SILENT FILM DAYS: JOHN GILBERT

JOHN GILBERT – (b. July 10, 1899 – d. January 9, 1936)

DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER, ACTOR

John Gilbert was one of the most popular movie stars during the silent film era. He was very devoted to his work and especially had a great passion for writing. Many of the stories he contributed towards pictures turned out to be very successful films. The audiences adored him and bestowed upon him the same title that Rudolph Valentino was known for which was as “The Great Lover”. By the mid 1920’s, he became the highest paid actor in Hollywood. Although, John Gilbert’s fame lasted a short while, he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest celebrities of the silent film industry.

EARLY YEARS

JOHN GILBERT AT 11 YEARS OLD

John Gilbert was born in Logan, Utah. His mother, Ida Adair Apperly, was a mediocre stage actress who did not welcome the birth of her only child. She viewed the event as an intrusion and inconvenience to her career. He never knew his father, John Pringle, who left his wife shortly after John’s birth. His youth was spent in the quite corners at the backstage of one theatre to another. He lived mostly in run down unheated rooms in boarding houses. Gilbert never had toys, and rarely celebrated Christmas. He seldom received any attention from his mother and when he did get some, it was not the nurturing kind a child normally receives. Ida often had mood swings in which she became temperamental and volatile. During these episodes, she would hit and kick John across the room, then lock him up in a closet for hours.

Occasionally a friend of his mother, another actress, Marie Stoddard, taking pity on him, would invite him to her place for the night. There, he would get glimpses of another way of life where he would have heat, food, and lots of books. These books became his salvation as he would escape into a fantasy world so far removed from his poor drab life. With the books and scripts left backstage, he taught himself how to read and learned as much as he could. He developed a great imagination, was extremely polite, and learned how to dress himself.

At 6 years old, Ida, no longer wanted to bring Gilbert along with her during her theatre tour, and so made arrangements with a seamstress she barely knew to look after him. The seamstress left him to sleep in the corner of her daughter’s (a prostitute), room. There he learned all about the bitter part of life, from the drunks, the hustlers, chambermaids, and street women.

It so happened that one day, Marie Stoddard, saw Gilbert in the street. She found him thin as a rake, all dirty, and with torn clothing. Marie, learning of his dire situation, took him, fed, clothed him, and sent him on a train to his mother who was performing in a play in Rochester, New York. Ida was not happy to see him and promptly sent him to her father’s farm, back in Utah. He lived there for a year and was sent back to his mother. She had married, Walter Gilbert, who was an actor in the theatre. Walter adopted the boy and changed his name to John Gilbert. The marriage did not last long, and Gilbert was sent back to Utah to live with his grandfather yet again. This lasted a short while. Walter had agreed to pay for schooling and had Gilbert sent to a boarding school where after a slow start, he eventually excelled in all his classes.

He was particularly good at writing and had received a very high mark on one of his essays. Proud of his good grades, Gilbert went to visit his mother bringing along his pride possession and presented her with his highly graded paper. His mother was not impressed and treated him with disdain. Feeling completely rejected, Gilbert returned to the boarding school and cried himself to sleep. He never saw his mother again. Not long afterwards, his mother died on September 29, 1913. She was 40 years old. Gilbert attended the funeral and never returned to school.

Walter Gilbert informed Gilbert that he would no longer financially support his schooling. He gave him ten dollars and put him on a train to San Francisco, California. Gilbert was 14 years old and for the next couple years worked at various odd jobs, making no more than one dollar a day.

HOLLYWOOD

By the time Gilbert was 16 years old, he discovered the movies and wanted to find work in the film industry. Through a connection of Walter Gilbert, John Gilbert presented himself at Inceville Studios where he met the owner, Tom Ince, who hired him for fifteen dollars a week. Gilbert had never seen so much money before and was thrilled to have been given the opportunity. For a few weeks, he was not given too much work. In reality, the bosses did not know what to do with him. He was a skinny boy who was somewhat of a curiosity to them. Everyone knew he came from poverty, and yet he dressed and had the manners of a gentleman. In the meanwhile, Gilbert spent the next three years learning as much as he could about the industry and began to get better parts and even sold a few screenplays he wrote. He got along with everyone and became popular with most of the cast and crews of the films he appeared in. His determination and creativity began to be noticed and eventually his salary rose to sixty dollars a week.

In 1917, Gilbert who was by now 18 years old, married his first wife, Olivia Burwell. The marriage was doomed from the beginning as Gilbert’s reason for marrying Olivia was mostly due to being so lonely. He really did not know her that well and quickly realized they were not suited for each other. Within a short time, he sent his wife back to her family promising to bring her back when finances were better. He never saw her again.

