Considered one of the great film auteurs of the Hollywood Studio era, Howard Hawks directed forty-six films and has the distinction of being one of the few directors to work in every major genre, including the gangster film (Scarface, 1932); the war film (The Road to Glory, 1936, and Air Force, 1943); the screwball comedy, (Bringing Up Baby, 1938); the biopic (Sergeant York, 1941); the Western (Red River, 1948, and Rio Bravo, 1959); science fiction (The Thing, 1951); film noir (The Big Sleep, 1946); and the musical (Gentleman Prefer Blondes, 1953). His films are among the most popular still shown on U.S. television.

Hawks started in film as a prop man for the Mary Pickford Company in 1919. Within six years, he had risen to editor, scriptwriter, and assistant director. He directed his first feature film in 1926. His first all-talking film was produced four years later, a First National release entitled The Dawn Patrol...