Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan (
April 3,
1885 –
December 21,
1981) was a pioneering
Canadian-born American
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 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.
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.
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 who 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.
As director:
The Gold Lust (1911)
David Harum (1915)
Manhattan Madness (1916)
Fairbanks Fine Arts (1916)
Fairbanks Fragments (1916-1918) also screenwriter
Robin Hood (1922)
The Iron Mask (1929)
Heidi (1937)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm/The Little Colonel (1938)
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)
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)
The Restless Breed (1957)
Enchanted Island (1958)
See also:
Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood* Foster, Charles,
Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood (2000) ISBN 1-55002-348-9
