Frank Borzage

Born: 1894-04-23

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.


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Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

as Extra (uncredited)
Released: 1916-09-04

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven...

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Jeanne Eagels

as Self (uncredited)
Released: 1957-08-02

Biographical film based loosely on the life of 1920s stage star Jeanne Eagels.

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The Typhoon

as Renard Bernisky
Released: 1914-10-10

Tokoramo, a Japanese diplomat on a mission to Paris, begins a love affair with Helene, a chorus...

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Knight of the Trail

as Bill Carey
Released: 1915-08-19

Jim and Molly are set to get married when Molly finds out about her fiancé's criminal past. Bill...

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In the Switch Tower

as Joel Wharton
Released: 1915-03-24

IN THE SWITCH TOWER stars Walter Edwards (who also directed) as Bill Wharton, a middle-aged...

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A Mormon Maid

as Tom Rigdon
Released: 1917-04-21

This silent melodrama is set against the 1840s westward migration of the Mormons. Dora, a young...

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The Drummer of the 8th

as Jack Durand
Released: 1913-05-28

When the Civil War begins, young Billy runs away from home to enlist in the Northern Army as a...

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On Secret Service

as uncredited
Released: 1912-11-01

Fred Martin is a Southern spy. A northern dispatch bearer is captured, the signature to his...

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The Wrath of the Gods

as Tom Wilson
Released: 1914-06-08

An American sailor falls in love with a fisherman's daughter and convinces her that Jesus is...

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Granddad

as Mildred's Father
Released: 1913-07-23

Mildred is staying with her grandfather, Civil War veteran Jabez Burr, when she receives a...

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Silent Heroes

as uncredited
Released: 1913-09-23

Tom Chatterton is called a coward because he will not enlist in the Home Guard during the Civil...

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Samson

as Bearded Philistine Extra (uncredited)
Released: 1914-04-30

Samson, an Israelite whose enormous strength is legendary, falls in love with Zorah, a...

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The Pilgrim

as The Pilgrim
Released: 1916-06-09

Short western by Frank Borzage about a man called The Pilgrim who comes into a new town,...

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In the Land of the Otter

as Joe Eagle
Released: 1915-01-14

Ben Anderson, factor of the trading station, impatient with his daughter Anne's coquetries,...

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Fear Not

as Franklin Shirley
Released: 1917-11-26

Brothers James and Allen Mornington are both addicted to cocaine and both believe that their...

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In the Sage Brush Country

as uncredited
Released: 1914-01-01

In what scenarist C. Gardner Sullivan misleadingly called “The Romantic Adventures of a Woman of...

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Land O' Lizards

as The Stranger
Released: 1916-09-18

Eastern capitalists hire a stranger to head out to Arizona to investigate property near the Bar...

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A School for Husbands

as Hugh Aslam
Released: 1917-04-05

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The Oscars

as uncredited
First aired: 1953-03-19

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The...

TV Show page

This Is Your Life

as Self
First aired: 1952-10-01

This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally...

TV Show page