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.
Directed 94
1960s
- 1961
Journey Beneath the Desert
Co-Director
1950s
- 1959
The Big Fisherman
Director
- 1958
- 1956
The Day I Met Caruso
Director
A Ticket for Thaddeus
Director
1940s
- 1948
Moonrise
Director
- 1947
That's My Man
Director
- 1946
Magnificent Doll
Director
I've Always Loved You
Director
- 1945
- 1944
Till We Meet Again
Director
- 1943
His Butler's Sister
Director
- 1942
Seven Sweethearts
Director
The Vanishing Virginian
Director
- 1941
Smilin' Through
Director
- 1940
Flight Command
Director
Strange Cargo
Director
I Take This Woman
Co-Director
1930s
- 1939
Disputed Passage
Director
- 1938
The Shining Hour
Director
Three Comrades
Director
Mannequin
Director
- 1937
Big City
Director
Green Light
Director
- 1936
Hearts Divided
Director
- 1935
Shipmates Forever
Director
Stranded
Director
Living on Velvet
Director
- 1934
Flirtation Walk
Director
Little Man, What Now?
Director
No Greater Glory
Director
- 1933
Man's Castle
Director
- 1932
Young America
Director
After Tomorrow
Director
- 1931
Bad Girl
Director
Young as You Feel
Director
Doctors' Wives
Director
- 1930
Liliom
Director
Song o' My Heart
Director
1920s
- 1929
The River
Director
They Had to See Paris
Director
Lucky Star
Director
- 1928
Street Angel
Director
- 1927
- 1926
Marriage License?
Director
Early to Wed
Director
The Dixie Merchant
Director
The First Year
Director
- 1925
Wages for Wives
Director
Lazybones
Director
The Circle
Director
Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
Director
The Lady
Director
- 1924
Secrets
Director
- 1923
The Age of Desire
Director
Children of Dust
Director
The Nth Commandment
Director
- 1922
The Pride of Palomar
Director
The Valley of Silent Men
Director
The Good Provider
Director
Billy Jim
Director
Back Pay
Director
- 1921
Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
Director
The Duke of Chimney Butte
Director
- 1920
Humoresque
Director
1910s
- 1919
Prudence on Broadway
Director
Whom the Gods Would Destroy
Director
Toton
Director
- 1918
The Atom
Director
The Ghost Flower
Director
Society for Sale
Director
The Shoes That Danced
Director
The Curse of Iku
Director
The Gun Woman
Director
- 1917
Until They Get Me
Director
Flying Colors
Director
- 1916
Immediate Lee
Director
Land O' Lizards
Director
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
Director
Nugget Jim's Pardner
Director
The Demon of Fear
Director
The Pilgrim
Director
A Flickering Light
Director
Two Bits
Director
The Silken Spider
Director
Life's Harmony
Director
- 1915
The Pitch o' Chance
Director
Acted in 31
1950s
- 1953
1910s
- 1918
The Atom
Movie
The Curse of Iku
Allan Carroll / Allan Carroll III
- 1917
Fear Not
Franklin Shirley
Wee Lady Betty
Roger O'Reilly
A Mormon Maid
Tom Rigdon
A School for Husbands
Hugh Aslam
- 1916
Immediate Lee
Immediate Lee
Land O' Lizards
The Stranger
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
Calliope Clew
Nugget Jim's Pardner
Hal
The Demon of Fear
Thomas Marsh
The Pilgrim
The Pilgrim
A Flickering Light
Jim
Two Bits
James Hardeman
- 1915
The Pitch o' Chance
Rocky Scott
Aloha Oe
Dr. John Hawley
Knight of the Trail
Bill Carey
In the Switch Tower
Joel Wharton
The Mill by the Zuyder Zee
Dirk Brandt
The Girl Who Might Have Been
George Fowler
In the Land of the Otter
Joe Eagle
- 1914
The Typhoon
Renard Bernisky
The Wrath of the Gods
Tom Wilson
Samson
Bearded Philistine Extra (uncredited)
In the Sage Brush Country
Movie
- 1913
Silent Heroes
Movie
Granddad
Mildred's Father
The Drummer of the 8th
Jack Durand
- 1912
On Secret Service
Movie
Produced 24
1950s
- 1958
1940s
- 1947
That's My Man
Producer
- 1946
I've Always Loved You
Producer
- 1945
- 1943
- 1942
Seven Sweethearts
Producer
- 1941
Smilin' Through
Producer
- 1940
Strange Cargo
Producer
1930s
- 1938
The Shining Hour
Producer
Mannequin
Producer
- 1937
Green Light
Producer
- 1936
Hearts Divided
Producer
- 1935
Stranded
Producer
Living on Velvet
Producer
- 1934
Flirtation Walk
Producer
No Greater Glory
Producer
- 1933
Man's Castle
Producer
- 1932
- 1930
Song o' My Heart
Producer
1920s
- 1925
Lazybones
Producer
- 1923
The Age of Desire
Producer
The Nth Commandment
Producer
Wrote 3
1930s
- 1938
Mannequin
Screenplay
1910s
- 1916
Nugget Jim's Pardner
Writer
The Demon of Fear
Writer
Appearances3
2000s
- 2008
Murnau, Borzage and Fox
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1950s
- 1957
Jeanne Eagels
Self (uncredited)
- 1952
