Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.

Early life

Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, Canada, Dwan was the younger son of commercial traveler of woolen clothing Joseph Michael Dwan (1857–1917) and his wife Mary Jane Dwan (née Hunt). The family moved to the United States when he was seven years old on December 4, 1892, by ferry from Windsor to Detroit, according to his

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

petition of August 1939. His elder brother, Leo Garnet Dwan (1883–1964), became a physician. Allan Dwan studied engineering at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

and then worked for a lighting company in Chicago. He had a strong interest in the fledgling motion picture industry, and when

Essanay Studios Essanay Studios, officially the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago by George Kirke Spoor and Gilbert M. Anderson, originally as the Peerless Film Manufactu ...

offered him the opportunity to become a scriptwriter, he took the job. At that time, some of the East Coast movie makers began to spend winters in California where the climate allowed them to continue productions requiring warm weather. Soon, a number of movie companies worked there year-round, and in 1911, Dwan began working part-time in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. While still in New York, in 1917 he was the founding president of the East Coast chapter of the Motion Picture Directors Association.

Career

Dwan started his directing career by accident in 1911, when he was sent by his employers to California, in order to locate a company that had vanished. Dwan managed to track the company down, and learned that they were waiting for a film director (who was an alcoholic) to return from a binge and allow them to resume their work. Dwan wired back to his employers in Chicago, informing them of the situation, and suggested that they disband the company. They wired back, instructing Dwan to direct the stalled film. When Dwan informed the company of the situation, and that their jobs were on the line, they responded: "You're the best damn director we ever saw". Dwan operated Flying A Studios in

La Mesa, California La Mesa () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States, located east of downtown San Diego in Southern California. The population was 61,121 at the 2020 census, up from 57,065 at the 2010 census. Its civic motto is "the Jewel of ...

, from August 1911 to July 1912. Flying A was one of the first motion pictures studios in California history. On August 12, 2011, a plaque was unveiled on the Wolff building at Third Avenue and La Mesa Boulevard commemorating Dwan and the Flying A Studios origins in

. After making a series of westerns and comedies, Dwan directed fellow Canadian-American

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

in several very successful movies as well as her husband,

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

, notably in the acclaimed 1922 ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

''. Around that time, he also directed

Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard ...

in ''A Perfect Crime'', her film debut. Dwan directed

Gloria Swanson Gloria Mae Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for h ...

in eight feature films, and one short film made in the short-lived sound-on-film process

Phonofilm Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s. In 1919 and 1920, de Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film process, DeForest Phonofi ...

. This short, also featuring

Thomas Meighan Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he made ...

and

Henri de la Falaise Henry de La Falaise, Marquis de La Coudraye (born James Henri Le Bailly de la Falaise; February 11, 1898 – April 10, 1972), was a French nobleman, translator, film director, film producer, sometime actor, and war hero who was best known for his ...

, was produced as a joke, for the April 26, 1925 "Lambs' Gambol" for

The Lambs The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a New York City social club that nurtures those active in the arts, as well as those who are supporters of the arts, by providing activities and a clubhouse for its members. It is America's old ...

, with the film showing Swanson crashing the all-male club. Following the introduction of the

talkies A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

, Dwan directed child-star

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple; April 23, 1928 – February 10, 2014) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat, who was Hollywood's number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938. Later, she was na ...

in ''

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published between 1880 and 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' () and ''Heidi: How She Used What She Learned'' ( ...

'' (1937) and '' Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' (1938). Dwan helped launch the career of two other successful Hollywood directors,

Victor Fleming Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were the historical drama ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an A ...

, who went on to direct ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' and ''

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'', and

Marshall Neilan Marshall Ambrose "Mickey" Neilan (April 11, 1891 – October 27, 1958; also credited Marshall Neilon) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, whose work in films began in the early Silent film, silent era. Early life Born ...

, who became an actor, director, writer and producer. Over a long career spanning almost 50 years, Dwan directed 125 motion pictures, some of which were highly acclaimed, such as the 1949 box office hit, ''

Sands of Iwo Jima ''Sands of Iwo Jima'' is a 1949 war film starring John Wayne that follows a group of United States Marine Corps, United States Marines from training to the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. The film, which also features John Agar, Adele M ...

''. He directed his last movie in 1961. Being one of the last surviving pioneers of the cinema, he was interviewed at length for the 1980 documentary series ''

''. He died in Los Angeles at the age of 96, and is interred in the

San Fernando Mission Cemetery The San Fernando Mission Cemetery, a significant part of the Mission Hills community in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, is steeped in history. It stands adjacent to the iconic San Fernando Mission, also known as Mission San Fernando Rey d ...

