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George Fitzmaurice is a Actor, Director and Producer American born on 13 february 1885 at Paris (France)

George Fitzmaurice

George Fitzmaurice
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Nationality USA
Birth 13 february 1885 at Paris (France)
Death 13 june 1940 (at 55 years) at Los Angeles (USA)

George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and producer. Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914 until his death in 1940, he directed over 80 films, including several successful movies such as The Son of the Sheik, Raffles, Mata Hari, and Suzy.

At the beginning of his directorial career Fitzmaurice was astute at directing stage actresses in their initial films when the first wave of great Broadway stars migrated to motion pictures during World War I era, including Mae Murray, Elsie Ferguson, Fannie Ward, Helene Chadwick, Irene Fenwick, Gail Kane and Edna Goodrich.

Son of the Sheik is his most famous extant silent film, no doubt aided by the sudden death of its star, Rudolph Valentino. Lilac Time is a classic war/romance film. Fitzmaurice however directed scores of silent films of which the majority of them are lost to the ravages of decompostion. Recent discoveries in Gosfilmofond in Russia include 1919's Witness for the Defense with Elsie Ferguson and 1923's Kick In with Bert Lytell. A restoration of his 1928 part talkie hybrid The Barker is winning praise from many film buffs. Rumors of other Fitzmaurice films in Gosfilmofond include 1920s Idols of Clay (with Mae Murray) and Three Live Ghosts with Norman Kerry, Anna Q. Nilsson Cyril Chadwick and Edmund Goulding.

Biography

George Fitzmaurice commence sa carrière en 1908 comme décorateur de théâtre. Réalisateur dès 1914, il se fait une réputation en dirigeant les stars de Broadway qui viennent tourner à Hollywood, notamment Mae Murray et Fannie Ward.

Il a réalisé plus de 80 films, parmi lesquels plusieurs films à grand succès dont Le Fils du Cheik avec Rudolph Valentino en 1926, et Mata Hari avec Greta Garbo en 1931.

Best films

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
(Director)
The Barker (1928)
(Director)

Usually with

Ouida Bergère
Ouida Bergère
(19 films)
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn
(12 films)
George Barnes
George Barnes
(7 films)
Cedric Gibbons
Cedric Gibbons
(11 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of George Fitzmaurice (59 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, 3h14
Directed by Rex Ingram, Rex Ingram, Fred Niblo, Christy Cabanne, Charles Brabin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Adventure, Romance
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about religion, Films about sexuality, Portrayals of Jesus in film, Films about virginity
Actors Ramón Novarro, Francis X. Bushman, May McAvoy, Betty Bronson, Claire McDowell, Kathleen Key
Roles Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Rating77% 3.895863.895863.895863.895863.89586
Ben-Hur is a wealthy Jew and boyhood friend of the powerful Roman Tribune, Messala. When an accident leads to Ben-Hur's arrest, Messala, who has become corrupt and arrogant, makes sure Ben-Hur and his family are jailed and separated.

