---
name: "Alan Crosland"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/alan-crosland"
fi1m_id: "alan-crosland"
imdb_id: "nm0189076"
tmdb_id: 14281
wikidata_id: "Q1281943"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "10 August 1894"
died: "16 July 1936"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-25T06:25:23.512051+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Alan Crosland

## Identity

Alan Crosland

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/alan-crosland
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** alan-crosland
- **IMDb ID:** nm0189076
- **TMDB ID:** 14281
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1281943
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Crosland, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1281943, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0189076/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14281

Director. Born 10 August 1894 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 16 July 1936.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 10 August 1894, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 16 July 1936
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Crosland, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1281943, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0189076/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/14281

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*The Jazz Singer*](https://film.one/film/the-jazz-singer.md) (65)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Alan Crosland

> Alan Crosland worked at the forefront of early sound cinema, but we recommend *The Jazz Singer* chiefly for its singing. His handling of the family drama gives us less reason to celebrate.

In *The Jazz Singer* (1927), Al Jolson's singing interrupts a much stiffer family melodrama. We perked up when he sang, because he makes those passages feel so much less laboured than the arguments surrounding them. The changes between silent-film storytelling and recorded voices are awkward, but they remain absorbing to watch. Crosland gives us reason to listen even when the drama has begun repeating itself.

Crosland came to sound after working in historical and costume pictures, including *Under the Red Robe* (1923). Elaborate sets and period detail were familiar territory before *Don Juan* (1926), which paired feature-length storytelling with a synchronised Vitaphone score and sound effects. His work with John Barrymore included the historical adventure *The Beloved Rogue* (1927) and, with Dolores Costello, the romantic drama *When a Man Loves* (1927). These films put *The Jazz Singer* in a useful context. Here was a director used to actors and spectacle, adapting his silent-film methods to recorded sound.

The limitation in *The Jazz Singer* is how little the family disagreement develops once it has been established. Alfred A. Cohn's screenplay keeps returning the characters to positions we have already understood, and Crosland does not make that repetition any more compelling. Jolson's singing supplies the immediacy that the dramatic scenes lack, but it cannot carry every stretch between songs. The blackface also demands scrutiny, and pleasure in the singing is no reason to put it aside.

*Glorious Betsy* (1928), a part-talkie historical drama, continued his association with Warner Bros.' sound experiments. His later career moved largely into B-pictures, including *Massacre* (1934). That later work deserves to be considered film by film, without assuming either that a sound pioneer must be a great director or that smaller assignments prove he had nothing left to offer. Begin with *The Jazz Singer* if early sound interests you; for family drama, look elsewhere.

## Biography

Alan Crosland (10 August 1894 – 16 July 1936) was an American stage actor and film director. Born in New York City, he attended Dartmouth College and worked as a writer before entering the film industry. By 1917 he was directing feature-length films.

He directed several silent films for Warner Bros., including *Don Juan* (1926), the first feature-length film with a synchronised Vitaphone soundtrack. Crosland was chosen to direct *The Jazz Singer* (1927), the first feature film to include spoken dialogue, which helped usher in the sound era.

Crosland continued directing into the 1930s until his death at age 41 following a car accident in Los Angeles.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Jazz Singer* (1927), Fi1m 65, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-jazz-singer.md)

## Complete filmography (56)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Great Impersonation* (1935), Director
- *King Solomon of Broadway* (1935), Director
- *Lady Tubbs* (1935), Director
- *Mister Dynamite* (1935), Director
- *It Happened in New York* (1935), Director
- *The White Cockatoo* (1935), Director
- *The Case of the Howling Dog* (1934), Director
- *Midnight Alibi* (1934), Director
- *The Personality Kid* (1934), Director
- *Massacre* (1934), Director
- *Week Ends Only* (1932), Director
- *The Silver Lining* (1932), Director
- *Children of Dreams* (1931), Director
- *Captain Thunder* (1930), Director
- *Viennese Nights* (1930), Director
- *The Song of the Flame* (1930), Director
- *Big Boy* (1930), Director
- *The Furies* (1930), Director
- *General Crack* (1929), Director
- *On With the Show!* (1929), Director
- *The Scarlet Lady* (1928), Director
- *Glorious Betsy* (1928), Director
- *The Jazz Singer* (1927), Director — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/the-jazz-singer.md)
- *Old San Francisco* (1927), Director
- *When a Man Loves* (1927), Director
- *The Beloved Rogue* (1927), Director
- *Don Juan* (1926), Director
- *Bobbed Hair* (1925), Director
- *Compromise* (1925), Director
- *Contraband* (1925), Director
- *Sinners in Heaven* (1924), Director
- *Unguarded Women* (1924), Director
- *Miami* (1924), Director, Producer
- *Three Weeks* (1924), Director
- *Under the Red Robe* (1923), Director
- *Enemies of Women* (1923), Director
- *The Face in the Fog* (1922), Director
- *Slim Shoulders* (1922), Director
- *The Prophet's Paradise* (1922), Director
- *Why Announce Your Marriage?* (1922), Director, Writer
- *Shadows of the Sea* (1922), Director, Producer
- *Is Life Worth Living?* (1921), Director
- *Worlds Apart* (1921), Director
- *Broadway and Home* (1920), Director
- *Everybody's Sweetheart* (1920), Director
- *The Flapper* (1920), Director
- *Youthful Folly* (1920), Director
- *The Country Cousin* (1919), Director
- *The Unbeliever* (1918), Director
- *Friends, Romans and Leo* (1917), Director
- *The Apple Tree Girl* (1917), Director
- *Knights of the Square Table* (1917), Director
- *Chris and His Wonderful Lamp* (1917), Director
- *The Light in Darkness* (1917), Director, Scenario Writer
- *Kidnapped* (1917), Director
- *Santa Claus vs. Cupid* (1915), Writer

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/alan-crosland