65-463: John Cromwell may refer to: John Cromwell (director) (1887–1979), American film director and producer; grandfather of the actor by the same name John P. Cromwell (1901–1943), American naval officer John Wesley Cromwell (1846–1927), editor, journalist and civil rights activist in Washington, DC John Cromwell (actor) , American actor, grandson of
130-492: A Best Actor nomination for Bancroft in Thunderbolt (1930). The Mighty (1930) was Cromwell's first of four pairings with Bancroft, and his first solo debut as director. On his next film The Street of Chance , Cromwell formed a personal and professional bond with producer David O. Selznick in his first production, then an assistant to B.P. Schulberg. The picture, starring William Powell , Kay Francis and Jean Arthur ,
195-451: A consciousness of the material—of which he had none! To him it was always just another part to play in the same old manner... Cromwell made three more pictures for Paramount-Publix, all released in 1931: Scandal Sheet , with Bancroft, Unfaithful , with Ruth Chatterton and The Vice Squad with Paul Lukas and Kay Francis . During pre-production of the 1932 The World and the Flesh ,
260-635: A dramatization of Carl van Doren 's biography of Benjamin Franklin . He is buried in the Tyringham Cemetery. Howard left behind a number of unproduced works. Lute Song , an adaptation of an old Chinese play co-written with Will Irwin , premiered on Broadway in 1946. A lighthearted reworking of the Faust legend, Madam, Will You Walk? closed out of town when produced by the Playwrights' Company in 1939, but
325-770: A founding member of the Playwrights' Company (with Maxwell Anderson , S. N. Behrman , Elmer Rice , and Robert Sherwood ), he ultimately wrote or adapted more than seventy plays; a consummate theater professional, he also directed and produced a number of works. In 1922, Howard married actress Clare Eames (1896–1930), who had played the female lead in Swords. She later starred in Howard's Lucky Sam McCarver (1925) and Ned McCobb's Daughter (1926) on Broadway and The Silver Cord in London (1927). The couple separated in 1927, and Howard's anger at
390-473: A great admirer of Howard's stage work and was pleased with his three film adaptations, and the two men (whose political opinions aligned) became good friends. In 1935, Howard wrote the Broadway stage adaptation of Humphrey Cobb 's novel Paths of Glory . With its unsparing depictions of battlefield brutality, the play failed at the box office. As a World War I veteran, however, Howard believed it necessary to show
455-494: A heavily invested re-make of the silent era film Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921) The casting of child actor Freddy Bartholomew in the title role, according to Canham, was a masterstroke by Selznick and Cromwell's direction showcases the "sheer professionalism" of Bartholomew's acting abilities. Cromwell wisely selected his supporting cast from Hollywood's renowned "English Colony" of British expatriates. A film that emphasizes characterization over incident, Cromwell's handling of
520-527: A jazz-band romance, and The Dance of Life , based on the George Mankers Watters play Burlesque (Sutherland's co-direction went uncredited in The Dance of Death ). Cromwell had a minor acting role in each of these productions. In a 1973 interview with Leonard Maltin , Cromwell offered a frank assessment of his difficulties adapting to the new medium as a movie director: I never got accustomed to
585-494: A mother who is pathologically close to her sons and works to undermine their romances, the result of a decade fascinated with Freud, Oedipal complexes, and family dysfunction. Both Howard's works The Silver Cord and Ned McCobb's Daughter ran on alternate weeks in the 1926-1927 season, produced by the Theatre Guild . The Silver Cord is also the only original play by Howard to outlive its era. (His 1929 adaptation S.S. Tenacity
650-491: A number of alterations to the scenario, among them that Mildred's diagnosis of syphilis be changed to tuberculosis, and that the coarseness of Davis' interpretation of the "slatternly waitress" be toned down. RKO readily complied under threat of a $ 25,000 fine per violation. Despite studio executives' submitting to the censorship, Of Human Bondage was picketed in the major cities in the Midwestern United States by
715-411: A play he directed in 1926. His 1933 film adaptation concerns a young wife, Irene Dunne , who battles with her interfering mother-in-law Laura Hope Crews . The picture, which disparaged "motherhood", was considered audacious in its day. Cromwell finished off this series with Double Harness (1933), "a shrewd and sophisticated interior drama" with Ann Harding and William Powell . Cromwell filmed
