Hollywood’s Chameleon: Howard Hawks

It is often hard to keep track of all the great directors who have come and gone in the last century of movie making. But one man who seems to be overlooked by so many in the industry is Hollywood’s chameleon, Howard Hawks. While his films were not known for garnering big awards, Hawks directed many iconic and fan-favorite films that inspired later films like Scarface (1932), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Twentieth Century (1934), and more. So who was the man behind all these great films?

Howard Hawks’ Beginnings 

Howard Hawks was born in 1896 in Indiana to one of the wealthiest families in the state. Having many opportunities because of his family’s wealth, he was able to attend one of the top high schools, Phillips Exeter, and graduate from Cornell with a degree in mechanical engineering, despite not being the best student. After college, Hawks served in World War I as a pilot. He never saw war, but he went through a lot of hard training that introduced him to the world of working in a thrilling and dangerous profession. When the war ended, he designed and raced cars, still seeking a thrill. Having moved to Pasadena, CA where his family had relocated, Hawks experienced another career shift when he started becoming interested in Hollywood. He started as a production assistant and eventually became an independent producer and headed up the story department at Paramount Pictures for two years. 

Hawks lived many lives before getting into the movie industry so he entered it with a love for people and thrill. This helped drive his storytelling where he told a lot of stories about men in dangerous or thrilling jobs and the women who loved them. In 1926, FOX Film signed him to direct his first film, The Road to Glory (1926). This deal started his long career in the film industry where he worked with many of the biggest stars of the time like Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne, and John Barrymore. 

His Films

Unlike some other directors of his time, such as Alfred Hitchcock or Orson Welles, Hawks was not one to use a particularly innovative cinematic visual style or try to draw attention to himself. He preferred to use standard practices that could tell his stories which were focused on the characters and their relationships with each other. 

Through his career and the films that he made during it, it becomes evident that he found where his stories thrived– the characters and their relationships. Rather than focusing on cool visual or cinematic techniques, Hawks made stories that showed the comradery of men and friendships in their professions. Often these professions were high-risk, thrilling jobs like racing, piloting, gangsters, or cattle driving. For the most part, he made stories about thrill-seeking men and the women who loved them. 

What is interesting about Hawks career is that he was never tied down to a specific genre. He has one of the most diversified bodies of work for a director. He directed mobster films that were so bloody that they had to be screened with multiple scenes taken out and censored. He directed some of the first lighthearted screwball movies. He directed musical comedies and westerns. Almost no other director has been able to create so many successful films across so many genres. While Hawks’ specific style is very evident across all his films, he was able to transfer this style seamlessly across so many genres and create successful films in each genre. 

Impactful Hawks Films

Gangster Films - Scarface (1932):

One of Hanks’ first major successes was the gangster film Scarface. This was the most violent film of 1932. The Motion Picture Production Code did not give the film the seal of approval but it was released anyway and played in many places with multiple censors and cut scenes. The film is based loosely on Al Capone and exemplifies the violence and crime stories that are characteristic of mobsters and gangster films. This film about a reckless gangster who massacres the gang leaders in the south side of Chicago to become the king of the city is seen as one of the pre-code films that helped shape gangster films that came after it. The film was remade in 1983. 

Screwball Comedies - Twentieth Century (1934)

An earlier rendition of the romantic comedy, the screwball comedy was popular in the 1930s and 40s. These films became popular and were characterized by fast-paced dialogue, witty characters, and often a battle of the sexes story. At the time, these films were a sort of escape for audience members living through the Depression and showed a new approach to comedy that had unconventional characters and elements of slapstick humor. Hawks’ Twentieth Century helped to establish the screwball comedy genre. The film is about a struggling Broadway impresario who reconnects with his former love and tries to win her back professionally and romantically. But she has other plans with her new lover. The film has been turned into a Broadway musical that won five Tonys in 1978 and was revived in 2010. Other notable Hawks screwball comedies are Bringing Up Baby (1938) His Girl Friday (1940), and Ball of Fire (1941). 

Musical Comedies - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Another genre Hawks directed was musical comedies. These films featured comedy and music meshed into one and were a magical escape into a glamorous world for audiences. Many stars were created from these films like Jack Lemmon, Gene Kelly, and Natalie Wood.  Hawks had an eye for talent, and this film became the breakout film for Marilyn Monroe because Hawks recognized her potential and nurtured it in comedy. The film is about two showgirls traveling to Paris as a private detective tries to find evidence of one girl’s fiancé’s father to disqualify her marriage to his son. He also worked with Monroe in Monkey Business (1952). 

Westerns - Rio Bravo (1959)

Towards the end of his career, Hawks decided to try his hand at Westerns. About ten years after their success with Red River, Hawks directed Rio Bravo, starring John Wayne. Westerns are films and stories set in the American Old West, typically showing frontier life and clashes between order and outlaws. They often deal with justice, morality, revenge, and how people survive in harsh nature. Rio Bravo is considered Hawk’s last great success as his two films after this one were like remakes of it. The film follows a sheriff who gets the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a gunfighter to hold a murderer until the US Marshal comes. Essentially, it is a film about a sheriff guarding a jail but what made the film work was the way that the characters connected with each other. Today, this film is still referenced by major directors like Scorsese and Tarantino. 

Hawks’ Impact

While there were ups and downs to his career, with his popularity fizzling out towards the end, it is clear that Hawks contributed a lot to building multiple genres of film. He had the code cracked for what kind of storytelling would work over multiple genres. 

More than just making films in the gangster, screwball comedy, musical comedy, and Western genres, Hawks still made films that explored other genres, like war and noir. While people may gloss over his contributions to film because his films were never the most cinematic or visually aesthetic and his films never one any Academy Awards, it is telling when one man can make so many successful films in a wide range of genres and keep people going back to watch them or create remakes, musicals, and use his films as references. Hawks was truly a chameleon when it came to filmmaking, managing to fit his style into different genres and creating films for people to enjoy for generations after. 

Learn more about Auteurnet and how we can help you build your creative community.