John M. Stahl
John Malcolm Stahl (born 21 January 1886 in New York City; † January 12, 1950 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California ) was an American film director and film producer.
Life
Steel came early in New York with the film business in touch, his first directorial work dates from 1914. During the early twenties changed to steel manufacturing company Louis B. Mayer Pictures in Hollywood, which merged into MGM in 1924. 1927 belonged to steel the 36 founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Meanwhile, for Universal Pictures under contract, he began a well-known director for sophisticated melodramas to develop. In addition to seed, one of the first films to deal with the issue of birth control turned steel Backstreet, the film adaptation of the novel by Fannie Hurst. The film mitIrene Dunne was so successful that Universal two staged him further times. The following year, steel was responsible for the screen debut of Margaret Sullavan in Only Yesterday, a story about an unwed mother. Imitation of Life with Claudette Colbert in the lead role was a remarkable example of a trusting relationship between different races and a powerful appeal to reason, in the spirit of the New Deal. The following year he directed Magnificent Obsession again with Irene Dunne and the young Robert Taylor.
After steel career was a bit more to a halt, he came in 20th Century Fox to its former glory by two very successful, albeit from the thematically very different films: Keys of the Kingdom was an intelligent film about an idealistic priest who many trials along the way must be made to the true faith. Gregory Peck was with the movie star. In 1945, staged steel with mortal sin one of the best film noir stripes at all, even though the film was shot exclusively in an almost garish Technicolor. The film proved to be at the box office to be very popular. Gene Tierney received for her portrayal of a psychopathic killer a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, but lost to Joan Crawford, the trophy for her role in Mildred Pierce won. Towards the end of the decade, the career of Steel was once again in mediocre films.