His first major break was in 1919, when he got a part in a movie with Mary Pickford, “Heart ‘O the Hills”. He played the part of one of Mary’s suitors. He received good reviews and was signed to Fox Studios for 3 years where he was cast mostly as a dashing leading man. At one point, he grew a mustache which made him extremely handsome.For the next few years, aside from acting, Gilbert collaborated with many of the directors and writers of films he was cast in. He directed, assisted directed , wrote, and co-wrote screenplays in many films. Gilbert had the ability and creativity to come up with story ideas with great ease. It is unfortunate that the studios did not give him credit for most of them.

ON THE RISE TO FAME

One of the highlights of his career was his appearance in the film, “Cameo Kirby” 1923, which caught the attention of Irving Thalberg at MGM who signed him to a lengthy contract. They became very close friends.Within a short time, Gilbert went from a leading man status to a fully fledged movie celebrity. During this time Gilbert married his second wife, Leatrice Joy. John loved Leatrice very much, but, as in his first marriage, it was doomed. Leatrice was becoming a rising star under the guidance of Cecile B. Demille who disliked John Gilbert. He insisted that Leatrice not live with John while filming, thus, undermining the marriage. The marriage dissolved a year later, just before their first child, a daughter, Leatrice, was born. The timing and circumstances of the divorce outraged MGM’S Louis B. Mayer. It went against his morals and was the start of his hatred for Gilbert. One day there was a meeting held between Irving Thalberg, Louis B. Mayer,, and John Gilbert. They were discussing Gilbert’s next picture. John wanted to do a film based on a poem by John Masefield, “The Widow in the Bye Street”. After Gilbert had given Mayer the story outline, ( a young lad infatuated with a prostitute) Mayer, stated that one could not make a movie about a descent boy falling in love with a whore. Gilbert mentioned that even though, both of the films “Camille”, and “Anna Christie” had female leading roles portraying upscale whores, these turned out to be quite popular and were financial successes. Mayer became enraged and commented that only a person of his stature would bring up a story of about a whore. Gilbert’s reaction was that there was nothing wrong with it, after all, his own mother was somewhat of a whore. Rumor has it that Mayer, became furious at the insult Gilbert spewed about his mother and proceeded to punch Gilbert in the face. This incident made Mayer and Gilbert dislike each other even more than they had before and both attempted to avoid each other as much as possible from then on.

In the meantime, Gilbert’s career was flourishing at MGM. He made several films which made him famous. In 1925, he was cast in the movie “ The Merry Widow”, directed by Erich Von Stroheim and starring Mae Murray. Early on in the film, Von Stroheim and Gilbert clashed. Von Stroheim constantly criticized Gilbert and one day went too far when he called his leading man a clumsy actor. John Gilbert immediately walked off the set and got into his car. Just as he was about to drive off, Mae Murray tried to convince Gilbert to come back to the set. He only agreed to do so if Von Stroheim personally apologized to him. Mae Murray begged with the director to go and speak with Gilbert. Finally, with a bottle of Scotch in hand, Von Storheim entered Gilbert’s dressing room. The two men drank and settled their differences. Both men realized they had something in common; their intense dislike of Louis B Mayer. They got along after that and had no more issues for the remainder of the movie.

It was during the filming of “The Merry Widow” that Gilbert met his father for the first time. John Pringle happened to have a job as an extra on set and introduced himself to Gilbert. Although Gilbert was angry and did not believe his father’s claim of never having been able to find his son, he sent money to his father for the rest of his life, but, never had anything else to do with him.

AD SHOT FOR "THE BIG PARADE"

Later that year, Gilbert got a major break playing the part of a World War 1 soldier in” The Big Parade”, directed by, King Vidor. It was a war movie mixed with a love story. The war scenes were very realistic. Gilbert's portrayal of the fear and horror that a soldier experiences in battle was incredible and very moving. This film was extremely successful and pushed Gilbert's status to complete stardom. Men admired him, women swooned over him. He was at the top of his career.

