Howard Hawks Overview:

Legendary director, Howard Hawks, was born Howard Winchester Hawks on May 30, 1896 in Goshen, IN. Hawks died at the age of 81 on Dec 26, 1977 in Palm Springs, CA and was cremated and his ashes scattered in desert near Calimesa CA.

MINI BIO:

Howard Hawks was a rugged, outdoorsy type. He made John Wayne westerns (effectively celebrating the Wayne persona) and strongly characterized action dramas boiling with atmosphere and featuring gutsy women and virile male camaraderie. Hawks 'featured' the nitty gritty of life: his characters are always letting their hair down to tremendous effect. Hawks also made screwball comedies that are riotous masterpieces. Women pursue and men steer clear of marriage, but Hawks gives his ladies the last laugh with almost all of the sharpest lines in the man-woman crossfire in his films.

A very tall, rangy man, Hawks served as an officer in the US Army Air Corps in his younger days, before becoming a designer in an aircraft factory. But he soon longed to return to the film business where he had briefly worked as a prop boy five years earlier. After using his own money to back an epic western (Custer's Last Stand/Bob Hampton of Placer), Hawks made contacts that enabled him to join the script department of Famous Payers-Lasky. He wrote his first screen story, Quicksands, in 1923. He started directing in 1926, but the Hawks classics really begin with the sound era.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Directors).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Although Hawks was nominated for one Oscar, he never won a competitive Academy Award. However he won one Honorary Oscar Award in 1974 , a master American filmmaker whose creative efforts hold a distinguished place in world cinema.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1941Best DirectorSergeant York (1941)N/ANominated

Academy Awards (Honorary Oscars)

YearAwardDescription
1974Honorary Award, a master American filmmaker whose creative efforts hold a distinguished place in world cinema

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He was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures.

BlogHub Articles:

The Criminal Code (1931): in The Big House

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Although this is still a very early talkie, you can already see developing a more intricate sense of dialogue which he would be known for in his pictures — most notably His Girl Friday. In the opening scene at the police station, we have dialogue piled on top of each other between... Read full article


Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck are an unlikely pair in ’s “Ball of Fire”

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Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan in ’ “I Was a Male War Bride” I Was a Male War Bride (1949) is a comedy directed by and starring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan. It was based on I Was an Alien Spouse of Female Military Personnel En route to the United States ... Read full article


Air Force (1943): Takes on WWII

By 4 Star Film Fan on Nov 4, 2020 From 4 Star Films

At times, Air Force functions like a staged documentary. It feels both instructive and informed by ’ own passion for aviation. It has the simple task of making sure the folks at home can empathize with their boys up in the air. In fact, it falls short of being a mere instructional ... Read full article


To Have and Have Not (1944, )

By Andrew Wickliffe on Nov 20, 2019 From The Stop Button

Whatever To Have and Have Not?s original intent?not just novel versus film but film in pre-production to film completed?what it ends up doing and doing better than maybe anything else ever is star-make. To Have and Have Not showcases Lauren Bacall in constantly imaginative ways, including how much y... Read full article


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Howard Hawks Quotes:

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Honorary Award Oscar 1974


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Howard Hawks Facts
John Wayne gave the eulogy at his funeral.

Hawks' wife saw Lauren Bacall on the cover of a magazine and persuaded him to put her in the movies. Bacall was only 20 when she made her screen debut in To Have and Have Not (1944).

Served in the US Army Signal Corps during World War I.

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