, Mission Hills, California. Dwan has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

at 6263

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

. Daniel Eagan of ''

Film Journal International ''Film Journal International'' was a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It was a sister publication of '' Adweek'', '' Billboard'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and other periodical ...

'' described Dwan as one of the early pioneers of cinema, stating that his style "is so basic as to seem invisible, but he treats his characters with uncommon sympathy and compassion."

Partial filmography as director

*'' The Restless Spirit'' (1913) *'' Back to Life'' (1913) *'' Bloodhounds of the North'' (1913) *'' The Lie'' (1914) *'' The Honor of the Mounted'' (1914) * '' The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch'' (1914) *'' Remember Mary Magdalen'' (1914) *'' Discord and Harmony'' (1914) *'' The Embezzler'' (1914) *'' The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf'' (1914) *'' The End of the Feud'' (1914) *'' The Test'' (1914) (*writer) *'' The Tragedy of Whispering Creek'' (1914) *''

The Unlawful Trade ''The Unlawful Trade'' is a 1914 American silent short drama film directed by Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer ...

'' (1914) *'' The Forbidden Room'' (1914) *'' The Hopes of Blind Alley'' (1914) *'' Richelieu'' (1914) * ''

Wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, rather than being intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is any different from the native plant, eve ...

'' (1914) *'' A Small Town Girl'' (1915) *'' David Harum'' (1915) *'' A Girl of Yesterday'' (1915) *'' The Pretty Sister of Jose'' (1915) * '' Jordan Is a Hard Road'' (1915) *'' The Habit of Happiness'' (1916) *'' The Good Bad Man'' (1916) *'' An Innocent Magdalene'' (1916) *'' The Half-Breed'' (1916) *'' Manhattan Madness'' (1916) *'' Accusing Evidence'' (1916) *''

Panthea ''Panthea'' is a genus of the owlet moth family, Noctuidae. The word ''Panthea'' is from Greek, meaning "all of gods" .''Panthea''