GARBO

THE TWO LOVERS IN A SCENE

In 1926, Gilbert was cast in the "Flesh and the Devil”, directed by Clarence Brown, and starring the young actress, Greta Garbo. Garbo at the time was fairly new to Hollywood, she had been brought from her native country, Sweden, to California the year before in September 1925. She had appeared in a couple of movies in the United States,"Torrent", 1926, and ,"The Temptress", 1926.The second one had very good reviews which and thus Garbo was becoming popular with the audiences. Initially, the first meeting between Gilbert and Garbo at the MGM lot was not as depicted in most stories in which their eyes met, sparks flew, and it was love at first sight. In fact it was quite the opposite for John Gilbert. Garbo who had admired Gilbert’s work, was quite nervous in meeting with him. Her anxiousness came off as appearing quite snobbish. Gilbert was not impressed. It took a couple more meetings before they warmed up towards each other. After a short time, it was clear that Garbo was smitten with Gilbert, and he became amused and flattered by the attention she gave him. Eventually, Gilbert became mesmerized by her presence. By the time they filmed their first love scene, it was evident to everyone that they were deeply and madly in love. There was a love scene where they were both horizontally positioned. This would be the first time that this type of love scene was ever filmed on camera. It was daring, shocking, and very effective. Some of the scenes were so explosive, they had to be censored. Naturally, the publicity department took advantage of their off camera relationship and their intense on camera love scenes which made the film a huge hit. The movie became one of the most financially successful films of that year. MGM cast them in two more films together, “Love”1927, and “ A Woman of Affairs” 1928. These movies represented lovers who lived in a world of passionate love. Gilbert’s image soared and pushed him to incredible popularity.

Gilbert planned to marry Garbo and proposed to her several times. In the latter part of 1926, King Vidor and his future wife, actress, Eleanor Boardman planned to wed and arranged for a double ceremony where Gilbert and Garbo were to be married as well. Unfortunately for Gilbert, Garbo never showed up. Louis B. Mayer, made a very nasty remark to Gilbert about Garbo, to which Gilbert responded with a fist to Mayer’s face. This incident was the beginning of the end for Gilbert. Mayer, vowed to destroy him no matter what the cost.

Mayer was not happy that Gilbert had signed an iron clad contract for six films paying him a quarter of a million dollars for each picture. Detesting Gilbert, Mayer deliberately gave him bad scripts and failing directors in hopes that Gilbert would walk out of his contract obligations. Much to Mayer’s dismay, Gilbert was determined to stay on.

GARBO AND GILBERT TOGETHER

Despite Garbo not showing up to the wedding, Gilbert kept on loving her. He loved her glamour, the strangeness of her , and the mystery of her which he could never quite understand. They had such an intense love for each other, and yet, they did end up parting ways. One of the main reasons for the failure of their relationship was because Garbo wanted to leave her career and lead a simple family life. She was a private person and disliked the social scene that came with being a Hollywood star. Gilbert on the other hand loved that world.He did not want to leave it. Gilbert had such a great passion for his work, writing stories and acting. He had invested too much in that industry and found the idea of giving it all up impossible. Ironically , shortly after he and Garbo split, the work he loved so much, sort of became his downfall.

LATER YEARS

Sound in films, “The Talkies”, was the newest invention and it changed practically everything in the film industry. Careers were cut short as many of the major stars could not make the transition. Gilbert who was feuding with Mayer at MGM, was caught up in a no win situation. Louis B. Mayer, had somewhat sabotaged his first talking role by playing with the sound, making his voice sound squeaky and high pitched. The audience’s reaction to hearing him for the first time on screen, was to laugh. The scene in “His Glorious Night”1929, where Gilbert is kissing his leading lady and saying, “I love you” repeatedly, was somewhat awkward and comedic. Gilbert was ridiculed. When a heart throb is laughed at, the end is near. It is worthy to note, Gilbert actually made his first sound film, "Redemption"1930, before His Glorious Night. In it, there was no criticism of his voice sounding awful, in fact, the critics found his voice pleasant. Unfortunately for Gilbert, Redemption, was released after the fiasco, His Glorious Night.

INA CLAIRE AND GILBERT

During the filming of “His Glorious Night”, Gilbert who felt so rejected by Greta Garbo, impulsively married his third wife, Ina Claire. She was major Broadway star who had come to Hollywood to star in her first film. The two came from different worlds. In those days, theatre actors felt superior to film actors. Claire often belittled Gilbert. After a while, it became evident that their marriage was not working. Less than two years later, they divorced.

VIRGINIA BRUCE AND GILBERT

The films in which Gilbert was obligated to appear in were inferior to those of prior years. There were long stretches between the makings of each movie. Gilbert grew increasingly depressed, however, he was determined to see the contract through. He made several more pictures, including, “Downstairs”, 1932 which was based on Gilbert’s original screenplay. Although he fought hard to return to his former glory and some of his last few films were well received by both audiences and critics, Gilbert never quite captured back his stardom. Shortly after making “Downstairs”, he married his 4^th and last wife, Virginia Bruce and had another daughter, Susan Ann. The marriage lasted less than two years. Their divorce was a bitter one and Virginia got a huge settlement.

