FB
Photo of Frank Borzage

Frank Borzage

Director, Producer, Actor, Writer, Additional Credits
Born April 23, 1894Died June 19, 1962 (68 years)
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 & Shows on Plex
  • Intolerance
  • A Farewell to Arms
  • Moonrise
  • Stage Door Canteen
  • Magnificent Doll
Known For
  • A Farewell to Arms
  • The Mortal Storm
  • 7th Heaven
  • Moonrise
  • Strange Cargo
  • Desire
  • History Is Made at Night
  • Street Angel
  • Bad Girl
  • Three Comrades
  • The Spanish Main
  • Man's Castle
  • Lucky Star
  • Mannequin
  • The Shining Hour
  • Stage Door Canteen
  • Flight Command
  • Secrets
  • The Circle
  • China Doll
  • Lazybones

Take Plex everywhere

Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices