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{{Short description|American film director & screenwriter (1885–1981)}}
⚫
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2021}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Allan Dwan
| name = Allan Dwan
| image = Allan Dwan 1920.jpg
| image = Allan Dwan - Sep 1920 EH.jpg
| caption = Dwan in 1920
| alt =
| caption = Dwan in 1920
|birth_name=Joseph Aloysius Dwan
| birth_name = Joseph Aloysius Dwan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1885|4|3}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1885|4|3}}
| birth_place = [[Toronto]], Canada
| birth_place = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1981|12|28|1885|4|3}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1981|12|28|1885|4|3}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, United States
| death_place = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]], United States
| spouse = [[Pauline Bush (actress)|Pauline Bush]] (1915–1919)<br/> Marie Shelton (1927–1949)
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Pauline Bush (actress)|Pauline Bush]]|1915|1919|end=divorce}}<br/>{{marriage|Marie Shelton|1927|1949|end=divorce}}
| occupation = Film director<br>Film producer<br>Screenwriter
| occupation = Film director<br />Film producer<br />Screenwriter
| years_active = 1911–1961}}
| years_active = 1911–1961; 1980

}}
'''Allan Dwan''' (3 April 1885 – 28 December 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.
'''Allan Dwan''' (born '''Joseph Aloysius Dwan'''; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.


==Early life==
==Early life==
Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada, Dwan was the younger son of commercial traveler of woolen clothing Joseph Michael Dwan (1857–1917) and his wife Mary Jane Dwan (née Hunt). The family moved to the United States when he was seven years old on December 4, 1892, by ferry from Windsor to Detroit, according to his [[naturalization]] petition of August 1939. His elder brother, Leo Garnet Dwan (1883–1964), became a physician.
⚫
Born '''Joseph Aloysius Dwan''' in [[Toronto, Ontario]], Canada, Dwan moved with his family to the United States when he was eight (8) years old, on April 15, 1893. At the [[University of Notre Dame]], he trained as an engineer and began working for a lighting company in Chicago. However, he had a strong interest in the fledgling motion picture industry and when [[Essanay Studios]] offered him the opportunity to become a scriptwriter, he took the job.<ref name="Kevin Brownlow 1968">{{cite book |author=Brownlow, Kevin |title=The Parade's Gone By . . . |publisher=Ballantine Books, Inc. |location=New York |year=1969 |pages=111 }}</ref> At that time, some of the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] movie makers began to spend winters in California where the climate allowed them to continue productions requiring warm weather. Soon, a number of movie companies worked there year-round and, in 1911, Dwan began working part-time in Hollywood. While still in New York, in 1917 he was the founding president of the East Coast chapter of the [[Motion Picture Directors Association]]. {{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

⚫
Allan Dwan studied engineering at the [[University of Notre Dame]] and then worked for a lighting company in Chicago. He had a strong interest in the fledgling motion picture industry, and when [[Essanay Studios]] offered him the opportunity to become a scriptwriter, he took the job.<ref name="Kevin Brownlow 1968">{{cite book|author=Brownlow, Kevin|author-link=Kevin Brownlow|title=The Parade's Gone By...|publisher=[[Ballantine Books|Ballantine Books, Inc.]]|location=New York|year=1969|page=111}}</ref> At that time, some of the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] movie makers began to spend winters in California where the climate allowed them to continue productions requiring warm weather. Soon, a number of movie companies worked there year-round, and in 1911, Dwan began working part-time in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. While still in New York, in 1917 he was the founding president of the East Coast chapter of the [[Motion Picture Directors Association]].<ref name="frankenstein">{{cite news|last=Fournier|first=Pierre|url=http://io9.gizmodo.com/5706057/the-first-frankenstein-of-the-movies|title=The first Frankenstein of the movies|work=[[io9]]|date=December 4, 2010|access-date=April 28, 2016}}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
Dwan started his directing career by accident in 1911, when he was sent by his employers to California, in order to locate a company that had vanished. Dwan managed to track the company down, and learned that they were waiting for a film director (who was an alcoholic) to return from a binge and allow them to resume their work. Dwan wired back to his employers in Chicago, informing them of the situation, and suggested that they disband the company. They wired back, instructing Dwan to direct the stalled film. When Dwan informed the company of the situation, and that their jobs were on the line, they responded: "You're the best damn director we ever saw".<ref name="HollywoodDoc">{{cite episode |title=The Man with the Megaphone |series=[[Hollywood (1980 TV series)|Hollywood]] |date=March 11, 1980 |number=10}}</ref>
⚫
Dwan operated [[Flying A Studios]] in [[La Mesa, California]] from August 1911 to July 1912.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/6833|title=La mesa to honor its tinseltown roots aug. 12–13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/100-simple-melodramas-were-made-in-la-mesa-100-years-ago|title=Proto-Hollywood: 100 Melodramas Were Made In La Mesa 100 Years Ago}}</ref> Flying A was one of the first motion pictures studios in California history. On 12 August 2011, a plaque was unveiled on the Wolff building at Third Ave and La Mesa Bl commemorating Dwan and the [[Flying A Studios]] origins in [[La Mesa, California]].

