Complex sentence: Hawks signed a new one-year contract with Famous-Players in the fall of 1924, though he broke his contract to become a story editor for Thalberg at MGM, having secured a promise from Thalberg that he would make him a director within a year.
Split into simpler sentences: Hawks signed a new one-year contract with Famous-Players in the fall of 1924. He broke his contract to become a story editor for Thalberg at MGM, having secured a promise from Thalberg to make him a director within a year.