Allan Dwan Biography
Allan Dwan (1885 - 1881) was a Canadian-born American film director, considered one of the pioneers of the American film industry. He was one of the longest-serving and prolific directors, with a filmography ranging from six hundred to more than eighteen hundred films. During his career he ranged in many genres, from exotic melodrama to noir, from adventure films to westerns, but he also directed many films tailor-made for great stars such as Gloria Swanson, Shirley Temple and Douglas Fairbanks, of which he was one of trusted directors and with whom he filmed the famous "Robin Hood" in 1922.
A native of Canada, Dwan moved to the United States with his family in 1893. After graduating from Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana, with a degree in electrical engineering, Dwan began working as an electrical engineer, but soon became world of cinema. In the early 1910s he wrote screenplays for the studios before becoming a director for the American Film Co. and then for Triangle, where he directed many adventure and costume films starring Douglas Fairbanks.
In the 1930s, during the advent of sound, Dwan dedicated himself mainly to 20th Century-Fox, where he directed some famous films such as “Heidi” and “Suez”. In the 1940s, together with producer Edward Small, he concentrated on brilliant and impeccably crafted comedies such as “Millions in Danger.”
One of Dwan's most famous works was “Iwo Jima Desert of Fire,” directed in 1949. At the end of his career, he also devoted himself to the science fiction genre, directing “The Most Dangerous Man Alive” in 1961.
