Delmer Daves | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | July 24, 1904 San Francisco, California |
| Died | August 17, 1977(1977-08-17) (aged 73) |
| Occupation(s) | Film director,screenwriter,film producer,actor |
| Spouse | |
Delmer Lawrence Daves (July 24, 1904 – August 17, 1977) was an Americanscreenwriter,film director andfilm producer.[1] He worked in manygenres, includingfilm noir andwarfare, but he is best known for hisWestern movies, especiallyBroken Arrow (1950),The Last Wagon (1956),3:10 to Yuma (1957) andThe Hanging Tree (1959). He was required to work exclusively on studio-based films after heart trouble in 1959, one of which,A Summer Place, was a huge commercial success.
Daves worked with some of the best known players of his time including established stars likeHumphrey Bogart,Gary Cooper,Glenn Ford,James Stewart andRichard Widmark. He also helped to develop the careers of up-and-coming players such asErnest Borgnine,Charles Bronson,Felicia Farr andGeorge C. Scott.
Born inSan Francisco, Daves graduated fromStanford University.[2] His first job in the film industry wasprop boy on theWesternThe Covered Wagon (1923), directed byJames Cruze, and then serving as atechnical advisor on a number of other films.[3] He tried his hand at acting and appeared in more than ten movies includingThe Night Flyer (1928) (produced by Cruze),The Duke Steps Out (1929) andGood News (1930).[1][3]
While he was acting, Daves was given the opportunity byMGM to collaborate onscreenplays. He began his career as a screenwriter by contributing to the early sound comedy filmSo This Is College (MGM; 1929), directed bySam Wood. Later, working for MGM and other companies, he wrote screenplays for films likeShipmates (MGM; 1931),Dames (Warner Bros; 1934),The Petrified Forest (Warner Bros; 1936),Love Affair (RKO Radio; 1939), andYou Were Never Lovelier (Columbia; 1942).[1][3] Daves was particularly successful withLove Affair which, using his original script, was remade asAn Affair to Remember (20th Century Fox; 1957).[4]
In 1943, Warner Bros asked Daves to directDestination Tokyo, awartime adventure film starringCary Grant andJohn Garfield. Daves assisted with the screenplay and this became normal practice for him as a director.[1][5] He directed three more films during theSecond World War –The Very Thought of You (1944),Hollywood Canteen (1944) andPride of the Marines (1945), all for Warners. The first two of those were light-hearted but the latter, starring John Garfield andEleanor Parker, studied the difficulties faced by aUS marine who had been blinded at theBattle of Guadalcanal.[1] All four of Daves' wartime films were commercially successful.[6] After the war, Daves turned tofilm noir and madeThe Red House (1947), starringEdward G. Robinson, forSol Lesser atUnited Artists.[1] He returned to Warners where he wrote and directedDark Passage (1947), starringHumphrey Bogart,Lauren Bacall andAgnes Moorehead.[7] He later directedTo the Victor (1948),A Kiss in the Dark (1949) andTask Force (1949). He also wrote the screenplay forTask Force, which starredGary Cooper.[1]
In February 1949, Daves signed a long-term contract at20th Century Fox.[8] He began by directing his firstWestern, the critically acclaimedBroken Arrow (1950) which starredJames Stewart,Debra Paget andJeff Chandler.[9] Chandler playedCochise and the movie's success inspired the making of other films withNative American protagonists.[1]Kim Newman wrote that, by his dignified and heroic performance, Oscar-nominated Chandler established Cochise as "the 1950s model of an Indian hero".[10] Newman points out that the film inspired goodwill to other Native American chiefs such asSitting Bull,Crazy Horse andGeronimo – as a result, "it became fashionable for Westerns to be pro-Indian".[11] Other scholars warned that these "pro-Indian" movies proposed that peaceful co-existence between Natives and whites was achieved only through the loss of Indian identity. "Good" Indians would conform to white society, "bad" Indians would not.[12]
Daves decided to try other genres with the adventure filmsBird of Paradise (1951) andTreasure of the Golden Condor (1953), both of which he wrote and directed.[1] As director only, he madeNever Let Me Go (1953) for MGM andDemetrius and the Gladiators (1954) for Fox.[1]Never Let Me Go, starringClark Gable andGene Tierney, was shot entirely in England and featured a supporting cast of well-known British actors.[13]
Daves became a freelance director in 1954 and returned to Warners to work onDrum Beat (1954), which he wrote, directed and also co-produced withAlan Ladd, who starred in the movie. One of Ladd's co-stars wasCharles Bronson who, then relatively unknown, gave an impressive performance as theModoc chiefCaptain Jack.[1][14] By this time, Daves was fed up of the "pro-Indian" fashion that he had begun, andDrum Beat was "pro-settler" with the hanging of Bronson's character in the final scene "restoring the balance".[15] Aleiss argued thatDrum Beat actually preached the same theme in his previous Westerns of good Indians conforming to white expectations while eliminating the bad Indian (Captain Jack).[12] Daves worked primarily on Westerns for the next five years.[5]