⚫
Dwan operated [[Flying A Studios]] in [[La Mesa, California]], from August 1911 to July 1912.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/6833|title=La mesa to honor its tinseltown roots aug. 12–13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/100-simple-melodramas-were-made-in-la-mesa-100-years-ago|title=Proto-Hollywood: 100 Melodramas Were Made In La Mesa 100 Years Ago|date=August 10, 2011}}</ref> Flying A was one of the first motion pictures studios in California history. On August 12, 2011, a plaque was unveiled on the Wolff building at Third Avenue and La Mesa Boulevard commemorating Dwan and the [[Flying A Studios]] origins in [[La Mesa, California]].

⚫
After making a series of westerns and comedies, Dwan directed fellow Canadian-American [[Mary Pickford]] in several very successful movies as well as her husband, [[Douglas Fairbanks]], notably in the acclaimed 1922 ''[[Robin Hood (1922 film)|Robin Hood]]''. Around that time, he also directed [[Carole Lombard]] in [[A Perfect Crime (film)|''A Perfect Crime'']], her film debut. Dwan directed [[Gloria Swanson]] in eight feature films, and one short film made in the short-lived sound-on-film process [[Phonofilm]]. This short, also featuring [[Thomas Meighan]] and [[Henri de la Falaise]], was produced as a joke, for the April 26, 1925 "Lambs' Gambol" for [[The Lambs]], with the film showing Swanson crashing the all-male club.

⚫
Following the introduction of the [[sound film|talkies]], Dwan directed child-star [[Shirley Temple]] in ''[[Heidi (1937 film)|Heidi]]'' (1937) and ''[[Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938 film)|Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]]'' (1938).


⚫
Dwan helped launch the career of two other successful Hollywood directors, [[Victor Fleming]], who went on to direct ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' and ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone With the Wind]]'', and [[Marshall Neilan]], who became an actor, director, writer and producer. Over a long career spanning almost 50 years, Dwan directed 125 motion pictures, some of which were highly acclaimed, such as the 1949 box office hit, ''[[Sands of Iwo Jima]]''. He directed his last movie in 1961.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=&retailCheck=&Type=PN&CatID=DATABIN_DIRECTOR&ID=11207&AN_ID=&searchedFor=Allan_Dwan_|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|title=Allan Dwan, Filmography|access-date=December 27, 2015}}</ref>
⚫
After making a series of westerns and comedies, Dwan directed fellow Canadian-American [[Mary Pickford]] in several very successful movies as well as her husband, [[Douglas Fairbanks]], notably in the acclaimed 1922 ''[[Robin Hood (1922 film)|Robin Hood]]''. Dwan directed [[Gloria Swanson]] in eight feature films, and one short film made in the short-lived sound-on-film process [[Phonofilm]]. This short, also featuring [[Thomas Meighan]] and [[Henri de la Falaise]], was produced as a joke, for the 26 April 1925 "Lambs' Gambol" for [[The Lambs]], with the film showing Swanson crashing the all-male club.


Being one of the last surviving pioneers of the cinema, he was interviewed at length for the 1980 documentary series ''[[Hollywood (British TV series)|Hollywood]]''.<ref name="HollywoodDoc"/>
⚫
Following the introduction of the [[sound film|talkies]], Dwan directed child-star [[Shirley Temple]] in ''[[Heidi]]'' (1937) and ''[[Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938 film)|Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]]'' (1938).


