Frank Lloyd: Master of Screen Melodrama

Frank Lloyd: Master of Screen Melodrama is the first book-length study of one of the most prominent of studio directors from Hollywood's "golden age," whose career spanned the years from 1913 through 1955. Among the director's greatest works are Oliver Twist with Jackie Coogan, The Sea Hawk with Milton Sills, The Divine Lady with Corinne Grifffith, and two Academy Award winners for Best Picture, Cavalcade and Mutiny on the Bounty. They are all discussed in detail here, along with other prominent Frank Lloyd productions, including East Lynne, Berkeley Square, Wells Fargo, and The Howards of Virginia. Frank Lloyd himself won two Academy Awards, and yet he has failed up to now to receive the attention he deserves together with recognition of his masterly creation of screen melodrama. With his latest book, which includes a complete filmography and a sampling of writings by Frank Lloyd, award-winning historian Anthony Slide sets the record straight and honors one of Hollywood's best.

From the National Board of Review's April 2010 webpage:

The great and prolific film historian Anthony Slide's Frank Lloyd: Master of Screen Melodrama pays long overdue tribute to the director of CAVALCADE (1933) and MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935), both Oscar Best Picture winners, one of the top filmmakers of his day, and all but forgotten today. His career spanned from 1913 through 1955 and included one of the first versions of OLIVER TWIST (1922), the first THE SEA HAWK (1924), BERKELEY SQUARE (1933) with Leslie Howard, UNDER TWO FLAGS (1936) with Ronald Colman and Claudette Colbert, IF I WERE KING (1938) with Colman, and THE HOWARDS OF VIRGINIA (1940) with Cary Grant, all reflecting the filmmaker's interest in the drama inherent in historical themes. In the first five years of the Academy Awards, Lloyd actually won two Best Director Oscars for THE DIVINE LADY and CAVALCADE, clearly a major talent, and extend gratitude to Tony Slide for commemorating his screen accomplishments.

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