Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 1920s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray for films directed by her then-husband Robert Z. Leonard. Goulding is best remembered for directing cultured dramas such as Love (1927), Grand Hotel (1932) with Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford, Dark Victory (1939) with Bette Davis, The Constant Nymph (1943) with Joan Fontaine, and The Razor's Edge (1946) with Gene Tierney and Tyrone Power. He also directed the classic film noir Nightmare Alley (1947) with Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell, and the action drama The Dawn Patrol. He was also a successful songwriter, composer, and producer.
Biography Before moving to films, Goulding was an actor, playwright and director on the London stage.
Interviewed about his Goulding biography Edmund Goulding's Dark Victory (2009), film historian Matthew Kennedy stated: He not only directed many types of films, but he took on multiple functions on each set. Though he didn't usually take credit, he co-wrote many scripts, composed incidental music, produced, even consulted on makeup, costumes, and hair styling. His one blind spot in production seems to be the camera...When shooting a scene, Eddie was intent on capturing performers at their best and most truthful, but he left the mechanics of filming to his cameramen...he seemed adept at just about everything — comedy (Everybody Does It, We're Not Married!), ensemble dramas (Grand Hotel), family relations (White Banners, Claudia), war (The Dawn Patrol, We Are Not Alone), psychiatry (The Flame Within), show business (Blondie of the Follies), male-female relationships (The Devil's Holiday, Riptide), and even existentialism (The Razor's Edge) and the dark arts of spiritism (Nightmare Alley).
Together with Jack Conway, Goulding holds the distinction of having directed the most Best Picture-nominated films without ever receiving a nomination for Best Director, with three (Grand Hotel, which won the award; Dark Victory; and The Razor's Edge).
Goulding died during heart surgery at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California. He was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 18220). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition
Filmography YearTitleProduction co.CastNotesSilent films1916 Little Lady Eileen Paramount Marguerite Clark, Vernon Steele co-written with Betty T. Fitzgerald1916 The Quest of Life Paramount Florence Walton, Julian L'Estrange Based on one of his plays1917 The Silent Partner Paramount Blanche Sweet, Thomas Meighan Screenwriter1918 The Ordeal of Rosetta Select Alice Brady, Crauford Kent Screenwriter1919 The Imp Selznick Elsie Janis, Joe King Screenwriter1919 The Perfect Lover Selznick Eugene O'Brien, Marguerite Courtot Screenwriter1919 The Glorious Lady Selznick Olive Thomas, Evelyn Brent Screenwriter1919 A Regular Girl Selznick Elsie Janis, Matt Moore Screenwriter1919 Sealed Hearts Selznick Eugene O'Brien, Robert Edeson Screenwriter1920 A Daughter of Two Worlds First National Norma Talmadge, Frank Sheridan Screenwriter1920 Madonnas and Men Independent Anders Randolf, Edmund Lowe, Gustav von Seyffertitz Screenwriter1920 The Dangerous Paradise Selznick Louise Huff, Harry Benham Screenwriter1920 The Sin That Was His Selznick William Faversham, Lucy Cotton Screenwriter1921 The Devil Pathé Exchange George Arliss, Lucy Cotton Screenwriter1921 Dangerous Toys Independent Marguerite Clayton, William Desmond Screenwriter1921 A Man of Stone Selznick Conway Tearle, Martha Mansfield Screenwriter1921 Tol'able David First National Richard Barthelmess, Gladys Hulette, Ernest Torrence Screenwriter1922 Peacock Alley Metro Mae Murray, Edmund Lowe Screenwriter1922 Three Live Ghosts Paramount Norman Kerry, Anna Q. Nilsson Actor1922 Till We Meet Again Independent Mae Marsh, Walter Miller Screenwriter1922 The Seventh Day First National Richard Barthelmess, Anne Cornwall Screenwriter1922 Fascination Metro Mae Murray, Creighton Hale Screenwriter1922 Broadway Rose Metro Mae Murray, Monte Blue, Ward Crane Screenwriter1922 Heroes of the Street Warner Bros. Marie Prevost, Jack Mulhall Screenwriter1923 Fury First National Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish Screenwriter1923 Dark Secrets Paramount Dorothy Dalton, Robert Ellis Screenwriter1923 Bright Lights of Broadway Independent Doris Kenyon, Harrison Ford, Edmund Breese, Lowell Sherman Screenwriter1923 Jazzmania Metro Mae Murray, Rod La Rocque, Jean Hersholt Screenwriter1923 Tiger Rose Warner Bros. Lenore Ulric, Forrest Stanley, Theodore von Eltz Screenwriter1923 The Bright Shawl First National Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish, Jean Hersholt Screenwriter1924 The Man Who Came Back Fox Film George O'Brien, Dorothy Mackaill Screenwriter1924 Dante's Inferno Fox Film Pauline Starke, Ralph Lewis Screenwriter1924 Gerald Cranston's Lady Fox Film Alma Rubens, Walter McGrail Screenwriter1925 The Dancers Fox Film George O'Brien, Alma Rubens Screenwriter1925 The Scarlet Honeymoon Fox Film Shirley Mason, Pierre Gendron Screenwriter1925 The Fool Fox Film Edmund Lowe, Raymond Bloomer Screenwriter1925 Havoc Fox Film Madge Bellamy, George