When the movies were young (1925)

Record Details:

Title:
When the movies were young
Date:
1925
Publisher:
New York : E. P. Dutton & Company
Volume:
When the movies were young
Leaf #:
00069
Language:
English
Subjects:
Motion Pictures, Motion pictures--Biography
Collection:
Books
Format:
Books
Contributor:
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
Date Added:
December 28, 2023
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CHAPTER VII D. W. GRIFFITH DIRECTS HIS FIRST MOVIE CONSIDERING the chaotic condition of things in the studio as a result of Mr. McCutcheon's illness, it was a propitious time to take heed and get on to the tricks of this movie business. To David Griffith the direction was insufferably careless, the acting the same, and in the lingering bitterness over his play's failure he gritted his teeth and decided that if he ever got a chance he certainly could direct these dinky movies. The studio was so without a head these days that even Henry Norton Marvin, our vice-president and general manager, occasionally helped out in the directing. He had directed a mutoscope called "A Studio Party" in which my husband and I had made a joint appearance. With the place now "runnin' wild," Mr. Marvin wondered whom he'd better take a chance on next. He put the odds on Mr. Stanner E. V. Taylor. In the studio, one day shortly after my initiation, Mr. Taylor approached me and asked if I could play a lead in a melodrama he was to direct. A lead in a melodrama — with a brief stage career that had been confined to winsome ingenues ! But I bravely said, "Oh, yes, yes, indeed I can." What I suffered! I had a husband who beat and deserted me; I had to appear against him in court, and I fainted and did a beautiful fall on the court-room floor. After my acquittal I took my two babies and deposited them 45