Happy birthday to the late Lloyd Bacon (1889-1955), busy Hollywood director who helmed more than 100 films in the course of his long career. Film historians usually count
42nd Street and
Marked Woman among his best and most important pictures, but I'm fond of a few Bacon features that aren't so acclaimed. While researching my book on
Eve Arden, I saw his briskly paced melodrama
A Child is Born (1940
), which nicely illustrates the director's oft-quoted comment, "Some others may use motion pictures as a vehicle for a psychological study. I haven't that patience." That slightly self-deprecating quote, though it may sell some of his pictures short, expresses an important point that almost always stands out in this "impatient" director's films: the story
moves. That quality is readily apparent in the two Lucille Ball comedies he directed,
Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949) and
The Fuller Brush Girl (1950), which came closer than almost any others in her movie career to showing the madcap, hilarious Lucy who would emerge on TV.
Want to learn more about Bacon's career?
Here's a terrific overview of Bacon's busy career and distinctive directorial style.
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