John Malcolm Stahl (January 21, 1886 – January 12, 1950) was an American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

and producer.

Life and work

He was born Jacob Morris Strelitsky in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world ...

(

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

) to a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. When he was a child, his family left the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

and moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. At a young age he took the name John Malcolm Stahl and began working, first as a theatre actor and then in the city's growing

motion picture industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post p ...

. He directed his first

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

short in 1913. Sowing the Wind (1921) - 2

In 1919 he signed on with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. In 1924 he was part of the Mayer team that founded

MGM Studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

. In 1927, Stahl was one of the thirty-six founding members of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

. With the industry's transition to

talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befor ...

and

feature-length film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s, Stahl successfully made the adjustment. From 1927 through 1929 Stahl was an

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive d ...

at the short-lived

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery ( ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial desig ...

Tiffany Pictures Tiffany Pictures, which also became Tiffany-Stahl Productions for a time, was a Hollywood motion picture studio in operation from 1921 until 1932. It is considered a Poverty Row studio, whose films had lower budgets, lesser-known stars, and overall ...

, and renamed the company "Tiffany-Stahl Productions". In 1930 he joined

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

where he directed in 1934 the film '' Imitation of Life,'' which was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

. The following year, he directed ''

Magnificent Obsession ''Magnificent Obsession'' is a 1929 novel by American author Lloyd C. Douglas. It was one of four of his books that were eventually made into blockbuster motion pictures, the other three being ''The Robe'', '' White Banners'' and ''The Big Fisher ...

'', starring

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...

and Robert Taylor. Both films were later remade in the 1950s by director

Douglas Sirk Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left fo ...

. John Stahl continued to produce and direct major productions as well as filler shorts up to the time of his death. Some of his other notable directorial work was for ''

The Keys of the Kingdom ''The Keys of the Kingdom'' is a 1941 novel by A. J. Cronin. Spanning six decades, it tells the story of Father Francis Chisholm, an unconventional Scottish Catholic priest who struggles to establish a mission in China. Beset by tragedy in ...

'' in 1944 and the 1945

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarde ...

, ''

Leave Her to Heaven ''Leave Her to Heaven'' is a 1945 American psychological thriller film noir melodrama directed by John M. Stahl and starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price. It follows a socialite who marries a prominent novelist, w ...

'' starring

Gene Tierney Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the ...

, who was

nominated A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

for For or FOR may refer to: English language *For, a preposition *For, a complementizer *For, a grammatical conjunction Science and technology * Fornax, a constellation * for loop, a programming language statement * Frame of reference, in physics ...

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

. Stahl died in

in 1950. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth-larges ...

. He was married to actress and writer Frances Irene Reels from 1918 to her death in 1926, and to actress Roxana McGowan from 1931 to his death. On February 8, 1960, for his contributions to the motion pictures industry, Stahl received a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California ...

at 6546

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

Mollie King Women Men Forget Film Daily 1919

Filmography

Director

* '' A Boy and the Law'' (1913) (uncredited) (Lost) * '' The Lincoln Cycle'' (1917) (uncredited) * '' Wives of Men'' (1918) (Lost) * '' Suspicion'' (1918) (Lost) * '' Her Code of Honor'' (1919) * ''

The Woman Under Oath ''The Woman Under Oath'' is a 1919 American silent mystery film directed by John M. Stahl and starring stage star Florence Reed. As with the previous Stahl and Reed film, '' Her Code of Honor'', it was produced by Tribune Productions and released ...

'' (1919) * (1920) (Lost) * '' The Woman in His House'' (1920) (Lost) * '' Sowing the Wind'' (1921) * '' The Child Thou Gavest Me'' (1921) * '' Suspicious Wives'' (1921) * '' One Clear Call'' (1922) * '' The Song of Life'' (1922) * '' The Dangerous Age'' (1923) (Lost) * '' The Wanters'' (1923) (Lost - one reel survives) * ''

Why Men Leave Home ''Why Men Leave Home'' is a 1924 American silent comedy-drama film directed by John M. Stahl directed and stars Lewis Stone and Helene Chadwick. Produced by Louis B. Mayer and released through First National Pictures (then known as Associated ...

'' (1924) * '' Husbands and Lovers'' (1924) * '' Fine Clothes'' (1925) (Lost) * '' The Gay Deceiver'' (1926) (Lost) * '' Memory Lane'' (1926) * '' Lovers?'' (1927) (Lost) * '' In Old Kentucky'' (1927) * '' A Lady Surrenders'' (1930) * ''

Seed A seed is an Plant embryogenesis, embryonic plant enclosed in a testa (botany), protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, includ ...

'' (1931) * '' Strictly Dishonorable'' (1931) * '' Back Street'' (1932) * '' Only Yesterday'' (1933) * '' Imitation of Life'' (1934) * ''

'' (1935) * '' Parnell'' (1937) * ''

Letter of Introduction ''Letter of Introduction'' is a 1938 American comedy-drama film directed by John M. Stahl. In 1966, the film entered the public domain in the United States because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after p ...

'' (1938) * ''

When Tomorrow Comes "When Tomorrow Comes" is a song recorded by British pop music duo Eurythmics. It was written by group members Annie Lennox, David A. Stewart and guest keyboardist Pat Seymour. With this single and its parent album ''Revenge'', Lennox and Stewar ...

'' (1939) * ''

Our Wife Our Wife may refer to: * Our Wife (1931 film) ''Our Wife'' is a 1931 American pre-Code Hal Roach comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. It was directed by James W. Horne and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Plot Oliver is making plans to be m ...

