
Frank Borzage
Personal Info
Known for
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1894-04-23
Day of Death
1962-06-19 (68 years old)
Place of Birth
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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.
Known For
Acting
(2008)
Murnau, Borzage and Fox
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(1957)
Jeanne Eagels
as Self (uncredited)
(1918)
(1917)
A Mormon Maid
as Tom Rigdon
(1917)
Fear Not
as Franklin Shirley
(1917)
Wee Lady Betty
as Roger O'Reilly
(1917)
A School for Husbands
as Hugh Aslam
(1916)
Nugget Jim's Pardner
as Hal
(1916)
The Pilgrim
as The Pilgrim
(1916)
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
as Extra (uncredited)
(1916)
Land O' Lizards
as The Stranger
(1916)
A Flickering Light
as Jim
(1916)
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
as Calliope Clew
(1916)
Immediate Lee
as Immediate Lee
(1915)
In the Land of the Otter
as Joe Eagle
(1915)
The Cup of Life
as Dick Ralston
(1915)
The Secret of Lost River
as Tom Hornby - Prospector
(1915)
The Tavern Keeper's Son
as Juan Capella
(1915)
The Pitch o' Chance
as Rocky Scott
(1915)
Knight of the Trail
as Bill Carey
(1915)
In the Switch Tower
as Joel Wharton
(1915)
The Clean-Up
as George Prescott
(1914)
(1914)
The Panther
as David Brandt
(1914)
(1914)
(1914)
(1914)
The Wrath of the Gods
as Tom Wilson
(1914)
Samson
as Bearded Philistine Extra (uncredited)
(1914)
The Typhoon
as Renard Bernisky
(1913)
(1913)
(1913)
(1913)
(1913)
(1913)
(1913)
(1913)
Granddad
as Mildred's Father
(1913)
The Drummer of the 8th
as Jack Durand
(1913)
(1912)
Crew
(1961)
Journey Beneath the Desert
Co-Director
(1959)
The Big Fisherman
Director
(1958)
China Doll
Director, Producer
(1956)
The Day I Met Caruso
Director
(1955)
Day is Done
Director
(1948)
Moonrise
Director
(1947)
That's My Man
Director, Producer
(1946)
I've Always Loved You
Director, Producer
(1946)
Magnificent Doll
Director
(1945)
The Spanish Main
Director, Producer
(1944)
Till We Meet Again
Director
(1943)
His Butler's Sister
Director
(1943)
Stage Door Canteen
Director, Producer
(1942)
Seven Sweethearts
Director, Producer
(1942)
The Vanishing Virginian
Director
(1941)
Smilin' Through
Director, Producer
(1941)
Billy the Kid
Co-Director
(1940)
The Mortal Storm
Director, Producer
(1940)
I Take This Woman
Co-Director
(1940)
Strange Cargo
Director, Producer
(1940)
Flight Command
Director
(1939)
Disputed Passage
Director
(1938)
Mannequin
Director, Screenplay, Producer
(1938)
The Shining Hour
Director, Producer
(1938)
Three Comrades
Director
(1937)
History Is Made at Night
Director
(1937)
Big City
Director
(1937)
Green Light
Director, Producer
(1936)
Desire
Director, Producer
(1936)
Hearts Divided
Director, Producer
(1935)
Stranded
Director, Producer
(1935)
Shipmates Forever
Director
(1935)
Living on Velvet
Director, Producer
(1934)
Flirtation Walk
Director, Producer
(1934)
No Greater Glory
Director, Producer
(1934)
Little Man, What Now?
Director
(1933)
Secrets
Director
(1933)
Man's Castle
Director, Producer
(1932)
A Farewell to Arms
Director, Producer
(1932)
After Tomorrow
Director
(1932)
Young America
Director
(1931)
Bad Girl
Director
(1931)
Doctors' Wives
Director
(1931)
Young as You Feel
Director
(1930)
Liliom
Director
(1930)
Song o' My Heart
Director, Producer
(1929)
Lucky Star
Director
(1929)
The River
Director
(1929)
They Had to See Paris
Director
(1928)
Street Angel
Director
(1927)
7th Heaven
Director
(1926)
The First Year
Director
(1926)
The Dixie Merchant
Director
(1926)
Marriage License?
Director
(1926)
Early to Wed
Director
(1925)
Lazybones
Director, Producer
(1925)
The Circle
Director
(1925)
The Lady
Director
(1925)
Daddy's Gone A-Hunting
Director
(1925)
Wages for Wives
Director
(1924)
Secrets
Director
(1923)
The Nth Commandment
Director, Producer
(1923)
The Age of Desire
Director, Producer
(1923)
Children of Dust
Director
(1922)
Back Pay
Director
(1922)
The Pride of Palomar
Director
(1922)
Billy Jim
Director
(1922)
The Good Provider
Director
(1922)
The Valley of Silent Men
Director
(1921)
Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
Director
(1921)
The Duke of Chimney Butte
Director
(1920)
Humoresque
Director
(1919)
Toton
Director
(1919)
Prudence on Broadway
Director
(1919)
Whom the Gods Would Destroy
Director
(1918)
Society for Sale
Director
(1918)
The Gun Woman
Director
(1918)
The Ghost Flower
Director
(1918)
The Atom
Director
(1917)
Until They Get Me
Director
(1917)
Flying Colors
Director
(1916)
Nugget Jim's Pardner
Director, Writer
(1916)
The Pilgrim
Director
(1916)
Life's Harmony
Director
(1916)
Land O' Lizards
Director
(1916)
The Silken Spider
Director
(1916)
A Flickering Light
Director
(1916)
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
Director
(1916)
Immediate Lee
Director
(1915)
The Pitch o' Chance
Director