O'Brien, Walter McGrail Screenwriter1925 Sun-Up MGM Lucille La Verne, Conrad Nagel, Pauline Starke Director, screenwriter1925 The Beautiful City First National Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish, William Powell Screenwriter1925 Sally, Irene and Mary MGM Constance Bennett, Joan Crawford, Sally O'Neil Director, screenwriter1926 Dancing Mothers Paramount Pictures Conway Tearle, Alice Joyce, Clara Bow Based on one of his plays1926 Paris MGM Charles Ray, Joan Crawford, Rose Dione Director, screenwriter1927 Women Love Diamonds MGM Pauline Starke, Owen Moore, Lionel Barrymore Director, screenwriter1927 Love MGM John Gilbert, Greta Garbo Director, producer1928 A Certain Young Man MGM Ramón Novarro / Marceline Day Uncredited Director. Lost film.1928 Happiness Ahead First National Colleen Moore, Edmund Lowe Screenwriter1928 A Lady of Chance MGM Norma Shearer, Lowell Sherman Screenwriter1929 Queen Kelly United Artists Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron Hired by Swanson to help complete and edit the filmSound films1929 The Trespasser United Artists Gloria Swanson, Robert Ames Director, screenwriter1929 The Broadway Melody MGM Anita Page, Bessie Love Screenwriter1930 Paramount on Parade Paramount Pictures Paramount Star Revue A musical revue using 11 directors and starring various Paramount stars / Some Technicolor sequences1930 The Devil's Holiday Paramount Pictures Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes Director, screenwriter1930 Hell's Angels The Caddo Company Ben Lyon, James Hall, Jean Harlow Hired by Howard Hughes to direct the silent scenes used in the final film1930 Reaching for the Moon United Artists Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels Director, screenwriter1930 The Grand Parade Pathé Exchange Helen Twelvetrees, Richard Carle Screenwriter, producer1931 The Night Angel Paramount Pictures Fredric March, Nancy Carroll Director, screenwriter1932 Grand Hotel MGM Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford Director, winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture1932 Flesh MGM Wallace Beery, Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morley Screenwriter1932 No Man of Her Own MGM Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Dorothy Mackaill Screenwriter1932 Blondie of the Follies MGM Marion Davies, Robert Montgomery, Billie Dove Director1934 Riptide MGM Norma Shearer, Robert Montgomery, Herbert Marshall Director, screenwriter1934 Hollywood Party MGM Hollywood Revue In an attempt to salvage the film, MGM producer Harry Rapf hired Goulding and eight other directors to direct sequences for the film.1935 The Flame Within MGM Maureen O'Sullivan, Ann Harding, Herbert Marshall Director, screenwriter, producer1935 A Night at the Opera MGM Marx Brothers Directed a few scenes1937 That Certain Woman Warner Bros., First National Pictures Bette Davis, Henry Fonda Director, screenwriter1938 White Banners Warner Bros., Cosmopolitan Pictures Fay Bainter, Claude Rains, Jackie Cooper Director1938 The Dawn Patrol Warner Bros. Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, David Niven Director1939 Dark Victory Warner Bros., First National Pictures Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart Director1939 The Old Maid Warner Bros. Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, George Brent Director1939 We Are Not Alone Warner Bros., First National Pictures Paul Muni, Jane Bryan Director1940 'Til We Meet Again Warner Bros. Merle Oberon, George Brent Director. Goulding shot 70% of the film around bouts of pneumonia.1940 Two Girls on Broadway MGM Lana Turner, Joan Blondell Screenplay1941 The Great Lie Warner Bros. Bette Davis, George Brent, Mary Astor Director1943 Forever and a Day RKO Radio Pictures Ensemble cast Director, producer. Goulding directed a segment for the film.1943 Old Acquaintance Warner Bros. Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins Screenwriter1943 The Constant Nymph Warner Bros. Charles Boyer, Joan Fontaine, Alexis Smith Director1943 Claudia 20th Century Fox Dorothy McGuire, Robert Young Director1944 Of Human Bondage Warner Bros. Paul Henreid, Eleanor Parker Director1945 Flight from Folly Warner Bros. Pat Kirkwood, Tamara Desni Screenwriter1946 The Razor's Edge 20th Century Fox Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne Director1947 The Shocking Miss Pilgrim 20th Century Fox Betty Grable, Dick Haymes Director. Goulding filled in for George Seaton while he was ill during production / Technicolor film1947 Nightmare Alley 20th Century Fox Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray Director1949 Everybody Does It 20th Century Fox Paul Douglas, Linda Darnell, Celeste Holm Director1950 Mister 880 20th Century Fox Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, Edmund Gwenn Director1952 We're Not Married! 20th Century Fox Ensemble cast Director1953 Down Among the Sheltering Palms 20th Century Fox William Lundigan, Mitzi Gaynor, Jane Greer Director. Technicolor film.1956 Teenage Rebel 20th Century Fox Ginger Rogers, Betty Lou Keim Director, screenwriter1958 Mardi Gras 20th Century Fox Pat Boone, Christine Carère Director
References
External links
Goulding biography