The 174th Best Director of All-Time: Frank Borzage

Borzage. Out of Frank Borzage’s ninety (90) or so feature films (like many during the silent era, many are lost) I’ve able to catch with eighty or nine. Five are worthy of the archives certainly all possess share a genre (romantic melodrama) and superior craftsmanship. His strengths are those four films that land in the top 100 of the respective decade. Now, none of them made the top 500 of all-time (a weakness for sure) but there’s a real consistency in his work even if it’s obvious he never made a Sunrise or anything like that.

Best film: Seventh Heaven. I don’t think there’s a massive distinction here between one and two, two and three, and three and four.

Borzage’s greatest case are those four films (including *Seventh Heaven* here) that land in the top 100 of the respective decade

total archiveable films: 5

top 100 films: 0

top 500 films: 0

top 100 films of the decade: 4 (Seventh Heaven, Street Angel, A Farewell To Arms, Man’s Castle)

look at the mise-en-scene construction, blocking, obstruction of the frame here- it’s from *Seventh Heaven* – could be von Sternberg’s *Blue Angel*— a major work that could come three years after Borzage’s film

most overrated: Borzage doesn’t really have one. I think Mortal Storm is like #2000 on the TSPDT consensus list and – that’s fine with me. It’s not a fantastic film. Borzage only has one film in the TSPDT top 1000 and that’s Seventh Heaven at #867. That’s a good spot I think. I may be slightly higher. Man’s Castle is at #1523. It’s definitely not overrated there.

most underrated : Street Angel. The visuals and superior lighting (even for a film that doesn’t have a lot of love on the internet from 1928) here speak for themselves. It can’t find a spot in the TSPDT top 2000 and that’s just flat wrong. It’s close to Seventh Heaven in quality.

from *Street Angel*– the visuals and superior lighting (even for a film that doesn’t have a lot of love on the internet from 1928) here speak for themselves

It can’t find a spot in the TSPDT top 2000 and that’s just flat wrong. It’s close to *Seventh Heaven* in quality

gem I want to spotlight : Man’s Castle

Features Borzage’s trademark heart-warming well-earned melodrama
Stunning romantic tale of an extraordinarily sweet Loretta Young and a streetwise tough-on-the-outside but all heart inside Spencer Tracy in a great early role for him
Harsh poverty depression era romance
Hard to find because of the hays code- there’s a pregnant girl here out of wedlock and even a first date skinny-dipping scene
Tracy is a streetwise tour-guide man of the world who responds to repeated sounds of a train (his way of saying “I’m a rambler”) and an open blue sky (saying “no one woman can hold me down”),etc
He’s gregarious, large and charming
Graceful tracking shot of Young looking longingly at a stove in a window to buy
Clearly Borzage is his own artist (has much in common with Seventh Heaven, Street Angel and even A Farewell to Arms but he’s also influenced by Murnau’s Sunrise—clearly the narrative is influenced by the film but also a superimposed sliding background during a tracking shot is as well
Great scene of Tracy on stilts showing his character by getting an autograph for a kid
With love in his eyes he repeatedly calls her skinny
Devastating ending as the rambling man who is so tough breaks down—well earned
Final crane shot tracking out on the two together is a great conclusion
Highly Recommend – top 10 of the year quality

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is mans-castle-ladl-borzage.jpg — Clearly Borzage is his own artist (has much in common with *Seventh Heaven, Street Angel* and even *A Farewell to Arms* but he’s also influenced by Murnau’s *Sunrise*

stylistic innovations/traits:

Worked in romance and melodrama (which may speak to why he’s not as well regarded today as Whale, Browning or some others that worked in genre)- with often a sort of magical realism touch. I see some influence on Powell and Pressburger’s work in the 1940’s (specifically A Matter of Life and Death)
Won the best director Academy award twice in the first five years
Borzage’s use of lighting is certainly a trademark and highlight
Known for some really nice fluid camerawork and crane shots- some tracking, some just elevating the camera giving certain scenes that almost mystical god’s eye view approach
Like Cukor he’s known for his worked with actresses- Janet Gaynor, Helen Hayes
I mention it above but Murnau is an influence- Sunrise specifically even if they were contemporaries

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