Gordon.
Borzage's trademark was intense identification with the feelings of young lovers in the face of adversity, with love in his films triumphing over such trials as World War I (7th Heaven and A Farewell to Arms), disability (Lucky Star), the Depression (Man's Castle), a thinly disguised version of the Titanic disaster in History Is Made at Night, and the rise of Nazism, a theme which Borzage had virtually to himself among Hollywood filmmakers from Little Man, What Now? (1933) to Three Comrades (1938) and The Mortal Storm (1940).
His work took a spiritual turn in such films as Green Light (1937), Strange Cargo (1940) and The Big Fisherman (1959). Of his later work only the film noir Moonrise (1948) has enjoyed much critical acclaim. After 1948, Borzage's output was sporadic.
In 1955 and 1957, he was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.
Frank Borzage died of cancer in 1962, aged 68.
Acting (29 movies)
A Mormon Maid
1917
In the Sage Brush Country
1914
In the Land of the Otter
1915
The Wrath of the Gods
1914
Nugget Jim's Pardner
1916
Silent Heroes
1913
Granddad
1913
The Drummer of the 8th
1913
Samson
1914
The Pitch o' Chance
1915
The Pilgrim
1916
The Typhoon
1914
Knight of the Trail
1915
Murnau, Borzage and Fox
2008
On Secret Service
1912
In the Switch Tower
1915
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1916
Jeanne Eagels
1957
Fear Not
1917
Land O' Lizards
1916
Wee Lady Betty
1917
The Atom
1918
A School for Husbands
1917
A Flickering Light
1916
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
1916
Immediate Lee
1916
The Mill by the Zuyder Zee
1915
Two Bits
1916
The Girl Who Might Have Been
1915
Directing (90 movies)
The Mortal Storm
1940
A Farewell to Arms
1932
History Is Made at Night
1937
Mannequin
1938
Street Angel
1928
Moonrise
1948
Lazybones
1925
His Butler's Sister
1943
Stage Door Canteen
1943
Big City
1937
Strange Cargo
1940
7th Heaven
1927
Flirtation Walk
1934
Bad Girl
1931
Desire
1936
Flight Command
1940
Seven Sweethearts
1942
The Vanishing Virginian
1942
The Spanish Main
1945
The Circle
1925
Secrets
1933
Lucky Star
1929
After Tomorrow
1932
The Shining Hour
1938
Man's Castle
1933
Three Comrades
1938
Smilin' Through
1941
The River
1929
No Greater Glory
1934
Till We Meet Again
1944
Disputed Passage
1939
Green Light
1937
I've Always Loved You
1946
Liliom
1930
Toton
1919
Prudence on Broadway
1919
Little Man, What Now?
1934
China Doll
1958
Doctors' Wives
1931
Stranded
1935
Song o' My Heart
1930
Secrets
1924
Nugget Jim's Pardner
1916
Hearts Divided
1936
Humoresque
1920
The Lady
1925
The Big Fisherman
1959
Shipmates Forever
1935
Young America
1932
Living on Velvet
1935
Magnificent Doll
1946
The Pitch o' Chance
1915
The Pilgrim
1916
They Had to See Paris
1929
Until They Get Me
1917
That's My Man
1947
The First Year
1926
The Nth Commandment
1923
Back Pay
1922
The Day I Met Caruso
1956
The Pride of Palomar
1922
Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
1925
Life's Harmony
1916
Day is Done
1955
Society for Sale
1918
Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
1921
The Gun Woman
1918
The Age of Desire
1923
Young as You Feel
1931
The Dixie Merchant
1926
Billy Jim
1922
The Good Provider
1922
The Valley of Silent Men
1922
The Ghost Flower
1918
Marriage License?
1926
Land O' Lizards
1916
Early to Wed
1926
Wages for Wives
1925
Children of Dust
1923
The Duke of Chimney Butte
1921
Whom the Gods Would Destroy
1919
The Atom
1918
Flying Colors
1917
The Silken Spider
1916
A Flickering Light
1916
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
1916
Immediate Lee
1916
A Ticket for Thaddeus
1956
The Quicksands of Deceit
1916
Two Bits
1916
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Nugget Jim's Pardner | 1916 | Writer |
| Enchantment | 1916 | Writer |
| The Nth Commandment | 1923 | Producer |
| The Age of Desire | 1923 | Producer |
| Lazybones | 1925 | Producer |
| Song o' My Heart | 1930 | Producer |
| A Farewell to Arms | 1932 | Producer |
| Man's Castle | 1933 | Producer |
| No Greater Glory | 1934 | Producer |
| Flirtation Walk | 1934 | Producer |
| Living on Velvet | 1935 | Producer |
| Stranded | 1935 | Producer |
| Desire | 1936 | Producer |
| Hearts Divided | 1936 | Producer |
| Green Light | 1937 | Producer |
| Mannequin | 1938 | Screenplay |
| Mannequin | 1938 | Producer |
| The Shining Hour | 1938 | Producer |
| Strange Cargo | 1940 | Producer |
| The Mortal Storm | 1940 | Producer |
| Smilin' Through | 1941 | Producer |
| Seven Sweethearts | 1942 | Producer |
| Stage Door Canteen | 1943 | Producer |
| The Spanish Main | 1945 | Producer |
| I've Always Loved You | 1946 | Producer |
| That's My Man | 1947 | Producer |
| China Doll | 1958 | Producer |