Background
Frank Borzage was born on April 23, 1893, in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, the son of Lewis Borzage and Mari Reich.
(United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT pl...)
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Black & White, Booklet, Commentary, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Short Film, SYNOPSIS: Lucky Star (1929) Lucky Star sees the great romantic screen pairing of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell for the third time. The chemistry is palpable, working with Borzage's visual techniques to create an ethereally beautiful and delicate result - a tale of a poverty-stricken girl and budding crook who is transformed by through her friendship with a wheelchair-bound Great War veteran. Liliom (1930) Liliom is Borzage's seminal version Ferenc Molnár's celebrated play. Starring Charles Farrell and Rose Hobart, this lost classic was Borzage's first talkie and was remade as the much loved Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. ...Frank Borzage - Volume 2 ( Lucky Star / Liliom ) ( Frank Borzage - Vol. Two )
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(The great Frank Borzage (A Farewell to Arms) directed thi...)
The great Frank Borzage (A Farewell to Arms) directed this pre-code classic set during The Great Depression, James Dunn (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) and Sally Eilers (The Black Camel) play a poor couple who must marry when she becomes pregnant. Skeptical about romance they nonetheless fall in love, but their lack of confidence in humanity and the opposite sex begins to haunt their marriage. Academy Award® Nominee for Best Picture and Winner of Two Academy Awards® for Best Director (Borzage) and Best Writing and Adaption (Edwin J. Burke). Based on the Novel by Viña Delmar (The Awful Truth) and play by Brian Marlow (Supernatural). Special Features: Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kent Jones | Trailers
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(NOTICE: Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/mar...)
NOTICE: Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk DOES NOT have English audio and subtitles.
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(The Mortal Storm is the story of Hitler's rise to power a...)
The Mortal Storm is the story of Hitler's rise to power as seen through the microcosm of one German family. What may seem small and personal is instead towering, a bold revelation of the brutality of the Nazi regime that so infuriated propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels that he banned all MGM movies in Germany. In their fourth and final teaming, Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart play sweethearts, evoking the tender, romantic empathy that always marked their work together. They lead a sterling cast in director Frank Borzage's sweeping tale of the political and human chaos that rips a family apart, sets child against parent and lover against lover, and leads to savagery, to sacrifice and to heroism. When sold by Amazon.com, this product will be manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
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(A world of girders and cable - that's where Mack Hale wor...)
A world of girders and cable - that's where Mack Hale works, supervising the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. In its shadow is a world of hopes and fears. That's where Lynn Palmer works, aiding travelers stranded in an unforgiving city during the depths of the Depression. In this fast-paced romantic drama directed by two-time Academy Award(r) winner* Frank Borzage, Kay Francis and George Brent portray a young couple threatened by gangsters eager to muscle in on the construction payroll. The plot is crisp but Stranded is equally engaging as a snapshot of time and place as Lynn does her best for an unwed mother, a destitute boy, four giggling mail-order brides and more bewildered folks grateful for her helping hand.
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Frank Borzage was born on April 23, 1893, in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, the son of Lewis Borzage and Mari Reich.
Lacking interest in his father's successful cattle ranch, Frank quit school at age thirteen. Later he took a correspondence school course in drama.
After working in a silver mine, Frank Borzage drifted about the country for three years as a character actor, living in boxcars and tents. He reached Hollywood in 1913, ambitious to further his modest acting career. In Hollywood, Borzage became part of Thomas H. Ince's production company, playing romantic leads and stock villains in westerns for $5 a day and carfare. In 1916 he began directing short films in which he frequently starred. By 1920, when Humoresque, his first major production, was released, Borzage had nearly three dozen short films to his credit. The appearance of Humoresque, which many critics considered one of the finest films of the year, earned Borzage a reputation for excellence.
During the 1930's, the most productive and artistically important decade of his career, he directed many romantic classics. Among the most acclaimed films were A Farewell to Arms (1932), Man's Castle (1933), Little Man, What Now? (1934), Desire (1936), History Is Made at Night (1937), and Three Comrades (1938). Borzage preferred above all to underscore the power and purity of love in the face of adversity. His best films depended for their success on the creation of a pair of screen lovers. Optimistic and tender, his romantic films became more religious by the end of the 1930's. In The Shining Hour (1938), Disputed Passage (1939), and Strange Cargo (1940), he displayed sensitivity in the handling of his cast and in his visual style. Critics began to notice the "spiritual" qualities of his cinematography.
Borzage also started producing films at this time, although it was not until the 1940's that he became heavily involved with production. Even so, he limited himself to directing duties for the most part. It may not be entirely coincidental that in none of his finest films was he both producer and director. Borzage, who freelanced after leaving the Fox studios in the early 1930's, departed to a degree from melodrama during World War II, in order to undertake a greater variety of scripts. Some were on wartime themes (the best being The Mortal Storm in 1940), and he also managed a comedy and a musical. Few rose above the mediocre, and Moonrise (1949), the most critically praised and ambitious, was a failure at the box office.
For a filmmaker who at the height of his career had frequently directed three films a year, the 1950's were an unusually fallow period. A nine-year interval separated Moonrise from China Doll, a World War II melodrama released in 1958. Borzage's last film, and his longest one, was The Big Fisherman, a three-hour biblical spectacular (1959). He died at Los Angeles, California.
(The great Frank Borzage (A Farewell to Arms) directed thi...)
(A world of girders and cable - that's where Mack Hale wor...)
(The Mortal Storm is the story of Hitler's rise to power a...)
(United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT pl...)
(NOTICE: Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/mar...)
Quotations:
"The first duty of a director is to tell a story. "
"Repetition destroyed naturalness, the primary requisite of good acting. "
Frank Bonzage was even-tempered and good-natured in his handling of cast and crew, and his views on filmmaking were simple and basic.
Quotes from others about the person
"Bonzage's work was imbued with a warmth, a humanity, that often carried it over the line between delicacy and preciousness, between compassion and sentimentality, but which never failed to stir the passions of his audience. " - a critic
In 1916 Borzage married Rena Rogers, a vaudeville performer and actress. In 1940 he and his wife were divorced. On November 25, 1945, Borzage married Edna Stilwell Skelton, former wife of comedian Red Skelton; they were divorced in 1949. He married Juanita Scott on June 16, 1953. All his marriages were childless.