Jack Conway
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He was born as Hugh Ryan Conway, on July 17, 1887, in Graceville, Minnesota, US.
Conway started out as an actor, joining a repertory theater group straight out of high school. He then moved into films and, in 1911, became a member of D.W. Griffith's stock company, appearing primarily in westerns. Four years later, he made his mark as a director and gained valuable experience at Universal (1916–17 and 1921–23), before moving on to MGM in 1925. He remained there until 1948, often helming prestige assignments featuring the studio's top male star, Clark Gable: Boom Town (1940), Honky Tonk (1941), The Hucksters (1947) – all solid box office hits.
Conway was one of a team of MGM contract directors, who forsook any pretense to a specific individual style in favor of working within the strictures set forth by studio management. A thoroughly competent craftsman, he delivered commercially successful entertainments, on time, and within budget. Conway may not have achieved fame as a creative genius, but the majority of his films remain eminently entertaining to this day.
In his most famous film, A Tale of Two Cities (1935), he utilized 17,000 extras for the Paris mob scenes alone. This spectacular adaptation of the Dickens classic is still regarded by many as the definitive screen version. Another popular hit was the sophisticated all-star comedy Libeled Lady (1936), with the New York Times reviewer commenting on Conway's "agile direction". Conway also directed Viva Villa!, a hit MGM film starring Wallace Beery that was nominated for four Academy Awards.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Jack Conway (filmmaker), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
He was born as Hugh Ryan Conway, on July 17, 1887, in Graceville, Minnesota, US.
Conway started out as an actor, joining a repertory theater group straight out of high school. He then moved into films and, in 1911, became a member of D.W. Griffith's stock company, appearing primarily in westerns. Four years later, he made his mark as a director and gained valuable experience at Universal (1916–17 and 1921–23), before moving on to MGM in 1925. He remained there until 1948, often helming prestige assignments featuring the studio's top male star, Clark Gable: Boom Town (1940), Honky Tonk (1941), The Hucksters (1947) – all solid box office hits.
Conway was one of a team of MGM contract directors, who forsook any pretense to a specific individual style in favor of working within the strictures set forth by studio management. A thoroughly competent craftsman, he delivered commercially successful entertainments, on time, and within budget. Conway may not have achieved fame as a creative genius, but the majority of his films remain eminently entertaining to this day.
In his most famous film, A Tale of Two Cities (1935), he utilized 17,000 extras for the Paris mob scenes alone. This spectacular adaptation of the Dickens classic is still regarded by many as the definitive screen version. Another popular hit was the sophisticated all-star comedy Libeled Lady (1936), with the New York Times reviewer commenting on Conway's "agile direction". Conway also directed Viva Villa!, a hit MGM film starring Wallace Beery that was nominated for four Academy Awards.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Jack Conway (filmmaker), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Tales from the Crypt: New Year's Shockin' Eve
Julia Misbehaves
Desire Me
The Hucksters
High Barbaree
Dragon Seed
Assignment in Brittany
Crossroads
Honky Tonk
Love Crazy
Boom Town
Lady of the Tropics
Let Freedom Ring
Too Hot to Handle
A Yank at Oxford
Saratoga
Libeled Lady
A Tale of Two Cities
One New York Night
The Gay Bride
The Girl from Missouri
Viva Villa!
The Solitaire Man
Hell Below
The Nuisance
Red-Headed Woman
But the Flesh Is Weak
Arsène Lupin
Just a Gigolo
The Easiest Way
New Moon
The Unholy Three
They Learned About Women
Untamed
Our Modern Maidens
Alias Jimmy Valentine
The Smart Set
While the City Sleeps
Twelve Miles Out
The Understanding Heart
Brown of Harvard
The Only Thing
The Roughneck
The Heart Buster
The Trouble Shooter
Lucretia Lombard
Trimmed in Scarlet
The Prisoner
Quicksands
The Long Chance
Don't Shoot
Step on It!
Across the Dead-Line
The Millionaire
A Daughter of the Law
The Rage of Paris
The Kiss
The Killer
The U.P. Trail
Riders of the Dawn
Lombardi, Ltd.
Bond of Fear
The Charmer
The Little Orphan
Come Through
A Jewel in Pawn
Polly Redhead
Her Soul's Inspiration
The Mainspring
The Measure of a Man
The Social Buccaneer
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
The Beckoning Trail
The Silent Battle
Macbeth
The Birth of a Nation
The Chechako
Even Unto Death
Burning Daylight: The Adventures of 'Burning Daylight' in Alaska
His Only Son
The Post Telegrapher
Her Indian Hero
Kit Carson's Wooing