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Dorothy Arzner is a Director, Scriptwriter, Assistant Director and Editor American born on 3 january 1897 at San Francisco (USA)

Dorothy Arzner

Dorothy Arzner
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Nationality USA
Birth 3 january 1897 at San Francisco (USA)
Death 1 october 1979 (at 82 years) at La Quinta (USA)

Dorothy Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was an American film director. Her directorial career in feature films spanned from the late 1920s into the early 1940s. Throughout that time she was the only woman working in the field.

Biography

Née dans une famille fortunée, ses parents possèdent une chaîne de restaurants, Dorothy Arzner débute en 1919 à la Paramount Pictures, comme monteuse et scénariste, avant d'y réaliser son premier film en 1927. Elle est alors la seule réalisatrice à Hollywood.

Elle fait tourner Clara Bow pour la première fois en parlant, et présente pour la première fois Katharine Hepburn en pantalon dans Christopher Strong.



En 1932, elle quitte la Paramount et réalise encore quelques films en indépendante, dont Dance, Girl, Dance, aujourd'hui son film culte, surtout à cause de Lucille Ball avec sa fameuse « hula-dance », et le discours de Maureen O'Hara envers un public chic venu se rincer l'œil à un spectacle déshabillé.

Elle est la première femme à intégrer en 1936, à sa création, la Screen Directors Guild.

En 1943, elle met un terme définitif à sa carrière cinématographique. Par la suite, elle travaille pour la télévision et pour les services cinématographiques de l'armée américaine, et produit des pièces de théâtre.

À partir des années 1960 et jusqu'à son décès en 1979, elle enseigne l'art de l'écriture des scénarios et de la réalisation à l'Université de Californie à Los Angeles (UCLA).


Reconnaissance
Une étoile lui est dédiée sur le Walk of Fame d'Hollywood Boulevard.

Plusieurs rétrospectives lui sont consacrées en France, au Festival Lumière à Lyon, en mars et avril 2017 à la Cinémathèque française.

Best films

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
(Director)
Sarah and Son (1930)
(Director)

Usually with

James Cruze
James Cruze
(3 films)
Alfred Gilks
Alfred Gilks
(3 films)
Fred Niblo
Fred Niblo
(1 films)
Fredric March
Fredric March
(5 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Dorothy Arzner (28 films)

