George Fitzmaurice

George Fitzmaurice

Nacimiento : 1885-02-13, Paris - France

Muerte : 1940-06-13

Historia

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.

Perfil

George Fitzmaurice

Películas

The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
Self (archive footage)
A documentary of Hollywood's first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life, and his premature death.
Adventure in Diamonds
Director
A government pilot (George Brent) falls for a woman (Isa Miranda) helping her partner (John Loder) smuggle diamonds out of South Africa.
Vacation from Love
Director
A socialite dumps her fiancé on their wedding day and runs off with a saxophone player. Comedy.
Arsène Lupin Returns
Director
A woman and a man vying for a woman's affection: the usual love trio? Not quite so since the belle in question is Lorraine de Grissac, a very wealthy and alluring society woman, while one of the two rivals is none other than Arsène Lupin, the notorious jewel thief everybody thought dead, now living under the assumed name of René Farrand. As for the other suitor he is an American, a former F.B.I. sleuth turned private eye by the name of Steve Emerson. Steve not only suspects Farrand of being Lupin but when someone attempts to steal a precious emerald necklace from Lorraine's uncle, Count de Brissac, he is persuaded Lupin is the culprit. Is Emerson right or wrong? Which of the two men will win over Lorraine's heart?
Live, Love and Learn
Director
Un artista bohemio y una chica de la alta sociedad intentan averiguar si están hechos para casarse. Una vez casados, son pobres pero felices, hasta que él salta a las portadas de los periódicos y se convierte en la nueva sensación social.
El secreto del candelabro
Director
Un agente secreto polaco y una agente secreta rusa se infiltran en la Nobleza mientras llevan a cabo sus planes. Pero tras conocerse, se acabarán enamorando.
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Director
A chic jewel thief in England falls in love with one of her marks.
Suzy
Director
Una cabaretera americana llamada Luzy se marcha a Londres en 1914, donde se enamora de un inventor irlandés llamado Terry, quien trabaja para una empresa de ingenieria alemana. Tras casarse con él, Terry es asesinado por lo que Suzy huye a Paris donde intentará rehacer su vida. En su reparto destaca la presencia de Franchot Tone (1905-1968), un secundario con clase de actor principal, que rodó multitud de títulos durante los años 30 y 40, pasando después a ese cementerio de estrellas que es la televisión. La romántica balada del filme, "Did I Remember", con música de Walter Donaldson y letras de Harold Adamson, fue candidata a un premio de la Academia."
Adán sin Eva
Director
Un técnico norteamericano, en pleno Polo Norte, lleva dos años sin ver a su mujer. Una hermosa piloto llega a su jurisdicción por accidente.
All Men Are Enemies
Director
A British aristocrat falls in love with an Austrian woman before they are separated with the outbreak of World War I.
La reina del boulevard
Director
Nana (Anna Sten) es una joven que sueña con triunfar en el mundo del espectáculo. Por ese motivo trabaja sin descanso en París. Un día tiene un golpe de fortuna, y un admirador suyo se decide a crear una revista musical donde Nana sea la única estrella. Esto le lanza a la fama, y pronto se ve rodeada de numerosos fans, que están ansiosos por conocerla en persona. Entre sus admiradores están el veterano Gran Duque Alexis, y un joven galán con quien no tarda en iniciar un romance. Pero el hermano mayor de su amante también anda enamorado de Nana, y los celos se cruzan en su camino. El Gran Duque se entera de la relación de Nana con el joven teniente, y destina a éste a un peligroso emplazamiento en Argelia. Nana, desesperada y presionada por el Gran Duque, abandona el espectáculo y se refugia en los brazos del hermano mayor de su antiguo amante. Un tiempo después, éste regresa de Argelia para luchar contra los prusianos.
Como tú me deseas
Producer
Zara es una mujer que sufre amnesia desde hace años y se reencuentra con su marido Bruno sin saber la relación que les une. Poco a poco ella vuelve a enamorarse de él.
Como tú me deseas
Director
Zara es una mujer que sufre amnesia desde hace años y se reencuentra con su marido Bruno sin saber la relación que les une. Poco a poco ella vuelve a enamorarse de él.
Mata Hari
Producer
Año 1917. Mata Hari es una seductora bailarina que vive en París y que ejerce de espía para los alemanes.
Mata Hari
Director
Año 1917. Mata Hari es una seductora bailarina que vive en París y que ejerce de espía para los alemanes.
El paraíso del mal
Producer
En un hotel en medio del Sahara, un anciano y su hija intentan ocultar la ubicación de un tesoro escondido a un grupo de ladrones y delincuentes que se alojan en el hotel y que están decididos a conseguirlo. Un día llega al hotel un ladrón de refinados modales, con su propio plan para conseguir el botín, pero surgen complicaciones cuando comienza a enamorarse de la hija.
