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As one of the work horses in Warner Brothers stable of 1930s directors, Lloyd Bacon`s career isn`t comparatively loaded with classic films as many of his more famous contemporaries. What few he had his hand in (42nd Street (1933), and Footlight Parade (1933)) are so overshadowed by the dazzling surrealistic choreography of Busby Berkeley to the extent that casual film buffs today often forget they were directed by him. While his resume lacks the drama of failed productions and tales of an unbridled ego, he consistently enriched the studio`s coffers, directing a handful of their biggest hits of the late 1920s and 30s. Lloyd Bacon`s career amounts to that of a competent -- at times brilliant -- director who did the best with the material handed to him in assembly line fashion. Lloyd Bacon was born in San Jose, California on January 16, 1890 into a theatrical family (his father was Frank Bacon, a playwright and legitimate actor). His parents enlisted all the Bacon children onto the stage. Despite having a strong interest in law as a student at Santa Clara College, Lloyd opted for an acting career after appearing in a student production of "The Passion Play." In 1911 he joined David Belasco`s Los Angeles Stock Company (with fellow actor Lewis Stone), touring the country and gaining good notices in a Broadway run of the hit, "Cinderella Man" and gaining further experience during a season of vaudeville. Lloyd switched gears in 1915 and took a stab at silent Hollywood, playing the heavy in `Gilbert M. `Broncho Billy` Anderson` shorts and pulling duty as a stunt double. With America`s entry into WWI in 1917, Lloyd enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to the Photo Department. This began a lifelong admiration for the service and might explain the Navy being a favorite reoccurring theme in many of his films.

After the Armistice, Lloyd moved from Mutual (Charles Chaplin`s studio at the time) to Triangle as a comedy actor. It was at this point that he got his first taste of directing -- Bacon had let everyone at the studio know he had an interest in helming a picture and when the director of a now forgotten Lloyd Hamilton comedy short fell ill, he was given his chance. Constantly moving, Bacon joined tightwad producer Mack Sennett as a gag writer, who, sensing a bargain, happily accommodated Lloyd`s desire to become a full time director by early 1921. The Sennett studio was already in an irreversible decline during Bacon`s tenure there but it allowed the novice director to gain a wealth of experience. He apprenticed for Sennett until joining Warner Brothers in 1925, an association that would last a remarkable 18 years and begin when the working man`s studio was building a strong stable of contract directors that included Michael Curtiz, Alan Crosland, John G. Adolfi and Mervyn LeRoy.

Although Lloyd never became known for a particular style other than a well-placed close up, his ability to bring an entertaining film in on time and within budget earned him such enormous respect from five Warner Brothers that he was soon handed control over important projects, including The Singing Fool (1928), an Al Jolson follow up to The Jazz Singer (1927) which grossed an unheard of (for Warner`s at least) $4,000,000 in domestic receipts alone -- the studio`s #1 hit for 1928. Bacon was rewarded as becoming the highest paid director on the studio`s payroll, earning over $200,000.00 a year throughout the Depression. He was called upon to direct their b