Frank Borzage
Directing
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.
Known for
Directing108
movieJourney Beneath the Desert
1961
Co-Director
movieThe Big Fisherman
1959
Director
movieChina Doll
1958
Director
movieThe Day I Met Caruso
1956
Director
movieA Ticket for Thaddeus
1956
Director
movieDay is Done
1955
Director
movieMoonrise
1948
Director
movieThat's My Man
1947
Director
movieMagnificent Doll
1946
Director
movieI've Always Loved You
1946
Director
movieThe Spanish Main
1945
Director
movieTill We Meet Again
1944
Director
movieHis Butler's Sister
1943
Director
movieStage Door Canteen
1943
Director
movieSeven Sweethearts
1942
Director
movieThe Vanishing Virginian
1942
Director
movieSmilin' Through
1941
Director
movieBilly the Kid
1941
Co-Director
movieFlight Command
1940
Director
movieThe Mortal Storm
1940
Director
movieStrange Cargo
1940
Director
movieI Take This Woman
1940
Co-Director
movieDisputed Passage
1939
Director
movieThe Shining Hour
1938
Director
movieThree Comrades
1938
Director
movieMannequin
1938
Director
movieBig City
1937
Director
movieGreen Light
1937
Director
movieHearts Divided
1936
Director
movieDesire
1936
Director
movieShipmates Forever
1935
Director
movieStranded
1935
Director
movieLiving on Velvet
1935
Director
movieFlirtation Walk
1934
Director
movieLittle Man, What Now?
1934
Director
movieNo Greater Glory
1934
Director
movieMan's Castle
1933
Director
movieSecrets
1933
Director
movieA Farewell to Arms
1932
Director
movieYoung America
1932
Director
movieAfter Tomorrow
1932
Director
movieBad Girl
1931
Director
movieYoung as You Feel
1931
Director
movieDoctors' Wives
1931
Director
movieLiliom
1930
Director
movieSong o' My Heart
1930
Director
movieThe River
1929
Director
movieThey Had to See Paris
1929
Director
movieLucky Star
1929
Director
movieStreet Angel
1928
Director
movie7th Heaven
1927
Director
movieMarriage License?
1926
Director
movieEarly to Wed
1926
Director
movieThe Dixie Merchant
1926
Director
movieThe First Year
1926
Director
movieWages for Wives
1925
Director
movieLazybones
1925
Director
movieThe Circle
1925
Director
movieDaddy's Gone A-Hunting
1925
Director
movieThe Lady
1925
Director
movieSecrets
1924
Director
movieThe Age of Desire
1923
Director
movieChildren of Dust
1923
Director
movieThe Nth Commandment
1923
Director
movieThe Pride of Palomar
1922
Director
movieThe Good Provider
1922
Director
movieBilly Jim
1922
Director
movieBack Pay
1922
Director
movieHumoresque
1920
Director
moviePrudence on Broadway
1919
Director
movieToton
1919
Director
movieThe Atom
1918
Director
movieThe Ghost Flower
1918
Director
movieSociety for Sale
1918
Director
movieThe Shoes That Danced
1918
Director
movieThe Curse of Iku
1918
Director
movieThe Gun Woman
1918
Director
movieUntil They Get Me
1917
Director
movieFlying Colors
1917
Director
movieImmediate Lee
1916
Director
movieLand O' Lizards
1916
Director
movieNugget Jim's Pardner
1916
Director
movieThe Demon of Fear
1916
Director
movieThe Pilgrim
1916
Director
Jack
1916
Director
movieA Flickering Light
1916
Director
movieTwo Bits
1916
Director
movieThe Silken Spider
1916
Director
movieLife's Harmony
1916
Director
movieThe Pitch o' Chance
1915
Director
Acting67
movieMurnau, Borzage and Fox
2008
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieJeanne Eagels
1957
Self (uncredited)
movieThe Curse of Iku
1918
Allan Carroll / Allan Carroll III
movieFear Not
1917
Franklin Shirley
movieWee Lady Betty
1917
Roger O'Reilly
movieA Mormon Maid
1917
Tom Rigdon
movieA School for Husbands
1917
Hugh Aslam
movieImmediate Lee
1916
Immediate Lee
movieLand O' Lizards
1916
The Stranger
Matchin' Jim
1916
Matchin' Jim
movieIntolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1916
Extra (uncredited)
movieThe Courtin' of Calliope Clew
1916
Calliope Clew
That Gal of Burke's
1916
Charles Percival
movieThe Demon of Fear
1916
Thomas Marsh
movieThe Pilgrim
1916
The Pilgrim
Unlucky Luke
1916
Luke Drummond
movieTwo Bits
1916
James Hardeman
The Code of Honor
1916
Lt. Bob Chase
movieThe Pitch o' Chance
1915
Rocky Scott
The Clean-Up
1915
George Prescott
movieAloha Oe
1915
Dr. John Hawley
movieKnight of the Trail
1915
Bill Carey
The Hammer
1915
Donald Barstow
The Secret of Lost River
1915
Tom Hornby - Prospector
The Cup of Life
1915
Dick Ralston
movieIn the Switch Tower
1915
Joel Wharton
movieThe Mill by the Zuyder Zee
1915
Dirk Brandt
movieThe Girl Who Might Have Been
1915
George Fowler
movieIn the Land of the Otter
1915
Joe Eagle
The Panther
1914
David Brandt
movieThe Typhoon
1914
Renard Bernisky
Parson Larkin's Wife
1914
Parson James Larkin
movieThe Wrath of the Gods
1914
Tom Wilson
movieSamson
1914
Bearded Philistine Extra (uncredited)
movieGranddad
1913
Mildred's Father
movieThe Drummer of the 8th
1913
Jack Durand
Production24
movieChina Doll
1958
Producer
movieThat's My Man
1947
Producer
movieI've Always Loved You
1946
Producer
movieThe Spanish Main
1945
Producer
movieStage Door Canteen
1943
Producer
movieSeven Sweethearts
1942
Producer
movieSmilin' Through
1941
Producer
movieThe Mortal Storm
1940
Producer
movieStrange Cargo
1940
Producer
movieThe Shining Hour
1938
Producer
movieMannequin
1938
Producer
movieGreen Light
1937
Producer
movieHearts Divided
1936
Producer
movieDesire
1936
Producer
movieStranded
1935
Producer
movieLiving on Velvet
1935
Producer
movieFlirtation Walk
1934
Producer
movieNo Greater Glory
1934
Producer
movieMan's Castle
1933
Producer
movieA Farewell to Arms
1932
Producer
movieSong o' My Heart
1930
Producer
movieLazybones
1925
Producer
movieThe Age of Desire
1923
Producer
movieThe Nth Commandment
1923
Producer
Writing9
movieMannequin
1938
Screenplay