⚫
He died in Los Angeles at the age of 96, and is interred in the [[San Fernando Mission Cemetery]], [[Mission Hills, Los Angeles|Mission Hills, California]].
⚫
Dwan helped launch the career of two other very successful Hollywood directors, [[Victor Fleming]], who went on to direct ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' and ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone With the Wind]]'', and [[Marshall Neilan]], who became an actor, director, writer and producer. Over a long career spanning almost 50 years, Dwan directed over 400&nbsp;motion pictures, many of them highly acclaimed, such as the 1949 box office smash, ''[[Sands of Iwo Jima]]''. He directed his last movie in 1961. {{citation needed|date=June 2014}}


⚫
Dwan has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6263 [[Hollywood Boulevard]].
⚫
He died in Los Angeles at the age of ninety-six, and is interred in the [[San Fernando Mission Cemetery]], [[Mission Hills, California]].


Daniel Eagan of ''[[Film Journal International]]'' described Dwan as one of the early pioneers of cinema, stating that his style "is so basic as to seem invisible, but he treats his characters with uncommon sympathy and compassion."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Eagan|first1=Daniel|title=MoMA's Republic Pictures series offers B-movie rediscoveries and restorations|url=http://www.filmjournal.com/momas-republic-pictures-series-offers-b-movie-rediscoveries-and-restorations|website=[[Film Journal International]]|publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media|Prometheus Global Media, LLC]]|access-date=February 1, 2018|date=January 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131223908/http://www.filmjournal.com/momas-republic-pictures-series-offers-b-movie-rediscoveries-and-restorations|archive-date=January 31, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
⚫
Allan Dwan has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6263 [[Hollywood Boulevard]].


