Clarence Brown

Clarence Brown

Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. After serving as a fighter pilot and flight instructor in the United States Army Air Service during World War I, Brown was given his first co-directing credit (with Tourneur) for The Great Redeemer (1920). Later that year, he directed a major portion of The Last of the Mohicans after Tourneur was injured in a fall. Brown moved to Universal in 1924, and then to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he remained until the mid-1950s. At MGM he was one of the main directors of their major female stars, he directed Joan Crawford six times and Greta Garbo seven. Brown was nominated five times for six films (see below) for an Academy Award as a director, but he never received an Oscar. However, he won Best Foreign Film for Anna Karenina, starring Garbo at the 1935 Venice International Film Festival. Brown's films gained a total of 38 Academy Award nominations and earned nine Oscars. Brown himself received five Academy Award nominations for six films and in 1949, he won the British Academy Award for the film version of William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust. In 1957, Brown was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film. Brown retired a wealthy man due to his real estate investments, but refused to watch new movies, as he feared they might cause him to restart his career. The Clarence Brown Theater, on the campus of the University of Tennessee, is named in his honor. He holds the record for most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director without a win, with six.

Dead Heat
1988
Harry Latham
Fats Domino Live from Austin Texas
1986
Batterie
Never Let Me Go
1953
Producer
Plymouth Adventure
1952
Director
When in Rome
1952
Director
Angels in the Outfield
1951
Director
It's a Big Country
1951
Director
To Please a Lady
1950
Director
Intruder in the Dust
1949
Director
The Secret Garden
1949
Producer
Song of Love
1947
Director
The Yearling
1946
Director
National Velvet
1945
Director
The White Cliffs of Dover
1944
Director
The Human Comedy
1943
Producer
Come Live with Me
1941
Director
They Met in Bombay
1941
Director
Edison, the Man
1940
Director
Idiot's Delight
1939
Director
The Rains Came
1939
Director
Of Human Hearts
1938
Director
Hollywood Goes to Town
1938
Self
Conquest
1937
Director
Wife vs. Secretary
1936
Director
The Gorgeous Hussy
1936
Director
Anna Karenina
1935
Director
Ah, Wilderness!
1935
Director
Sadie McKee
1934
Director
Chained
1934
Director
Night Flight
1933
Director
Looking Forward
1933
Director
Emma
1932
Director
Letty Lynton
1932
Director
The Son-Daughter
1932
Director
Inspiration
1931
Director
Possessed
1931
Director
A Free Soul
1931
Director
Anna Christie
1930
Director
Romance
1930
Director
Wonder of Women
1929
Director
Navy Blues
1929
Producer
A Woman of Affairs
1928
Director
The Trail of '98
1928
Director
Flesh and the Devil
1926
Director
Kiki
1926
Director
Smouldering Fires
1925
Director
The Eagle
1925
Director
The Goose Woman
1925
Director
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
The Signal Tower
1924
Director
Butterfly
1924
Director
Don't Marry for Money
1923
Director
The Acquittal
1923
Director
The Light in the Dark
1922
Director
The Foolish Matrons
1921
Director
The Great Redeemer
1920
Director
The Last of the Mohicans
1920
Co-Director
The Blue Bird
1918
Editor
The Pride of the Clan
1917
Editor
A Girl's Folly
1917
Editor
The Closed Road
1916
Editor
The Rail Rider
1916
Editor
The Cub
1915
Editor