Happy Birthday, Clarence Brown! Born today in 1890 as Clarence Leon Brown, this Academy Award-winning American film director is one of Hollywood's forgotten masters.
This World War I aviator and one–time engineer established a thriving car dealership, the Brown Motor Car Company, in Alabama―only to give it all up to follow his dream of making movies.
Known as the "star maker," Brown had helped guide the acting career of child sensation Elizabeth Taylor (of whom he once said, "she has a face that is an act of God").
Brown had also discovered the American Academy–Award–winning child star Claude Jarman Jr. This was for the 1946 American Technicolor family/drama film 'The Yearling'.
During the 1930s, Brown is known for directing the 1931 American pre-Code black and white drama film 'Possessed' and the 1935 American black and white romance/drama film 'Anna Karenina'.
During the 1940s, Brown is known for directing the 1944 American Technicolor family/drama sports film 'National Velvet' and the 1949 American black and white crime drama film 'Intruder in the Dust'.
During the 1940s, Brown is known for directing the 1944 American Technicolor family/drama sports film 'National Velvet' and the 1949 American black and white crime drama film 'Intruder in the Dust'.
Among his credits, Brown is best known for directing the 1925 American silent black and white adventure film 'The Eagle'. It had been based off of Russian poet, playwright and novelist of the Romantic era Alexander Pushkin's 1841 unfinished fiction novel Dubrovsky.
The film tells of The Czarina, Catherine II (Louise Dresser) who is attracted to Lt. Vladimir Dubrovsky (Rudolph Valentino), a Russian soldier. When Vladimir rejects her, however, he makes a powerful enemy.
The soldier is forced to go on the lam, but when he is gone, the property of his father (Spottiswoode Aitken) is snatched away by Kyrilla Troekouroff (James A. Marcus), a cruel aristocrat who bullies peasants.
Vladimir then disguises himself as a bandit and begins to defend the Russian people from Troekouroff, whose daughter, Miss Mascha (Vilma Bánky) he is in love with.
It was these films that won Brown's audiences over with glamorous star vehicles, tales of families, communities, and slices of Americana, as well as hard-hitting dramas.
Although Brown was admired by peers like Jean Renoir, Frank Capra, and John Ford, his illuminating work and contributions to classic cinema are rarely mentioned in the same breath as those of Hollywood's great directors.
Throughout his career, Brown had worked with some of Hollywood's greatest stars. These included Clark Gable, Joan Crawford Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney.
Greta Garbo proclaimed Brown as her favorite director. Actors, actresses, and even child stars were so at ease under his direction that they were able to deliver inspired and powerful performances.
Brown would not only become a brilliant director (making more than fifty films) but also a craftsman who was known for his innovative use of lighting and composition.
In a roustabout career spanning five decades, Brown was nominated for five Academy Awards and directed ten different actors in Oscar-nominated performances.
Despite his achievements and influence, however, Brown has been largely overlooked by film scholars.
Despite his achievements and influence, however, Brown has been largely overlooked by film scholars.
However, it was these forces that shaped a complex man―part–dreamer, part–pragmatist―who left an indelible mark on cinema.
Brown had been active from 1915–1953.
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