Howard Hawks

Directing

Howard Hawks

Born 1896-05-30 · Goshen, Indiana, USA

Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896 – December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. He is popular for his films from a wide range of genres, including screwball comedies [Bringing Up Baby (1938), His Girl Friday (1940), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)], westerns [Red River (1948), Rio Bravo (1959), El Dorado (1967)], adventure films [Only Angels Have Wings (1939), To Have and Have Not (1944)], films noirs [The Big Sleep (1946)] and gangster films [Scarface (1932)]. Notable characteristics of his films are independent and tough-talking female protagonists ("Hawksian woman") and witty and fast-paced dialogues. In 1975, Hawks was awarded the Honorary Academy Award as "a master American filmmaker whose creative efforts hold a distinguished place in world cinema," and in 1942 he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for Sergeant York. Hawks has been considered by film critics to be an auteur because of his recognizable style and frequent use of certain thematic elements. Andrew Sarris in his influential book of film criticism The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 included him in the "pantheon" of the 14 greatest film directors who had worked in the United States. Hawks influenced numerous filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese.

Acting credits

Scarface poster
7.4

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Scarface

1932

Monkey Business poster
6.7

Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. One of the labs chimps gets loose in the laboratory and mixes chemicals, but then pours the mix into the water cooler. When trying one of his own samples, washed down with water from the cooler, Fulton begins to act just like a twenty-year-old and believes his potion is working. Soon his wife and boss are also behaving like children.

Monkey Business

1952

Filmmakers in Action poster
7.2

What is the state of cinema and what being a filmmaker means? What are the measures taken to protect authors' copyright? What is their legal status in different countries? (Sequel to “Filmmakers vs. Tycoons.”)

Filmmakers in Action

2006

Red Line 7000 poster
5.4

The lives and passions of a stock car team are revealed against the turbulent backdrop of the professional racing world.

Red Line 7000

1965

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year poster
7.5

This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

2009

You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story poster
8.5

Jack L. Warner, Harry Warner, Albert Warner and Sam Warner were siblings who were born in Poland and emigrated to Canada near the turn of the century. In 1903, the brothers entered the budding motion picture business. In time, the Warner Brothers moved into film production and would open their own studio in 1923.

You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story

2008

The Dawn Patrol poster
6.6

World War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but he soon is promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their deaths.

The Dawn Patrol

1930

1925 Studio Tour poster
6.3

A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and gives viewers a glimpse at how movies are made.

1925 Studio Tour

1925

Marilyn at the Movies poster
NR

Through film trailers and newsreel footage, this program pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe's silver screen legacy -- and The Misfits director John Huston goes behind the scenes to examine her tumultuous personal life.

Marilyn at the Movies

2011

The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks poster
6.8

A documentary filmography of Howard Hawks, including lengthy footage of Hawks himself discussing his films and many clips from his best-known pictures.

The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks

1973

Commemoration: Howard Hawks' 'Rio Bravo' poster
NR

An appreciation of Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" (1959) by filmmakers and historians.

Commemoration: Howard Hawks' 'Rio Bravo'

2007

Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo poster
NR

George Plimpton got a job playing one of the bad guys in the Howard Hawks-directed John Wayne Western "Rio Lobo." In this special we see him talking to Hawks about whether he'll be killed off or not, to Wayne about how to cultivate a special walk to make oneself a star in movies and to himself as he attempts to rehearse his tiny part and while doing so is caught in the frame of a setup for another scene and chastised by Wayne. Wayne calls Plimpton "Pimpleton" throughout this special.

Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo

1970

Johnny, weil Du Geburtstag hast poster
NR

German TV documentary about John Wayne from 1977.

Johnny, weil Du Geburtstag hast

1977

Metropolis Refound poster
5.4

Argentinian film historians find a complete print of Fritz Lang's “Metropolis” (1927) at Buenos Aires Film Museum and take it to Germany for its restoration.

Metropolis Refound

2010

Lauren Bacall, ombre et lumière poster
7.8

No synopsis available yet.

