John M. Stahl

Capable craftsman, in films from 1914, with a flair for lifting trite, sentimental material to higher ground. A master of the "woman's melodrama" and a director latterly acclaimed by film critics and historians for his use of the long take years before it became common after WWII, Stahl directed the original screen versions of several classic weepies, including "Back Street" (1932), "Imitation of Life" (1934) and "Magnificent Obsession" (1935). The latter two were remade in the 1950s, in more florid style, by Douglas Sirk.