Ellis R. Dungan
{{short description|American director of Indian films}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ellis R. Dungan
| image = EDungan.jpg
| birth_name = Ellis Roderick Dungan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=y|1909|05|11}}
| birth_place = Barton, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|12|01|1909|05|11|mf=y}}
| death_place = Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.
| occupation = Film director
| spouse = Elaine Dungan
| years_active = 1935–87
}}
Ellis Roderick Dungan (May 11, 1909 – December 1, 2001) was an American film director, who was well known for working in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil cinema, from 1936 to 1950.{{Cite web |url=http://thehindujobs.com/thehindu/mp/2002/01/21/stories/2002012100030300.htm |title=The Hindu article on Ellis Dungan |access-date=June 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007044804/http://thehindujobs.com/thehindu/mp/2002/01/21/stories/2002012100030300.htm |archive-date=October 7, 2008 |url-status=usurped }} He was an alumnus of the University of Southern California and moved to India in 1935. During his film career in South India, Dungan directed the debut films of several popular Tamil film actors, such as M. G. Ramachandran in Sathi Leelavathi,{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20050109181852/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/09/06/stories/2004090600190300.htm The Hindu article on Americans in Tamil cinema]}} T. S. Balaiya, Kali N. Ratnam and N. S. Krishnan.[http://www.sangam.org/articles/view2/?uid=691 Reminiscences on Directing M.S., the Musician-Movie Star on www.sangam.org]
Biography
=Early life=
An Irish-American, Dungan was born in Barton, Ohio.{{cite web |url=http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/01/21/stories/2002012100030300.htm |title=The Hindu : He made MS a film star |website=www.thehindu.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020614032704/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2002/01/21/stories/2002012100030300.htm |archive-date=14 June 2002 |url-status=dead}} on May 11, 1909.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}} He attended St. Clairsville High School in St. Clairsville, where he played quarterback on the school football team. He bought his first box camera to take pictures for the school yearbook, for which he was editor-in-chief. He later enrolled at the University of Southern California in 1932 in the newly established Cinematography & Motion Picture Production Department.
=Career=
File:Ellis Dungan SD Santhanalakshmi MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Ambikavathy 1937.jpg and M. R. Santhanalakshmi in Ambikapathy (1937)]]
In 1935, he arrived in British India with his college mate Michael Ormalev at the invitation of another USC student - Manik Lal Tandon of Bombay. Tandon's family was then planning to enter the film industry. When those plans did not take off, Tandon invited them to Calcutta where he was directing the Tamil film Nandanar. There Tandon introduced them to A. N. Marudhachalam Chettiar, a film producer who was making the film Sathi Leelavathi and recommended Dungan be hired to direct the film as he himself was busy directing Nandanar. Thus Dungan made his directing debut with Sathi Leelavathi which was also the first film of future-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. G. Ramachandran. During 1936-50, Dungan made a number of Tamil films and one Hindi film - Meera (1947). Dungan had no knowledge of Indian languages, a problem which never affected his career as a director of films in Indian languages, especially Tamil.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030704142055/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2002/02/01/stories/2002020100850300.htm He transcended barriers with aplomb on The Hindu website]}} He introduced many new techniques to Indian cinema despite the technical limitations of that period. Many of his movies were based on the mythical characters of the Hindu religion and he had to shoot them in Hindu temples where non-Hindus were not allowed in those days. Dungan filmed his movies in the temples by passing himself off as a Kashmiri pundit.{{Cite web |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004121700410500.htm&date=2004%2F12%2F17%2F&prd=fr& |title=Full of technical innovations - Article on the movie Meera |access-date=December 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425031537/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004121700410500.htm&date=2004%2F12%2F17%2F&prd=fr& |archive-date=April 25, 2010 |url-status=usurped }} Dungan is credited with introducing modern make-up, the mobile camera and cabaret dance numbers to Tamil Cinema and moving it away from the influence of stage plays. For his introduction of intimate love scenes in Ponmudi (1950), Dungan was criticized by the press for introducing "vulgar" scenes and for "corrupting the population with American ways".{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121107174750/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/10/04/stories/2008100452520700.htm Blast From the Past - Ponmudi 1950, The Hindu, 4 October 2008]}}
His last Tamil film was Manthiri Kumari in 1950. He returned to America and settled in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1958. There he started his company - "Ellis Dungan productions" and for the next thirty years made documentary movies for the Hollywood producer Duke Goldstone.{{cite book | first=Ken| last=Sullivan| year= 2006| title=The West Virginia encyclopedia | publisher= West Virginia Humanities Council| pages=119 | isbn=9780977849802| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g0cUAQAAIAAJ}}
=Death=
Dungan died in Wheeling on December 1, 2001, at the age of 92.{{Cite web |url=http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/history/people/hallfame/1994dung.htm |title=Article on Dungan on West Virginia, Wheeling library webpage |access-date=November 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605031446/http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/history/people/hallfame/1994dung.htm |archive-date=June 5, 2011 |url-status=dead }}
Legacy
Dungan is credited with having revolutionized Indian cinema and introduced western innovations. In 2013, Indian film maker Karan Bali made a one-hour documentary on Dungan titled An American in Madras by consulting West Virginia State Archives and interviewing people who had known Dungan.
Filmography
= Tamil =
- Bhakta Nandanar (1935) (uncredited)
- Sathi Leelavathi (1936)
- Seemanthini (1936)
- Iru Sahodarargal (1936)
- Ambikapathy (1937)
- Surya Puthri (1941)
- Sakuntalai (1940)
- Kalamegam (1940)
- Daasi Penn (1943)
- Valmiki (1945)
- Returning Soldier (1945)
- Meera (1945)
- Ponmudi (1950)
- Manthiri Kumari (1950)
=Hindi=
- Meera (1947)
=English=
- The Jungle (1952) (as associate producer)
- Smilin' Ed's Gang (1951–1954) (TV show)
- Andy's Gang (1955–1960) (TV show)
- Harry Black and the Tiger (1958)
- Wheeling 1959: Wheels to Progress (1959)
- The Big Hunt (1959)
- Tarzan Goes to India (1962) (as second unit producer)
- For Liberty and Union (1977)
- A Ride of the Future (1977)
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMTGYDM1eAg|Josiah Fox - Architect of the United States First Navy] (1987){{cite book | year= 1997| title=The American Film Institute catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1961-1970 | publisher= American Film Institute| isbn= 978-0-520-20970-1| pages=86 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s1k1RsGvFwwC}}
Bibliography
- A Guide to Adventure - An Autobiography (with Barbara Diane Smik), Pittsburg: Dorrance Publishing Co. (2002)
References
External links
- {{IMDb name|0006497|Ellis R. Dungan}}
- [http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/history/people/hallfame/1994dung.htm Entry in the Wheeling Hall of Fame]
- [https://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/an-american-in-madras-traces-career-of-unlikely-pioneer-in-tamil-language-films NYT blog post on Ellis R. Dungan]
{{Ellis R. Dungan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dungan, Ellis R.}}
Category:USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni
Category:American people of Irish descent
Category:Hindi-language film directors
Category:Film directors from Ohio