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#1732876504417780-532: A project that eventually was directed by Frank Borzage . The Bancroft films include Scandal Sheet , with co-star Clive Brook , Rich Man's Folly (both 1931), an adaption of Dickens ' Dombey and Son and The World and the Flesh (also 1931), a romance set in revolutionary Russia. Cromwell's professional view of Bancroft's performance in Rich Man's Folly elicited these remarks: [The role] should have been absolutely splendid for Bancroft except it required
845-642: A return to Cromwell's "soap opera" depictions of familial relations and marital strife. The director's wife Kay Johnson was featured in Jalna , and Henry Fonda starred in I Dream too Much . After his recent collaborations with Pandro S. Berman and other producers, Cromwell reunited with David O. Selznick, following him to United Artists and 20th Century Fox to make five films: Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), To Mary – with Love (1936), Banjo on My Knee (1936), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) and Algiers (1938). David O. Selznick enlisted Cromwell to make
910-475: A son, Walter Damrosch Howard, and two daughters, Lady Sidney Howard Urquhart, and Margaret Howard. His first daughter, Jennifer, married Samuel Goldwyn Jr. in 1950, with whom she had three sons: business executive Francis Goldwyn, actor Tony Goldwyn , and studio executive John Goldwyn . Howard died in the summer of 1939 at the age of 48 in Tyringham, Massachusetts while working on his 700-acre farm. A lover of
975-455: A stage performer endowed him a sympathy which elicited fine performances from his players, especially the women. Davis' performance was an early manifestation of this salutary influence. "Whether by luck or design, Cromwell's eclectic career has been redeemed by the iconographical contributions of Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Madeleine Carroll , Mary Astor , Carole Lombard ... Fortunately, his formal deficiencies seldom obscure
1040-538: A tale of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Cromwell became disgusted with both the quality of the scenario, as well as the Paramount's sharp curtailment in rehearsal time. Cromwell's historical outlook and stage experience informed these following comments: The World and the Flesh was the high point of degradation from my point of view. It was such an asinine, concocted story! I had personally taken an interest in
1105-588: A then-controversial adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis novel Ann Vickers (1933). Irene Dunne played the eponymous character, a social reformer who exposes the degrading conditions in American prisons and has an affair with a jurist Walter Huston . Jane Murfin 's screenplay reflected the characterizations in the Lewis novel, where Vickers is a "birth control advocate" who engages in an extramarital affair. The script drew
1170-401: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages John Cromwell (director) John Cromwell (born Elwood Dager ; December 23, 1886 – September 26, 1979) was an American film and stage director and actor. His films spanned the early days of sound to film noir in the early 1950s, by which time his directing career was almost terminated by
1235-400: Is periodically revived.) The play was occasionally staged by regional theater companies through the late twentieth century, and its first Off-Broadway production was mounted in 2013. The 1933 film of the play starred Irene Dunne and Joel McCrea , with Laura Hope Crews reprising her stage role. By 1930, Howard was "one of the most dashing figures on the Broadway scene." A prolific writer and
1300-654: The Hollywood blacklist . Born as Elwood Dager in Toledo, Ohio to an affluent Anglo-Scottish family, executives in the steel and iron industry, Cromwell graduated from private high school at Howe Military Academy in 1905, but never pursued higher education. Upon leaving school, Cromwell immediately began his stage career touring with stock companies in Chicago, then made his way to New York City in his early 20s. Billed as Elwood Dager in his youth, he changed his name to John Cromwell at
1365-400: The Sinclair Lewis novel Arrowsmith and again in 1936 for Dodsworth , which he had adapted for the stage in 1934. He wrote a screenplay as well for Lewis's most political book, the anti-Fascist novel It Can't Happen Here. The film was never made. (Studio officials claimed production-cost issues, but Howard maintained that the politics of the script were the issue.) Sinclair Lewis was
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#17328765044171430-647: The American premieres of two George Bernard Shaw plays: Major Barbara in 1916, as character "Charles Lomax", and in a revival of Captain Brassbound's Conversion . Cromwell's stage career was interrupted by a brief stint in the U.S. Army during World War I. By the 1920s, Cromwell had become a respected Broadway director, often in collaboration with co-directors Frank Craven or William Brady. Cromwell frequently performed on stage in this period which included works by future Pulitzer-Prize-winners Sidney Howard and Robert E. Sherwood . In 1927, Cromwell directed and played