El paraíso del mal
Director
En un hotel en medio del Sahara, un anciano y su hija intentan ocultar la ubicación de un tesoro escondido a un grupo de ladrones y delincuentes que se alojan en el hotel y que están decididos a conseguirlo. Un día llega al hotel un ladrón de refinados modales, con su propio plan para conseguir el botín, pero surgen complicaciones cuando comienza a enamorarse de la hija.
Besos al pasar
Producer
Lisbeth es una mujer moderna que piensa que el matrimonio está pasado de moda. Ella tiene dos hombres en su vida, Steve, que quiere casarse con ella y Alan, que quiere que viaje con él. A pesar de todas las advertencias de sus amigos y familiares, Lisbeth va a México con Alan, donde ella es feliz hasta que descubre que él tiene una esposa en París...
Besos al pasar
Director
Lisbeth es una mujer moderna que piensa que el matrimonio está pasado de moda. Ella tiene dos hombres en su vida, Steve, que quiere casarse con ella y Alan, que quiere que viaje con él. A pesar de todas las advertencias de sus amigos y familiares, Lisbeth va a México con Alan, donde ella es feliz hasta que descubre que él tiene una esposa en París...
One Heavenly Night
Director
A poor but basically honest flower woman agrees to impersonate a wicked opera star.
Que pague el diablo
Producer
Ronald Colman interpreta a un apuesto galán que lleva una vida alborotada. Ahora tiene puestas sus armas de seducción en dos atractivas señoritas, interpretadas por Loretta Young y Myrna Loy. Colman regresa de un ocioso viaje por Sudamérica y se encuentra con su padre enfurecido, que le echa en cara el despilfarro que hace del dinero, además de su ligera forma de vida. Pero a Colman sólo le interesan sus amoríos, y ahora está envuelto en una complicada relación a dos bandas. No sabe por qué señorita decidirse. Por un lado siente una gran atracción hacia la temperamental actriz interpretada por Myrna Loy, pero a la vez no puede negar sus sentimientos hacia una amiga de su hermana, Loretta Young. La honestidad de Colman se pone a prueba cuando se ve obligado a decidir, y logra demostrar que no es un simple y vanidoso seductor.
Que pague el diablo
Director
Ronald Colman interpreta a un apuesto galán que lleva una vida alborotada. Ahora tiene puestas sus armas de seducción en dos atractivas señoritas, interpretadas por Loretta Young y Myrna Loy. Colman regresa de un ocioso viaje por Sudamérica y se encuentra con su padre enfurecido, que le echa en cara el despilfarro que hace del dinero, además de su ligera forma de vida. Pero a Colman sólo le interesan sus amoríos, y ahora está envuelto en una complicada relación a dos bandas. No sabe por qué señorita decidirse. Por un lado siente una gran atracción hacia la temperamental actriz interpretada por Myrna Loy, pero a la vez no puede negar sus sentimientos hacia una amiga de su hermana, Loretta Young. La honestidad de Colman se pone a prueba cuando se ve obligado a decidir, y logra demostrar que no es un simple y vanidoso seductor.
Raffles
Director
A distinguished English gentleman has a secret life--he is the notorious jewel thief the press has dubbed "The Amateur Cracksman". When he meets a woman and falls in love he decides to "retire" from that life, but an old friend comes to him with a predicament that entails him committing one last job.
The Bad One
Director
In this melodrama, a dancer works in a sleazy Marseilles portside dive that is really the front for a bordello. While dancing one night she meets a sailor and agrees to be his bride. Unfortunately, one of her former suitors suddenly shows up and a terrible fight ensues.
Tiger Rose
Director
A mountie pursues a man wanted for murder.
La puerta cerrada
Producer
En su primer aniversario, Ann Reagan descubre que su cuñada está involucrada con un personaje turbio con el que ella solía intimar y decide intervenir.
La puerta cerrada
Director
En su primer aniversario, Ann Reagan descubre que su cuñada está involucrada con un personaje turbio con el que ella solía intimar y decide intervenir.
The Man and the Moment
Director
Rich lout marries for freedom.
His Captive Woman
Director
Cabaret dancer Anna Janssen kills her sugardaddy and escapes to a South Seas island on the yacht of a wealthy admirer. Stolid, conscientious Tom McCarthy, a New York detective, is sent after Anna and arrests her, chartering a steamer to bring her back to the United States. The steamer sinks, and Anna and Tom are stranded on a small island. They fall in love, and Tom's influence brings about a benign change in Anna's character. They are rescued, however, and Anna is placed on trial for her life. Tom takes the stand in her defense and informs the judge of Anna's conversion in the solitude of the island. The judge instructs Tom to marry Anna and then sentences them to life--on the island where they found happiness together.
