Frank Lloyd(1886-1960)
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Frank Lloyd was an unpretentious, technically skilled director, who
crafted several enduring Hollywood classics during the
1930's. He started out as a stage actor and singer in early 1900's London and was well-known as an imitator of Harry Lauder.
After several years in music hall and with touring repertory companies,
Lloyd emigrated to Canada in 1909 and joined the travelling theatrical
troupe of Winnipeg entrepreneur C.P. Walker. In between acting, he made
ends meet by working as a repair man on telegraph lines. While in
Edmonton, Alberta, he met and married the German-American soubrette
Alma Haller. Lloyd spent several months on the vaudeville circuit and
in burlesque shows on the West Coast before marking his arrival in
Hollywood with an acting contract at Universal in 1913. After two years
of consistently poor critical notices, he gave up the acting profession
for good and turned his skills to writing and directing.
In two years at Fox, 1917-19, he directed some fifteen films, often
starring the popular matinée idol
William Farnum. The majority were
Zane Grey westerns (including an early
version of
Riders of the Purple Sage (1918))
and adaptations of classic literature (such as
A Tale of Two Cities (1917)
and Les Misérables (1917)). After
a spell with Samuel Goldwyn, Lloyd joined
First National/Warner Brothers (1922-31) and became the resident
specialist in period drama and swashbuckling adventure. As his
reputation grew, he was given charge of his own production unit. Among
his most famous films during this period are
Oliver Twist (1922), with
Jackie Coogan in the title role and
Lon Chaney as Fagin;
The Eternal Flame (1922), a
historical drama based on a novel by
Honoré de Balzac; and
The Sea Hawk (1924), with
Milton Sills. In 1929, Lloyd became the
second director to receive a coveted Academy Award, for
The Divine Lady (1928), one of
three films for which he had been nominated.
Much of Lloyd's acclaim is based on his work during the
1930's. At Fox (1931-34), he directed Noël Coward's
Cavalcade (1933), and the historical
fantasy Berkeley Square (1933) --
both with meticulous attention to geographic and period detail.
Immensely popular at the box office, the former won Lloyd his second
Oscar and returned $ 5 million in grosses from a production cost of
$1.25 million. 'Berkeley Square' was described by the New York Times as
"an example of delicacy and restraint" and "in a class by itself"
(September 14, 1933). Lloyd's brief stint at MGM in 1935 culminated in
the greatest success of his career.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
won the Best Picture Oscar in its year and heaped praise on the
director for maintaining strong narrative cohesion throughout, and for
eliciting superb performances from stars
Clark Gable (as Fletcher Christian) and
Charles Laughton (as Captain Bligh).
Lloyd continued in the same vein with the rollicking Foreign Legion
adventure Under Two Flags (1936)
and the sweeping (though historically inaccurate), big budget western
epic Wells Fargo (1937). Also at
Paramount, and, once again with his own production unit , he filmed the
romantic story of adventurer-poet
François Villon,
If I Were King (1938), with
excellent production values and superb acting from
Ronald Colman and
Basil Rathbone.
After completing a two-year contract at Columbia (1940-41), Lloyd
served in World War II in command of the 13th Air Force Combat Camera
Unit, turning out short documentaries. He rose to the rank of major and
was decorated with the Legion of Merit. After the war, he temporarily
retired to life on his Carmel Valley ranch, but made a brief comeback
after the death of his wife Alma. His swan song for Republic Studio was
the story of the Battle of the Alamo,
The Last Command (1955), a
suitably-titled finale to the career of one of the great action
directors of the period. Lloyd has a star on the Walk of Fame on
Hollywood Boulevard.
crafted several enduring Hollywood classics during the
1930's. He started out as a stage actor and singer in early 1900's London and was well-known as an imitator of Harry Lauder.
After several years in music hall and with touring repertory companies,
Lloyd emigrated to Canada in 1909 and joined the travelling theatrical
troupe of Winnipeg entrepreneur C.P. Walker. In between acting, he made
ends meet by working as a repair man on telegraph lines. While in
Edmonton, Alberta, he met and married the German-American soubrette
Alma Haller. Lloyd spent several months on the vaudeville circuit and
in burlesque shows on the West Coast before marking his arrival in
Hollywood with an acting contract at Universal in 1913. After two years
of consistently poor critical notices, he gave up the acting profession
for good and turned his skills to writing and directing.
In two years at Fox, 1917-19, he directed some fifteen films, often
starring the popular matinée idol
William Farnum. The majority were
Zane Grey westerns (including an early
version of
Riders of the Purple Sage (1918))
and adaptations of classic literature (such as
A Tale of Two Cities (1917)
and Les Misérables (1917)). After
a spell with Samuel Goldwyn, Lloyd joined
First National/Warner Brothers (1922-31) and became the resident
specialist in period drama and swashbuckling adventure. As his
reputation grew, he was given charge of his own production unit. Among
his most famous films during this period are
Oliver Twist (1922), with
Jackie Coogan in the title role and
Lon Chaney as Fagin;
The Eternal Flame (1922), a
historical drama based on a novel by
Honoré de Balzac; and
The Sea Hawk (1924), with
Milton Sills. In 1929, Lloyd became the
second director to receive a coveted Academy Award, for
The Divine Lady (1928), one of
three films for which he had been nominated.
Much of Lloyd's acclaim is based on his work during the
1930's. At Fox (1931-34), he directed Noël Coward's
Cavalcade (1933), and the historical
fantasy Berkeley Square (1933) --
both with meticulous attention to geographic and period detail.
Immensely popular at the box office, the former won Lloyd his second
Oscar and returned $ 5 million in grosses from a production cost of
$1.25 million. 'Berkeley Square' was described by the New York Times as
"an example of delicacy and restraint" and "in a class by itself"
(September 14, 1933). Lloyd's brief stint at MGM in 1935 culminated in
the greatest success of his career.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
won the Best Picture Oscar in its year and heaped praise on the
director for maintaining strong narrative cohesion throughout, and for
eliciting superb performances from stars
Clark Gable (as Fletcher Christian) and
Charles Laughton (as Captain Bligh).
Lloyd continued in the same vein with the rollicking Foreign Legion
adventure Under Two Flags (1936)
and the sweeping (though historically inaccurate), big budget western
epic Wells Fargo (1937). Also at
Paramount, and, once again with his own production unit , he filmed the
romantic story of adventurer-poet
François Villon,
If I Were King (1938), with
excellent production values and superb acting from
Ronald Colman and
Basil Rathbone.
After completing a two-year contract at Columbia (1940-41), Lloyd
served in World War II in command of the 13th Air Force Combat Camera
Unit, turning out short documentaries. He rose to the rank of major and
was decorated with the Legion of Merit. After the war, he temporarily
retired to life on his Carmel Valley ranch, but made a brief comeback
after the death of his wife Alma. His swan song for Republic Studio was
the story of the Battle of the Alamo,
The Last Command (1955), a
suitably-titled finale to the career of one of the great action
directors of the period. Lloyd has a star on the Walk of Fame on
Hollywood Boulevard.