Borzage and the power of love Frank Borzage (1893-1962) had worked as a stage and movie actor befor he directed his first film in 1916. He went on to become one of the most successful directors of late-silent and early-sound days. Although his films of this period are essentially romantic melodramas - which sometimes show scant regard for the bounds of reality - they frequently reveal a profound understanding of man's struggles to survive in the material world - Hardy, Paul (1984)