The Barker
Director
A successful carnival barker deals with the arrival of his eager son, who he'd hoped would stay far from the carnival world, his son's entanglement with a showgirl, and his own jealous mistress.
El gran combate
Producer
Francia, Primera Guerra Mundial (1914-1918). Un grupo de aviadores son alojados en un campo cercano a la granja de la viuda de Berthelot. Su hija Jeannine siente curiosidad por los jóvenes combatientes y sus aeroplanos.
El gran combate
Director
Francia, Primera Guerra Mundial (1914-1918). Un grupo de aviadores son alojados en un campo cercano a la granja de la viuda de Berthelot. Su hija Jeannine siente curiosidad por los jóvenes combatientes y sus aeroplanos.
The Love Mart
Director
Victor, an adventurous young swashbuckler in 19th-century New Orleans, takes possession of a barber shop as the result of winning a duel, and decides to settle down to a life as a barber. He meets a beautiful young woman and pursues her, but she dismisses his attentions because she thinks he is just a barber. Also pursuing the woman is the evil Capt. Remy, whom she also brushes off. He, however, doesn't take rejection so lightly, and forges papers "proving" that the girl is a "quadroon"--part black, which means that she can be sold as a slave. She is sold to Capt. Remy, and when Victor hears of it, he determines to rescue her.
Rose of the Golden West
Director
Juan is about to elope with the convent-bred Elena, when he is chosen to assassinate the governor who is about to hand California over to the Russians. Since the governor also happens to be Elena's father, this puts him in quite a fix.
The Tender Hour
Director
This romantic drama was released in 1927.
The Night of Love
Director
Montero, son of a Gypsy leader, is about to take a bride according to primitive ritual, when the Duke de la Garda demands his right as feudal lord--to take the bride to his castle for a night. Rather than accede to the duke's advances, the girl chooses death by her own hand. Montero swears vengeance.....
El hijo del Caid
Director
Ahmed, el hijo del jeque, está enamorado de una bailarina llamada Yasmin cuyo padre es el jefe de una banda de saltimbanquis. Pero Yasmin está prometida con el villano Moor, así que los encuentros entre los amantes deben ser secretos. Un día que Yasmin desaparece, el colérico Ahmed cree que la chica le ha traicionado, pero lo que ha sucedido en realidad es que la han secuestrado.
Ben-Hur
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
En los años del Imperio Romano del reinado de Augusto y su sucesor Tiberio, Judá Ben-Hur, hijo de una familia noble de Jerusalén, y Mesala, tribuno romano que dirige los ejércitos de ocupación, se han convertido en enemigos irreconciliables. Acusado de atentar contra la vida del nuevo gobernador romano, Mesala le encarcela junto a su familia. Cuando se llevan a Ben-Hur a galeras, un joven llamado Jesús de Nazaret se apiada de él y le da de beber.
The Dark Angel
Director
Alan Trent (Ronald Colman), his cousin Gerald Shannon (Wyndham Standing) and neighbor Kitty Vane (Vilma Bánky) have grown up together, as close playmates When World War I starts, both Alan and Gerald enlist in the British Army as officiers, and Kitty sees them off to war. Many months later, Alan and Gerald come back to Kitty, on a short furlow. Alan and Kitty reveal their love for each other. Gerald (who's in love with Kitty, too) congratulates his friends. But before Kitty and Alan can arrange to be married the next day, the furlow is cut short and both men head back to the front lines. Weeks later, Gerald will not give Alan leave to marry Kitty. Still arguing, both men volunteer for a reconiscience raid into enemy lines, where a grenade goes off near Alan and appears to kill him. Gerald and Kitty mourn Alan's death. After the war ends, Gerald and Kitty become engaged to be married.
A Thief in Paradise
Executive Producer
Years of failure and bad luck have made Maurice Blake a beachcomber on an island in the Samoas, earning a precarious living by diving for pearls with Philip Jardine, the disinherited son of a San Francisco millionaire. When Philip is killed by a shark, his half caste common-law wife, Rosa, informs Maurice that Philip had been forgiven by his father, and she persuades him to assume Philip's identity and return to the States - The film is now considered a lost film.
A Thief in Paradise
Director
Years of failure and bad luck have made Maurice Blake a beachcomber on an island in the Samoas, earning a precarious living by diving for pearls with Philip Jardine, the disinherited son of a San Francisco millionaire. When Philip is killed by a shark, his half caste common-law wife, Rosa, informs Maurice that Philip had been forgiven by his father, and she persuades him to assume Philip's identity and return to the States - The film is now considered a lost film.
