George Fitzmaurice

Born: 1885-02-13 in Paris - France

Died: 1940-06-13

Known For: Directing

Biography

From Wikipedia 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 with the first wave of great Broadway stars that migrated to motion pictures during the 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. Rumours 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.

Filmography

1936

Suzy ... (Director)
Petticoat Fever ... (Director)

1934

All Men Are Enemies ... (Director)

1932

As You Desire Me ... (Director)

1931

Mata Hari ... (Director)
Strangers May Kiss ... (Director)
The Unholy Garden ... (Director)

1930

The Devil to Pay! ... (Director)
The Bad One ... (Director)
Raffles ... (Director)
One Heavenly Night ... (Director)

1929

Tiger Rose ... (Director)
His Captive Woman ... (Director)
The Locked Door ... (Director)
The Man and the Moment ... (Director)

1928

The Barker ... (Director)
Lilac Time ... (Director)

1927

The Night of Love ... (Director)
Rose of the Golden West ... (Director)
The Love Mart ... (Director)
The Tender Hour ... (Director)

1926

The Son of the Sheik ... (Director)

1925

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
His Supreme Moment ... (Director)
The Dark Angel ... (Director)
A Thief in Paradise ... (Executive Producer)

1924

Cytherea ... (Director)
Tarnish ... (Director)

1923

Bella Donna ... (Director)
The Eternal City ... (Director)
The Cheat ... (Producer)

1922

The Man From Home ... (Director)
Three Live Ghosts ... (Director)
Kick In ... (Director)
To Have and to Hold ... (Director)

1921

Experience ... (Director)
Forever ... (Director)
Paying the Piper ... (Producer)

1920

The Right to Love ... (Director)
On with the Dance ... (Director)
Idols of Clay ... (Director)

1919

The Avalanche ... (Director)
A Society Exile ... (Director)
The Cry of the Weak ... (Director)
Counterfeit ... (Director)
The Witness for the Defense ... (Director)
The Profiteers ... (Director)
Common Clay ... (Director)
Our Better Selves ... (Director)

1918

The Naulahka ... (Director)
A Japanese Nightingale ... (Director)
The Narrow Path ... (Director)
The Hillcrest Mystery ... (Director)
Innocent ... (Director)

1917

Sylvia of the Secret Service ... (Director)
Blind Man's Luck ... (Director)
Vengeance Is Mine ... (Supervisor of Production Resources)
Kick In ... (Director)
The Mark of Cain ... (Director)
The Hunting of the Hawk ... (Director)
The Recoil ... (Director)
The On-the-Square Girl ... (Director)

1916

Arms and the Woman ... (Director)
Big Jim Garrity ... (Director)
The Test ... (Director)
The Romantic Journey ... (Director)

1915

The Commuters ... (Director)
Via Wireless ... (Director)
At Bay ... (Director)
Stop Thief! ... (Director)
Who's Who in Society ... (Director)

1914

When Rome Ruled ... (Director)
The Bomb Boy ... (Director)