George Stevens

Two-time Best Director Oscar winner George Stevens was one of most respected filmmakers of the studio era

Filmmaker George Stevens was born on Dec. 18, 1904, in Oakland, California, into a family of theatrical performers.

The director of about two dozen narrative features, Stevens was one of the most widely admired filmmakers of the studio era. (See Alt Film Guide’s George Stevens-related posts further below.)

Over the course of 35 years, his credits encompassed all types of genres: comedies (Bachelor Bait, The Nitwits), Westerns (Annie Oakley, Shane), musicals (Swing Time, A Damsel in Distress), adventure/action (Gunga Din), romantic dramas (Laddie, Alice Adams, Vigil in the Night), romantic comedies (Vivacious Lady, The More the Merrier), family dramas (Penny Serenade, I Remember Mama, Giant), social commentaries (The Talk of the Town, A Place in the Sun, Something to Live For, The Diary of Anne Frank), and religious spectacles (The Greatest Story Ever Told).

George Stevens won two Best Director Academy Awards: for A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956). Neither film won Best Picture.

George Stevens movies

Key George Stevens movies include:

• Alice Adams (1935).
  Cast: Katharine Hepburn. Fred MacMurray.
• Gunga Din (1939).
  Cast: Cary Grant. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Victor McLaglen. Sam Jaffe. Joan Fontaine.
• The Talk of the Town (1942).
  Cast: Jean Arthur. Cary Grant. Ronald Colman. Glenda Farrell.
• The More the Merrier (1943).
  Cast: Jean Arthur. Joel McCrea. Charles Coburn.
• I Remember Mama (1948).
  Cast: Irene Dunne. Barbara Bel Geddes. Philip Dorn. Oskar Homolka. Ellen Corby.
• A Place in the Sun (1951).
  Cast: Montgomery Clift. Elizabeth Taylor. Shelley Winters.
• Shane (1953).
  Cast: Alan Ladd. Jean Arthur. Van Heflin. Brandon De Wilde. Jack Palance.
• Giant (1956).
  Cast: Elizabeth Taylor. Rock Hudson. James Dean. Mercedes McCambridge. Carroll Baker. Dennis Hopper.
• The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).
  Cast: Millie Perkins. Shelley Winters. Ed Wynn. Richard Beymer. Diane Baker.
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
  Cast: Max Von Sydow. Dorothy McGuire. Charlton Heston. José Ferrer. Roddy McDowall. Claude Rains. Telly Savalas.

His final effort was the critical and box office misfire The Only Game in Town (1970), starring Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty.

George Stevens died at age 70 on March 8, 1975, in Lancaster, in northern Los Angeles County.

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