==Partial filmography as director==
==Partial filmography as director==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
⚫
*''[[The Gold Lust]]'' (1911)
⚫
*''[[The Picket Guard]]'' (1913)
*''[[The Restless Spirit]]'' (1913)
*''[[The Restless Spirit]]'' (1913)
*''[[Back to Life (1913 film)|Back to Life]]'' (1913)
*''[[Back to Life (1913 film)|Back to Life]]'' (1913)
Line 40: Line 49:
*''[[The Lie (1914 film)|The Lie]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Lie (1914 film)|The Lie]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Honor of the Mounted]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Honor of the Mounted]]'' (1914)
* ''[[The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch]]'' (1914)
*''[[Remember Mary Magdalen]]'' (1914)
*''[[Remember Mary Magdalen]]'' (1914)
*''[[Discord and Harmony]]'' (1914)
*''[[Discord and Harmony]]'' (1914)
Line 45: Line 55:
*''[[The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf]]'' (1914)
*''[[The End of the Feud]]'' (1914)
*''[[The End of the Feud]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Test (1914 film)|The Test]]'' (1914) (*writer)
*''[[The Tragedy of Whispering Creek]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Tragedy of Whispering Creek]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Unlawful Trade]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Unlawful Trade]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Forbidden Room]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Forbidden Room (1914 film)|The Forbidden Room]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Hopes of Blind Alley]]'' (1914)
*''[[The Hopes of Blind Alley]]'' (1914)
*''[[Richelieu (film)|Richelieu]]'' (1914)
*''[[Richelieu (1914 film)|Richelieu]]'' (1914)
* ''[[Wildflower (1914 film)|Wildflower]]'' (1914)
* ''[[Wildflower (1914 film)|Wildflower]]'' (1914)
*''[[A Small Town Girl]]'' (1915)
*''[[A Small Town Girl]]'' (1915)
Line 55: Line 66:
*''[[A Girl of Yesterday]]'' (1915)
*''[[A Girl of Yesterday]]'' (1915)
*''[[The Pretty Sister of Jose (1915 film)|The Pretty Sister of Jose]]'' (1915)
*''[[The Pretty Sister of Jose (1915 film)|The Pretty Sister of Jose]]'' (1915)
*''[[Jordan Is a Hard Road]]'' (1915)
* ''[[Jordan Is a Hard Road]]'' (1915)
⚫
*''[[Betty of Graystone]]'' (1916)
*''[[The Habit of Happiness]]'' (1916)
*''[[The Habit of Happiness]]'' (1916)
*''[[The Good Bad Man]]'' (1916)
*''[[The Good Bad Man]]'' (1916)
*''[[An Innocent Magdalene]]'' (1916)
*''[[An Innocent Magdalene]]'' (1916)
*''[[The Half-Breed (1916 film)|The Half-Breed]]'' (1916)
*''[[The Half-Breed (1916 film)|The Half-Breed]]'' (1916)
*''[[Manhattan Madness]]'' (1916)
*''[[Manhattan Madness (1916 film)|Manhattan Madness]]'' (1916)
*''[[Accusing Evidence]]'' (1916)
*''[[Accusing Evidence]]'' (1916)
*''[[Panthea]]'' (1917)
*''[[Panthea (1917 film)|Panthea]]'' (1917)
*''[[A Modern Musketeer]]'' (1917)
*''[[A Modern Musketeer]]'' (1917)
⚫
*''[[Bound in Morocco]]'' (1918)
*''[[Headin' South]]'' (1918)
*''[[Headin' South]]'' (1918)
*''[[Mr. Fix-It (1918 film)|Mr. Fix-It]]'' (1918)
*''[[Mr. Fix-It (1918 film)|Mr. Fix-It]]'' (1918)
*''[[He Comes Up Smiling]]'' (1918)
*''[[He Comes Up Smiling]]'' (1918)
*''[[Cheating Cheaters (1919 film)|Cheating Cheaters]]'' (1919)
*''[[The Dark Star (1919 film)|The Dark Star]]'' (1919)
*''[[Getting Mary Married]]'' (1919)
*''[[Getting Mary Married]]'' (1919)
*''[[Soldiers of Fortune (1919 film)|Soldiers of Fortune]]'' (1919)
*''[[In The Heart of a Fool]]'' (1920) also producer
*''[[In The Heart of a Fool]]'' (1920) also producer
*''[[The Forbidden Thing]]'' (1920) also producer
*''[[The Forbidden Thing]]'' (1920) also producer
*''[[A Splendid Hazard (1920)|A Splendid Hazard]]'' (1920)
*''[[A Perfect Crime (film)|A Perfect Crime]]'' (1921)
⚫
* ''[[The Sin of Martha Queed]]'' (1921)
* ''[[A Broken Doll]]'' (1921)
*''[[Robin Hood (1922 film)|Robin Hood]]'' (1922)
*''[[Robin Hood (1922 film)|Robin Hood]]'' (1922)
*''[[Zaza (1923 film)|Zaza]]'' (1923)
*''[[Zaza (1923 film)|Zaza]]'' (1923)
*''[[Big Brother (1923 film)|Big Brother]]'' (1923)
*''[[Big Brother (1923 film)|Big Brother]]'' (1923)
*''[[Manhandled (1924 film)|Manhandled]]'' (1924)
*''[[Manhandled (1924 film)|Manhandled]]'' (1924)
*''[[Argentine Love]]'' (1924)
⚫
*''[[The Coast of Folly]]'' (1925)
*''[[Night Life of New York]]'' (1925)
*''[[Night Life of New York]]'' (1925)
*''[[Stage Struck (1925 film)|Stage Struck]]'' (1925)
*''[[Stage Struck (1925 film)|Stage Struck]]'' (1925)
*''[[Padlocked]]'' (1926)