After writing the screenplay ofWhite Feather (1955) for Fox, Daves directed three highly-rated Westerns:Jubal (1956) for Columbia;The Last Wagon (1956) for Fox; and3:10 to Yuma (1957) for Columbia. He co-wrote the screenplay for the first two of these; Halsted Welles adapted3:10 to Yuma from the novel byElmore Leonard.Felicia Farr had a significant role in all three films.Glenn Ford was the lead actor inJubal and co-starred withVan Heflin in3:10 to Yuma.Richard Widmark starred inThe Last Wagon.Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson andRod Steiger were all inJubal;James Drury had a small part inThe Last Wagon;Richard Jaeckel andLeora Dana had significant parts in3:10 to Yuma. According to one review,3:10 to Yuma was a variation onHigh Noon (1952) as it "pits a farmer (Heflin) in a battle of wits with a captured killer" (Ford, cast against type as a villain) – it is a "psychological Western" that is generally considered a classic of the genre.[1]
FollowingCowboy (1958) which again starred Glenn Ford, this time with Felicia Farr's future husbandJack Lemmon, Daves decided on a switch of genre to directKings Go Forth (1958) a World War II drama for United Artists which starredFrank Sinatra,Tony Curtis andNatalie Wood. Daves returned to Westerns towards the end of 1958 when he madeThe Badlanders (1958) for MGM. This film was in effect a remake of noir classicThe Asphalt Jungle (1950), reset in the 1890s. It starred Alan Ladd and Ernest Borgnine.[1]
Daves then made his last Western,The Hanging Tree (1959) starring Gary Cooper,Maria Schell andKarl Malden, withGeorge C. Scott making his debut. This is regarded as another classic and Daves made full use of a stark landscape in which the only real feature was a makeshift gold camp.[16] The power of newly struck gold sends the community into a frenzy and they become, in Newman's words, "a wild collection of riotous scum".[16]
Daves suffered problems with his heart[17] during the making ofThe Hanging Tree and was forced to step aside for several days; Malden took over as director while Daves was absent. There has been speculation that health problems prevented Daves from continuing to work on Westerns, which were often physically demanding.[1]
On medical advice, Daves decided to forgo Westerns and limit himself to studio-bound productions which were less strenuous.[17] He wrote, produced and directed a series of romantic dramas at Warners which all starredTroy Donahue:A Summer Place (1959),Parrish (1961),Susan Slade (1961) andRome Adventure (1962).[17]A Summer Place was one of his biggest commercial successes. Based on the novel bySloan Wilson, it was controversial at the time for its treatment of adultery and pre-marital sex.[1][17]
Daves' final three films were all made at Warners.Spencer's Mountain (1963) starredHenry Fonda andMaureen O'Hara. It was based uponEarl Hamner Jr's autobiographical novel of the same name, and served as the basis for the later television seriesThe Waltons.[18] Daves then wrote, directed and producedYoungblood Hawke (1964) andThe Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965). He retired afterVilla Florita was released.[17]
Daves was married to actressMary Lawrence from 1938 until he died on August 17, 1977. He is interred at theForest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery inGlendale, California.[19]
Kim Newman says of Daves andAnthony Mann that they were able to "ring changes" on seemingly familiar Western storylines by "playing up the psychologically acute reflections of their characters" in relation to the landscape as well as to each other. Daves, he says, achieved this in each ofBroken Arrow,The Last Wagon,3:10 to Yuma, andThe Hanging Tree.[20]
Despite several highly-acclaimed films,Dave Kehr considers Daves to be an under-rated and neglected filmmaker.[17] As a director, Daves first built his reputation on morally complex war films such asPride of the Marines and socially progressive Westerns. For example,Broken Arrow has been credited as one of the first to introduce the issue of racism in post-war American movies, and it is widely regarded as one of the first "pro-Native American" films.[17] Kehr views Daves' late period romances as sharing the same virtues as his earlier action films: "characters composed with the utmost integrity and respect; a gift for creating a detailed and convincing social background; and a strong, clear narrative style that allowed him to manage a large cast of characters and several simultaneous levels of dramatic events".[17]
Daves began his career as filmmaker in 1943, following a career working as an actor and scriptwriter. He is credited with making 26 films between 1943 and 1965, his most acclaimed being the 1957 film3:10 to Yuma.
As actor
As writer