His Supreme Moment
Director
John Douglas, a down-on-his-luck engineer, takes his sweetheart, Sara Deeping, to a play starring Carla King, and he falls in love with the actress.
Tarnish
Director
Cytherea
Director
Lee Randon, weary of business duties and a conventional home life, acquires a long-lost sense of excitement and romance with young flapper Claire Morris. When he meets her married aunt, Savina Grove, she appears to be the woman he imagines whenever he gazes at a doll he has christened Cytherea, goddess of love -----Cytherea features two dream sequences filmed in an early version of the Technicolor color film process.
The Eternal City
Director
War drama - Fitzmaurice was able to film King Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini reviewing Italian troops.
The Cheat
Producer
After losing money she embezzled, a socialite borrows cash from a foreign "prince" who expects sexual favors in return.
The Cheat
Director
After losing money she embezzled, a socialite borrows cash from a foreign "prince" who expects sexual favors in return.
Bella Donna
Director
Bella Donna, a seductive woman snares Nigel Armine into marriage and he takes her to Egypt to live. Tired of her simple husband, Bella becomes involved with brutish Baroudi.
Kick In
Director
After serving time in Sing Sing, Chic Hewes wants to go straight, but when he refuses to be a stool pigeon for the cops, they hound him mercilessly. Hewes witnesses a car accident in which Jerry Brandon, the son of the district attorney, runs over a child. He also meets Molly, the D.A.'s daughter. Because he feels the child's mother was treated unfairly, Hewes decides to pull one last heist to square things.
To Have and to Hold
Director
King James I gives his consent to the marriage between Lord Carnal and Lady Jocelyn Leigh. Lady Jocelyn, however, does not want to wed the evil Lord Carnal, and makes her escape on a bridal ship headed for Jamestown, VA. When it lands, a ruffian tries to take Jocelyn as his bride, but Captain Ralph Percy rescues her by marrying her himself. The marriage, however, is in name only, as Jocelyn wants little to do with Percy.
The Man from Home
Director
A fairly conventional romance of an American heiress, loved by boy back home, bedazzled by a glamorous prince in beautiful Italian surroundings.
Three Live Ghosts
Director
Adapted from a popular Broadway play and concerns three veterans who return to London from the War only to discover that they have been officially listed as dead.
Forever
Director
Architect Peter Ibbetson is hired by the Duke of Towers to design a building for him. Ibbetson discovers that the Duchess of Towers, Mary, is his now-grown childhood sweetheart. Their love revives, but Peter is sentenced to life in prison for an accidental killing. Mary comes to him in dreams and they are able to live out their romance in a dream world.
Experience
Director
Youth meets Ambition and leaves Love, his mother, and his small-town roots for the big city. There, in his search for Experience, he meets Pleasure and hangs out at the Primrose Path with the likes of Temptation and Intoxication. Back home, Youth's mother dies, and Love tries unsuccessfully to reach him. When Youth's money runs out his newfound friends all leave him and he sinks into a life of drug addiction, aided by Habit.
Paying the Piper
Producer
Larry and Barbara, both the products of rich but broken homes, plan a marriage of convenience. He really loves Marcia, a dancer, and Barbara vamps Keith, an architect. Keith's good sense prevails, and he marries Marcia and helps Larry make a man of himself. Barbara, after an unsuccessful attempt at an acting career, returns and asks forgiveness.
Paying the Piper
Director
Larry and Barbara, both the products of rich but broken homes, plan a marriage of convenience. He really loves Marcia, a dancer, and Barbara vamps Keith, an architect. Keith's good sense prevails, and he marries Marcia and helps Larry make a man of himself. Barbara, after an unsuccessful attempt at an acting career, returns and asks forgiveness.
Idols of Clay
Director
A girl raised isolated from society in the South Seas falls in love with a visiting sculptor.
The Right to Love
Director
An adulterous aristocrat plans to murder his American wife.
On with the Dance
Director
Sonia, a Russian dancer, comes to New York seeking her fortune. She marries Peter Derwynt, a young architect, but their marriage is not a good one. Sonia falls under the spell of a rich Broadway mogul, Jimmy Sutherland, whose wife is in love with Peter. The mix of relationships comes crashing apart when Sutherland ends up murdered.
Counterfeit
Director
