---
name: "Frances Marion"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/frances-marion"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "18 November 1888"
died: "12 May 1973"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 75
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-19T21:46:56.025719+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."
---

# Frances Marion

Writer. Born 18 November 1888 in San Francisco, California, USA. Died 12 May 1973.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 18 November 1888, San Francisco, California, USA
- **Died:** 12 May 1973
- **Active:** 1930–1931
- **Also known as:** Frank M. Clifton
- **Frequently works with:** [Irving Thalberg](https://film.one/person/irving-thalberg.md), [Wallace Beery](https://film.one/person/wallace-beery.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 2 Oscars (2 won · 2 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 75, as writer, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Marion, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q463883, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0547966/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/34741

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*The Big House*](https://film.one/film/the-big-house.md) (78)

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

## Biography

Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens) was an American screenwriter, journalist and author. Born in San Francisco in 1888, she began her film career as an assistant to director Lois Weber before writing scenarios for Mary Pickford and many other stars of the silent era. She also wrote under the pseudonym Frank M. Clifton, notably for westerns starring her third husband, Fred Thomson.

Marion wrote more than 300 screenplays across the silent and early sound periods. Her credits include *The Wind* (1928), *Anna Christie* (1930) and *Dinner at Eight* (1933). She received the Academy Award for Best Writing Achievement for *The Big House* (1930) and the Academy Award for Best Story for *The Champ* (1931), becoming the first writer to win two Oscars. She died in Los Angeles in 1973.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, womenshistory.org, catalog.afi.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Champ* (1931), Fi1m 72, Writer, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/the-champ.md)
- *The Big House* (1930), Fi1m 78, Dialogue, Story, Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-house.md)