*''[[Gloria Swanson Dialogue]]'' (1925) short film made in [[Phonofilm]] for [[The Lambs]] annual "Gambol" held at [[Metropolitan Opera House (39th Street)|Metropolitan Opera House]]
⚫
*''[[Sea Horses (film)|Sea Horses]]'' (1926)
*''[[Summer Bachelors]]'' (1926)
*''[[Tin Gods]]'' (1926)
*''[[Tin Gods]]'' (1926)
*''[[French Dressing (1927 film)|French Dressing]]'' (1927)
*''[[The Joy Girl]]'' (1927)
*''[[The Joy Girl]]'' (1927)
*''[[East Side, West Side (1927 film)|East Side, West Side]]'' (1927)
*''[[East Side, West Side (1927 film)|East Side, West Side]]'' (1927)
*''[[The Big Noise]]'' (1928)
*''[[The Big Noise (1928 film)|The Big Noise]]'' (1928)
*''[[Frozen Justice]]'' (1929)
*''[[The Iron Mask]]'' (1929)
*''[[The Iron Mask]]'' (1929)
*''[[Tide of Empire]]'' (1929)
*''[[Tide of Empire]]'' (1929)
*''[[The Far Call]]'' (1929)
*''[[The Far Call]]'' (1929)
*''[[What a Widow!]]'' (1930)
*''[[What a Widow!]]'' (1930)
*''[[Man to Man (1930 film)|Man to Man]]'' (1930)
*''[[Man to Man (1930 film)|Man to Man]]'' (1930)
⚫
*''[[Chances (1931 film)|Chances]]'' (1931)
*''[[Wicked (1931 film)|Wicked]]'' (1931)
*''[[Wicked (1931 film)|Wicked]]'' (1931)
*''[[While Paris Sleeps (1932 film)|While Paris Sleeps]]'' (1932)
*''[[While Paris Sleeps (1932 film)|While Paris Sleeps]]'' (1932)
*''[[Counsel's Opinion]]'' (1933)
*''[[Counsel's Opinion]]'' (1933)
*''[[Black Sheep (1935 film)|Black Sheep]]'' (1935)
*''[[Black Sheep (1935 film)|Black Sheep]]'' (1935)
*''[[High Tension (film)|High Tension]]'' (1936)
*''[[Navy Wife (1935 film)|Navy Wife]]'' (1935)
*''[[High Tension (1936 film)|High Tension]]'' (1936)
*''[[15 Maiden Lane]]'' (1936)
*''[[15 Maiden Lane]]'' (1936)
*''[[One Mile From Heaven]]'' (1937)
*''[[One Mile from Heaven]]'' (1937)
*''[[Heidi (1937 film)|Heidi]]'' (1937)
*''[[Heidi (1937 film)|Heidi]]'' (1937)
*''[[Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938 film)|Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]]'' (1938)
*''[[Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938 film)|Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]]'' (1938)
Line 107: Line 131:
*''[[Look Who's Laughing]]'' (1941) also producer
*''[[Look Who's Laughing]]'' (1941) also producer
*''[[Rise and Shine (film)|Rise and Shine]]'' (1941)
*''[[Rise and Shine (film)|Rise and Shine]]'' (1941)
*''[[Friendly Enemies]]'' (1942)
*''[[Friendly Enemies (1942 film)|Friendly Enemies]]'' (1942)
*''[[Around the World (1943 film)|Around the World]]'' (1943) also producer
*''[[Around the World (1943 film)|Around the World]]'' (1943) also producer
*''[[Up in Mabel's Room (1944 film)|Up in Mabel's Room]]'' (1944)
*''[[Up in Mabel's Room (1944 film)|Up in Mabel's Room]]'' (1944)
*''[[Abroad with Two Yanks]]'' (1944)
*''[[Abroad with Two Yanks]]'' (1944)
*''[[Getting Gertie's Garter]]'' (1945) also screenwriter
*''[[Getting Gertie's Garter (1945 film)|Getting Gertie's Garter]]'' (1945) also screenwriter
*''[[Brewster's Millions (1945 film)|Brewster's Millions]]'' (1945)
*''[[Brewster's Millions (1945 film)|Brewster's Millions]]'' (1945)
*''[[Rendezvous with Annie]]'' (1946)
*''[[Rendezvous with Annie]]'' (1946)
*''Driftwood'' (1947)
*''[[Driftwood (1947 film)|Driftwood]]'' (1947)
*''[[Calendar Girl (1947 film)|Calendar Girl]]'' (1947)
*''[[Calendar Girl (1947 film)|Calendar Girl]]'' (1947)
*''[[Northwest Outpost]]'' (1947) also associate producer
*''[[Northwest Outpost]]'' (1947) also associate producer
*''[[The Inside Story (film)|The Inside Story]]'' (1948)
*''[[The Inside Story (film)|The Inside Story]]'' (1948)
*''[[Angel in Exile]]'' (1948) (with [[Philip Ford (film director)|Philip Ford]])
*''[[Sands of Iwo Jima]]'' (1949)
*''[[Sands of Iwo Jima]]'' (1949)
*''[[Surrender]]'' (1950)
*''[[Surrender (1950 film)|Surrender]]'' (1950)
*''[[Belle Le Grand]]'' (1951)
*''[[Belle Le Grand]]'' (1951)
*''[[Wild Blue Yonder (film)|Wild Blue Yonder]]'' (1951)
*''[[Wild Blue Yonder (film)|Wild Blue Yonder]]'' (1951)
Line 125: Line 150:
*''[[Montana Belle]]'' (1952)
*''[[Montana Belle]]'' (1952)
*''[[Woman They Almost Lynched]]'' (1953)
*''[[Woman They Almost Lynched]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Sweethearts on Parade]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Sweethearts on Parade (1953 film)|Sweethearts on Parade]]'' (1953)
*''[[Silver Lode (1954 film)|Silver Lode]]'' (1954)
*''[[Silver Lode (1954 film)|Silver Lode]]'' (1954)
*''[[Passion (1954 film)|Passion]]'' (1954)
*''[[Passion (1954 film)|Passion]]'' (1954)
Line 144: Line 169:


