American Madness

Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s. His rags-to-riches story, having worked his way through college, has led film historians... like Ian Freer to consider Capra the "American dream personified." Capra became one of America's most powerful directors during the 1930s, winning three Oscars as Best Director. Among his leading films was It Happened One Night , which became the first film to win all five top Oscars, including Best Picture. Other leading films included Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , Lost Horizon , You Can't Take It With You , Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Meet John Doe , Arsenic and Old Lace , It's a Wonderful Life and State of the Union . Because of his early fame as a director, his name was listed "above the title" of his films when they were publicized. People "flocked to the theaters" during the 1930s and 1940s to see films directed by Frank Capra.
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Roy William Neill was a film director best known today for directing several of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, made between 1943 and 1946 and released by Universal Studios. With his father as the captain, Neill was born on a ship off the coast of Ireland. His... birth name was Roland de Gostrie. Neill began directing silent movies in 1917 and went on to helm 107 films, 40 of them silent. Although most of Neill's films were low-budget B-movies, he was known for directing films with meticulously lit scenes with carefully layered shadows that would become the style of film noir in the late 1940s. In fact, his last film, Black Angel , is considered a film noir. He was also credited in some works as R. William Neill, Roy W. Neill, and Roy Neill. Neill lived in the United States for most of his career and was a U.S. citizen. He did go to London from 1935 until 1940 where better opportunities existed for American directors. During this period, British film producer Edward Black hired Neill to direct The Lady Vanishes. However, due to delays in production, Black hired Alfred Hitchcock to direct instead.
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Allan Dwan was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer and screenwriter. Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan moved with his family to the United States when he was 11 years old. At the University of Notre Dame, he trained as an engineer... and began working for a lighting company in Chicago. However, he had a strong interest in the fledgling motion picture industry and when Essanay Studios offered him the opportunity to become a scriptwriter, he took the job. At that time, some of the East Coast movie makers began to spend winters in California where the climate allowed them to continue productions requiring warm weather. Soon, a number of movie companies worked there year-round and, in 1911, Dwan began working part time in Hollywood. While still in New York, in 1917 he was the founding president of the East Coast chapter of the Motion Picture Directors Association. Dwan operated Flying A Studios in La Mesa, California from August, 1911 to July, 1912. Flying A was one of the first motion pictures studios in California history.
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