Final Clarence Brown Films this Weekend; UT Libraries Holds the Director’s Archives

The Clarence Brown Film Festival continues this weekend with more screenings of the legendary Hollywood director’s films. Clarence Brown’s papers reside at the University of Tennessee Libraries.

Collage of photos from films directed by Clarence Brown: Clarence Brown directing Greta Garbo and Fredric March in “Anna Karenina”; lobby card for “The Yearling”; Clarence Brown acting in a bit part in “The Signal Tower”
Top: Clarence Brown directing Greta Garbo and Fredric March in “Anna Karenina.” Bottom left: Lobby card for “The Yearling.” Bottom right: Clarence Brown (standing behind the signal man) had a bit part in “The Signal Tower.” (Clarence Brown Papers, Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville)

Films to be screened on Saturday at the Historic Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville span three decades of Brown’s illustrious career: The Signal Tower (1924), Anna Karenina (1935), and The Yearling (1946). Film showings conclude on Sunday with Intruder in the Dust (1949) and The Eagle (1925).

Collage of photos from films directed by Clarence Brown: Juano Hernandez and David Brian in “Intruder in the Dust”; candid photo of Claude Jarman Jr. and author William Faulkner on the set of “Intruder in the Dust”; scenes from “The Eagle,” starring Rudolph Valentino and Wilma Banky
Top left: Juano Hernandez and David Brian in “Intruder in the Dust.” Top rght: Candid photo of Claude Jarman Jr. and author William Faulkner on the set of “Intruder in the Dust.” Bottom: Scenes from “The Eagle,” starring Rudolph Valentino and Wilma Banky. (Clarence Brown Papers, UT Special Collections)

Theatre goers are in for a treat or two.

Claude Jarman, Jr., who starred in The Yearling and Intruder in the Dust, will be a guest at the screenings of both films. Brown discovered the youthful actor and cast him as the lead character in The Yearling, for which Jarman won the Academy Juvenile Award.

The cinema experience will also include live musical accompaniment to the two silent films, The Signal Tower and The Eagle.

Read more about the Clarence Brown Papers and Clarence Brown’s legacy at the University of Tennessee.