1894-04-23 ( 130 years old ) in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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.
Movies
Murnau, Borzage and Fox
2008-12-09
Jeanne Eagels
1957-08-02
The Atom
1918-09-15
Fear Not
1917-11-26
Wee Lady Betty
1917-08-17
A Mormon Maid
1917-04-21
A School for Husbands
1917-04-05
Immediate Lee
1916-11-13
Land O' Lizards
1916-09-18
The Courtin' of Calliope Clew
1916-08-11
Nugget Jim's Pardner
1916-07-14
The Pilgrim
1916-06-09
A Flickering Light
1916-04-14
The Pitch o' Chance
1915-12-24
Knight of the Trail
1915-08-19
The Secret of Lost River
1915-06-18
The Tavern Keeper's Son
1915-06-09
The Cup of Life
1915-04-26
In the Switch Tower
1915-03-24
In the Land of the Otter
1915-01-14
The Panther
1914-12-10
The Typhoon
1914-10-10
The Wrath of the Gods
1914-06-08
Love's Western Flight
1914-06-03
Samson
1914-04-30
A Flash in the Dark
1914-02-18
The Wheel of Life
1914-01-28
In the Sage Brush Country
1914-01-01
A Hopi Legend
1913-12-31
A Cracksman Santa Claus
1913-12-19
Retribution
1913-12-10
Loaded Dice
1913-10-03
Silent Heroes
1913-09-23
In the Toils
1913-09-06
The Gratitude of Wanda
1913-08-30
The Mystery of Yellow Aster Mine
1913-08-24
Granddad
1913-07-23
The Drummer of the 8th
1913-05-28
On Secret Service
1912-11-01
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