1495-492: The Balkans during World War I . After the war, Howard made use of his proficiency at foreign languages and translated a number of literary works from French, Spanish, Hungarian, and German. A liberal intellectual whose politics became progressively more left-wing over the years, he also wrote articles about labor issues for The New Republic and served as literary editor for the original Life Magazine . In 1921, Howard's first play
1560-549: The Catholic National Legion of Decency . Perhaps in response to the reputation the film acquired by these demonstrations, the picture broke attendance records at Chicago's Hippodrome Theater with hundreds of moviegoers turned away. Nationwide, the movie enjoyed a tremendous box-office success. As to Cromwell's successful handling of Davis' role, he was never labelled a "woman's director" (as were directors such as George Cukor ). Nevertheless, his extensive experience as
1625-569: The Defense (also 1930), a legal drama involving a lawyer and his criminal fiancée. He directed the second cinematic version of Mark Twain 's Tom Sawyer (also 1930) with Jackie Coogan starring as the eponymous Tom. During 1931-1932, Cromwell fulfilled his commitments to direct Bancroft in three more films. Indeed, Cromwell had agreed to continue working with Bancroft only if Paramount arranged to let him direct Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes in an adaption of Hemingway 's novel A Farewell to Arms ,
1690-512: The English poet Coleridge 's poem " Dejection ". Canham praises The Fountain as "undoubtedly one of Cromwell's most outstanding achievements..." After finishing Of Human Bondage , Cromwell enjoyed a pleasant interlude making Village Tale (1935), "one of Cromwell's favorite projects." Comprising a series of character studies, the picture features Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Ann Dvorak . Jalna and I Dream Too Much (both 1935), represent
1755-509: The Russian Revolution, and had heard a great deal from a journalist... Lincoln Steffens who had been in Moscow at the time it happened...And so I had an idea of what chances there were to do a real picture. Then to have this...this almost disgusting tale, the same old hash served up as a script! I made up my mind that would be the last of it, I would try to get away." In the early sound films
1820-436: The affection of a club-footed and self-effacing young medical student, Philip ( Leslie Howard ). The scenes are shot with great efficiency and effect in which "the camera movement seems to represent the emotional state of the characters." Cromwell adapted to studio budget limitations, employing the spartan interior sets to good effect in emphasizing the "unreality" of medical student's daily routines. Bette Davis' Mildred saw
1885-489: The age of 26 following a 1912 New York stage appearance. Cromwell made his Broadway debut in the role of John Brooke in Little Women (1912), an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott 's novel. The production was an immediate hit and ran for 184 performances. Throughout Cromwell's stage career, he worked in close collaboration with one of the outstanding Broadway producers of the day, William A. Brady . Indeed, virtually all of
1950-489: The beautiful drivers of Cromwell's vehicles."— Andrew Sarris (The American Cinema, 1968) The last film released in 1934 directed by Cromwell was a post-WWI romantic drama The Fountain concerning an Englishwoman who must tell her devoted German husband returning from the war that she has fallen in love with her childhood sweetheart. Film historian Kingsley Canham considers this a "key" film in Cromwell's oeuvre, showcasing
2015-582: The camera endows the picture with a cinematic quality that avoids the impression of "filmed literature." Sidney Howard Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for Gone with the Wind . Sidney Howard was born in Oakland, California,
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2080-525: The censors, but immensely popular among moviegoers: Of Human Bondage . Although film historian John Baxter considers Cromwell's adaption of W. Somerset Maugham 's novel Of Human Bondage "overrated", critic Jon Hopwood posited that the director "made his name" in Hollywood with this picture. The film dramatizes forms of personal tyranny and obsession, in which an unsophisticated and heartless waitress, Mildred ( Bette Davis ) employs low-cunning to win
