Allan Dwan

Allan Dwan
File:AllanDwan.jpg Dwan during his earlier years in silent film
Born	(1885-04-03)April 3, 1885 Toronto, Canada
Died	December 28, 1981(1981-12-28) (aged 96) Los Angeles, United States
Occupation(s)	Film director Film producer Screenwriter
Years active	1911 - 1961
Spouse(s)	Pauline Bush (1915–1921) Marie Shelton (1922–1954)

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

Early life

Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan moved with his family to the United States when he was 11 years old. 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. 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.

Career

Dwan operated Flying A Studios in La Mesa, California from August, 1911 to July, 1912. 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 Ave and La Mesa Bl commemorating Dwan and the Flying A Studios origins in La Mesa, California.

After making a series of westerns and comedies, Dwan directed fellow Canadian Mary Pickford in several very successful movies as well as her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, notably in the acclaimed 1922 Robin Hood.

Following the introduction of the talkies, in 1937 he directed child-star Shirley Temple in Heidi and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm the following year.

Dwan also helped launch the career of two other very 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 his long and successful career spanning over 50 years, he directed over 400 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.

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

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

Partial filmography as director

• The Gold Lust (1911)
• The Restless Spirit (1913)
• Back to Life (1913)
• Bloodhounds of the North (1913)
• The Lie (1914)
• The Honor of the Mounted (1914)
• Remember Mary Magdelen (1914)
• Discord and Harmony (1914)
• The Embezzler (1914)
• The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf (1914)
• The End of the Feud (1914)
• The Tragedy of Whispering Creek (1914)
• The Unlawful Trade (1914)
• The Forbidden Room (1914)
• The Hopes of Blind Alley (1914)
• Richelieu (1914)
• Wildflower (1914)
• A Small Town Girl (1915)
• David Harum (1915)
• A Girl of Yesterday (1915)
• The Pretty Sister of Jose (1915)
• Manhattan Madness (1916)
• The Habit of Happiness (1916)
• Fairbanks Fine Arts (1916)
• Fairbanks Fragments (1916–1918) also screenwriter
• Accusing Evidence (1916)
• An Innocent Magdalene (1916)
• A Modern Musketeer (1917)
• Headin' South (1918)
• Mr. Fix-It (1918)
• Robin Hood (1922)
• Stage Struck (1925)
• Tin Gods (1926)
• The Joy Girl (1927)
• The Iron Mask (1929)

• Tide of Empire (1929)
• The Far Call (1929)
• What a Widow! (1931)
• Counsel's Opinion (1933)
• Heidi (1937)
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)
• The Three Musketeers (1939)
• The Gorilla (1939)
• Young People (1940)
• Look Who's Laughing (1941) also producer
• Friendly Enemies (1942)
• Around the World (1943) also producer
• Up in Mabel's Room (1944)
• Abroad with Two Yanks (1944)
• Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) also screenwriter
• Brewster's Millions (1945)
• Driftwood (1947)
• Calendar Girl (1947)
• Northwest Outpost (1947) also associate producer
• Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
• The Wild Blue Yonder
• I Dream of Jeanie (1952)
• Montana Belle (1952)
• Silver Lode (1954)
• Passion (1954)
• Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)
• Tennessee's Partner (1955)
• Pearl of the South Pacific (1955)
• Escape to Burma (1955)
• Slightly Scarlet (1956)
• Hold Back the Night (1956)
• The Restless Breed (1957)
• The River's Edge (1957)
• Enchanted Island (1958)

See also

• Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

Further reading

• 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 Ebook ISBN: 978-0-7864-9040-0

External links

• Allan Dwan at IMDb
• Allan Dwan at Virtual History