Lauren Bacall, ombre et lumière

2017

Hawks on Hawks poster
NR

This ten-minute segment, heralded as part of a new shorts program, is composed of excerpts from a 1972 audio conversation between Hawks and Peter Bogdanovich, as well as a 1973 interview of Hawks with Richard Schickel, wherein the director reminisces about casting "His Girl Friday" (1940) and the changes from the original source material.

Hawks on Hawks

2017

No artwork available
NR

A review of Howard Hawks's work, focusing on "His Girl Friday".

Howard Hawks: Reporter's Notebook

1999

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 3 poster
10.0

Hedda reports on a dog training school and a Hemingway hunting trip.

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 3

1942

Howard Hawks: A Hell of a Good Life poster
7.0

Documentary featuring the last filmed interview with director Howard Hawks

Howard Hawks: A Hell of a Good Life

1978

Behind the camera

Rio Bravo poster
7.8

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Rio Bravo

1959

Rio Bravo poster
7.8

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

Rio Bravo

1959

Red River poster
7.3

Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.

Red River

1948

Red River poster
7.3

Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.

Red River

1948

His Girl Friday poster
7.4

Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.

His Girl Friday

1940

His Girl Friday poster
7.4

Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.

His Girl Friday

1940

El Dorado poster
7.4

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

El Dorado

1966

El Dorado poster
7.4

Cole Thornton, a gunfighter for hire, joins forces with an old friend, Sheriff J.P. Harrah. Together with a fighter and a gambler, they help a rancher and his family fight a rival rancher that is trying to steal their water.

El Dorado

1966

Scarface poster
7.4

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Scarface

1932

Scarface poster
7.4

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Scarface

1932

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes poster
7.3

Lorelei Lee is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond, much to the disapproval of Gus' rich father, Esmond Sr., who thinks that Lorelei is just after his money. When Lorelei goes on a cruise accompanied only by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw, Esmond Sr. hires Ernie Malone, a private detective, to follow her and report any questionable behavior that would disqualify her from the marriage.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

1953

The Big Sleep poster
7.6

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Big Sleep

1946

The Big Sleep poster
7.6

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Big Sleep

1946

Bringing Up Baby poster
7.5

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.

Bringing Up Baby

1938

Bringing Up Baby poster
7.5

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.

Bringing Up Baby

1938

Rio Lobo poster
6.5

After the Civil War, a former Union colonel searches for the two traitors whose perfidy led to the loss of a close friend.

Rio Lobo

1970

Rio Lobo poster
6.5

After the Civil War, a former Union colonel searches for the two traitors whose perfidy led to the loss of a close friend.

Rio Lobo

1970

Sergeant York poster
7.2

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.

Sergeant York

1941

Sergeant York poster
7.2

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.

Sergeant York

1941

The Thing from Another World poster
6.7

Scientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost.

The Thing from Another World

1951

The Thing from Another World poster
6.7

Scientists and US Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while investigating at a remote arctic outpost.

The Thing from Another World

1951

Monkey Business poster
6.7

Research chemist Barnaby Fulton works on a fountain of youth pill for a chemical company. One of the labs chimps gets loose in the laboratory and mixes chemicals, but then pours the mix into the water cooler. When trying one of his own samples, washed down with water from the cooler, Fulton begins to act just like a twenty-year-old and believes his potion is working. Soon his wife and boss are also behaving like children.

Monkey Business

1952

Ball of Fire poster
7.4

A group of academics have spent years shut up in a house working on the definitive encyclopedia. When one of them discovers that his entry on slang is hopelessly outdated, he ventures into the wide world to learn about the evolving language. Here he meets Sugarpuss O’Shea, a nightclub singer, who’s on top of all the slang—and, it just so happens, needs a place to stay.

Ball of Fire

1941

Land of the Pharaohs poster
6.4

A captured architect designs an ingenious plan to ensure the impregnability of the tomb of a self-absorbed Pharaoh, obsessed with the security of his next life.

Land of the Pharaohs

1955