Delmer Daves

Delmer Daves
Born	July 24, 1904 San Francisco, California
Died	August 17, 1977(1977-08-17) (aged 73) La Jolla, California
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, film producer

Delmer Lawrence Daves (July 24, 1904 – August 17, 1977) was an American screenwriter, director and producer.

He would be known for his dramas and for the Western adventures that saw heroes battle Indians, nature, and outlaws, the two most acclaimed of these being Broken Arrow and 3:10 to Yuma. In addition, Daves would work with some of the most famous actors of the time; a few would make several movies with him, including Gary Cooper, Glenn Ford, Richard Egan, Alan Ladd, Troy Donahue, Ernest Borgnine, and Rossano Brazzi. He also launched soon-to-be-famous stars like Anne Bancroft, Olivia Hussey, George C. Scott, Sandra Dee, and Charles Bronson.

Life and career

Early Life

Born in San Francisco, Delmer Daves first pursued a career as a lawyer. While attending Stanford University, he became interested in the burgeoning film industry, first working as a prop boy on the western The Covered Wagon (1923) and serving as a technical advisor on a number of films.

After finishing his education in law, he continued his career in Hollywood.

Screenwriter and Actor

After moving to Hollywood in 1928, he became a screenwriter, his first credit being the "talkie" comedy So This Is College (1929), released by MGM, directed by Sam Wood.

He also moonlighted as an actor making small appearances in films like The Night Flyer (1928), Three Sinners (1928), The Mating Call (1928), Excess Baggage (1928), The Duke Steps Out (1929), and A Man's Man (1929), as well as So This Is College (1929), which he wrote.

He appeared in The Bishop Murder Case (1930) and Good News (1930).

He wrote and appeared in Shipmates (1931) and Divorce in the Family (1931) and worked uncredited on Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931) and Slim (1931).

Daves then focused on writing, working on scripts for Clear All Wires! (1933), and No More Women (1934). He did some musicals: Dames (1934) and Flirtation Walk (1934). He followed this with Stranded (1935), Page Miss Glory (1935), Shipmates Forever (1935), and Miss Pacific Fleet (1935).

Daves' first really significant credit as screenwriter was The Petrified Forest (1936). He wrote The Go Getter (1937), The Singing Marine (1937), She Married an Artist (1938) and Professor Beware (1938) for Harold Lloyd.

Daves had a big critical and commercial success with Love Affair (1939). (Almost twenty years later, Leo McCarey, director of Love Affair, helmed the nearly identical An Affair to Remember (1957) using Daves' script.)

He was very much in demand as a writer, his credits including $1000 a Touchdown (1939), The Farmer's Daughter (1940), It All Came True (1940), and Safari (1940). Daves wrote a propaganda short, Young America Flies (1940) then did Unexpected Uncle (1941), The Night of January 16th (1941), and You Were Never Lovelier (1942). He also helped write Stage Door Canteen (1943).

Director

Daves made his directorial debut in the Cary Grant wartime adventure Destination Tokyo (1943).

He followed it with The Very Thought of You (1944), Hollywood Canteen (1944), and Pride of the Marines (1945).

Daves wsa a writer only on Ladies' Man (1947).

He wrote and directed The Red House (1947) and Dark Passage (1947), which utilized a first-person approach to great effect. He directed Richard Brooks' script in To the Victor (1948), directed A Kiss in the Dark (1949) and wrote and directed Task Force (1949) with Gary Cooper.

Daves directed the critically acclaimed Broken Arrow (1950), which made a star of Jeff Chandler.

He wrote and directed Bird of Paradise (1951); directed Return of the Texan (1952); and wrote and directed Treasure of the Golden Condor (1953);.

As director only he did Never Let Me Go (1953) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954). He wrote and directed Drum Beat (1954) with Alan Ladd.

Daves was a writer only on White Feather (1955). He wrote and directed Jubal (1956), The Last Wagon (1956).

He directed 3:10 to Yuma (1957) and Cowboy (1958). Daves garnered a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for his work on 1958's Cowboy.

He also directed Kings Go Forth (1958), The Badlanders (1958) and The Hanging Tree (1959).

Later Films

Daves wrote and directed a series of films with Troy Donahue: A Summer Place (1959), Parrish (1961), Susan Slade (1961) and Rome Adventure (1962).

Daves final films were Spencer's Mountain (1963), Youngblood Hawke (1964) and The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965).Spencer's Mountain (1963), which he wrote, directed, and produced, based upon Earl Hamner Jr's autobiographical novel of the same name, and served as the basis for the popular television series The Waltons.

Daves was married to actress Mary Lawrence from 1938 until his death on August 17, 1977.

He is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Partial filmography

• Queen Kelly (1929, writer - uncredited)
• The Duke Steps Out (1929)
• So This Is College (1929, screenplay)
• Shipmates (1931, adaptation and dialogue)
• Dames (1934, writer)
• Flirtation Walk (1934, writer)
• Page Miss Glory (1935, writer)
• The Petrified Forest (1936, writer)
• The Go Getter (1937, writer)
• Love Affair (1939, writer)
• Night of January 16th (1941, co-writer with Robert Pirosh)
• You Were Never Lovelier (1942, writer)
• Stage Door Canteen (1943, writer)
• Destination Tokyo (1943, director and writer)
• The Very Thought of You (1944, director and writer)
• Hollywood Canteen (1944, director and writer)
• The Red House (1947, director and writer)
• Dark Passage (1947, director and writer)
• Task Force (1949, director and writer)
• A Kiss in the Dark (1949, director)
• Broken Arrow (1950, director)
• Bird of Paradise (1951, director and writer)
• Treasure of the Golden Condor (1953 director and co-writer)
• Never Let Me Go (1953, director)
• Drum Beat (1954, director, writer, and producer)
• Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954, director)
• White Feather (1955, writer)
• The Last Wagon (1956, director and writer)
• Jubal (1956, director and writer)
• 3:10 to Yuma (1957, director)
• An Affair to Remember (1957, writer)
• Cowboy (1958, director)
• Kings Go Forth (1958, director)
• The Badlanders (1958, director)
• The Hanging Tree (1959, director)
• A Summer Place (1959, director, writer, and producer)
• Parrish (1961, director, writer, and producer)
• Rome Adventure (1962, director, co-writer, producer)
• Spencer's Mountain (1963, director, writer, and producer)
• Youngblood Hawke (1964, director, writer)
• The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965, director, producer, writer)

External links

• Delmer Daves at IMDb
• Delmer Daves at Virtual History
• Delmer Daves Papers, 1930–1965 (38.5 linear ft.) are housed in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives at Stanford University Libraries