## Complete filmography (158)

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

- *Dinner at Eight* (1989), Original Film Writer
- *The Champ* (1979), Story
- *The Pirate* (1948), as Additional Writing
- *Molly and Me* (1945), Novel
- *Green Hell* (1940), Original Story, Screenplay
- *Knight Without Armour* (1937), Adaptation, Writer
- *Love from a Stranger* (1937), Screenplay, Adaptation
- *Camille* (1936), Screenplay
- *Riffraff* (1936), Screenplay, Story
- *Dinner at Eight* (1933), Screenplay
- *The Prizefighter and the Lady* (1933), Story
- *Hold Your Man* (1933), Writer
- *Secrets* (1933), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Cynara* (1932), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Blondie of the Follies* (1932), Screenplay, Story
- *Emma* (1932), Story
- *The Champ* (1931), Writer, Story — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/the-champ.md)
- *The Big House* (1931), Writer
- *The Secret Six* (1931), Writer
- *Anna Christie* (1930), Adaptation
- *Min and Bill* (1930), Writer
- *The Big House* (1930), Writer
- *Good News* (1930), Scenario Writer, Screenplay
- *Let Us Be Gay* (1930), Writer, Dialogue
- *The Big House* (1930), Story, Dialogue, Writer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-house.md)
- *Anna Christie* (1930), Screenplay
- *The Rogue Song* (1930), Writer
- *Their Own Desire* (1929), Screenplay
- *The Awakening* (1928), Story
- *The Masks of the Devil* (1928), Writer
- *The Wind* (1928), Screenplay
- *The Cossacks* (1928), Adaptation
- *Kit Carson* (1928), Story
- *The Sunset Legion* (1928), Story, Scenario Writer
- *Bringing Up Father* (1928), Writer
- *The Pioneer Scout* (1928), Writer
- *Love* (1927), Writer
- *Jesse James* (1927), Story, Screenplay
- *Madame Pompadour* (1927), Writer
- *The Callahans and the Murphys* (1927), Writer
- *Mr. Wu* (1927), Writer
- *The Red Mill* (1927), Scenario Writer, Adaptation
- *Don Mike* (1927), Story
- *The Scarlet Letter* (1927), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Winning of Barbara Worth* (1926), Writer
- *Lone Hand Saunders* (1926), Story
- *The Son of the Sheik* (1926), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Two-Gun Man* (1926), Co-Writer
- *Hands Across the Border* (1926), Story
- *Paris at Midnight* (1926), Writer
- *Partners Again* (1926), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Tough Guy* (1926), Story
- *The First Year* (1926), Writer
- *Stella Dallas* (1925), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Lazybones* (1925), Scenario Writer, Screenplay
- *Thank You* (1925), Screenplay
- *The Dark Angel* (1925), Writer
- *Graustark* (1925), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Lightnin'* (1925), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Ridin' the Wind* (1925), Writer
- *A Thief in Paradise* (1925), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Zander the Great* (1925), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *His Supreme Moment* (1925), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Lady* (1925), Writer
- *Sundown* (1924), Writer
- *In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter* (1924), Writer
- *Tarnish* (1924), Screenplay
- *Cytherea* (1924), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Secrets* (1924), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln* (1924), Screenplay, Story
- *The Mask of Lopez* (1924), Writer
- *Through the Dark* (1924), Writer
- *The Song of Love* (1923), Director, Adaptation, Screenplay
- *Potash and Perlmutter* (1923), Writer
- *The French Doll* (1923), Writer, Scenario Writer
- *Dulcy* (1923), Writer
- *The Love Piker* (1923), Scenario Writer
- *The Eagle's Talons* (1923), Writer
- *Within the Law* (1923), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Nth Commandment* (1923), Producer, Writer
- *The Famous Mrs. Fair* (1923), Screenplay
- *The Voice from the Minaret* (1923), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Toll of the Sea* (1923), Story, Writer
- *East Is West* (1922), Writer
- *The Eternal Flame* (1922), Writer
- *Sherlock Brown* (1922), Writer
- *Sonny* (1922), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Primitive Lover* (1922), Writer
- *Back Pay* (1922), Writer
- *Just Around the Corner* (1921), Director, Writer
- *Straight Is the Way* (1921), Writer
- *The Love Light* (1921), Director, Writer
- *The Restless Sex* (1920), Writer
- *Go and Get It* (1920), Scenario Writer
- *The World and His Wife* (1920), Screenplay
- *Humoresque* (1920), Writer
- *The Flapper* (1920), Story, Screenplay
- *Pollyanna* (1920), Adaptation, Screenplay
- *The Cinema Murder* (1919), Scenario Writer, Screenplay
- *Anne of Green Gables* (1919), Writer
- *A Regular Girl* (1919), Writer
- *The Misleading Widow* (1919), Writer
- *The Dark Star* (1919), Writer
- *Captain Kidd, Jr.* (1919), Writer
- *The Temple Of Dusk* (1918), Writer
- *The Goat* (1918), Screenplay, Story
- *Johanna Enlists* (1918), Writer
- *He Comes Up Smiling* (1918), Writer
- *The City of Dim Faces* (1918), Screenplay
- *How Could You, Jean?* (1918), Screenplay
- *M'Liss* (1918), Writer
- *Amarilly of Clothes-Line Alley* (1918), Writer
- *Stella Maris* (1918), Writer
- *A Little Princess* (1917), Writer
- *Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm* (1917), Writer
- *The Amazons* (1917), Writer
- *Beloved Adventuress* (1917), Screenplay, Story
- *The Divorce Game* (1917), Writer
- *The Stolen Paradise* (1917), Writer
- *The Crimson Dove* (1917), Writer
- *Darkest Russia* (1917), Writer
- *Forget-Me-Not* (1917), Writer
- *The Social Leper* (1917), Writer
- *The Poor Little Rich Girl* (1917), Scenario Writer, Writer
- *The Web of Desire* (1917), Writer
- *A Girl's Folly* (1917), Writer
- *A Square Deal* (1917), Writer
- *A Hungry Heart* (1917), Writer
- *Tillie Wakes Up* (1917), Writer
- *On Dangerous Ground* (1917), Writer
- *A Woman Alone* (1917), Writer
- *The Rise of Susan* (1916), Writer
- *All Man* (1916), Writer
- *Bought and Paid For* (1916), Writer
- *The Heart of a Hero* (1916), Writer
- *The Hidden Scar* (1916), Writer
- *The Gilded Cage* (1916), Writer
- *The Revolt* (1916), Writer
- *Friday the 13th* (1916), Writer
- *The Summer Girl* (1916), Writer
- *A Woman's Way* (1916), Writer
- *The Crucial Test* (1916), Writer
- *La Vie de Bohème* (1916), Writer
- *The Battle of Hearts* (1916), Writer
- *The Feast of Life* (1916), Screenplay
- *The Social Highwayman* (1916), Writer
- *Then I'll Come Back to You* (1916), Writer
- *The Yellow Passport* (1916), Scenario Writer
- *A Circus Romance* (1916), Story
- *The Foundling* (1916), Writer
- *Camille* (1915), Screenplay
- *A Daughter of the Sea* (1915), Story
- *A Girl of Yesterday* (1915), as Rosanna Danford
- *Esmeralda* (1915), Writer
- *Rags* (1915), Writer
- *Fanchon, the Cricket* (1915), Writer
- *A Sister's Burden* (1915), Writer
- *The New York Hat* (1912), Writer

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 2 won, 2 nominated

- 1934: Best Story (nominated), for *The Prizefighter and the Lady*
- 1932: Best Story (won), for *The Champ*
- 1931: Best Writing (nominated), for *The Big House*
- 1930: Best Writing (won), for *The Big House*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/frances-marion