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Clarence Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to a cotton manufacturer, Brown moved to the South when he was eleven.

He attended the University of Tennessee, graduating at the age of 19 with two degrees in engineering. An early fascination in automobiles led Brown to a job with the Stevens Duryea Company, then to his own Brown Motor Car Company in Alabama. He later abandoned the car dealership after developing an interest in motion pictures around 1913. He was hired by the Peerless Studio at Fort Lee, New Jersey, and became an assistant to the great French-born director Maurice Tourneur.

After serving in World War I, Brown was given his first co-directing credit (with Tourneur) for 1920's The Great Redeemer. Later that year, he directed a major portion of The Last of the Mohicans after Tourneur was injured in a fall.

Brown moved to Universal in 1924, and then to MGM, where he stayed until the mid-1950s. At MGM he was one of the main directors of their female stars–he directed both Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo five times. Garbo referred to Brown as her favorite director.

He worked across the introduction of sound and continued to use the silent film's visual techniques throughout his career; he did not work particularly well with dialogue. His works have been regarded as considerate and atmospheric, but often conventional, placid and slow. Nevertheless, he was nominated five times (see below) for the Academy Award as a director, and once as a producer, but never received an Oscar. However, he did win Best Foreign Film for Anna Karenina at the 1935 Venice International Film Festival.

Brown retired a wealthy man due to his real estate investments, but refused to watch new movies, as he feared they might cause him to restart his career. In the 1970s, Brown became a much-sought guest lecturer on the film-festival circuit, thanks in part to his connection with Garbo.

The Clarence Brown Theater, on the campus of the University of Tennessee, is named in his honor.

• In 1929/1930, he had one nomination for two movies... the AMPAS site points out that... "As allowed by the award rules for this year, a single nomination could honor work in one or more films.")

Filmography

• The Great Redeemer (1920)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1920)
• The Foolish Matrons (1921)
• The Light in the Dark (1922)
• Don't Marry for Money (1923)
• The Acquittal (1923)
• The Signal Tower (1924)
• Butterfly (1924)
• The Eagle (1925)
• The Goose Woman (1925)
• Smouldering Fires (1925)
• Flesh and the Devil (1926)
• Kiki (1926)
• A Woman of Affairs (1928)
• The Trail of '98 (1929)
• Navy Blues (1929)
• Wonder of Women (1929)
• Anna Christie (1930) - Academy Award Nomination for best director.
• Romance (1930) - Academy Award Nomination for best director.
• Inspiration (1931)
• Possessed (1931)
• A Free Soul (1931) - Academy Award Nomination for best director.
• Emma (1932)
• Letty Lynton (1932)
• The Son-Daughter (1932)
• Looking Forward (1933)
• Night Flight (1933)
• Sadie McKee (1934)
• Chained (1934)
• Ah, Wilderness! (1935)
• Anna Karenina (1935)
• Wife vs. Secretary (1935)
• The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)
• Conquest (1938)
• Of Human Hearts (1938)
• Idiot's Delight (1939)
• The Rains Came (1939)
• Edison, the Man (1940)
• Come Live with Me (1941)
• They Met in Bombay (1941)
• The Human Comedy (1943) - Academy Award Nominations for best director and best picture.
• The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
• National Velvet (1944) - Academy Award Nomination for best director.
• The Yearling (1946) - Academy Award Nomination for best director.
• Song of Love (1947)
• Intruder in the Dust (1949)
• To Please a Lady (1950)
• Angels in the Outfield (1951):
• When in Rome (1952)
• Plymouth Adventure (1952).

External links

• Clarence Brown at IMDb.com
• "An Extraordinary Town, How one of America's smallest towns shaped the world" A book on Clarence Brown's home town with an extensive section on the life and contributions of Clarence Brown.
• Academy Awards Database Information available on the actual dates and nominations, plus commentary on the nominations for multiple roles/films in 1929/1930.

References

An Extraordinary Town, How one of America's smallest towns shaped the world - A Historical Marketing Book by A. J. Bastarache. Featuring a comprehensive section on Clarence Brown.

• University of Tennessee

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