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Brownlow, Kevin, ''The Parade's Gone By...'' (1968) ISBN 0520030680 ISBN 978-0520030688
*[[Kevin Brownlow|Brownlow, Kevin]], ''The Parade's Gone By...'' (1968) {{ISBN|0520030680}} {{ISBN|978-0520030688}}
* Bogdanovich, Peter, ''Allan Dwan: The Last Pioneer'' (1971) ISBN 0289701228 ISBN 978-0289701225
*[[Peter Bogdanovich|Bogdanovich, Peter]], ''Allan Dwan: The Last Pioneer'' (1971) {{ISBN|0289701228}} {{ISBN|978-0289701225}}
* Foster, Charles, ''Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood'' (2000) ISBN 1-55002-348-9
*[[Charles Foster (writer)|Foster, Charles]], ''Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood'' (2000) {{ISBN|1-55002-348-9}}
⚫
*Lombardi, Frederic, ''Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios'' (2013)

⚫
Print {{ISBN|978-0-7864-3485-5}} E-book {{ISBN|978-0-7864-9040-0}}
⚫
* Lombardi, Frederic, ''Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios'' (2013)
⚫
Print ISBN 978-0-7864-3485-5 Ebook ISBN 978-0-7864-9040-0


==External links==
==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{Commons category|Allan Dwan}}
*{{IMDb name|id=0245385|name=Allan Dwan}}
*{{IMDb name|0245385|Allan Dwan}}
*[http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/2643/allan-dwan Allan Dwan profile], virtual-history.com; accessed 16 June 2014.
*[http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/2643/allan-dwan Allan Dwan profile], virtual-history.com; accessed June 16, 2014


{{Allan Dwan}}
{{Allan Dwan}}
Line 163: Line 187:
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
|NAME= Dwan, Allan
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Dwan, Joseph Aloysius
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= Film director, film producer, screenwriter
|DATE OF BIRTH= 3 April 1885
|PLACE OF BIRTH= Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|DATE OF DEATH= 28 December 1981
|PLACE OF DEATH= Los Angeles, California, U.S.}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwan, Allan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwan, Allan}}
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:American film directors]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American film producers]]
[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]
⚫
[[Category:Film directors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Film producers from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:Western (genre) film directors]]
[[Category:Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery]]
⚫
[[Category:Canadian film directors]]
[[Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Film directors from Toronto]]
[[Category:Film directors from Toronto]]
[[Category:Writers from Toronto]]
[[Category:Western (genre) film directors]]
[[Category:Disease-related deaths in California]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Toronto]]
[[Category:Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery]]
[[Category:People from La Mesa, California]]
[[Category:Writers from San Diego]]

Latest revision as of 09:49, 14 November 2024

Allan Dwan
Dwan in 1920
Born
Joseph Aloysius Dwan

(1885-04-03)April 3, 1885
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedDecember 28, 1981(1981-12-28) (aged 96)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation(s)Film director
Film producer
Screenwriter
Years active1911–1961; 1980
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1915; div. 1919)​

Marie Shelton
​
​
(m. 1927; div. 1949)​

Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.

