American cinematographer (Apr 1937)

April, 1937 • American Cinematographer 133 “My wife was, my children are, descended from two men who were hanged and from the brother of 1 Rebecca Nurse and Mary Estey, hence my deep interest.” It will gratify the friends of Mr. I Lloyd to know the last of his pic- ' tures has received unusual praise from ; the press in England, where it opened in London February 17. The major press in New York and the East gen- erally had been of the same opinion. To the middle of March it had av- eraged 130 to 135 percent over the country. Still Likes “Mme. X” The director was asked to name some of his more popular pictures, as he might recall them. Speaking off hand, he mentioned “Sea Hawk,” 1 photographed by Norbert Brodine; “Divine Lady,” John Seitz; “Son of the Gods,” one of the first to be made with sound, Ernie Haller; “Cavalcade,” Ernie Palmer; “Berkeley Square,” John Seitz; “Mutiny on the Bounty,” .\rthur Edeson; “Under Two Flags,” Ernie Palmer; “Maid of Salem,” Leo Tover. Then the reporter asked the director i a personal question—which among all ( of the subjects he had directed were I the nearest to his owm heart, his par- I ticular pets, as it might be, regard- I less of what others might have 1 thought or do think. The director was silent a moment. “Well. I believe,” he said, with de- liberation, “of those of recent date, and speaking of those made with sound, I like ‘Cavalcade.’ Of the silent pictures I am rather fond of ‘Madame X,’ I think I may say I am really fond of it—which by the way was photo- ! graphed by ‘Dev’ Jennings.” “Now that you speak of ‘Madame ' X’,” remarked this reporter, “that was made by Sam Goldwyn?” “It was.” “You have recalled to me something i that may interest you. Ralph Block, I present scenario writer, was Gold- ( wyn’s advertising man w’hen you I made that picture. I was editor of t the Moving Picture World. One day I Block dropped in on me and asked me if I would take a look at a couple of ! pictures—right then. I told him yes. Private Reviews “We crossed Fifth Avenue to the Goldwyn offices and in the presence only of the operator I looked on ‘Madame X’ with Pauline Frederick and a young man whose name it is a ' .shame to let slip after the perform- ance he put on—could it have been I Forrest Stanley?—and then I looked at ‘The Penalty,’ with Lon Chaney. “When the two were finished Ralph asked me if I would write him a memo on my reactions to the pictures. To my inquiry as to how brief he wanted them he said something about the longer the better. I recrossed the ave- nue to the World office and sat me down to the old mill. I was so full of the pictures, particularly of the young lawyer and his plea in defense of Madame X, my memos became letters of upward of a thousand words in each instance as I now recall. “I sent the result to Block. Long after I learned the two letters im- mediately were put on the wire for Hollywood, where the smart S. G. got a fresh viewpoint on two pictures that he believed good and wanted to know what someone else thought. If he happened to be hoping for a rave he got it—twice.” The director smiled. “Yes,” he agreed, “that is interesting. Incident- ally also it may be of interest now to know the picture was made in twenty-two days.” Young Frank and Bob The sequel is in the Year Book. “Madame X” was released by Gold- wyn October 3, 1920, and “The Penalty” November 21 following. “Tell me, if you will,” asked the reporter, “who now is directing who was doing that same little thing when you began twenty-three years ago.” “M—m,” replied the director. “Now you are asking me something. Let me see, there are Bob Leonard, Jack Conway, Sid Franklin—surely not more than half a dozen. It was soon after that Frank Borzage shifted from acting to directing. Bob Leonard and I then were the youngsters. Now we are the veterans.” “Just one more question,” persisted the reporter. “In these twenty-three years what has been your average of production — I mean how many a year?” A broad grin came over the face of the director. “Well, you know the first year I made fifty-two—all single- reelers,” he explained. “After that there may have been around four or five a year until about 1920. Then they began to slow down to one and a half or two a year. “Pictures become more and more ex- acting all the time, not in one de- partment of picturemaking but in all. “Don’t forget tbe evolution of the motion picture, its steady progres- sion, can better be traced through and between the cameraman and the director than through any other two departments making motion pictures.” Frank Lloyd, for Over Twenty Years Director of Bigger and Better Ones