George Stevens

George Stevens
Born December 18, 1904(1904-12-18)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Died March 8, 1975(1975-03-08) (aged 70)
Lancaster, California, U.S.
Occupation Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Writer, Producer
Years active 1915–1970
Spouse Yvonne Howell (1930–1947)
Joan McTavish (1968–1975)
Awards NBR Award for Best Director
1953 Shane
NYFCC Award for Best Director
1943 The More the Merrier
Hollywood Walk of Fame
1701 Vine Street

George Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.

Among his most notable films were Diary of Anne Frank (1959), nominated for Best Director, Giant (1956), winner of Oscar for Best Director, Shane (1953), Oscar nominated, and A Place in the Sun (1951), winner of Oscar for Best Director.

Contents

Film career

Born in Oakland, California, Stevens broke into the movie business as a cameraman, working on many Laurel and Hardy shorts. His first feature film was The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble in 1933.

In 1934 he got his first directing job, the slapstick Kentucky Kernels. His big break came when he directed Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams in 1935. He went on in the late 1930s to direct several Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movies, not only with the two actors together, but on their own. In 1940, he directed Carole Lombard in Vigil in the Night, and the film has an alternate ending for European audiences in recognition of World War II, which the US had not yet entered.

During the Second World War, Stevens joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps and headed a film unit from 1943 to 1946, under General Eisenhower. His unit shot footage documenting D-Day—including the only Allied European Front color film of the war—the liberation of Paris and the meeting of American and Soviet forces at the Elbe River, as well as horrific scenes from the Duben labor camp and the Dachau concentration camp. Stevens also helped prepare the Duben and Dachau footage and other material for presentation during the Nuremberg Trials.[1] In 2008, his footage was entered into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as an "essential visual record" of World War II.[2]

One result of his World War II experiences was that his subsequent films became more dramatic. I Remember Mama in 1948 was the last movie that he made with comic scenes. He was responsible for such classic films as A Place in the Sun, Shane, The Diary of Anne Frank, Giant and The Greatest Story Ever Told. He ended his directing career with the 1970 film The Only Game in Town with Warren Beatty and in her final film with Stevens, Elizabeth Taylor. In the same year, he was head of the jury at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival.[3]

Personal life

Stevens is the father of TV and film writer-producer-director George Stevens, Jr. (who was named the first CEO and director of the American Film Institute), and is the grandfather of TV and film producer-director Michael Stevens.

Stevens died following a heart attack on March 8, 1975 on his ranch in Lancaster, California, north of Los Angeles.

Awards

Stevens has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1701 Vine Street. He won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, in 1951 for A Place in the Sun and in 1956 for Giant. He was also nominated in 1943 for The More the Merrier, in 1954 for Shane, and in 1959 for The Diary of Anne Frank.

Filmography

Year Title Production Co. Cast Notes
1930 Ladies Last Hal Roach Studios 3rd episode from the "Boy Friends" series
1931 Blood and Thunder Hal Roach Studios 4th episode from the "Boy Friends" series
1931 High Gear Hal Roach Studios 5th episode from the "Boy Friends" series
1931 Air-Tight Hal Roach Studios 7th episode from the "Boy Friends" series
1931 Call a Cop! Hal Roach Studios 8th episode from the "Boy Friends" series
1931 Mama Loves Papa Hal Roach Studios 9th episode from the "Boy Friends" series
1931 The Kick-Off! Hal Roach Studios 10th episode from the "Boy Friends" series
1932 Who, Me? Universal Short film
1932 The Finishing Touch Universal Short film
1932 Boys Will Be Boys Universal Short film
1933 A Divorce Courtship Universal Short film
1933 Family Troubles Universal Short film
1933 Rock-a-Bye Cowboy Universal Short film
1933 Should Crooners Marry Universal Short film
1933 The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble Universal George Sidney / Charles Murray Part of "The Cohens and Kellys" comedy series
1933 Room Mates Universal Short film
1933 Quiet Please! RKO Short film
1933 Flirting in the Park RKO June Brewster / Carol Tevis Part of "The Blonde and The Redhead" comedy series
1933 What Fur RKO Short film
1933 Grin and Bear It RKO Short film
1934 Ocean Swells RKO Short film
1934 The Undie-World RKO June Brewster / Carol Tevis Part of "The Blonde and The Redhead" comedy series
1934 Cracked Shots RKO Short film
1934 Hollywood Party MGM Hollywood Revue In an attempt to salvage the film Harry Kapf hired Stevens, and 8 other directors, to direct a sequence for the film.
1934 Bachelor Bait RKO Stuart Erwin / Rochelle Hudson
1934 Kentucky Kernels RKO Robert Woolsey / Bert Wheeler / George McFarland
1935 Bridal Bail RKO June Brewster / Carol Tevis Part of "The Blonde and The Redhead" comedy series
1935 Hunger Pains RKO June Brewster / Carol Tevis Part of "The Blonde and The Redhead" comedy series
1935 Laddie RKO
1935 The Nitwits RKO Robert Woolsey / Bert Wheeler / Betty Grable
1935 Alice Adams RKO Katharine Hepburn / Fred MacMurray
1935 Annie Oakley RKO Barbara Stanwyck
1936 Swing Time RKO Fred Astaire / Ginger Rogers
1937 Quality Street RKO Katharine Hepburn / Franchot Tone
1937 A Damsel in Distress RKO Fred Astaire / Joan Fontaine / George Burns / Gracie Allen
1938 Vivacious Lady RKO Ginger Rogers / Jimmy Stewart
1939 Gunga Din RKO Cary Grant / Douglas Fairbanks Jr. / Victor McLaglen / Joan Fontaine
1940 Vigil in the Night RKO Carole Lombard / Brian Aherne / Anne Shirley
1941 Penny Serenade Columbia Cary Grant / Irene Dunne
1942 Woman of the Year MGM Spencer Tracy / Katharine Hepburn
1942 The Talk of the Town Columbia Cary Grant / Jean Arthur / Ronald Colman
1943 The More the Merrier Columbia Jean Arthur / Charles Coburn / Joel McCrea
1945 That Justice Be Done War Activities Committee Documentary / Short film
1945 Nazi Concentration Camps Documentary
1945 The Nazi Plan U.S. Council for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality Documentary
1948 On Our Merry Way Miracle Productions Anthology story / Co-directed a sequence
1948 I Remember Mama RKO Irene Dunne
1951 A Place in the Sun Paramount Montgomery Clift / Elizabeth Taylor / Shelley Winters
1952 Something to Live For MGM Joan Fontaine / Ray Milland /
1953 Shane Paramount Alan Ladd First Technicolor film
1956 Giant Warner Bros. Elizabeth Taylor / Rock Hudson / James Dean Warnercolor film
1959 The Diary of Anne Frank 20th Century Fox Millie Perkins / Joseph Schildkraut
1965 The Greatest Story Ever Told George Stevens Prod. Max von Sydow Technicolor film
1970 The Only Game in Town 20th Century Fox Elizabeth Taylor / Warren Beatty Color film

