Frank Borzage
Directing
Born: April 23, 1894 · Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Died: June 19, 1962 (aged 68)
Highest Rated
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.
Known for
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1916
A Farewell to Arms
1932
7th Heaven
1927
The Mortal Storm
1940
The Oscars
1953
Moonrise
1948
Street Angel
1928
Strange Cargo
1940
History Is Made at Night
1937
Desire
1936
Lucky Star
1929
Bad Girl
1931
Photos (2)
Movies (30)
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
Extra (uncredited)
Immediate Lee
Immediate Lee
The Atom
1918
Samson
Bearded Philistine Extra (uncredited)
Aloha Oe
Dr. John Hawley
The Pilgrim
The Pilgrim
Land O' Lizards
The Stranger
A Mormon Maid
Tom Rigdon
The Demon of Fear
Thomas Marsh
Nugget Jim's Pardner
Hal
Granddad
Mildred's Father
A Flickering Light
Jim
Two Bits
James Hardeman
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
Calliope Clew
The Typhoon
Renard Bernisky
The Girl Who Might Have Been
George Fowler
Wee Lady Betty
Roger O'Reilly
Silent Heroes
1913
In the Sage Brush Country
1914
Fear Not
Franklin Shirley
The Curse of Iku
Allan Carroll / Allan Carroll III
The Mill by the Zuyder Zee
Dirk Brandt
A School for Husbands
Hugh Aslam
On Secret Service
1912
The Pitch o' Chance
Rocky Scott
Knight of the Trail
Bill Carey
The Drummer of the 8th
Jack Durand
In the Switch Tower
Joel Wharton
In the Land of the Otter
Joe Eagle
The Wrath of the Gods
Tom Wilson
TV Shows (1)
Self / Appearances (3)
Directing (94)
The Mortal Storm
Director
Bad Girl
Director
Secrets
Director
Desire
Director
Immediate Lee
Director
A Farewell to Arms
Director
Stage Door Canteen
Director
The Lady
Director
The Spanish Main
Director
History Is Made at Night
Director
Strange Cargo
Director
The Atom
Director
The Ghost Flower
Director
Flight Command
Director
The Dixie Merchant
Director
Moonrise
Director
Humoresque
Director
Billy the Kid
Co-Director
The River
Director
The Big Fisherman
Director
Three Comrades
Director
Till We Meet Again
Director
7th Heaven
Director
The Circle
Director
Mannequin
Director
Stranded
Director
That's My Man
Director
Whom the Gods Would Destroy
Director
The Shining Hour
Director
No Greater Glory
Director
Big City
Director
The Pilgrim
Director
Smilin' Through
Director
China Doll
Director
Little Man, What Now?
Director
Flirtation Walk
Director
Land O' Lizards
Director
The Shoes That Danced
Director
Man's Castle
Director
I Take This Woman
Co-Director
Magnificent Doll
Director
His Butler's Sister
Director
Seven Sweethearts
Director
Society for Sale
Director
Street Angel
Director
I've Always Loved You
Director
The Vanishing Virginian
Director
Shipmates Forever
Director
Hearts Divided
Director
Young America
Director
The Demon of Fear
Director
Wages for Wives
Director
Journey Beneath the Desert
Co-Director
Nugget Jim's Pardner
Director
A Flickering Light
Director
Green Light
Director
Lucky Star
Director
Two Bits
Director
Liliom
Director
Disputed Passage
Director
They Had to See Paris
Director
Doctors' Wives
Director
The Nth Commandment
Director
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
Director
A Ticket for Thaddeus
Director
Back Pay
Director
After Tomorrow
Director
The Good Provider
Director
Living on Velvet
Director
The Gun Woman
Director
Young as You Feel
Director
Until They Get Me
Director
The First Year
Director
The Duke of Chimney Butte
Director
Billy Jim
Director
Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
Director
Lazybones
Director
Early to Wed
Director
Secrets
Director
Children of Dust
Director
The Curse of Iku
Director
The Day I Met Caruso
Director
Marriage License?
Director
Song o' My Heart
Director
Toton
Director
The Pitch o' Chance
Director
Flying Colors
Director
The Age of Desire
Director
Life's Harmony
Director
Prudence on Broadway
Director
The Valley of Silent Men
Director
Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
Director
The Pride of Palomar
Director
The Silken Spider
Director
Writing (3)
Producing (24)
The Mortal Storm
Producer
Desire
Producer
A Farewell to Arms
Producer
Stage Door Canteen
Producer
The Spanish Main
Producer
Strange Cargo
Producer
Mannequin
Producer
Stranded
Producer
That's My Man
Producer
The Shining Hour
Producer
No Greater Glory
Producer
Smilin' Through
Producer
China Doll
Producer
Flirtation Walk
Producer
Man's Castle
Producer
Seven Sweethearts
Producer
I've Always Loved You
Producer
Hearts Divided
Producer
Green Light
Producer
The Nth Commandment
Producer
Living on Velvet
Producer
Lazybones
Producer
Song o' My Heart
Producer
The Age of Desire
Producer