In order to secretly replenish the family's failing fortunes, Virginia Griswold secures a position in the Secret Service to apprehend a group of counterfeiters and gain the reward money.
A Society Exile
Director
Nora Shard, a young American girl living in England, is ostracized from society for her presumed part in a scandal which culminated in a murder-suicide by a nobleman and his wife. Nora disguises her identity and goes to Italy, where she finds happiness - until the spectre of the past is raised.
The Witness for the Defense
Director
Stella Derrick and Dick Hazelwood love each other, but their families want them to make better financial matches.
Our Better Selves
Director
The marriage of a wealthy and frivolous member of French nobility, Loyette Merval, to an American aristocratic idler named Willard Standish, is a loving one, except for their mutual dissatisfaction with Willard's idleness. After Willard becomes a chauffeur, Loyette's subsequent disgust causes him to quit. When the war begins, Willard joins the French Secret Service, while Loyette continues her social life, upset about their separation. After Willard, wounded, hides in a convent, Loyette leaves to find him.
The Avalanche
Director
A woman with a gambling addiction finds that her daughter is threatened by the same tendencies.
Common Clay
Director
The Narrow Path
Director
Marion Clark, a manicurist, is unimpressed by the wealthy but dissipated men who frequent her shop, preferring city editor Dick Strong, who lives in her boardinghouse. Dick's sister Gladys, however, is intrigued by the wilder side of life in New York and allows one of the boarders to take her to a lively party.
A Japanese Nightingale
Director
A Japanese girl becomes a Geisha in order to avoid marrying a dastardly baron.
The Hillcrest Mystery
Director
During a party held in honor of his daughter Marion, Thomas Sterling announces that he will turn over his shipbuilding plant to the United States government for the duration of World War I. Sterling wants Marion to marry his partner, Hugo Smith, but she prefers Gordon Brett, who proposes to her after the party. Marion's father catches the two in an embrace and orders Gordon out of the house. Later that night, Sterling is found murdered. Gordon is the principal suspect, but Marion refuses to believe he is guilty and hides him in the house. Later she discovers Smith sending a message to the Germans on a wireless hidden in the attic.
The Naulahka
Director
Trying to win the Three C's railroad line for his home town of Topaz, Colorado, Nicholas "Nick" Tarvin journeys to India to secure the famed jewel known as the Naulahka, which he plans to present to Mrs. Mutrie, the railroad president's wife.
The On-the-Square Girl
Director
Anne Blair is a model at a modiste's shop who accepts the attention of wealthy Thomas Brockton so she can help support her invalid mother. One day Brockton tries to force himself on her and she stabs him. Later that day Anne finds out that her mother has died, and delirious from the shock, she wanders out into the snow where she is found, unconscious, by artist Richard Steel.
The Recoil
Director
When Richard Cameron, a secret service agent tracking down international spies, is kidnapped by the enemy, Mirian Somerset, to whom Richard has been surreptitiously married, believes that he is dead.
The Hunting of the Hawk
Director
On a voyage from Europe to the U.S., Desselway meets and falls in love with Diana Curran. Diana has a dark past, however -- she is married to Wrenshaw, a criminal known as "the Hawk." Diana got involved with Wrenshaw because she thought he was honest, and he keeps her under his thumb by making her believe she killed a man.
Kick In
Director
Kick In is a lost 1917 silent film crime melodrama directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring William Courtenay. It is based on the 1914 Broadway play of the same name by Willard Mack.
Arms and the Woman
Director
Rozika is a Hungarian girl who can sing quite nice. She goes to the place known as the United States with her brother whose name happens to be Young Carl. Rozika marries a chap named Trevor and a predicament ensued after the Great War comes knocking at the door.
The Test
Director
Big Jim Garrity
Director
Via Wireless
Director
Crime drama about the rivalry over a new invention and a nice girl.
The Commuters
Director
The Commuters is a 1915 silent film comedy directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Irene Fenwick in her film debut. It is based on a 1910 Broadway play, The Commuters, by James Forbes. A copy of the film is saved in the Library of Congress collection.
When Rome Ruled
Director
Nydia, an Early Christian girl seemingly singled out for exclusive persecution by the despotic empress of Rome. The empress' ire seems to have been aroused by the fact that her erstwhile sweetheart, handsome centurion Caius (a very young Ernest Truex) is in love with Nydia.