'' (1941) * '' Immortal Sergeant'' (1943) * '' Holy Matrimony'' (1943) * '' The Eve of St. Mark'' (1944) * ''

'' (1944) * ''

'' (1945) * '' The Foxes of Harrow'' (1947) * '' The Walls of Jericho'' (1948) * '' Father Was a Fullback'' (1949) * ''

Oh, You Beautiful Doll "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" is a ragtime love song published in 1911 with words by Seymour Brown and music by Nat D. Ayer. The song was one of the first with a twelve-bar opening. The tune has been recorded hundreds of times by many artists from ...

'' (1949)

Producer

* '' The Child Thou Gavest Me'' (1921) * '' Husbands and Lovers'' (1924) * '' Memory Lane'' (1926) * '' Lovers'' (1927) * '' Wild Geese'' (1927) * '' In Old Kentucky'' (1927) * '' The Haunted Ship'' (1927) * ''

Streets of Shanghai ''Streets of Shanghai'' is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by Louis J. Gasnier and written by Harry Braxton and Jack Natteford. The film, starring Pauline Starke, Kenneth Harlan, and Eddie Gribbon, was released by Tiffany-Stahl Produc ...

'' (1927) * '' A Woman Against the World'' (1928) * '' The Devil's Skipper'' (1928) * '' Nameless Men'' (1928) * ''

The Man in Hobbles ''The Man in Hobbles'' is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by George Archainbaud and starring John Harron, Lila Lee and Lucien Littlefield.Babington & Barr p.133 The film's sets were designed by the art director Hervey Libbert. Cast ...

'' (1928) * '' The Tragedy of Youth'' (1928) * '' Their Hour '' (1928) * '' Bachelor's Paradise'' (1928) * '' The House of Scandal'' (1928) * '' The Scarlet Dove'' (1928) * ''

Ladies of the Night Club ''Ladies of the Night Club'' is a 1928 American comedy film directed by George Archainbaud and starring Ricardo Cortez, Barbara Leonard and Lee Moran.Munden p.413 It was produced during the transition to sound film and is essentially a silent fil ...

'' (1928) * '' Stormy Waters'' (1928) * ''

Clothes Make the Woman ''Clothes Make the Woman'' is a surviving 1928 American silent historical romantic drama film directed by Tom Terriss, and starring Eve Southern and Walter Pidgeon. The film is loosely based on the story of Anna Anderson, a Polish woman who cl ...

'' (1928) * '' Green Grass Widows'' (1928) * '' Prowlers of the Sea'' (1928) * ''

Lingerie Lingerie (, , ) is a category of primarily women's clothing including undergarments (mainly brassieres), sleepwear, and lightweight robes. The choice of the word is often motivated by an intention to imply that the garments are alluring, fash ...

'' (1928) * ''

Beautiful But Dumb ''Beautiful But Dumb'' is a 1928 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Elmer Clifton and starring Patsy Ruth Miller, Charles Byer and George E. Stone.Munden p.45 A stenographer has a makeover and schemes to snare her boss. Cast * ...

'' (1928) * '' The Grain of Dust'' (1928) * '' Domestic Meddlers'' (1928) * '' The Toilers'' (1928) * ''

The Naughty Duchess ''The Naughty Duchess'' is a 1928 American silent murder mystery, written by novelist Anthony Hope Hawkins based on his 1894 novel ''The Indiscretion of the Duchess: being a story concerning two ladies, a nobleman, and a necklace''. Cast *Eve ...

'' (1928) * '' The Power of Silence'' (1928) * '' The Cavalier'' (1928) * '' Marriage by Contract'' (1928) * '' The Floating College'' (1928) * '' The Gun Runner'' (1928) * '' Tropical Nights'' (1928) *'' George Washington Cohen'' (1928) * '' Broadway Fever'' (1929) * ''

The Rainbow ''The Rainbow'' is a novel by British author D. H. Lawrence, first published by Methuen & Co. in 1915. It follows three generations of the Brangwen family living in Nottinghamshire, focusing particularly on the individual's struggle to growth ...

'' (1929) * ''

Lucky Boy Lucky Boy may refer to: * Lucky Boy (1929 film), an American musical comedy-drama film * Lucky Boy (2017 film), a comedy and coming-of-age film * Lucky Boy (novel), a 2017 novel by Shanthi Sekaran * Lucky Boy, Nevada, a ghost town in Mineral ...

'' (1929) * ''

The Spirit of Youth ''The Spirit of Youth'' is a 1929 American silent drama film directed by Walter Lang. A complete print of the film exists. Cast * Dorothy Sebastian as Betty Grant * Larry Kent as Jim Kenney * Betty Francisco as Claire Ewing * Maurice Murph ...

'' (1929) * '' The Devil's Apple Tree'' (1929) * '' Molly and Me'' (1929) * '' My Lady's Past'' (1929) * '' The Lost Zeppelin'' (1929) * ''

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Two Men and a Maid'' (1929) * ''

Midstream The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. The midstream sector involves the transportation (by pipeline, rail, barge, oil tanker or truck), storage, and wholesale marketing of cr ...

'' (1929) * '' Whispering Winds'' (1929) * '' Mister Antonio'' (1929) * ''

Painted Faces ''Painted Faces'' (Chinese: 七小福) is a 1988 Hong Kong biographical drama film co-written and directed by Alex Law and starring Sammo Hung as his mentor, Master Yu Jim-yuen of the China Drama Academy. For his portrayal as Master Yu, Hung ...

'' (1929) * ''

'' (1931) * '' Strictly Dishonorable'' (1931) * ''

'' (1935) * '' Parnell'' (1937) * ''

'' (1938) * ''

'' (1939) * ''

'' (1941)

References

External links

*
John M. Stahl; AllMovie/biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stahl, John M. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences founders American film producers Film directors from New York City 1886 births 1950 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) American people of Azerbaijani-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Russian Jews People from Baku Deaths from coronary artery disease Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States