In 1933, Greta Garbo was cast in the movie “Queen Christina”. Wanting to help Gilbert in his failing career, Garbo insisted that he be cast as her leading man. Although the movie received positive reviews and was somewhat of a commercial success, it did not resurrect Gilbert’s career.

LAST YEARS

Gilbert’s next movie, was to be his last. His contract got picked up by Columbia Studios and they cast him in “ The Captain Hates the Sea” 1934. In order to keep from being sea sick, Gilbert and many members of the crew, drank alcohol throughout the filming of the movie. The film was a flop. During this time, Gilbert became involved in a relationship with , Marlena Dietrich. He was to appear and star in her film, “Desire”. Unfortunately, his drinking had severely damaged his health. Within a year, Gilbert had a massive heart attack and died on January 9, 1936. He was 36 years old. Although Dietrich, insisted, Gilbert made a new will, it was never found, thus, Virginia Bruce got the bulk of his estate. Gilbert was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.

SUMMMARY

John Gilbert’s talent, elegance of style and magnetism, translated on screen with great intensity. He loved to act, direct, write, was always full of ideas for stories, loved the company of writers, and had a strong determination to struggle onward in life. He was extremely generous and gave money to various charities and many needy individuals. He was dealt with raw cards in his youth, but, Gilbert certainly tried his best to overcome his undesirable circumstances. He lived life to the fullest, loved passionately, drank deeply, and wrote his stories with great devotion. One of the most important things in his quest for personal growth and success was to remain true to himself, to be honest. The honesty though, landed him into trouble at the studio, especially for speaking his mind to the powers that be. It cost him his friends, acting parts, and got him many headlines for being temperamental and difficult to work with. He had so many glorious chances and so many bad breaks. However, at the peak of his career, the impact he had in silent films was huge. He was a great star whose light shone very bright for a time. Gilbert made over 100 movies. His talent and contributions towards the silent film industry deserves to be cherished and remembered as one of the truly gifted artists of the silent film industry.

Some of Gilberts Films

1915-The Coward

1916-The Phantom

1917-Happiness

1917-The Dark Road

1918-Wedlock

1918-The Mask

1919-The Busher

1919-Heart o’ the Hills

1920-Deep Waters

1921-Shame

1922-Monte Cristo

1923-St.Elmo

1924-Cameo Kirby

1924-His Hour

1924-The Snob

1925-The Merry Widow

1925-The Big Parade

1926-La Boheme

1926-Bardelys the Magnificent

1926-Flesh and the Devil

1927-Love

1928-A Woman of Affairs

1928-Desert Nights(last silent film)

1932-Downstairs

1933-Queen Christina

1934-The Captain Hates the Sea

Some of the films John Gilbert wrote and directed

1920-The White Circle-Co-Screenwriter with Jules Furthman
1920-The Great Redeemer-Co-Screenwriter with Jule Furthman
1920-Deep Waters-Screenwriter
1921-The Bait-Screenwriter and Director(uncredited-The actual director had to leave on an emergency and had Gilbert direct the picture in his absence)
1921-Love's Penalty-Director and Screenwriter
1927-Love-Co-Screenwriter with Edmund Goulding
1932-Downstairs-Screenwriter

Some film reviews

1921-Love's Penalty-Director and Screenwriter,John Gilbert. Although Gilbert felt that he did a horrible job directing this picture, the reviews were not as devastating as he thought, most critics thought this was a nice little picture.
Photoplay Magazine review-" A dramatic story not lacking in entertainment value. There are flashes of originality and suspense.
Variety Magazine review- "This film is the first 'hokum' melodrama magnificently produced, ably directed, and well cast. Written and directed by Jack Gilbert, is well done and will satisfy the average exhibitor and picture patron"

1924-He Who Gets Slapped-Gilbert had a small part in comparison to the stars of the movie, Lon Chaney, and Norma Shearer.
Photoplay Magazine review- "The acting is remarkably fine. Norma Shearer and John Gilbert as the lovers are delightful."

1925-The Merry Widow
Photoplay Magazine review-" Not since Rudolph Valentino has there been such a performance of a glowing romantic role as Gilbert's and ought to be considered as one of the greatest of them all".

1925-The Big Parade
Robert Sherwood review- "The acting is flawless, one of the greatest performances ever seen".

1926-Bardelys the Magnificent
One critic wrote-"It is doubtful if anyone could have done more with the role of Bardelys then Gilbert, he was superb"!

1926-Flesh and the Devil
The New York Times review-" Admirable artistry, a compelling piece of work"
The Herald Tribune review- " Never before has John Gilbert been so intense in his portrayal of a man in love".