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John Emerson (filmmaker)

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Full Name
  
Clifton Paden

Name
  
John Emerson


Role
  
Actor

Spouse
  
Anita Loos (m. 1919–1956)

John Emerson (filmmaker) httpsc2staticflickrcom432752862008442e443

Born
  
May 29, 1874 (
1874-05-29
)
Sandusky, Ohio, United States

Resting place
  
Etna Cemetery, Etna, California

Occupation
  
Actor, playwright, director, producer, writer

Died
  
March 7, 1956, Pasadena, California, United States

Movies
  
The Mystery of the Leapi, Wild and Woolly, Reaching for the Moon, The Americano, San Francisco

Similar People
  
Anita Loos, Douglas Fairbanks, Erich von Stroheim, D W Griffith, Allan Dwan

John Emerson (born Clifton Paden on May 29, 1874 – March 7, 1956) was an American stage actor, playwright, producer, and director of silent films (many featuring Douglas Fairbanks). Emerson was married to Anita Loos from June 15, 1919 until his death; prior to that they had functioned as a writing team for motion pictures and would continue to be credited jointly, even as Loos pursued independent projects.

Contents

John Emerson (filmmaker) John Emerson filmmaker Wikipedia

Biography

Born and educated in Ohio, Emerson's earliest documented acting credits date from 1904, however like D. W. Griffith he probably played in regional stock companies before then. By 1912—the earliest known year for his involvement in film, as a writer—Emerson was working regularly as a director and writer on the Broadway stage. After periods with American Film Manufacturing Company, where he worked with Allan Dwan and Famous Players-Lasky, Emerson collaborated with George Nichols in making Ghosts, a Griffith production made for Reliance-Majestic Studios during the waning days of work on The Birth of a Nation. The result impressed Griffith to such an extent that Emerson stayed on as Reliance-Majestic changed its name to Fine Arts Film Company and came under the Triangle Film Corporation banner.

John Emerson became one Triangle's best-known directors, primarily after the partnership with writer Anita Loos began in 1916; Griffith also valued the pair as being among the best film editors in the business, and they also worked on editing Griffith's massive Intolerance in addition to light, breezy and athletic comedies starring Douglas Fairbanks. Emerson seemed to lose interest in direction around 1919, and afterward worked as a producer and writer, though commonly in projects more readily associated with Loos' taste than his own. Loos wrote extensively, and often disparagingly, of Emerson in her memoirs, but in her early career insisted on maintaining the appearance of partnership with Emerson even if there was none. Emerson's later years were marked by mental illness and long institutionalizations; Loos never divorced him.

Although Anita Loos' memoirs may not paint Emerson in the most flattering of terms, the silent films he directed from 1915–19 were important ones. Most of them survive, and several – notably The Mystery of the Leaping Fish and The Americano remain among the most frequently seen films from this period.

He was president of the Actors' Equity Association from 1920–1928.

Filmography

Writer
1961
Rumor of Love (play "The Whole Town's Talking")
1938
The Cowboy and the Lady (contributing writer - uncredited)
1934
The Girl from Missouri (original screenplay)
1934
Social Register (story)
1931
The Struggle (from the screen story by)
1931
Ex-Bad Boy (story "The Whole Town's Talking")
1930
Conspiracy (play - uncredited)
1929
The Fall of Eve (story)
1928
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (writer)
1926
The Whole Town's Talking (play)
1925
Learning to Love (screenplay) / (story)
1924
Three Miles Out (scenario)
1923
Dulcy (scenario)
1922
Polly of the Follies (scenario) / (story)
1922
Red Hot Romance (screenplay) / (story)
1921
Woman's Place (story)
1921
Mama's Affair (scenario)
1920
Dangerous Business (scenario)
1920
The Perfect Woman (screenplay) / (story)
1920
The Love Expert
1920
In Search of a Sinner (scenario)
1920
Two Weeks (scenario)
1919
A Virtuous Vamp (scenario)
1919
The Isle of Conquest (writer)
1919
A Temperamental Wife (scenario)
1919
Oh, You Women! (scenario) / (story)
1919
Getting Mary Married (writer)
1919
Under the Top (story)
1918
Good-Bye, Bill (writer)
1918
Come on In (writer)
1918
Hit-the-Trail Holliday (writer)
1918
Let's Get a Divorce (writer)
1917
Reaching for the Moon
1917
Down to Earth
1917
Wild and Woolly (titles)
1916
The Americano (scenario)
1916
The Matrimaniac (screenplay)
1916
The Social Secretary
1916
Macbeth
1916
The Flying Torpedo
1916
His Picture in the Papers
1915
Old Heidelberg
1915
Ghosts (unconfirmed - unconfirmed)
1914
The Conspiracy (play) / (screenplay)
1912
Geronimo's Last Raid (Short)
1912
The Agitator (Short)
Director
1922
Polly of the Follies
1919
Oh, You Women!
1918
Good-Bye, Bill
1918
Come on In
1917
Reaching for the Moon
1917
Down to Earth
1917
Wild and Woolly
1917
In Again, Out Again
1916
The Americano
1916
Less Than the Dust
1916
The Social Secretary
1916
The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (Short)
1916
Macbeth
1916
His Picture in the Papers
1915
Old Heidelberg
1915
Ghosts (unconfirmed)
1912
Geronimo's Last Raid (Short)
1912
The Story of Starved Rock (Short)
Producer
1937
Saratoga (associate producer)
1937
Mama Steps Out (producer)
1936
San Francisco (producer)
1922
Red Hot Romance (executive producer)
1920
Dangerous Business (producer)
1920
The Love Expert (producer)
1920
In Search of a Sinner (producer - uncredited)
1919
A Virtuous Vamp (producer - uncredited)
1919
A Temperamental Wife (producer)
1918
Good-Bye, Bill (producer)
1918
Come on In (producer)
Actor
1926
Camille (Short) as
Count de Varville
1916
The Flying Torpedo as
Winthrop Clavering
1915
Ghosts as
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
1915
The Failure as
Tom Warder
1915
The Bachelor's Romance as
David Holmes
1914
The Conspiracy as
Winthrop Clavering
1913
On Forbidden Paths (Short)
1913
The Grey Sentinel (Short)
Miscellaneous
1919
A Temperamental Wife (supervisor)

References

John Emerson (filmmaker) Wikipedia