Early life

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Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan was the younger son of commercial traveler of woolen clothing Joseph Michael Dwan (1857–1917) and his wife Mary Jane Dwan (née Hunt). The family moved to the United States when he was seven years old on December 4, 1892, by ferry from Windsor to Detroit, according to his naturalization petition of August 1939. His elder brother, Leo Garnet Dwan (1883–1964), became a physician.

Allan Dwan studied engineering at the University of Notre Dame and then worked for a lighting company in Chicago. He had a strong interest in the fledgling motion picture industry, and when Essanay Studios offered him the opportunity to become a scriptwriter, he took the job.[1] At that time, some of the East Coast movie makers began to spend winters in California where the climate allowed them to continue productions requiring warm weather. Soon, a number of movie companies worked there year-round, and in 1911, Dwan began working part-time in Hollywood. While still in New York, in 1917 he was the founding president of the East Coast chapter of the Motion Picture Directors Association.[2]

Career

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Dwan started his directing career by accident in 1911, when he was sent by his employers to California, in order to locate a company that had vanished. Dwan managed to track the company down, and learned that they were waiting for a film director (who was an alcoholic) to return from a binge and allow them to resume their work. Dwan wired back to his employers in Chicago, informing them of the situation, and suggested that they disband the company. They wired back, instructing Dwan to direct the stalled film. When Dwan informed the company of the situation, and that their jobs were on the line, they responded: "You're the best damn director we ever saw".[3]

Dwan operated Flying A Studios in La Mesa, California, from August 1911 to July 1912.[4][5] Flying A was one of the first motion pictures studios in California history. On August 12, 2011, a plaque was unveiled on the Wolff building at Third Avenue and La Mesa Boulevard commemorating Dwan and the Flying A Studios origins in La Mesa, California.

After making a series of westerns and comedies, Dwan directed fellow Canadian-American Mary Pickford in several very successful movies as well as her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, notably in the acclaimed 1922 Robin Hood. Around that time, he also directed Carole Lombard in A Perfect Crime, her film debut. Dwan directed Gloria Swanson in eight feature films, and one short film made in the short-lived sound-on-film process Phonofilm. This short, also featuring Thomas Meighan and Henri de la Falaise, was produced as a joke, for the April 26, 1925 "Lambs' Gambol" for The Lambs, with the film showing Swanson crashing the all-male club.

Following the introduction of the talkies, Dwan directed child-star Shirley Temple in Heidi (1937) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938).

Dwan helped launch the career of two other successful Hollywood directors, Victor Fleming, who went on to direct The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind, and Marshall Neilan, who became an actor, director, writer and producer. Over a long career spanning almost 50 years, Dwan directed 125 motion pictures, some of which were highly acclaimed, such as the 1949 box office hit, Sands of Iwo Jima. He directed his last movie in 1961.[6]

Being one of the last surviving pioneers of the cinema, he was interviewed at length for the 1980 documentary series Hollywood.[3]

He died in Los Angeles at the age of 96, and is interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California.

Dwan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Boulevard.

Daniel Eagan of Film Journal International described Dwan as one of the early pioneers of cinema, stating that his style "is so basic as to seem invisible, but he treats his characters with uncommon sympathy and compassion."[7]

Partial filmography as director

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Brownlow, Kevin (1969). The Parade's Gone By... New York: Ballantine Books, Inc. p. 111.
  2. ^ Fournier, Pierre (December 4, 2010). "The first Frankenstein of the movies". io9. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "The Man with the Megaphone". Hollywood. Episode 10. March 11, 1980.
  4. ^ "La mesa to honor its tinseltown roots aug. 12–13".
  5. ^ "Proto-Hollywood: 100 Melodramas Were Made In La Mesa 100 Years Ago". August 10, 2011.
  6. ^ "Allan Dwan, Filmography". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  7. ^ Eagan, Daniel (January 31, 2018). "MoMA's Republic Pictures series offers B-movie rediscoveries and restorations". Film Journal International. Prometheus Global Media, LLC. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2018.

Further reading

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Print ISBN 978-0-7864-3485-5 E-book ISBN 978-0-7864-9040-0

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