'' (1917) *''
A Modern Musketeer ''A Modern Musketeer'' is a 1917 American silent film, silent adventure film, adventure comedy film directed and written by Allan Dwan. Based on the short story, "D'Artagnan of Kansas" by Eugene P. Lyle, Jr., which appeared in ''Everybody's Maga ...
'' (1917) *'' Bound in Morocco'' (1918) *'' Headin' South'' (1918) *'' Mr. Fix-It'' (1918) *'' He Comes Up Smiling'' (1918) *'' Cheating Cheaters'' (1919) *'' The Dark Star'' (1919) *'' Getting Mary Married'' (1919) *'' Soldiers of Fortune'' (1919) *'' In The Heart of a Fool'' (1920) also producer *'' The Forbidden Thing'' (1920) also producer *'' A Splendid Hazard'' (1920) *'' A Perfect Crime'' (1921) * '' The Sin of Martha Queed'' (1921) * ''
A Broken Doll ''A Broken Doll'' is a 1921 American silent film, silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Monte Blue, Mary Thurman and Mary Jane Irving.Lombardi p.117 Plot The film centers on a ranch hand named Tommy Dawes and a young girl called ...
'' (1921) *''
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
'' (1922) *'' Zaza'' (1923) *'' Big Brother'' (1923) *'' Manhandled'' (1924) *'' Argentine Love'' (1924) *'' The Coast of Folly'' (1925) *'' Night Life of New York'' (1925) *'' Stage Struck'' (1925) *'' Padlocked'' (1926) *'' Sea Horses'' (1926) *'' Summer Bachelors'' (1926) *'' Tin Gods'' (1926) *'' French Dressing'' (1927) *''
The Joy Girl ''The Joy Girl'' is a 1927 American two-strip Technicolor silent comedy film directed by Allan Dwan, released by Fox Film Corporation, starring Olive Borden, Neil Hamilton, and Marie Dressler, and based on the short story of the same name by ...
'' (1927) *'' East Side, West Side'' (1927) *'' The Big Noise'' (1928) *'' Frozen Justice'' (1929) *'' The Iron Mask'' (1929) *'' Tide of Empire'' (1929) *'' The Far Call'' (1929) *'' What a Widow!'' (1930) *'' Man to Man'' (1930) *'' Wicked'' (1931) *'' While Paris Sleeps'' (1932) *''
Counsel's Opinion ''Counsel's Opinion'' is a 1933 British romantic comedy film starring Henry Kendall and Binnie Barnes. It was one of three films directed in Britain in the early 1930s by Canadian-American Allan Dwan and was an early production from Alexander ...
'' (1933) *''
Black Sheep In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...
'' (1935) *'' Navy Wife'' (1935) *'' High Tension'' (1936) *'' 15 Maiden Lane'' (1936) *''
One Mile from Heaven ''One Mile from Heaven'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Lou Breslow and John Patrick. The film stars Claire Trevor, Sally Blane, Douglas Fowley, Fredi Washington, Joan Carroll and Ralf Harolde. The film w ...
'' (1937) *''
Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published between 1880 and 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' () and ''Heidi: How She Used What She Learned'' ( ...
'' (1937) *'' Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' (1938) *''
Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
'' (1938) * '' Josette'' (1938) *''
The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...
'' (1939) *'' The Gorilla'' (1939) *'' Frontier Marshal'' (1939) *'' Sailor's Lady'' (1940) *'' Young People'' (1940) *'' Trail of the Vigilantes'' (1940) *''
Look Who's Laughing ''Look Who's Laughing'' is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Allan Dwan It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures. The film is built around a number of sitcom, radio stars from the Golden Age of Radio and centers around radio person ...
'' (1941) also producer *'' Rise and Shine'' (1941) *'' Friendly Enemies'' (1942) *'' Around the World'' (1943) also producer *'' Up in Mabel's Room'' (1944) *'' Abroad with Two Yanks'' (1944) *'' Getting Gertie's Garter'' (1945) also screenwriter *''
Brewster's Millions ''Brewster's Millions'' is a comedic novel written by George Barr McCutcheon in 1902, originally under the pseudonym of Richard Greaves. The plot concerns a young man whose grandfather leaves him $1 million in a will, but a competing will from ...
'' (1945) *'' Rendezvous with Annie'' (1946) *''
Driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...
'' (1947) *'' Calendar Girl'' (1947) *'' Northwest Outpost'' (1947) also associate producer *'' The Inside Story'' (1948) *''
Angel in Exile ''Angel in Exile'' is a 1948 American Western (genre), western film directed by Allan Dwan and Philip Ford (film director), Philip Ford and starring John Carroll (actor), John Carroll, Adele Mara, Thomas Gomez, Barton MacLane. The film was releas ...
'' (1948) (with Philip Ford) *''
Sands of Iwo Jima ''Sands of Iwo Jima'' is a 1949 war film starring John Wayne that follows a group of United States Marine Corps, United States Marines from training to the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. The film, which also features John Agar, Adele M ...
'' (1949) *'' Surrender'' (1950) *'' Belle Le Grand'' (1951) *'' Wild Blue Yonder'' (1951) *'' I Dream of Jeanie'' (1952) *'' Montana Belle'' (1952) *'' Woman They Almost Lynched'' (1953) * '' Sweethearts on Parade'' (1953) *'' Silver Lode'' (1954) *'' Passion'' (1954) *'' Cattle Queen of Montana'' (1954) *'' Tennessee's Partner'' (1955) *'' Pearl of the South Pacific'' (1955) *'' Escape to Burma'' (1955) *'' Slightly Scarlet'' (1956) *'' Hold Back the Night'' (1956) *'' The Restless Breed'' (1957) *'' The River's Edge'' (1957) *'' Enchanted Island'' (1958) *'' Most Dangerous Man Alive'' (1961)

See also
*
Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood Motion pictures have been a part of the culture of Canada since the industry began. History Around 1910, the East Coast filmmakers began to take advantage of the mild California winter climates, and after Nestor Studios, run by Canadian Al Chri ...

References

Further reading
* Brownlow, Kevin, ''The Parade's Gone By...'' (1968) * Bogdanovich, Peter, ''Allan Dwan: The Last Pioneer'' (1971) * Foster, Charles, ''Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood'' (2000) *Lombardi, Frederic, ''Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios'' (2013) Print E-book

External links
*
Allan Dwan profile
virtual-history.com; accessed June 16, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dwan, Allan 1885 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters Film directors from Los Angeles Film producers from Los Angeles American male screenwriters Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery Canadian emigrants to the United States Film directors from Toronto Western (genre) film directors Screenwriters from Toronto People from La Mesa, California Writers from San Diego