2145-512: The conquest of humanity, [using the techniques] that made Yellow Jack such a forceful drama." Hired by Samuel Goldwyn , Howard worked in Hollywood at MGM and wrote several successful screenplays. Despite his well-known left-wing political sympathies (he supported William Foster, the Communist Party candidate for president, in 1932), he became a shrewd Hollywood insider. In 1932, Howard was nominated for an Academy Award for his adaptation of
2210-402: The cost of war. After two Academy Award nominations and the Broadway success of Dodsworth, Sidney Howard was at the height of his fame in the late 1930s and appeared on the cover of Time magazine on June 7, 1937. Two years later, he was dead. Howard was the posthumous winner of the 1939 Academy Award for an adapted screenplay for Gone with the Wind . (He was the only writer honored for
2275-494: The director and son of actor James Cromwell [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Cromwell&oldid=1025952257 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2340-429: The director's "elegance" and "assurance" in his handling of the décor and its relationship to performances. The "restlessness and soul searching" of the expatriate wife Julie ( Ann Harding ) and her lover interned British flyer Lewis ( Brian Aherne ) is conveyed through camera movements, and with a minimum of dialogue. The "metaphysical" nature of this romance is made explicit by Cromwell's insertion of an excerpt from
2405-490: The disintegration of his marriage is reflected in his bitter satire of modern matrimony, Half Gods (1929). A particular admirer of the understated realism of French playwright Charles Vildrac , Howard adapted two of his plays into English, under the titles S. S. Tenacity (1929) and Michael Auclair (1932). One of his greatest successes on Broadway was an adaptation of a French comedy by René Fauchois , The Late Christopher Bean . Yellow Jack , an historical drama about
2470-485: The emergence of the actress in a "breakthrough" performance and "her first truly great film role." Davis' rendition fully conveys "the vulgarity and venality" of the character, impressing studios executives and audiences. Like Cromwell's 1933 Ann Vickers , Of Human Bondage was received the disapproval of the Production Code Administration (PCA), led by Catholic activist Joseph Breen . The PCA demanded
2535-492: The film helped spur the formation of the Production Code Administration, which later rigorously censored films for almost 25 years, largely under Catholic moral crusader Joseph Ignatius Breen . Cromwell's first two pictures of 1934 are considered "largely forgettable" according to author Michael Barson, beginning with a "miscast" Katharine Hepburn in Spitfire . RKO's 26-year-old Hepburn as "Spitfire" (her pejorative sobriquet)
2600-407: The film. Cromwell, struggling with setting up his shots and conscious of avoiding cost overruns, disputed with Hepburn as to re-shooting of a key scene. The contretemps led to Cromwell's emphatic rejection of her requests and the director, "who did not like the film much", recalled that "I think those [disputes] were reflected in the picture." Nonetheless, Cromwell's visual compositions, along with
2665-400: The horrors of armed conflict. Convinced that the novel should be filmed one day, Howard wrote, "It seems to me that our motion picture industry must feel something of a sacred obligation to make the picture." The film version of the novel , directed by Stanley Kubrick , did not appear until 1957. Howard's screenplay for Gone with the Wind echoed Paths of Glory with an unflinching look at
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2730-575: The ire of the Production Code Administration and the Catholic Church. The Studio Relations Committee (SRC) chairman James Wingate called the script "vulgarly offensive". The SRC, overseeing the MPPDA , demanded an overhaul of the Murfin's script. RKO managers protested, and a compromise was reached when Dunne's character was relieved of adultery charges by a change in her marital status. Although awarded approval,
2795-404: The lead in the gangster drama, The Racket , with newcomer Edward G. Robinson debuting in a tough guy role of the type for which Robinson became known throughout his film career. In 1928, Cromwell moved to Hollywood to serve as a dialogue director during the movie industry's transition to films with sound. Although Cromwell returned to Broadway in later years, his primary occupation after 1928
2860-613: The lot" after The World and the Flesh , and with the help of his agent Myron Selznick , he moved to RKO . At the time, David O. Selznick was running RKO, and Cromwell recalled his professional experience there fondly: "RKO was always an endearing place to me; it had a distinct feeling of independence and individuality it never lost." Cromwell was initially assigned by RKO to direct "a series of soap operas and films about family strife". Among these were Sweepings (1933), starring Lionel Barrymore in an unusually "restrained" performance. Cromwell directed The Silver Cord , an adaptation of
