Editing Allan Dwan (section)

==Career==
Dwan started his directing career by accident in 1911, when he was sent by his employers to California, in order to locate a company that had vanished. Dwan managed to track the company down, and learned that they were waiting for a film director (who was an alcoholic) to return from a binge and allow them to resume their work. Dwan wired back to his employers in Chicago, informing them of the situation, and suggested that they disband the company. They wired back, instructing Dwan to direct the stalled film. When Dwan informed the company of the situation, and that their jobs were on the line, they responded: "You're the best damn director we ever saw".<ref name="HollywoodDoc">{{cite episode |title=The Man with the Megaphone |series=[[Hollywood (1980 TV series)|Hollywood]] |date=March 11, 1980 |number=10}}</ref>

Dwan operated [[Flying A Studios]] in [[La Mesa, California]], from August 1911 to July 1912.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eastcountymagazine.org/node/6833|title=La mesa to honor its tinseltown roots aug. 12–13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lamesa.patch.com/articles/100-simple-melodramas-were-made-in-la-mesa-100-years-ago|title=Proto-Hollywood: 100 Melodramas Were Made In La Mesa 100 Years Ago|date=August 10, 2011}}</ref> Flying A was one of the first motion pictures studios in California history. On August 12, 2011, a plaque was unveiled on the Wolff building at Third Avenue and La Mesa Boulevard commemorating Dwan and the [[Flying A Studios]] origins in [[La Mesa, California]].

After making a series of westerns and comedies, Dwan directed fellow Canadian-American [[Mary Pickford]] in several very successful movies as well as her husband, [[Douglas Fairbanks]], notably in the acclaimed 1922 ''[[Robin Hood (1922 film)|Robin Hood]]''. Around that time, he also directed [[Carole Lombard]] in [[A Perfect Crime (film)|''A Perfect Crime'']], her film debut. Dwan directed [[Gloria Swanson]] in eight feature films, and one short film made in the short-lived sound-on-film process [[Phonofilm]]. This short, also featuring [[Thomas Meighan]] and [[Henri de la Falaise]], was produced as a joke, for the April 26, 1925 "Lambs' Gambol" for [[The Lambs]], with the film showing Swanson crashing the all-male club.

Following the introduction of the [[sound film|talkies]], Dwan directed child-star [[Shirley Temple]] in ''[[Heidi (1937 film)|Heidi]]'' (1937) and ''[[Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938 film)|Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm]]'' (1938).

Dwan helped launch the career of two other successful Hollywood directors, [[Victor Fleming]], who went on to direct ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' and ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone With the Wind]]'', and [[Marshall Neilan]], who became an actor, director, writer and producer. Over a long career spanning almost 50 years, Dwan directed 125 motion pictures, some of which were highly acclaimed, such as the 1949 box office hit, ''[[Sands of Iwo Jima]]''. He directed his last movie in 1961.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=&retailCheck=&Type=PN&CatID=DATABIN_DIRECTOR&ID=11207&AN_ID=&searchedFor=Allan_Dwan_|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|title=Allan Dwan, Filmography|access-date=December 27, 2015}}</ref>

Being one of the last surviving pioneers of the cinema, he was interviewed at length for the 1980 documentary series ''[[Hollywood (British TV series)|Hollywood]]''.<ref name="HollywoodDoc"/>

He died in Los Angeles at the age of 96, and is interred in the [[San Fernando Mission Cemetery]], [[Mission Hills, Los Angeles|Mission Hills, California]].

Dwan has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6263 [[Hollywood Boulevard]].

Daniel Eagan of ''[[Film Journal International]]'' described Dwan as one of the early pioneers of cinema, stating that his style "is so basic as to seem invisible, but he treats his characters with uncommon sympathy and compassion."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Eagan|first1=Daniel|title=MoMA's Republic Pictures series offers B-movie rediscoveries and restorations|url=http://www.filmjournal.com/momas-republic-pictures-series-offers-b-movie-rediscoveries-and-restorations|website=[[Film Journal International]]|publisher=[[Prometheus Global Media|Prometheus Global Media, LLC]]|access-date=February 1, 2018|date=January 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131223908/http://www.filmjournal.com/momas-republic-pictures-series-offers-b-movie-rediscoveries-and-restorations|archive-date=January 31, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>