Biography
An actor in British theater while still a teenager, Scottish-born Frank Lloyd came to the U.S. in 1913, and after acting in films he turned to writing and directing. By the late teens he was helming a series of notable films starring
William Farnum, ranging from historic adaptations (a seven-reel version of
A Tale Of Two Cities [1917] and a ten-reel
Les Miserables [1918]) to Zane Grey westerns (
Riders of the Purple Sage [1918],
The Rainbow Trail [1918]). Lloyd's notable films of the '20s include
Oliver Twist (1922) with
Lon Chaney as Fagin, the
Milton Sills swashbuckler
The Sea Hawk (1924), and his Academy Award-winning historical drama
The Divine Lady (1929). A prolific and reliable craftsman, Lloyd's enduring popularity resides on his 1930s films:
Cavalcade (1933),
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and the
Preston Sturges-scripted
If I Were King (1938). His '40s films -- an episode of
Forever and a Day (1943), the
James Cagney actioner
Blood on the Sun (1945) -- are also admired. Lloyd also produced several films in the early '40s, most notably
Alfred Hitchcock's
Saboteur (1942). ~ All Movie Guide