2925-405: The midst of an active career and full of ideas for more plays." In his 2007 history of Broadway playwrights, Ethan Mordden wrote, "When he found his metier, Howard excelled at edgy American stories about charismatic but somewhat unlikable people. He seemed to enjoy testing his public; or perhaps he simply saw the world as being filled with rogues..." At the time of his death, Howard was working on
2990-532: The play was praised for its un-melodramatic view of adultery and its tolerant approach to its characters. Theater critic Brooks Atkinson called it "a tender, original, merciful drama." They Knew What They Wanted won the 1925 Pulitzer Prize for Drama , was adapted three times into film (1928, 1930, and 1940) and later became the Broadway musical, The Most Happy Fella . Howard's career was anything but consistent. For every successful play he wrote, he saw several others close without making any money. His saving grace
3055-418: The privilege, they'll all want it, and that will just create a situation..." Cromwell bargained with the producer, and they agreed to trade shooting days in exchange for rehearsal days. Cromwell recalled: "I think I ended up with four days rehearsal [by] cutting two days off the shooting schedule. Incredible! I couldn't believe it years afterwards." Cromwell's disaffection from Paramount led him to "walk off
3120-421: The production meeting Schulberg said "We can't have anymore rehearsals, John." I asked him what he meant, and he continued: "It's a waste of time. The [film] directors don't know what to do with rehearsals..." I had noticed this too, but I had improved every minute of my time with rehearsals, so I said "Well, you know you don't have to do that with me, you know I don't waste my time." Schulberg replied "If I give you
3185-516: The quiet rural life, Howard spent as much time on his farm as possible when he was not in New York or Hollywood. He was crushed to death in a garage by his two-and-a-half ton tractor. He had turned the ignition switch on and was cranking the engine to start it when it lurched forward, pinning him against the wall of the garage. "His death was a Broadway calamity," Atkinson wrote. "Broadway and the Playwrights' Company lost one of its most admirable people...in
3250-759: The son of Helen Louise ( née Coe ) and John Lawrence Howard. He is a descendant of Robert Coe , a 17th-century colonist who migrated to America from England . He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1915 and went on to Harvard University to study playwriting under George Pierce Baker in his legendary "47 workshop." (Other alumni of Baker's class included Eugene O'Neill , Thomas Wolfe , Philip Barry and S.N. Behrman . Howard became good friends with Behrman.) Along with other students of Harvard professor A. Piatt Andrew , Howard volunteered with Andrew's American Field Service , serving in France and
3315-514: The stage productions Cromwell participated in before he began his film career were produced by Brady. The Painted Woman (1913) marked Cromwell's first assignment as stage director. Written by Frederic Arnold Kummer , the play closed in two days. By 1914, he was acting in and co-directing productions, including "Too Many Cooks" (1914), which ran for 223 performances. In 1915, he joined the New York Repertory Company and performed in
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#17328765044173380-401: The studios, having experience only with dialogue-free (silent) pictures, deferred to the Broadway dialogue-savvy stage directors, like Cromwell, who they enlisted during the transition to "talkies". In early production of For the Defense , Cromwell reports he was informed about a change in policy concerning rehearsals: I set up the usual rehearsal schedule [of 2 1 ⁄ 2 weeks], but at
3445-487: The terrific range of the camera and what the choice of a shot can do to a scene...[though] I was always very aware of composition. I had to rely enormously on my cameraman, especially at first. I was never able to learn much about lighting because it seems to me that every cameraman I had was so different from the last in his technique that it became almost impossible to learn unless you just took out time and devoted yourself to it. So I had to be completely at their mercy...But I
3510-462: The war against yellow fever, was praised for its high-minded purpose and innovative staging when it premiered in 1934. "In his thinking, Howard was very much a man of his time," Brooks Atkinson wrote. "He was a Wilsonian; he brooded on the tragedy of the League of Nations. He intended to write an ironic tragedy on the theme of the destruction of such a league that would be devoted to the service rather than