Display filmography as list

Director

First Comes Courage, 1h28
Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Charles Vidor
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War
Themes Political films
Actors Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, Carl Esmond, Isobel Elsom, Fritz Leiber, Erville Alderson
Rating64% 3.2395853.2395853.2395853.2395853.239585
Nicole Larsen (Merle Oberon) is a member of the Norwegian resistance in a small town, about to be married to the Nazi commandant (Carl Esmond). When his superiors begin to suspect her, the Allies land an assassin to kill him - an assassin who happens to be her former lover, Capt. Allan Lowe (Brian Aherne).
Dance, Girl, Dance, 1h30
Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Robert Wise, James Anderson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Musical, Romance
Themes Dance films
Actors Maureen O'Hara, Louis Hayward, Lucille Ball, Virginia Field, Ralph Bellamy, Maria Ouspenskaïa
Rating67% 3.394783.394783.394783.394783.39478
Good friends Judy and Bubbles are both dancers. Bubbles uses her good looks and being a sex siren to get jobs, and becomes successful in burlesque, while Judy is an elegant ballerina who struggles to make a living as a dancer. A rivalry develops when they both fall in love with a divorced playboy.
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, 1h38
Directed by Richard Boleslawski, Dorothy Arzner, George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Noir, Romance
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery, Frank Morgan, Nigel Bruce, Jessie Ralph
Rating63% 3.1984153.1984153.1984153.1984153.198415
When Lord Francis Kelton (Frank Morgan) finds a beautiful woman in his stateroom, he is flustered, but his playboy friend, Lord Arthur Dilling (Robert Montgomery), is fascinated by her. He finds out from the ship's purser that she is American widow Fay Cheyney on her way to stay in England. In London, she becomes the darling of English society, impressing everyone, including Arthur's wealthy aunt, the Duchess of Ebley (Jessie Ralph), who invites her to stay with her for the weekend. Arthur tries to impress Fay, but is rejected by her, even though she is becoming attracted to him.
The Bride Wore Red, 1h43
Directed by Dorothy Arzner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romantic comedy, Romance
Actors Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, Robert Young, Billie Burke, Reginald Owen, Agostino Borgato
Rating63% 3.1510053.1510053.1510053.1510053.151005
In a Trieste gambling casino, the cynical Count Armalia (George Zucco) tells his snobbish friend Rudi Pal (Robert Young) that the only thing separating aristocrats from peasants is luck. Later, in a waterfront cafe, he decides to prove his point by offering the club's singer, Anni Pavlovitch (Joan Crawford), money and a wardrobe to stay at an upper class resort hotel in the Alps for two weeks and pose as his friend Anne Vivaldi, an aristocrat's daughter. When Anni first arrives, she meets Giulio (Franchot Tone), a philosophical postal clerk who has no desire for wealth. She also meets her old friend Maria (Mary Philips), who is happy being a maid in the hotel and warns Anni not to become the victim of Armalia's joke on his friends.
Craig's Wife
Directed by Dorothy Arzner
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Rosalind Russell, John Boles, Billie Burke, Jane Darwell, Alma Kruger, Dorothy Wilson
Rating71% 3.588293.588293.588293.588293.58829
The plot centers on twenty-four hours in the life of Harriet Craig (Rosalind Russell), and the home life she has created for herself and her husband. Harriet values material things more than her husband and goes to great lengths to protect her life as she has created it, regardless of what the outcomes are to those around her. The story's message is stated by the Craig's housekeeper, Mrs. Harold (Jane Darwell), who says, "Those who live to themselves, are left to themselves," as one by one, all her disgusted family and servants abandon her, leaving her entirely on her own.
Nana
Nana (1934)
, 1h30
Directed by Dorothy Arzner, George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Anna Sten, Lionel Atwill, Richard Bennett, Mae Clarke, Reginald Owen, Phillips Holmes
Rating59% 2.952132.952132.952132.952132.95213
Nana est la coqueluche du théâtre de Paris de la Belle Époque. Elle attire beaucoup d'hommes, mais a un faible pour un officier.
Christopher Strong, 1h18
Directed by Dorothy Arzner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Transport films, Aviation films
Actors Katharine Hepburn, Colin Clive, Billie Burke, Ralph Forbes, Helen Chandler, Margaret Lindsay
Rating62% 3.1477553.1477553.1477553.1477553.147755
During a scavenger hunt, Lady Cynthia Darrington (Katharine Hepburn) is paired with an unlikely match. Lady Cynthia, a strong-spirited aviator, is over the age of 21 but has never had a lover nor an affair because she is too devoted to her work. In the game, she falls in love, however, with Sir Christopher Strong (Colin Clive), a member of parliament. She has an affair with him after her prize-winning around-the world flight, much to the distress of his wife, Lady Elaine (Billie Burke) and their daughter, Monica (Helen Chandler).
Merrily We Go to Hell, 1h18
Directed by Dorothy Arzner, Charles Barton
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romance
Themes Films about alcoholism, Medical-themed films, Films about drugs
Actors Fredric March, Sylvia Sidney, Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher, Cary Grant, Adrianne Allen, George Irving
Rating68% 3.4444253.4444253.4444253.4444253.444425
Jerry Corbett (Fredric March), a Chicago reporter and self-styled playwright, meets heiress Joan Prentice (Sylvia Sydney) at a party and they begin dating. Even though Jerry's economic prospects are dim and he is an alcoholic, he proposes to Joan. She agrees to marry him, against her father's objections. Even when Jerry becomes completely inebriated just before (and ruins, as far as Joan is concerned) their engagement party, Joan stands by him. Jerry writes some plays which are rejected, and fights the urge to drink. He manages to sell a play and they go to New York to see it produced. The star of the production is Jerry's former girlfriend Claire, and on the premiere night he gets stinking drunk, and mistakes Joan for Claire. Still, Joan stands by him. But, when Joan catches Jerry trying to go to Claire's one night she kicks him out. The following day she tells him that they will have a "modern marriage" and that she intends to have affairs herself.
Honor Among Lovers, 1h15
Directed by Dorothy Arzner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Claudette Colbert, Fredric March, Monroe Owsley, Charles Ruggles, Ginger Rogers, Pat O'Brien
Rating64% 3.240493.240493.240493.240493.24049
It tells the story of the wife of a peculator who has an affair with a Wall Street trader (Jerry Stafford) to keep her husband out of prison. The secretary woman (Julia Traynor) marries with the hysterical fraud man (Philip Craig) to escape her boss' persistent demand. Craig wakes up from a drunk sleep to tell his wife what has happened.
Working Girls, 1h17
Directed by Dorothy Arzner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Buddy Rogers, Paul Lukas, Stuart Erwin, Frances Dee, Mary Forbes, Claire Dodd
Rating63% 3.1914953.1914953.1914953.1914953.191495
Two sisters from Indiana, Mae and June Thorpe, move into a house for homeless girls in New York. With June's help, Mae obtains a job as a stenographer for scientist Joseph von Schraeder, while June gets work as a telegraph operator. June begins dating Pat Kelly, a saxophone player who lavishes her with gifts. Mae begins to date Boyd Wheeler, a successful lawyer. Mae turns down a marriage proposal from von Schraeder, and von Shraeder asks that she then quit her job so he will not be hurt by having her around. Mae compromises her virtue with Boyd by staying alone with him one night in his apartment. She suffers for her choice when he goes out of town for a month and returns engaged to a socialite.
Behind the Make-Up
Directed by Dorothy Arzner
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Hal Skelly, William Powell, Fay Wray, Kay Francis, E. H. Calvert, Paul Lukas
Rating58% 2.9121652.9121652.9121652.9121652.912165
Gardoni, a down-on-his-luck vaudeville performer, is taken in by a fellow performer, a clown who has a bicycle riding act. Gardoni shows his appreciation by stealing the clown's act and his girlfriend, whom he marries.
The Wild Party, 1h17
Directed by Dorothy Arzner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romance
Actors Clara Bow, Fredric March, Marceline Day, Joyce Compton, Adrienne Dore, Jack Oakie
Rating61% 3.099233.099233.099233.099233.09923
The film focuses on an all-female college where the students are more interested in having fun and partying than studying. Stella Ames (Bow) is the most popular student, with a loud mouth. When the young and attractive professor Gilmore 'Gil' (March) starts working there in anthropology, all the girls immediately feel attracted to him. Stella recognizes him as the man she once accidentally shared a bed with, thereby risking her reputation. The professor is unamused by the girls' bad behavior and does not seem to notice who Stella is.