Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. After serving as a fighter pilot and flight instructor in the United States Army Air Service during World War I, Brown was given his first co-directing credit (with Tourneur) for The Great Redeemer (1920). Later that year, he directed a major portion of The Last of the Mohicans after Tourneur was injured in a fall. Brown moved to Universal in 1924, and then to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he remained until the mid-1950s. At MGM he was one of the main directors of their major female stars, he directed Joan Crawford six times and Greta Garbo seven. Brown was nominated five times for six films (see below) for an Academy Award as a director, but he never received an Oscar. However, he won Best Foreign Film for Anna Karenina, starring Garbo at the 1935 Venice International Film Festival. Brown's films gained a total of 38 Academy Award nominations and earned nine Oscars. Brown himself received five Academy Award nominations for six films and in 1949, he won the British Academy Award for the film version of William Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust. In 1957, Brown was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film. Brown retired a wealthy man due to his real estate investments, but refused to watch new movies, as he feared they might cause him to restart his career. The Clarence Brown Theater, on the campus of the University of Tennessee, is named in his honor. He holds the record for most nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director without a win, with six.
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Biography from TMDB.
- May 10, 1890
- August 17, 1987 (aged 97)
- Clinton, Massachusetts, USA
- Director and producer
- 34 on MovieCove · 65 credits in all
What are Clarence Brown's films like?
Across their 32 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Morality.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 31
Light 11 · Serious 13 · Dark 8
Grounded 23 · Stylized 8 · Heightened 1
Gentle 7 · Charged 21 · Intense 4
Steady 14 · Shifting 16 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 22 · Some laughs 10 · Funny 0
Slow burn 18 · Even-paced 14 · Relentless 0
Casual 22 · Engaged 10 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 6 · Affecting 18 · Heavy 8
Resolved 30 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy13
- Bittersweet14
- Tragic4
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Clarence Brown's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 34 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (8).
- Flesh and the Devil (1926) · director · free
- A Woman of Affairs (1928) · director · free
- Sadie McKee (1934) · director · free
- The Last of the Mohicans (1920) · director · free
- The Eagle (1925) · director · free
- Anna Christie (1930) · director, producer · free
- Dead Heat (1988) · actor · free
- Romance (1930) · director, producer · free
Subscription and free streaming for Clarence Brown's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
65 credits, 34 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Dead Heat(1988)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Fats Domino Live from Austin Texas (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
The Twilight Zone (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Never Let Me Go(1953)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Plymouth Adventure(1952)
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
When in Rome (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1952)
Midcredits score: 40th percentile of all films
Angels in the Outfield(1951)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
To Please a Lady(1950)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Intruder in the Dust(1949)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
The Secret Garden(1949)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Song of Love (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1947)
The Yearling(1946)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
National Velvet(1944)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
The Human Comedy(1943)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
They Met in Bombay(1941)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all films
Come Live with Me(1941)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
Edison, the Man(1940)
Midcredits score: 80th percentile of all films
The Rains Came(1939)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films
Idiot's Delight(1939)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
Of Human Hearts(1938)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
Conquest(1937)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
The Gorgeous Hussy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
Wife vs. Secretary(1936)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
Ah Wilderness!(1935)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Anna Karenina(1935)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
Chained (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)
Sadie McKee(1934)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
Night Flight (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1933)
Looking Forward (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1933)
The Son-Daughter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)
Letty Lynton (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1932)
Emma(1932)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
Possessed(1931)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all films
A Free Soul(1931)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
Inspiration (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1931)
Romance(1930)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films
Anna Christie(1930)
Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films
Navy Blues (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1929)
Wonder of Women (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1929)
A Woman of Affairs(1928)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
The Trail of '98(1928)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Flesh and the Devil(1926)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all films
Kiki (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1926)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
The Eagle(1925)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films
The Goose Woman (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1925)
Smouldering Fires (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1925)
Butterfly (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1924)
The Signal Tower (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1924)
The Acquittal (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1923)
Don't Marry for Money (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1923)
The Light in the Dark (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1922)
The Foolish Matrons (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1921)
The Last of the Mohicans(1920)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
The Great Redeemer (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1920)
The Blue Bird (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1918)
A Girl's Folly (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1917)
The Pride of the Clan (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1917)
The Velvet Paw (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)
The Rail Rider (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)
The Closed Road (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)
The Hand of Peril (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1916)
The Cub (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1915)
Career shape
A full career of 65 titles from 1915 to 1988.
