Howard Hawks

Howard Hawks (May 30, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and writer of the classic Hollywood era.

He was born Howard Winchester Hawks in Goshen, Indiana. He died in Palm Springs, California, from the aftermath of a fall.

Hawks was known for his versatility as a director, filming comedies, dramas, and Westerns with equal ease and skill. Critic Leonard Maltin has labelled Hawks "the greatest American director who is not a household name," noting that, while his work may not be as well known as Ford, Welles, or Hitchcock, he is no less a talented filmmaker.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Howard Hawks has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1708 Vine Street.

Hawks was notorious for fabricating stories about the movie business, usually in a way which inflated his already considerable contributions to it. One such story has it that Hawks told Ernest Hemingway that he could make a good movie out of the worst thing that Hemingway had ever written, at which point Hemingway challenged him to make a movie out of To Have and Have Not.

Filmography (director)

Rio Lobo (1970)
El Dorado (1966)
Red Line 7000 (1965)
Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
Hatari! (1962)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
O. Henry's Full House (segment "The Ransom of Red Chief") (1952)
Monkey Business (1952)
The Big Sky (1952)
The Thing From Another World (1951) (uncredited)
I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
A Song Is Born (1948)
Red River (1948)
The Big Sleep (1946)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
The Outlaw (1943) (uncredited)
Air Force (1943)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Come and Get It (1936)
The Road to Glory (1936)
Sutter's Gold (1936) (uncredited)
Ceiling Zero (1936)
Barbary Coast (1935)
Twentieth Century (1934)
Viva Villa! (1934) (uncredited)
The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) (uncredited)
Today We Live (1933)
Tiger Shark (1932)
The Crowd Roars (1932)
Scarface (1932)
La Foule hurle (1932)
The Criminal Code (1931)
The Dawn Patrol (1930)
Trent's Last Case (1929)
The Air Circus (1928)
Fazil (1928)
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
Paid to Love (1927)
The Cradle Snatchers (1927)
Fig Leaves (1926)
The Road to Glory (1926)

Books

Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood, Todd MacCarthy (Grove Press, 1997)
Howard Hawks: American Artist, Jim Hillier, Peter Wollen (British Film Institute, 1997)
Hawks by Hawks, Joseph MacBride (University of California Press, 1982)

External links