Expert: Popcorn Guy - 1/8/2010

Question
Hello,
Howard Hawks was my grandfather born on 30 May 1896 and died the day after Christmas in 1977. My father is Gregg Wayne Hawks,(born in 1954) a is a writer for the Chicago Sun Times. I was born on September 8, 1975 to Gregg & Melange (Ford) in Chicago, IL. I have been researching grandfathers work for about three years and was wondering what you thought of his work as a whole. I was only two when he died so I do not remember him. His work spanned 44 years from 1926 - 1970 during which time he Produced 22, Directed 47 and wrote 25. He also acted in two (bit parts). My father told me that Howard once told him that John Wayne was his favorite actor, and his favorite films to direct were Sergeant York, Rio Bravo and Hatari. If you have time would you please share your views on Howard Hawks as an Director, Producer and Writer with me so I can add it to my research.
Thanks, Wayne Hawks

Answer
Wayne...

I am honored you asked me.... my opinion of Howard Hawks, in a word... genius. Plain and simple, genius. As a writer, he worked with dialogue the way some people craft plays. Tight, quick, and to the point. If he had a fault as a writer, it came only in the same place most male writers have - writing dialogue for women that sounds like the way women talk. That takes an ear that few writers, even today, seem to have. His true strengths came in his skills as a director and producer. Even today, a film student and/or historian can point to Howard Hawks as one of the five best directors ever, maybe second only to John Ford. Personally, I call it a tie there.

I love the way Hawks painted pictures on screen as a director. Case in point, the long hold on the close-ups of Gary Cooper sighting down his rifle in Sergeant York. It would have been easy to just have Cooper aim, sight, and shoot, but the pause... the pause there, giving you the picture of a man who learned to shoot in order to feed his family, when every shot meant life, just as it does in war.

I am one of the movie fans that throws Rio Bravo in the DVD player at least once a week, if only just to catch a few scenes... what I admire most about him, though, is his versitility. Most directors tended, in his day, to hang within one genre. It was a safe comfort zone, and I do not blame any of them for doing so any more than I blame Stephen King for "hanging around" in horror fiction more than trying his luck writing a romance novel. Hawks had a flair for comedy, a deep feeling (apparently) for Westerns, but could use tools from both genres to make a drama more interesting and personal.

I don't know if this is what you were looking for, but if you need more info, please ask... I could go on all day, and I don't want to bore you without your permission...

Thanks,


Popcorn Guy, a.k.a., Tony Daniel