Film career
- 1925Screen debut· Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Clarence Brown's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 73rd percentile, the median of all 34; across their 32 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 70th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up16
- 50th to 74th13
- 25th to 49th5
Shape of the crowd
None of their 34 titles divides audiences: 26 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved4
- Crowd Pleaser26
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the atmosphere 70/100 and the pacing 49/100 in their films, across 31 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Clarence Brown work with?
People who share at least 2 of Clarence Brown's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Herbert Stothart shares the most, 12.
Writers
- Helen DeutschShared titles: Plymouth Adventure (1952), It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951), National Velvet (1944)See all 3 shared titles with Helen Deutsch
- Dore ScharyShared titles: Plymouth Adventure (1952), It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951), Edison, the Man (1940)See all 3 shared titles with Dore Schary
- George FroeschelShared titles: Never Let Me Go (1953), The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)See all 2 shared titles with George Froeschel
- John Lee MahinShared titles: The Yearling (1946), Wife vs. Secretary (1936)See all 2 shared titles with John Lee Mahin
Actors
- Clark GableShared titles: Never Let Me Go (1953), To Please a Lady (1950), They Met in Bombay (1941), Idiot's Delight (1939), Wife vs. Secretary (1936), A Free Soul (1931), Possessed (1931)See all 7 shared titles with Clark Gable
- Greta GarboShared titles: Conquest (1937), Anna Karenina (1935), Anna Christie (1930), Romance (1930), A Woman of Affairs (1928), Flesh and the Devil (1926)See all 6 shared titles with Greta Garbo
- Reginald OwenShared titles: The Secret Garden (1949), National Velvet (1944), They Met in Bombay (1941), Conquest (1937), Anna Karenina (1935)See all 5 shared titles with Reginald Owen
- Van JohnsonShared titles: Plymouth Adventure (1952), It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951), The White Cliffs of Dover (1944), The Human Comedy (1943)See all 4 shared titles with Van Johnson
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Herbert StothartShared titles: The Yearling (1946), The White Cliffs of Dover (1944), The Human Comedy (1943), Come Live with Me (1941), They Met in Bombay (1941), Edison, the Man (1940), Idiot's Delight (1939), Of Human Hearts (1938), Conquest (1937), Wife vs. Secretary (1936), Ah Wilderness! (1935), Anna Karenina (1935)See all 12 shared titles with Herbert Stothart
- William H. DanielsShared titles: Plymouth Adventure (1952), They Met in Bombay (1941), Idiot's Delight (1939), Anna Karenina (1935), A Free Soul (1931), Anna Christie (1930), Romance (1930), A Woman of Affairs (1928), Flesh and the Devil (1926)See all 9 shared titles with William H. Daniels
- Robert KernShared titles: Plymouth Adventure (1952), Angels in the Outfield (1951), To Please a Lady (1950), Intruder in the Dust (1949), The Secret Garden (1949), The White Cliffs of Dover (1944), Idiot's Delight (1939), Anna Karenina (1935)See all 8 shared titles with Robert Kern
- Hugh WynnShared titles: Sadie McKee (1934), A Free Soul (1931), Anna Christie (1930), Romance (1930), A Woman of Affairs (1928)See all 5 shared titles with Hugh Wynn
Producers
- Hunt StrombergShared titles: They Met in Bombay (1941), Idiot's Delight (1939), Wife vs. Secretary (1936), Ah Wilderness! (1935)See all 4 shared titles with Hunt Stromberg
- Irving ThalbergShared titles: A Free Soul (1931), Possessed (1931), Anna Christie (1930), Flesh and the Devil (1926)See all 4 shared titles with Irving Thalberg
- John W. Considine Jr.Shared titles: Edison, the Man (1940), Of Human Hearts (1938), The Eagle (1925)See all 3 shared titles with John W. Considine Jr.
- Sidney FranklinShared titles: The Yearling (1946), The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)See all 2 shared titles with Sidney Franklin
Mixed roles
- Zelda SearsShared titles: Sadie McKee (1934), Emma (1932)See all 2 shared titles with Zelda Sears
