Jack Conway, born on July 17 1887 in Graceville, Minnesota, was an actor and film director of many many films in the early and mid 1900s. Conway actually is credited with directed well over 50 films over thirty six years. Conway directed his first film in 1912 which was called Her Indian Hero which was a box-office smash by 1912 standards. In 1925 Conway began directing for MGM– a job that would define his legacy. He began filming for MGM in the 1925 costume drama titles, The Only Thing which starred Eleanor Boardman, Conrad Nagel, Edward Connelly, and Arthur Edmund Carewe. This film was also notable because it was the first film appearance by a young actress who would soon reach superstardom -Joan Crawford.
Conway directed another smash hit in 1925, a silent film, which drew unanimous critical reception and praise. This film was called Soul Mates which featured the all-star cast of Aileen Pringle, Edmund Lowe, Phillips Smalley, Tony D’Algy and Edythe Chapman. Soul Mates tells the story of the young rich girl Velma whose uncle forces her to wed a man she has never met named Lord Tancred. That same day she by chance meets Lord Tancred without knowing that he is the man she is to marry. Ironically Velma falls in love with Lord Tancred but when she learns of his true identity she is devastated and has to decide if Lord Tancred’s intentions are wholesome or not.
Perhaps, Conway’s best known film is A Tale of Two Cities – a film adaptation of the classic Charles Dicken’s novel. Conway directed dozens of wonderful movies in his tenure at MGM including New Moon, The Girl from Missouri, The Gay Bride and A Yank at Oxford.
The last film of Conway’s prodigious career was titled Julia Misbehaves a 1948 romantic comedy which starred Elizabeth Taylor, Walter Pidgeon, Greer Garson, Peter Lawford and Cesar Romero. Conway ended with a bang, assembling an incredible cast and directing one of the finest movies of the mid 1900s.
In Julia Misbehaves, which is based on the Margery Sharp novel The Nutmeg Tree, Conway directed a masterpiece which features Pidgeon, Garson, and a young Elizabeth Taylor at their absolute best as they chronicle the antics of a middle-aged show girl.
Conway left behind a stellar legacy, having directed both silent films and films with sound and color not so different than those that we see and love today.