Frank Borzage
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 | Directing |
---|---|
Most Rating | 3.655 |
Birthday | 1894-04-23 |
Place of Birth | Salt Lake City, Utah, USA |
Also Known As | Mr. Borzage, Фрэнк Борзеги, |
1917
A Mormon Maid
5/4
This silent melodrama is set against the 1840s westward migration of the Mormons. Dora, a young woman, and her family are saved from an Indian attack...
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A Mormon Maid
1914
In the Sage Brush Country
0/0
In what scenarist C. Gardner Sullivan misleadingly called “The Romantic Adventures of a Woman of the ’50s,” this story has Hart play Jim Brandon, who...
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In the Sage Brush Country
1913
Loaded Dice
0/0
Loaded Dice is a 1913 short film.
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Loaded Dice
1914
The Panther
0/0
Andrew McLeod, the Factor, is called "The Panther" by the Indians, owing to his cruelty. He wishes to marry Julie, the daughter of Francois Ledru, a F...
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The Panther
1915
In the Land of the Otter
0/0
Ben Anderson, factor of the trading station, impatient with his daughter Anne's coquetries, calls all the trappers to him and promises to wed her to t...
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In the Land of the Otter
1915
The Cup of Life
0/0
Sisters Helen and Ruth Fiske work in a department store and live in an East Side tenement. While Ruth is satisfied with her "regular fellow," a mechan...
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The Cup of Life
1915
The Tavern Keeper's Son
0/0
Juan Capella, the son of a poor Spanish tavern keeper, and his wife, learning of the discovery of gold on the American River near Sacramento, runs awa...
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The Tavern Keeper's Son
1915
The Secret of Lost River
0/0
Pierre Vignol, an artist wintering in Arizona, is bitten by a snake. He is taken by his friend, Tom Hornby, to Padre Francisco, who prescribes for the...
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The Secret of Lost River
1914
The Wheel of Life
0/0
The husband and his wife live alone in the mountains, where he is working out a claim. A stranger from a distant mine is injured in the vicinity. The...
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The Wheel of Life
1914
A Flash in the Dark
0/0
Randall is a rich mine owner whose business affairs cause him to neglect his somewhat frivolous wife. There is a mutual friend whom Randall carelessly...
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A Flash in the Dark
1913
The Mystery of Yellow Aster Mine
0/0
Reed and Rosson are owners of the Yellow Aster mine. They have taken out enough gold to make the final payment, which is due. Both brothers love the s...
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The Mystery of Yellow Aster Mine
1913
The Gratitude of Wanda
0/0
An indian girl brings military relief to the besieged cabin because of her gratitude to the white man who befriended her.
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The Gratitude of Wanda
1913
Retribution
0/0
Dorothy and her father have staked all their hopes on their mine. While they are awaiting the arrival of Mr. Reid, who is to report on the value of th...
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Retribution
1913
A Cracksman Santa Claus
0/0
The cracksman is discouraged and cynical. It is Christmas Eve. He takes his revolver and starts out in quest of gain. Dot gets home, tired out and dis...
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A Cracksman Santa Claus
1913
A Hopi Legend
0/0
An old arrowmaker's daughter, while at the stream, meets a brave from another tribe. They become enamored of each other in the sudden positive way of...
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A Hopi Legend
1914
Love's Western Flight
0/0
For five years Dorothy had put up with her husband although all his refinement, delicacy and love had long since been drowned in drink. Dorothy had re...
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Love's Western Flight
1914
The Wrath of the Gods
6.2/11
An American sailor falls in love with a fisherman's daughter and convinces her that Jesus is more powerful than the gods who have cursed her.
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The Wrath of the Gods
1916
Nugget Jim's Pardner
4.5/3
Nugget Jim's pardner (Borzage), is an easy-come-easy-go character, an heirling who has worn through the last of pater's patience, eaten through his al...
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Nugget Jim's Pardner
1913
Silent Heroes
5/1
Tom Chatterton is called a coward because he will not enlist in the Home Guard during the Civil War -- his mother is dying and he does not wish to lea...
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Silent Heroes
1913
Granddad
5.5/4
Mildred is staying with her grandfather, Civil War veteran Jabez Burr, when she receives a letter from her father. Her father has re-married, and will...
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Granddad
1913
The Drummer of the 8th
5.8/4
When the Civil War begins, young Billy runs away from home to enlist in the Northern Army as a drummer; he's wounded in battle and taken prisoner. He...
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The Drummer of the 8th
1914
Samson
10/1
Samson, an Israelite whose enormous strength is legendary, falls in love with Zorah, a Philistine, and marries her, overcoming his father Manoah's obj...
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Samson
1915
The Pitch o' Chance
4.5/2
One of the earliest surviving short films by Franke Borzage. A simple western about a man who enjoys boozing, gambling and women.
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The Pitch o' Chance
1916
The Pilgrim
5.2/4
Short western by Frank Borzage about a man called The Pilgrim who comes into a new town, establishes himself and falls in love with a woman.
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The Pilgrim
1914
The Typhoon
0/0
Tokoramo, a Japanese diplomat on a mission to Paris, begins a love affair with Helene, a chorus girl, who subsequently rejects her American fiancé, Ri...
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The Typhoon
1915
Knight of the Trail
4.8/2
Jim and Molly are set to get married when Molly finds out about her fiancé's criminal past. Bill Carey weasels his way into Molly's heart in the inter...
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Knight of the Trail
2008
Murnau, Borzage and Fox
7/7
Documentary focusing on the film careers F.W. Murnau, Frank Borzage and William Fox and their impact on the history of cinema.
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Murnau, Borzage and Fox
1912
On Secret Service
5/1
Fred Martin is a Southern spy. A northern dispatch bearer is captured, the signature to his messages is forged, and Martin is sent on the dangerous mi...
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On Secret Service
1915
In the Switch Tower
0/0
IN THE SWITCH TOWER stars Walter Edwards (who also directed) as Bill Wharton, a middle-aged alcoholic who was once a leading engineer with a railroad....
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In the Switch Tower
1916
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
7.1/341
The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
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Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
1957
Jeanne Eagels
6.3/11
Biographical film based loosely on the life of 1920s stage star Jeanne Eagels.
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Jeanne Eagels
1917
Fear Not
0/0
Brothers James and Allen Mornington are both addicted to cocaine and both believe that their addiction is caused by a hereditary failing. James rises...
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Fear Not
1916
Land O' Lizards
0/0
Eastern capitalists hire a stranger to head out to Arizona to investigate property near the Bar C Ranch, which contains gold. The Bar C is run by Buck...
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Land O' Lizards
1917
Wee Lady Betty
0/0
Wee Lady Betty rules the O'Reilly castle with a stern hand and a big heart until she learns that Roger, the O'Reilly heir, is coming to take possessio...
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Wee Lady Betty
1918
The Atom
0/0
Jennie is a slavey in a theatrical boarding house. To her the actors are all wonderful, but Montague Booth is the chief. In an accident Booth is disfi...
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The Atom
1917
A School for Husbands
0/0
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A School for Husbands
1916
A Flickering Light
0/0
Jim, a cowboy, comes to town with the boys of the Lazy B, and stops at the Last Chance Saloon. One of the girls of the dancehall is Madge. Hardy, owne...
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A Flickering Light
1916
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
0/0
Dr. Charles Matthews, professor of philosophy in a small New England college, is dismissed, and though heartbroken he and his daughter, Prudence, star...
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The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
1916
Immediate Lee
0/0
Immediate Lee, employed on the ranch owned by one Masters, is discharged by the manager through the influence of one of his men, who is in the brand b...
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