Director

Adventure in Diamonds, 1h16
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors George Brent, Isa Miranda, John Loder, Nigel Bruce, Cecil Kellaway, Elizabeth Patterson
Rating62% 3.1205553.1205553.1205553.1205553.120555
Captain Stephen Dennett of the Royal Air Force is on board a passenger airliner en route to South Africa, when he meets the beautiful and glamorous Felice Falcon. He is unaware of the fact that Felice is an accomplished jewel thief, travelling with her partner in crime, Michael Barclay. The two of them have made a plan for a heist in the South African mines - stealing a shipment of diamonds and escaping unnoticed. The diamonds are already cached by one of Felice’s accomplices, but she needs a way to get into the restricted mine area without raising suspicion. That is where the unfortunate and clueless captain comes into the picture. Felice decides to use him for her own benefit, charming him to promise to get her into the forbidden area using his status as a military officer.
Adventure in Diamonds, 1h16
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors George Brent, Isa Miranda, John Loder, Nigel Bruce, Elizabeth Patterson, Cecil Kellaway
Rating62% 3.1205553.1205553.1205553.1205553.120555
Une femme et un escroc s'associent pour s'emparer de diamants dans une mine en Afrique du Sud. Elle tend un piège au policier qui les pourchasse, mais finit pas s'amouracher de lui...
Arsène Lupin Returns, 1h21
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Comedy thriller, Crime
Actors Melvyn Douglas, Virginia Bruce, Warren William, John Halliday, Nat Pendleton, Monty Woolley
Rating65% 3.290413.290413.290413.290413.29041
René Farrand est amoureux de Lorraine de Grissac, belle aristocrate, qui se laisse aussi faire la cour par un certain Steve Emerson, détective privé et ex-agent du F.B.I. Mais voilà qu'un collier d'émeraudes est dérobé à l'oncle de Lorraine, le comte de Grissac. Et Steve Emerson suspecte son rival, René Farrand, d'être en fait Arsène Lupin, le célèbre gentleman-cambrioleur.
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 Emperor's Candlesticks, 1h29
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Spy, Historical, Romance
Themes Spy films
Actors Luise Rainer, William Powell, Robert Young, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Morgan, Henry Stephenson
Rating64% 3.2456653.2456653.2456653.2456653.245665
While visiting Vienna incognito, Russian Grand Duke Peter (Robert Young) is lured away from a masquerade ball by the beautiful Maria (Maureen O'Sullivan), only to find himself the prisoner of Polish nationalists. Peter is made to write a letter to his father, the Czar of Russia, offering to exchange him for Maria's father, who has been sentenced to be executed.
Suzy
Suzy (1936)
, 1h33
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Transport films, Aviation films, Political films
Actors Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone, Cary Grant, Benita Hume, Lewis Stone, Inez Courtney
Rating63% 3.1969053.1969053.1969053.1969053.196905
In 1914, American showgirl "Suzy" Trent (Jean Harlow) is in London, looking for romance and meets and marries Irish engineer and inventor Terry Moore (Franchot Tone). The couple stumble on a German plot and her husband is shot by Madame Diane Eyrelle (Benita Hume), a mysterious spy. Fearing she will be implicated in Terry's death, Suzy flees to Paris as World War I begins.
Petticoat Fever, 1h20
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Actors Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy, Reginald Owen, Winifred Shotter, George Hassell, Forrester Harvey
Rating61% 3.097213.097213.097213.097213.09721
Telegraph operator Dascom Dinsmore, who has been living in an isolated cabin in Labrador for two years, has a bad case of "cabin fever," caused by his many months without seeing any women. His Eskimo servant Kimo tries to interest him in two native women, but Dascom wants nothing to do with them. His near desperate fever is abated when aviator Sir James Felton's plane makes an emergency landing nearby and Dascom discovers that Jim's companion is the beautiful Irene Campion. Though Jim warns Irene that Dascom is a bit crazy and unkempt, when she arrives at the cabin, Dascom has transformed himself into a well groomed English gentleman. Later, to impress her, he wears a tuxedo and prepares a formal dinner party for her. Though Jim is increasingly worried about Dascom's enthusiastic attentions toward Irene, he doesn't realize that she is becoming attracted to Dascom as well. After Jim and Irene learn via a radio broadcast that Dascom has sent a wireless message confirming their safety but not asking for the rescue ship they requested, Jim secretly arranges to take a dog sled to the supply post with Irene. Dascom suspects something, however, and has one of the Eskimo women, "Little Seal," take Irene's place in the sled. After Jim has left, Dascom tells Irene he loves her and she finally admits she loves him, too. However, because she is fond of Jim, who once saved her life, she convinces Dascom to bring him back so that she can tell him face-to-face that she isn't going to marry him. While Dascom goes after Jim, Clara Wilson, Dascom's English fiancée, from whom he has heard nothing for two years, shows up and professes her love. When Dascom and Jim return, Irene wants Dascom to break off with Clara immediately, but because he says he can't just "leave her out in the snow," Clara angrily tells him she doesn't want to see him again and goes off with Jim. The next day, just as the rector whom Clara telegraphed to marry them is about to perform the ceremony, an unhappy Dascom decides to delay the ceremony by opening a piece of mail that arrived for him a few days previously. When he learns that his uncle, a duke, has died and left his title and entire estate to him, Dascom realizes why Clara suddenly showed up and rushes off to stop Irene and Jim. On the boat that brought Clara, the captain is in the middle of Jim and Irene's wedding ceremony when Dascom arrives and tells her that he and Clara are finished. As Jim and the captain look on incredulously, Irene then goes off happily with Dascom in the dogsled.
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.
As You Desire Me, 1h10
Directed by George Fitzmaurice
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Medical-themed films, Théâtre, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities, Films based on plays
Actors Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Erich von Stroheim, Owen Moore, Hedda Hopper, Rafaela Ottiano
Rating62% 3.147243.147243.147243.147243.14724
Budapest bar entertainer Zara (Greta Garbo) is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter (Erich von Stroheim). A strange man called Tony (Owen Moore) shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno. Maria, Tony claims, had her memory destroyed during a World War I invasion 10 years ago. Zara doesn't remember but leaves with Tony to Salter's dismay. Bruno, now an officer in the Italian Army, tries to coax Maria's memory back on his large estate. No one is really sure if Zara is Maria, and when Salter shows up with a mental case from Trieste that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.