AMERICAN MASTERS: LILLIAN GISH: THE ACTOR'S LIFE FOR ME (TV)

Summary

One in this documentary series that explores the lives and achievements of AmericaÕs most celebrated native-born and adopted artists and performers. This profile of actress Lillian Gish features an interview with Gish along with clips from her motion pictures. Topics include the following, among others: the long span of her distinguished career; her stage debut; the person she believed to be the most perfect human being in the world; her relationship with her father; Gish and her sisters' involvement in the theater when they were quite young and why they never used their real names; learning to love and respect people during the summer months when she was not working on stage; her first experience seeing Mary Pickford act in a motion picture; filmmaker D.W. Griffith asking her and her sisters to be in a scene; clips from ÒUnseen EnemyÓ and ÒHome Sweet HomeÓ; Griffith's view of film as an art form; Gish's reasons for staying in New York and continuing her stage career even when Griffith invited her to venture out west for motion picture roles; how the directors of early motion pictures worked from thoughts in their minds and not from a written script; a clip from ÒThe Battle of Elderbush GulchÓ; an actorÕs schedule during the early years of motion pictures; a clips from ÒSold for Marriage,Ó ÒThe Mothering Heart,Ó ÒJudith of Bethulia,Ó ÒThe Birth of a Nation,Ó and ÒIntoleranceÓ; her closest collaborative effort with Griffith being ÒIntoleranceÓ despite only having a small part in the film; a clip from ÒWay Down EastÓ; her willingness do any scene or part that Griffith asked no matter what the conditions; a clip from ÒOrphans of the Storm,Ó in which she had a co-starring role with her sister Dorothy; the reasons she was unable to attend GriffithÕs funeral in 1948; her return to the Hollywood studio machine after producing her own films in Italy; the degree of control she had over her own career and the productions she wanted made; clips from ÒLa Boheme,Ó ÒThe Scarlet Letter,Ó and ÒThe WindÓ; why she believed ÒThe WindÓ to be the perfect motion picture; MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer's power in making or breaking peopleÕs careers; how she stood her ground against Mayer which led her to dive back into theater; her pleasure in playing Ophelia in ÒHamletÓ; her successful transition back to the theater after years of success in motion pictures; a clip from ÒNight of the HunterÓ; why she never fell in love with a fellow actor; why she has never been shy of expressing her views on acting; a clip from ÒBroken BlossomsÓ; the speech she gave after receiving a special Oscar for her lifetime achievement in motion pictures; the importance of film preservation, including newsreels; how she never planned for any of this to happen with her life; and a clip from ÒWhales of August.Ó

Cataloging of this program was made possible by Rosalind P. Walter, 1999.

Details

• NETWORK: PBS WNET New York, NY
• DATE: 1988 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:57:15
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:58349
• GENRE: Arts documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: Acting; Actors; Biography; Films
• SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1986-
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Susan Lacy … Executive Producer
• Freida Lee Mock … Executive Producer
• Harlene Freezer … Coordinating Producer
• Terry Sanders … Producer, Director
• William T. Cartwright … Co-Producer
• Diane Dufault … Associate Producer
• Jonathan Tunick … Theme Music by, Composer
• Peter Levy … Researcher
• Jean-Pierre Tibi … Music by, Composer
• Carl Davis … Composer
• Eva Marie Saint … Narrator
• Lillian Gish
• D.W. Griffith
• Louis B. Mayer
• Mary Pickford