3575-426: The work of his cinematographer Edward Cronjager showcase Hepburn's "exuberant" performance, in which "her physical celebrations of the joys of life make this an eccentric and likeable film." Surprisingly, the film was successful at the box office. Cromwell completed another soap opera with Irene Dunne and Ralph Bellamy , This Man is Mine (1934). Cromwell embarked on a film that proved to be highly offensive to
3640-476: The writing of that screenplay, despite the fact that his script was revised by several other writers.) This was the first time a posthumous nominee for any Oscar won the award. Howard was also an advocate for writers' rights in the theatrical industry. In 1935, he served as the sixth president of the Dramatists Guild of America . Three years after their separation, Clare Eames died unexpectedly in 1930. She
3705-480: Was a success at the box office. In 1930, Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation changed its name to Paramount Publix Corporation because of the growing importance of the Publix Theater chain. The Texan (1930) was Cromwell's adaptation of the O. Henry short story " A Double-Dyed Deceiver " and starring Paramount's rising star Gary Cooper . Paramount again enlisted actors Powell and Francis in Cromwell's For
3770-468: Was as a movie director. Paramount Famous Lasky film producer B. P. Schulberg signed the 42-year-old Cromwell as a screen actor in October 1928 at the time of the industry-wide transition from silent productions to the new sound technology. After a satisfactory début performance in the 1929 early talkie The Dummy which featured Ruth Chatterton , Fredric March , Jack Oakie and ZaSu Pitts , Cromwell
3835-457: Was conceived as a "character study" rather than a genuine narrative, to showcase the rising young star. Based on the play Trigger by Lula Vollmer, Hepburn is improbably tasked with portraying an anti-social hillbilly -tomboy and faith healer in a rural backcountry community. Cromwell admitted that he was skeptical as to Hepburn's suitability for the part and objected to her contrived country accent. Hepburn herself tried unsuccessfully to get out of
3900-416: Was invited to share directorial duties with Edward Sutherland , an experienced filmmaker. Though Cromwell had never worked behind a camera, Paramount was eager to hire experienced stage directors "because of their presumed knowledge in handling dialogue." However erroneous this assumption, Cromwell and Sutherland enjoyed a productive collaboration completing two early talkies, both in 1929: Close Harmony ,
3965-582: Was more warmly received as the first production of the Phoenix Theatre in 1953. Shortly after his death his colleagues at the Playwrights' Company founded in his honor the Sidney Howard Memorial Award . The award consisted of a prize of $ 1500 given to a young playwright without notable successes who had shown promise in a New York production. The inaugural prize was given to Robert Ardrey in recognition of his play Thunder Rock . Howard
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#17328765044174030-476: Was produced on Broadway. A neo-romantic verse drama set in the time of Dante, Swords , did not do well with audiences or critics. It was with his realistic romance They Knew What They Wanted three years later that Howard established his reputation as a serious writer. The story of a middle-aged Italian vineyard owner who woos a young woman by mail with a false snapshot of himself, marries her, and then forgives her when she becomes pregnant by one of his farm hands,
4095-420: Was that he was a remarkably prolific writer. Lucky Sam McCarver , his next play, was an unsentimental account of the marriage of a New York speakeasy owner on his way up in the world with a self-destructive socialite on her way down. It failed to attract audiences, though it won the admiration of some reviewers. With 1926's The Silver Cord , starring Laura Hope Crews , Howard had a major hit. This drama about
4160-460: Was the niece of opera singer Emma Eames on her father's side, and of the inventor Hiram Percy Maxim on her mother's side, and a granddaughter of former Maryland governor William Thomas Hamilton . Howard and Eames had one child, a daughter, Jennifer Howard (1925-1993), who became an actress. The following year in 1931, Howard married Leopoldine "Polly" Damrosch, youngest daughter American of conductor and composer Walter Damrosch . The couple had
4225-418: Was very lucky. I had some wonderful cameramen—wonderful in that they never let me down...men like Jimmy Howe , Charlie Lang , Arthur Miller . During Cromwell's early films with Paramount, he was tasked with directing stage and film star George Bancroft , the studio's top property. Bancroft had performed in a number successful silent films with Paramount's rising director Josef von Sternberg , culminating in
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