Allan Dwan

Allan Dwan (April 3, 1885 - December 21, 1981) was a Canadian born pioneering motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.

Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, his family moved to the United States when he was eleven years of age. At university, he trained as an engineer and began working for a lighting company in Chicago, Illinois. 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 moved to Hollywood. There, he obtained work as a writer and actor and soon as a director and producer, the field for which he is most remembered.

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

In 1917, Alan Dwan became president of the Motion Picture Directors Association. Following the introduction of the talkies, in 1937 he directed child-star Shirley Temple in Heidi and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm the following year.

Over his long and successful career spanning over fifty years, he directed over 400 motion pictures, many of them highly acclaimed, such as the 1949 box office smash, The Sands of Iwo Jima. His last movie was in 1961.

Dwan is one of the directors that spanned the silent to sound era. Most of the silent movies he directed are lost due to poor preservation. Little historical writing has been devoted to Dwan, but some believe that he will be the last "discovered" great director from the Classic Hollywood Era.

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 in Hollywood.

Selected filmography

• Enchanted Island - Director (1958)
• The Restless Breed - Director (1957)
• Slightly Scarlet - Director (1956)
• Escape to Burma - Director (1955)
• Pearl of the South Pacific - Director (1955)
• Tennessee's Partner - Director (1955)
• Cattle Queen of Montana - Director (1954)
• Passion - Director (1954)
• Silver Lode - Director (1954)
• Montana Belle - Director (1952)
• Sands of Iwo Jima - Director (1949)
• Northwest Outpost - Director & Associate Producer (1947)
• Calendar Girl - Director (1947)
• Driftwood - Director (1947)
• Brewster's Millions - Director (1945)
• Getting Gertie's Garter - Director & Screenwriter (1945)
• Abroad With Two Yanks - Director (1944)
• Up in Mabel's Room - Director (1944)
• Around the World - Director & Producer (1943)
• Friendly Enemies - Director (1942)
• Look Who's Laughing - Director & Producer (1941)
• Young People - Director (1940)
• The Gorilla - Director (1939)
• The Three Musketeers - Director (1939)
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm - Director (1938)
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm/The Little Colonel - Director (1938)
• Heidi - Director (1937)
• The Iron Mask - Director (1929)
• Robin Hood - Director (1922)
• Fairbanks Fragments - Director & Screenwriter (1916-1918)
• Fairbanks Fine Arts - Director (1916)
• Manhattan Madness - Director (1916)

See also: Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood