Howard Hawks


Director
Howard Hawks

About

Also Known As
Howard Winchester Hawks
Birth Place
Goshen, Indiana, USA
Born
May 30, 1896
Died
December 26, 1977
Cause of Death
Complications From Broken Hip After Tripping Over Dog

Biography

Viewed as a competent director of successful genre pictures at the height of his career, Howard Hawks later came to be recognized as one of the greatest American filmmakers of the Hollywood studio era. After receiving his start in silent movies, Hawks worked in nearly every film genre imaginable, and collaborated with the greatest acting and writing talent of the day. "Scarface" (1932), ...

Photos & Videos

Only Angels Have Wings - Movie Posters
Only Angels Have Wings - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
The Big Sleep - Lobby Card Set

Family & Companions

Athole Hawks
Wife
Married in 1924; divorced in 1941; sister of film star Norma Shearer; had recurring mental health problems.
Nancy Raye Gross
Wife
Writer. Married in December 1941; divorced in 1947; mother of Hawks' daughter Kitty.
Mary Dee Hartford
Wife
Actor. Married in February 1953.

Bibliography

"Howard Hawks: American Artist"
Jim Hillier and Peter Wollen, editors, BFI (1997)
"Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood"
Todd McCarthy, Grove Press (1997)
"Focus on Howard Hawks"
Joseph McBride, Prentice-Hall (1972)

Biography

Viewed as a competent director of successful genre pictures at the height of his career, Howard Hawks later came to be recognized as one of the greatest American filmmakers of the Hollywood studio era. After receiving his start in silent movies, Hawks worked in nearly every film genre imaginable, and collaborated with the greatest acting and writing talent of the day. "Scarface" (1932), scripted by Ben Hecht, set the standard for the gangster film, while the Cary Grant vehicles "Bringing Up Baby" (1938) and "His Girl Friday" (1940), as well as the Carole Lombard classic "Twentieth Century" (1934) became three of the most often imitated screwball comedies of all time. The wartime biopic "Sergeant York" (1941) earned Gary Cooper an Oscar and the drama "To Have and Have Not" (1944) introduced the world to the onscreen combo of Bogie and Bacall. Hawks worked with the likes of literary legend William Faulkner on the film noir "The Big Sleep" (1946) and forever altered the genre of science fiction with his terrifying production of "The Thing from Another World" (1951). The director boosted the careers of such screen icons as Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) and reunited time and again with favored screenwriter Leigh Brackett on projects like the influential John Wayne Western "Rio Bravo" (1959). Telling his stories in a deceptively straightforward manner that belied the subtle artistry of his work, Hawks produced rousing adventures in which men were bound together by adversity, and raucous comedies, wherein the male's orderly world was hilariously undone by the free-spirited, sharp-tongued woman. Finally acknowledged for his contributions to film with an honorary Academy Award late in life, Hawks was more importantly recognized as a master craftsman by such auteur directors as Peter Bogdanovich, Brian de Palma and John Carpenter, whose admiration of Hawks exposed new generations to the varied works of the long undervalued filmmaker.

Born Howard Winchester Hawks on May 30, 1896 in Goshen, IN, he was the youngest son of Frank Winchester Hawks, a successful local businessman, and Helen, the daughter of C.W. Howard, a wealthy paper industrialist from Wisconsin. The Hawks followed C.W. to Wisconsin in 1998, where Frank joined the family business, before they ultimately relocated to the more temperate climes of Pasadena, CA when Howard was 14 years old. His family's affluence guaranteed him admittance to the exclusive preparatory school, Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and later to Cornell University, where he majored in mechanical engineering. It was on break from Cornell, during the summers of 1916-17, that Hawks gained his first experience with movie making. Working in the props department at Famous Players-Lasky (later Paramount Pictures), the young man's enthusiasm and bravado helped him quickly rise through the studio ranks. After serving with the Army Air Corps in France during World War I, Hawks indulged his love for adventure as an aviator, and utilized his engineering education by designing several race cars. Eventually, he returned to California and the still-young film industry, where he worked as an independent contractor on various production jobs before being hired as a writer, story editor and producer at Paramount Pictures. It was there that he wrote his first screenplay for the silent film "Tiger Love" (1924).

Having worked on dozens of scripts - usually uncredited - for Paramount, Hawks pushed the studio repeatedly for the chance to direct, but was turned down each time. Finally, an executive at Fox Studios gave him his big break, leading to Hawks' directorial debut on the silent movie "The Road to Glory" (1926), which he also wrote. He would go on to direct a total of eight silent films, including the marital farce "Fig Leaves" (1926) and the exotic melodrama "Fazil" (1928), but it was with the coming of sound that Hawks really hit his stride. He used dialogue and sound instinctively, with his characters frequently delivering their lines at a rapid-fire pace. Hawks' first "talkies" included the wartime aerial combat drama "The Dawn Patrol" (1930) - featuring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in his film debut - and the cautionary prison tale "The Criminal Code" (1931), featuring a pre-Frankenstein Boris Karloff. Along with legendary screenwriter Ben Hecht, he set the template for the popular gangster movie genre with "Scarface" (1932), which starred Paul Muni as an Al Capone-like thug with unquenchable aspirations. The seminal film not only launched the careers of Muni and supporting player George Raft, but influenced future filmmaker Brian De Palma so much that he would helm an updated remake starring Al Pacino some 50 years later. As a freelance director, Hawks continued to explore old interests and new territory with such diverse projects as the auto racing drama "The Crowd Roars" (1932), and the prototypical screwball comedy that made that genre's queen, Carole Lombard, a star, "Twentieth Century" (1934).

Soon after, he helmed another screwball comedy, "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), which gave birth to the irreverent, free-spirited "Hawksian" woman in the form of Katherine Hepburn, who hilariously proceeds to turn museum paleontologist Cary Grant's orderly life upside down. The romantic comedy also marked the first of the director's five pairings with leading man Grant. Hawks next returned to his two tried-and-true themes with a pair of back-to-back Cary Grant features, the aerial romantic adventure "Only Angels Have Wings" (1939) and the romantic comedy "His Girl Friday" (1940). The latter film perfectly exemplified the director's fascination with American language via the staccato bursts of dialogue and the breakneck tempo of Grant's and Rosalind Russell's witty repartee. Hawks eclipsed his success on "Scarface" with the World War I biopic "Sergeant York" (1941). Starring Gary Cooper as the pacifist-turned-war hero, the film won Cooper an Oscar, garnered Hawks a nomination for Best Director, and went on to become the biggest box office hit of the year. Shortly thereafter came "Air Force" (1943), one of the better "propaganda" films of World War II; it was also an early example of Hawks' recurrent theme of dissimilar men bonding together and maintaining their professionalism in the face of daunting odds.

Prior to his early departure from the project, Hawks provided uncredited work on Howard Hughes' sexually provocative Western "The Outlaw" (1943), a film most famous for the amount of breast exposed on screen by its star, the voluptuous Jane Russell. He then teamed for the first time with megastar Humphrey Bogart in the memorable "To Have and Have Not" (1944), an adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name. Notable for several reasons, the film was also the screen debut of Lauren Bacall and her first pairing with her future husband and frequent costar, Bogart. Years later, rumors continued to circulate that Hawks - an unrepentant womanizer, even while married - had been smitten by the 19-year-old Bacall and jealous of her and Bogie's relationship. Whatever strain the supposed lovers' triangle may have had on their working relationship, it did not prevent their reuniting for the adaptation of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe mystery "The Big Sleep" (1946). In an effort to capitalize on Bacall's growing fame and sort out the highly convoluted narrative of the book, the film underwent a great deal of reworking during its nearly two year journey to the screen, ultimately resulting in an almost incomprehensible plot, but also an exquisitely entertaining film noir.

With the exception of the labyrinthine "The Big Sleep," all of the films in Hawks' canon would be told in a deceptively straightforward, almost episodic nature. After his experience on the Chandler whodunit, he opined more than once that plot mattered little, although a good writer was essential. Addressing his job as a filmmaker, Hawks famously quipped that a good director was "someone who doesn't annoy you," and that a good film basically consisted of "three good scenes, and no bad ones." All of this was his intentionally folksy way of saying that a good director lets the material and the actors tell the story without drawing attention to the man behind the camera. Thus, it came as no surprise that for decades he was viewed as a more workmanlike director when compared to his flashier contemporaries, John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock. Only upon the ascension of the critics in the French New Wave movement and the American "auteur" directors of the 1970s would Hawks be examined and revered to as a master filmmaker. One of those future advocates would be director Peter Bogdanovich, who as a child was completely enthralled by Hawks' classic Western drama "Red River" (1948), a film that marked Hawks' first collaboration with John Wayne and the first work in a motion picture by Montgomery Clift. The tale of an aging and intractable rancher (Wayne) and his falling out with his adopted son (Clift) during an arduous cattle drive, the film garnered Wayne newfound respect in Hollywood and helped launch Clift to major stardom.

Soon after, Hawks took on the emerging genre of science fiction when he mounted the classic thriller "The Thing from Another World" (1951), featuring James Arness in the monstrous title role. Although credited only as producer, the tale of a group of isolated men and one woman banding together to fight a terrifying alien creature in the Arctic, clearly bears Hawks' fingerprints in its direction and story. After completing the Western adventure "The Big Sky" (1952) with Kirk Douglas - Hawk's first and only teaming with the star - the director proved instrumental in the transformation of Marilyn Monroe from sultry supporting actress to bona fide movie star with the back-to-back features "Monkey Business" (1952) and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953). The former film, co-starring Grant, was little more than a reworking of "Bringing Up Baby," while the latter hit musical-romantic comedy, co-starring Jane Russell, demonstrated abilities in Monroe previously unseen by critics or audiences - including her baby-girl singing voice, famously captured in her classic number "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend." The accomplished filmmaker quite literally directed a cast of thousands in the Egyptian epic "Land of the Pharaohs" (1955), which starred a young Joan Collins as a conniving princess intent on ruling the Nile. By this time in his career, Hawks had been in the film industry for more than 30 years, and his once prodigious output began to slow. He did, however, have a few more things to say as a filmmaker, and with his next project he would make what many felt was his most personal statement and the culmination of his directorial efforts.

Conceived as a response to the revisionist Western "High Noon" (1952) - itself widely viewed as an indictment of McCarthyism and the "Red Scare" - "Rio Bravo" (1959) also saw Hawks refining his theme of consummate professionalism to an ethic in which the loyalties of the unconventional family reigned supreme. In the film, that unlikely family unit consists of a stubborn, lone wolf sheriff (Wayne), the town drunk (Dean Martin), a young gunslinger (Ricky Nelson) and a crotchety old timer (Walter Brennan), who band together against the vastly superior numbers of a corrupt rancher. Not only would Hawks personally make not one, but two, loose remakes of "Rio Bravo," but later filmmakers such as John Carpenter would openly model several of their movies on the revered adventure tale. The director later reteamed with Wayne for the African safari oddity "Hatari!" (1962), followed by the Rock Hudson-Paula Prentiss screwball comedy "Man's Favorite Sport?" (1964). He gave James Caan his first leading role in the stock car racing drama "Red Line 7000" (1965), then placed him in the earlier Ricky Nelson role opposite John Wayne in "El Dorado" (1966), his first loose remake of "Rio Bravo." Fittingly, Hawks' final directorial effort also starred his friend and collaborator Wayne, in the western "Rio Lobo" (1970), yet another iteration of the tried-and-true "Rio Bravo" storyline. Although nominated only once for "Sergeant York," Hawks was given an honorary Academy Award in 1974 for his lifetime of cinematic contributions. Three years later, the 81-year-old director died in his Palm Springs home on Dec. 26, 1977.

Filmography

 

Director (Feature Film)

Rio Lobo (1970)
Director
El Dorado (1967)
Director
Red Line 7000 (1965)
Director
Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
Director
Hatari! (1962)
Director
Rio Bravo (1959)
Director
Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
Director
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Director
O. Henry's Full House (1952)
Director of "The Ransom of Red Chief"
Monkey Business (1952)
Director
The Big Sky (1952)
Director
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Director of fire seq
I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
Director
Red River (1948)
Director
A Song Is Born (1948)
Director
The Big Sleep (1946)
Director
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Director
The Outlaw (1943)
Director
Air Force (1943)
Director
Ball of Fire (1942)
Director
Sergeant York (1941)
Director
His Girl Friday (1940)
Director
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Director
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Director
Come and Get It (1936)
Director
Ceiling Zero (1936)
Director
The Road to Glory (1936)
Director
Barbary Coast (1935)
Director
Viva Villa (1934)
Director
Twentieth Century (1934)
Director
Today We Live (1933)
Director
Tiger Shark (1932)
Director
Scarface (1932)
Director
La foule hurle (1932)
Director
The Crowd Roars (1932)
Director
The Criminal Code (1931)
Director
The Dawn Patrol (1930)
Director
Trent's Last Case (1929)
Director
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
Director
Fazil (1928)
Director
The Air Circus (1928)
Director
The Cradle Snatchers (1927)
Director
Paid To Love (1927)
Director
The Road to Glory (1926)
Director
Fig Leaves (1926)
Director

Cast (Feature Film)

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)
Himself
A Hell of a Life (1978)

Writer (Feature Film)

Switching Channels (1988)
Story By
Red Line 7000 (1965)
Screenwriter
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Story
Indianapolis Speedway (1939)
Story
The Dawn Patrol (1938)
Story
The Road to Glory (1936)
Contract Writer
The Crowd Roars (1932)
Story
The Dawn Patrol (1930)
Adapted and dial
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
Original Story
Fig Leaves (1926)
Story
Honesty--The Best Policy (1926)
Story
The Road to Glory (1926)
Story
The Dressmaker From Paris (1925)
Story
Tiger Love (1924)
Scen
Quicksands (1923)
Story

Producer (Feature Film)

Rio Lobo (1970)
Producer
El Dorado (1967)
Presented By
El Dorado (1967)
Producer
Red Line 7000 (1965)
Presented By
Red Line 7000 (1965)
Producer
Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
Presented By
Man's Favorite Sport? (1964)
Producer
Hatari! (1962)
Producer
Hatari! (1962)
Presented By
Rio Bravo (1959)
Producer
Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
Producer
The Big Sky (1952)
Producer
The Thing from Another World (1951)
Producer
Red River (1948)
Producer
Corvette K-225 (1943)
Producer
His Girl Friday (1940)
Producer
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Producer
Ceiling Zero (1936)
Producer
Quicksands (1923)
Producer

Production Companies (Feature Film)

Rio Lobo (1970)
Company
The Big Sleep (1946)
Company
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Company
Air Force (1943)
Company
Sergeant York (1941)
Company
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Company
Barbary Coast (1935)
Company
Twentieth Century (1934)
Company
Today We Live (1933)
Company
El código penal (1931)
Company
The Criminal Code (1931)
Company

Misc. Crew (Feature Film)

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)
Other
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Other
A Small Circle Of Friends (1980)
Other

Cast (Special)

TCM Interviews: Howard Hawks (2010)
Himself
The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks (1973)
Himself

Cast (Short)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 1925 Studio Tour (1925)
Himself

Life Events

1906

Moved to California with family

1917

Began career as prop boy for Famous Players-Lasky

1917

Joined US Army Air Corps as flying instructor

1922

First short film as director and screenwriter (self-financed)

1923

First feature film as producer and writer (story only), "Quicksands"

1924

Ran story department for Famous Players

1926

Moved to Fox, made feature film directing debut with "The Road to Glory"

1930

First sound film, "The Dawn Patrol"

1938

Made first of five films with Cary Grant, "Bringing Up Baby"

1943

Produced first film which he did not direct, the war film "Corvette K-225", directed by Richard Rosson

1948

Made first of five films with John Wayne, "Red River"

1952

Made last of five films with Cary Grant, "Monkey Business"

1970

Directed last film, "Rio Lobo" (also his last film with John Wayne)

Photo Collections

Only Angels Have Wings - Movie Posters
Only Angels Have Wings - Movie Posters
Only Angels Have Wings - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Only Angels Have Wings - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
The Big Sleep - Lobby Card Set
Here is a set of Lobby Cards from The Big Sleep (1946). Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions. Warner Bros. sets during this period were printed in duotone rather than full color.
Sergeant York - Lobby Card Set
Here is a set of Lobby Cards from Sergeant York (1941), starring Gary Cooper. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
To Have and Have Not - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are a few photos taken during the making of To Have and Have Not (1945), featuring director Howard Hawks and stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
Monkey Business - Lobby Card
Here is a Lobby Card from Howard Hawks' Monkey Business (1952), starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
The Big Sleep - Behind-the-Scenes Photos
Here are a few photos taken behind-the-scenes of Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep (1946), starring Humphrey Boagart and Lauren Bacall.
Rio Bravo - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Rio Bravo (1959), directed by Howard Hawks. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
To Have and Have Not - Movie Posters
Here is a group of American movie posters of To Have and Have Not (1945), starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
Ball of Fire - Movie Poster
Here is the American half-sheet movie poster for Ball of Fire (1942), starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. Half-sheets measured 22x28 inches.
The Thing from Another World - reissue Pressbook
Here is a campaign book (pressbook) for The Thing from Another World (1951). Pressbooks were sent to exhibitors and theater owners to aid them in publicizing the film's run in their theater. This pressbook was prepared for the 1957 reissue.
The Dawn Patrol (1930) - Behind-the-Scenes Photo
Here is a still taken behind-the-scenes during production of Howard Hawks' The Dawn Patrol (1930 - aka Flight Commander), starring Richard Barthelmess.

Videos

Movie Clip

Ball Of Fire (1942) -- (Movie Clip) Shove In Your Clutch Sugarpuss (Barbara Stanwyck) briefed backstage by thugs Pastrami (Dan Duryea) and Asthma (Ralph Peters), all of them mistaking Professor Potts (Gary Cooper) for a lawman, in Howard Hawks' Ball Of Fire, 1942, from an original screenplay by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett.
Ball Of Fire (1942) -- (Movie Clip) Just Another Apple Stripper Sugarpuss (Barbara Stanwyck) surprises grammar Professor Potts (Gary Cooper), ready to begin her interview right away, his colleagues, modeled on the Seven Dwarves, supporting the idea, in Howard Hawks' Ball Of Fire, 1942.
Ball Of Fire (1942) -- (Movie Clip) Two And Two Are Five Allen Jenkins is the garbage man, seeking trivia help from encyclopedia-writing professors (Oscar Homolka, Aubrey Mather, Richard Haydn, S.Z. Sakall et al), Potts (Gary Cooper) committing to new research, in Howard Hawks' Ball Of Fire, 1942.
Crowd Roars, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) You're Under Contract Joining director Howard Hawks’ action, exteriors shot apparently at Ventura Speedway near Los Angeles, famous pro driver Joe (James Cagney) toying with ambitious younger brother Eddie (Eric Linden), their first run on a track together, in Warner Bros.’ The Crowd Roars, 1932.
Crowd Roars, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) You Don't Always Get Killed Champion race driver Joe (James Cagney) with sidekick Spud (Frank McHugh) back at the hometown auto shop for the first time in years with dad (Guy Kibbee) and kid brother (Eric Linden) who, it transpires, has ambitions to become a top driver himself, in Warner Bros.’ The Crowd Roars, 1932.
Crowd Roars, The (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Roaring For Blood Warner Bros. pace opening the James Cagney car-racing drama, the star with his sidekick Spud (Frank McHugh) on a train, headed to his hometown after winning the Indianapolis 500, pausing for girlfriend Lee (Ann Dvorak) to tell us the moral score, in Howard Hawks’ The Crowd Roars, 1932.
Viva Villa! (1934) -- (Movie Clip) For The Gringo Paper? Taking a town as his notoriety grows, Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa browses females (C.B. DeMille's part-Italian adopted daughter Katherine as Rosita, in one of her earliest roles) then, with sidekick Sierra (Leo Carrillo), meets nervous American journalist Sykes (Stuart Erwin), in Viva Villa!, 1934.
Viva Villa! (1934) -- (Movie Clip) This Is Your Country! Writer Ben Hecht never thought much of Hollywood or screenplays in general, but had few peers for this kind of scene, with Wallace Beery as the bandit title character meeting the scholarly revolutionary Madero (Henry B. Walthall), in MGM’s Viva Villa!, 1934.
Viva Villa! (1934) -- (Movie Clip) Pancho Villa Sent For Me Some scale as the revolution gathers pace, Wallace Beery (title character) rallies volunteers, visits sympathetic aristocrat Teresa (Fay Wray) and reporter Sykes (Stuart Erwin), then a montage, with writer Ben Hecht more successful than the rear-screen process shots, David Durand the bugle boy, inViva Villa! , 1934.
Viva Villa! (1934) -- (Movie Clip) The Law Of Pancho Villa's Court First appearance for Wallace Beery in the title role, his mob seizing a town after several peasants were convicted and hanged, with aide Sierra (Leo Carrillo), flipping the script on the ruling class (Nigel De Brulier the magistrate), in MGM’s Viva Villa!, 1934.
Scarface (1932) -- (Movie Clip) He Come To A Dead Stop Just sprung after offing a rival gangster, Tony Camonte (Paul Muni) visits his boss Johnny (Osgood Perkins) and meets girlfriend Poppy (Karen Morley), early in Howard Hawks' Scarface, 1932.
Scarface (1932) -- (Movie Clip) Where's Camonte? Buddy Rinaldo (George Raft) on sort-of lookout duty in the barber shop, when the chief detective (Edwin Maxwell) intrudes, and Tony Camonte (Paul Muni) unveils himself, early in Howard Hawks' Scarface, 1932.

