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Edward Dmytryk

Known For
Directing

Known Credits
15

Gender
Male

Birthday
September 4, 1908 (117 years old)

Place of Birth
Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada

Edward Dmytryk

Biography

Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was an American film director who was amongst the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy-era 'red scare'.

Although born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada, Dmytryk grew up in San Francisco when his Ukrainian parents moved to the United States. At the age of 31, he became a naturalized citizen.

His best known films from the pre-McCarthy period of his career were film noirs Crossfire, for which he received a Best Director Oscar nomination, and Murder, My Sweet, the latter an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's Farewell My Lovely. In addition, he made two World War II films: Hitler's Children, the story of the Hitler youth and Back to Bataan starring John Wayne.

The late 1940's was the time of the Second Red Scare, and Dmytryk was one of many filmmakers investigated. Summoned to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), he refused to cooperate and was sent to jail. After spending several months behind bars, Dmytryk made the decision to testify again, and give the names of his fellow members in the American Communist Party as the HUAC had demanded. On April 25, 1951, Dmytryk appeared before HUAC for the second time, answering all questions. He spoke of his own Party past, a very brief membership in 1945, including the naming of twenty-six former members of left-wing groups. He explained how John Howard Lawson, Adrian Scott, Albert Maltz and others had pressured him to include communist propaganda in his films. His testimony damaged several court cases that others of the so-called "Hollywood 10" had filed. He recounted his experiences of the period in his revealing 1996 book, Odd Man Out: A Memoir of the Hollywood Ten (Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL).

For a time, Dmytryk moved to England, and Stanley Kramer hired him to direct a trio of low-budget films before handing Dmytryk The Caine Mutiny. He made films for major studios Columbia, 20th Century Fox, MGM and Paramount Pictures, including, among others, Raintree County, The Left Hand of God, The Young Lions, a remake of the Marlene Dietrich classic The Blue Angel, and The Carpetbaggers. Later into the 60' and 70's, he directed Where Love Has Gone, Anzio, Alvarez Kelly, Shalako, and his final film Bluebeard. The films which he directed featured stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Gene Tierney, Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, Sean Connery, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda.

After his film career tapered off in the 1970s, he entered academia and taught at the University of Texas at Austin, and at the University of Southern California. He wrote several books on the art of filmmaking (such as "On Film Editing") and lectured at various colleges and theaters, such as the Orson Welles Cinema. Dmytryk died from heart and kidney failure on 1 July, 1999, aged 90, in Encino, California.

Known For

Directing

1979Not Only Strangers...Director
1975The Human Factor...Director
1975He Is My Brother...Director
1972Bluebeard...Director
1968Shalako...Director
1968Anzio...Director
1966Alvarez Kelly...Director
1965Mirage...Director
1964Where Love Has Gone...Director
1964The Carpetbaggers...Director
1962The Reluctant Saint...Director
1962Walk on the Wild Side...Director
1959The Blue Angel...Director
1959Warlock...Director
1958The Young Lions...Director
1957Raintree County...Director
1956The Mountain...Director
1955The Left Hand of God...Director
1955Soldier of Fortune...Director
1955The End of the Affair...Director
1954Broken Lance...Director
1954The Caine Mutiny...Director
1953Three Lives...Director
1953The Juggler...Director
1952Eight Iron Men...Director
1952The Sniper...Director
1952Mutiny...Director
1949Give Us This Day...Director
1949Obsession...Director
1947Crossfire...Director
1947So Well Remembered...Director
1946Till the End of Time...Director
1945Cornered...Director
1945Back to Bataan...Director
1944Murder, My Sweet...Director
1944Tender Comrade...Director
1943Behind the Rising Sun...Director
1943Captive Wild Woman...Director
1943The Falcon Strikes Back...Director
1943Hitler's Children...Director
1942Seven Miles from Alcatraz...Director
1942Counter-Espionage...Director
1941Confessions of Boston Blackie...Director
1941Secrets of the Lone Wolf...Director
1941The Blonde from Singapore...Director
1941The Devil Commands...Director
1941Sweetheart of the Campus...Director
1941Under Age...Director
1940Her First Romance...Director
1940Mystery Sea Raider...Director
1940Golden Gloves...Director
1940Emergency Squad...Director
1939Television Spy...Director
1939Million Dollar Legs...Director
1935The Hawk...Director

Editing

1979Not Only Strangers...Editor
1939Love Affair...Editor
1939Zaza...Editor
1938Bulldog Drummond's Peril...Editor
1937Hold 'Em Navy...Editor
1937Double or Nothing...Editor
1937Turn Off the Moon...Editor
1936Easy to Take...Editor
1936Three Married Men...Editor
1936Too Many Parents...Editor
1935The Hawk...Editor
1935Ruggles of Red Gap...Editor
1934College Rhythm...Editor
1933Duck Soup...Assistant Editor
1932If I Had a Million...Assistant Editor
1932The Phantom President...Assistant Editor
1932Make Me a Star...Editor
1930The Royal Family of Broadway...Editor
1930Only Saps Work...Editor

Writing

1972Bluebeard...Writer

Production

1962The Reluctant Saint...Producer
1959Warlock...Producer
1956The Mountain...Producer
1943Behind the Rising Sun...Producer

Acting

2020Citizen Jane Fondaas
2006Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Lightas Self
1999Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Manas Self
1998Anthony Quinn - A Lust for Lifeas Self
1998Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dreamas Self
1998Gary Cooper: The Face of a Heroas Self
1997Walter Matthau: Diamond in the Roughas Self
1996Fred MacMurray: The Guy Next Dooras Self
1996Blacklist: Hollywood on Trialas Himself
1995Inside the Dream Factoryas Self
1995Dark and Deadly: Fifty Years of Film Noiras Self
1994Marlon Brando: The Wild Oneas Self
1991Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Staras Self
1987The RKO Story: Tales From Hollywoodas Self
1950The Hollywood Tenas Self