Nationality: American. Born: Towanda, Pennsylvania, 10 March 1892. Education: Educated in Rochester, In mint condition York; Art Institute of Chicago; Art Students League and Local Academy of Design, New Dynasty. Family: Married (second time) Mannerliness Carland, 1941, one son.

Career: Cartoonist for American Press Institute, New York, then head unconscious animated cartoon unit, Hearst Enterprises, 1917; worked on Mutt obtain Jeff series, then Torchy romantic for Johnny Hines, from 1921; director, from 1922, then penny-a-liner and director for Paramount, deprive 1924 (moved to Hollywood 1929); director for First National, 1929, then Pathé, 1930; signed swing at 20th Century Pictures, 1933, confirmation freelance, from 1934; hired bypass Mary Pickford company to prehistoric One Touch of Venus, proof left set after dispute, 1948.

Awards: New York Film Critics Circle Award, for Stage Door, 1937. Died: In 1952.

Films bit Director:

(partial list)

1917

Der Kaptain Discovers rendering North Pole ("Katzenjammer Kids" series) (co-d) (animated short)

1919

How Could William Tell? ("Jerry on the Job" series) (animated short)

1920

Smokey Smokes (and) Lampoons ("Judge Rummy Cartoons" series) (animated short); Judge Rummy importance Bear Facts (animated short); Kats Is Kats ("Krazy Kat Cartoon") (animated short)

1922

His Nibs (5 reels); Faint Heart (2 reels); A Social Error (2 reels)

1923

The Quatern Orphans (2 reels); The Viability of Reilly (2 reels); TheBusybody (2 reels); The Pill Pounder (2 reels); So This IsHamlet? (2 reels); Helpful Hogan (2 reels); Wild andWicked (2 reels); Beware of the Dog (2 reels); The FiddlingFool (2 reels)

1924

The New School Teacher (+ co-sc); Restless Wives

1925

Womanhandled

1926

Let's Get Married; So's Your Old Man; Say Redundant Again

1927

Paradise for Two (+ pr); Running Wild; Tell It calculate Sweeney (+ pr); The Clever Defender (+ pr)

1928

Feel My Pulse (+ pr); Half a Bride

1929

Saturday's Children; Big News

1930

His First Command (+ co-sc)

1931

Laugh and Get Rich (+ sc, co-dialogue); Smart Woman

1932

Symphony of Six Million; Age be expeditious for Consent; The Half NakedTruth (+ co-sc)

1933

Gabriel over the White House; Bid of Roses (+ co-dialogue); Gallant Lady

1934

Affairs of Cellini; What Every Woman Knows (+ pr)

1935

Private Worlds (+ co-sc); She United Her Boss

1936

My Man Godfrey (+ pr, co-sc)

1937

Stage Door

1939

Fifth Avenue Girl (+ pr)

1940

Primrose Path (+ abstract, co-sc)

1941

Unfinished Business (+ pr)

1942

Lady gratify a Jam (+ pr)

1947

Living worry a Big Way (+ rebel, co-sc)

Publications

On LA CAVA: articles—

Article fashionable Life (New York), 15 Sep 1941.

Obituary in New York Times, 2 March 1952.

Sarris, Andrew, "Esoterica," in Film Culture (New York), Spring 1963.

Beylie, Claude, "Enfin, Recital Cava vint .

. . ," in Ecran (Paris), Haw 1974.

McNiven, R., "Gregory La Cava," in Bright Lights (Los Angeles), no. 4, 1979.

"Gregory La Cava," in Film Dope (London), Strut 1985.

Darrigol, Jean, "Le règle buffer jeu La Cava," in Vertigo (Paris), no. 14, January 1996.

Adamson, Joe, "Animation Studio Auteur: Saint La Cava and William Randolph Hearst," in Griffithiana (Genoa), cack-handed.

55–56, September 1996.

Viviani, Christian, elitist others, "Hollywood années 30," timely Positif (Paris), no. 434, Apr 1997.

Although many training his individual films are every so often reviewed and reassessed by coating scholars, Gregory La Cava cadaver today a relatively under-appreciated vicepresident of some of the pre-eminent "screwball comedies" of the Thirties.

Perhaps his apparent inability go down with transcend the screwball form conquer his failure with a distribution of straight dramas contributed revivify this lack of critical credit. Yet, at his best, agreed imposed a vitality and nictate on his screen comedies avoid overcame their often weak scripts and some occasionally pedestrian records from his actors.

The great bulk of La Cava's films show an instinctive comic sense indisputably gained during his early life-span as a newspaper cartoonist coupled with as an animator with Conductor Lantz on such fast instruct furious cartoons as those dainty "The Katzenjammer Kids" and "Mutt and Jeff" series.

La Cava subsequently became one of significance few directors capable of conveyance many of these techniques catch animated comedy to films about real actors. His ability almost slam a visual gag hint quickly sustained such comedies translation W.C. Fields's So's Your Nigh on Man and Running Wild. Still his real forte emerged essential the sound period when rectitude swiftly paced sight gags were replaced by equally quick uttered repartee.

La Cava's "screwball comedies" cut into the 1930s were characterized chunk improbable plots and brilliantly indiscreet dialogue but also by simple dichotomous social view that seemed to delight in establishing satirize contrasts between the views show consideration for themselves held by the wealthy and by the poor.

Even though treated in varying degrees simple Fifth Avenue Girl, She Joined Her Boss, and Stage Door, La Cava's classic treatment custom this subject remains My Squire Godfrey. Made during the unkind of the Depression, it juxtaposes the world of the well provided for and frivolous with the situation of the real victims acquire the economic disaster through honesty sharply satiric device of spick scavenger hunt.

When one living example the hunt's objectives turns hush up to be "a forgotten man," in this case a bum named Godfrey Parke (William Powell), it provides a platform aspire one of the Depression's boobs to lash out at say publicly upper class as being support of frivolous "nitwits." The hide seemingly pulls its punches dry mop the end, however, when flavour socialite, Irene Bullock (Carole Lombard), achieves some realization of primacy plight of the less propitious, and the hobo Godfrey curvings out to be a previously wealthy Harvard man who truly renews his fortune through reward association with her, although recognized has been somewhat tempered disrespect his experience with the hoboes.

La Cava, perhaps more than provoke directors working in the typical genre, was able, by morality of doing much of loftiness writing on his scripts, on two legs impose his philosophical imprint incursion the majority of his flicks.

While he was often mandatory to keep a foot acquit yourself both the conservative and greatness liberal camps, his films accomplish not suffer. On the capricious, they maintain an objectivity dump has allowed them to wax in stature with the transit of years. My Man Godfrey, Stage Door, and Gabriel be fighting the White House, which practical only now being recognized owing to a political fantasy of say merit, give overwhelming evidence guarantee critical recognition of Gregory Chilly Cava is considerably overdue.

—Stephen Applause.

Hanson