Trailer

Big Sleep, The - (Original Trailer) Private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) investigates a society girl's involvement in the murder of a pornographer in The Big Sleep.
Red River - (Re-issue Trailer) A young cowhand rebels against his rancher stepfather during a perilous cattle drive in Red River (1948), directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, Montgomery Clift and Joanne Dru.
Only Angels Have Wings - (Original Trailer) Cary Grant heads a team of flyers in a mountainous South American country in Howard Hawks' Only Angels Have Wings (1939).
Scarface (1932) - (1979 Re-issue Trailer) Al Pacino got nothin' on Paul Muni, see, as the original Scarface (1932) directed by Howard Hawks, produced by Howard Hughes.
Land of the Pharaohs - (Original Trailer) A scheming seductress (Joan Collins) plots to make herself queen of Egypt in Howard Hawks' Land of the Pharaohs (1955).
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - (Original Trailer) Gentlemen prefer Marilyn Monroe preferring diamonds in her most famous musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) directed by Howard Hawks.
El Dorado -- (Original Trailer) John Wayne and Robert Mitchum take on a corrupt cattle baron in Howard Hawks' El Dorado (1967).
His Girl Friday -- (Original Trailer) Cary Grant does everything to keep his ex-wife and star reporter Rosalind Russell from re-marriage in Howard Hawks' classic comedy His Girl Friday (1940).
Barbary Coast - (Re-issue trailer) A vice king's girlfriend falls for a young miner in Howard Hawks' Barbary Coast (1935) starring Edward G. Robinson, Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea (Telluride Film Festival honoree 1982).
Crowd Roars, The (1932) - (Original Trailer) James Cagney tries to keep floozy Joan Blondell away from his kid brother in Howard Hawks' racing drama The Crowd Roars (1932).
Sergeant York - (Re-issue Trailer) Gary Cooper won his first Best Actor Oscar portraying Sergeant York (1941), the pacifist who becomes a war hero.
O. Henry's Full House - (Original Trailer) Five stories reveal O. Henry's gift for the surprise ending with the help of five directors and a host of stars in O. Henry's Full House (1952).

Family

Kenneth Hawks
Brother
Director. Killed in plane crash 1930.
William Hawks
Brother
Producer.
Norma Shearer
Sister-In-Law
Actor. During his first marriage from 1924-1941.
Kitty Hawks
Daughter
Mother, Nancy Gross.

Companions

Athole Hawks
Wife
Married in 1924; divorced in 1941; sister of film star Norma Shearer; had recurring mental health problems.
Nancy Raye Gross
Wife
Writer. Married in December 1941; divorced in 1947; mother of Hawks' daughter Kitty.
Mary Dee Hartford
Wife
Actor. Married in February 1953.

Bibliography

"Howard Hawks: American Artist"
Jim Hillier and Peter Wollen, editors, BFI (1997)
"Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood"
Todd McCarthy, Grove Press (1997)
"Focus on Howard Hawks"
Joseph McBride, Prentice-Hall (1972)