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Robert E. Conot, Justice at Nuremberg, page 197
  2. ↑ Library of Congress "Cinematic Classics, Legendary Stars, Comedic Legends and Novice Filmmakers Showcase the 2008 Film Registry" News from the Library of Congress (30 December 2008)
  3. ↑ "Berlinale 1970: Juries". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1970/04_jury_1970/04_Jury_1970.html. Retrieved 2010-03-08. 

Bibliography

External links

Films directed by George Stevens

The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble • Kentucky Kernels • Hollywood Party • Bachelor Bait • Laddie • The Nitwits • Alice Adams • Annie Oakley • Swing Time • Quality Street • A Damsel in Distress • Vivacious Lady • Gunga Din • Vigil in the Night • Penny Serenade • Woman of the Year • The Talk of the Town • The More the Merrier • On Our Merry Way • I Remember Mama • A Place in the Sun • Something to Live For • Shane • Giant • The Diary of Anne Frank • The Greatest Story Ever Told • The Only Game in Town
Academy Award for Best Director

John Ford (1941) · William Wyler (1942) · Michael Curtiz (1943) · Leo McCarey (1944) · Billy Wilder (1945) · William Wyler (1946) · Elia Kazan (1947) · John Huston (1948) · Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1949) · Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1950) · George Stevens (1951) · John Ford (1952) · Fred Zinnemann (1953) · Elia Kazan (1954) · Delbert Mann (1955) · George Stevens (1956) · David Lean (1957) · Vincente Minnelli (1958) · William Wyler (1959) · Billy Wilder (1960)

Complete list · (1927–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
Presidents of the Screen Directors Guild and the Directors Guild of America

King Vidor (1936) · Frank Capra (1939) · George Stevens (1941) · Mark Sandrich (1943) · John Cromwell (1944) · George Marshall (1948) · Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1950) · George Sidney (1951) · Frank Capra (1960) · George Sidney (1961) · Delbert Mann (1967) · Robert Wise (1971) · Robert Aldrich (1975) · George Schaefer (1979) · Jud Taylor (1981) · Gilbert Cates (1983) · Franklin J. Schaffner (1987) · Gene Reynolds (1993) · Jack Shea (1997) · Martha Coolidge (2002) · Michael Apted (2003) · Taylor Hackford (2009)
Academy Awards Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Darryl F. Zanuck (1938) · Hal B. Wallis (1939) · David O. Selznick (1940) · Walt Disney (1942) · Sidney Franklin (1943) · Hal B. Wallis (1944) · Darryl F. Zanuck (1945) · Samuel Goldwyn (1947) · Jerry Wald (1949) · Darryl F. Zanuck (1951) · Arthur Freed (1952) · Cecil B. DeMille (1953) · George Stevens (1954) · Buddy Adler (1957) · Jack Warner (1959) · Stanley Kramer (1962) · Sam Spiegel (1964) · William Wyler (1966) · Robert Wise (1967) · Alfred Hitchcock (1968) · Ingmar Bergman (1971) · Lawrence Weingarten (1974) · Mervyn LeRoy (1976) · Pandro S. Berman (1977) · Walter Mirisch (1978) · Ray Stark (1980) · Albert R. Broccoli (1982) · Steven Spielberg (1986) · Billy Wilder (1988) · David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck (1991) · George Lucas (1992) · Clint Eastwood (1995) · Saul Zaentz (1997) · Norman Jewison (1999) · Warren Beatty (2000) · Dino De Laurentiis (2001) · John Calley (2009) · Francis Ford Coppola (2010)