John Gilbert (born John Cecil Pringle; July 10, 1897 – January 9, 1936) was an American actor, screenwriter and director. He rose to fame during the
silent era
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
and became a popular leading man known as "The Great Lover". His breakthrough came in 1925 with his starring roles in ''
The Merry Widow
''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...
'' and ''
The Big Parade''. At the height of his career, Gilbert rivaled
Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...
as a box office draw.
Gilbert's career declined precipitously when silent pictures gave way to
talkies. Though Gilbert was often cited as one of the high-profile examples of an actor who was unsuccessful in making the transition to sound films, his decline as a star had far more to do with studio politics and money than with the sound of his screen voice, which was rich and distinctive.
Early life and stage work
Born John Cecil Pringle in
Logan, Utah
Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 United States Census, 2020 census recorded the population at 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Ca ...
, to
stock-company actor parents, John George Pringle (1865–1929) and Ida Adair Apperly Gilbert (1877–1913), he struggled through a childhood of abuse and neglect, with his family moving frequently and young "Jack" having to attend assorted schools throughout the United States. When his family finally settled in California, he attended Hitchcock Military Academy in
San Rafael. After he left school, Gilbert worked as a rubber goods salesman in San Francisco, then performed with the
Baker Stock Company in Portland, Oregon, in 1914. He subsequently found work the following year as a stage manager in another stock company in
Spokane
Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
, Washington, but he soon lost that job when the company went out of business.
Film career
After losing his stage job in 1915, Gilbert decided to try screen acting, and quickly gained work as a film extra through
Herschell Mayall. Gilbert first appeared in ''The Mother Instinct'' (1915), a
short directed by
Wilfred Lucas
Wilfred Van Norman Lucas (January 30, 1871 – December 13, 1940) was a Canadian American stage actor who found success in film as an actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Lucas was born in Norfolk County, Ontario on January 30, 1871,US ...
. He then found work as an extra with the
Thomas Ince Studios in productions such as ''The Coward'' (1915), ''
Aloha Oe'' (1915), ''
Civilization
A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...
'' (1915), ''The Last Act'' (1916), and
William Hart's ''
Hell's Hinges'' (1916).
Kay-Bee Company
During his initial years in films, Gilbert also performed in releases by Kay-Bee Company such as ''Matrimony'' (1915), ''The Corner'' (1915), ''Eye of the Night'' (1916), and ''Bullets and Brown Eyes'' (1916). His first major costarring role was as Willie Hudson in ''The Apostle of Vengeance'', also with
William S. Hart.
Viewed by studio executives as a promising but still "juvenile" actor at this stage of his career, Gilbert's contract salary was $40 a week ($ today), fairly ample pay for most American workers in the early 1900s.
Gilbert continued to get more substantial parts at Kay-Bee, which billed him as "Jack Gilbert" in ''
The Aryan'' (1916), ''The Phantom'' (1916), ''Shell 43'' (1916), ''The Sin Ye Do'' (1917), ''The Weaker Sex'' (1917), and ''The Bride of Hate'' (1917). His first true leading role was in ''Princess of the Dark'' (1917) with
Enid Bennett, but the film was not a big success and he went back to supporting roles in ''The Dark Road'' (1917), ''Happiness'' (1917), ''The Millionaire Vagrant'' (1917), and ''The Hater of Men'' (1917).
Triangle Films and other studios
Gilbert went over to Triangle Films where he was in ''
The Mother Instinct'' (1917), ''
Golden Rule Kate'' (1917), ''
The Devil Dodger'' (1917) (second billed), ''Up or Down?'' (1917), and ''Nancy Comes Home'' (1918). For Paralta Plays, Gilbert did ''Shackled'' (1918), ''One Dollar Bid'' (1918), and ''Wedlock'' (1918) and ''More Trouble'' (1918) for Anderson, but the company went bankrupt.
He also was cast in ''Doing Their Bit'' (1918) at Fox and then returned to Triangle for ''The Mask'' (1918). Gilbert also did ''Three X Gordon'' (1918) for Jesse Hampton, ''The Dawn of Understanding'' (1918), ''The White Heather'' (1919) for
Maurice Tourneur
Maurice Félix Thomas (; 2 February 1876 – 4 August 1961), known as Maurice Tourneur (), was a French film director and screenwriter.
Life
Born Maurice Félix Thomas in the Épinettes district (17th arrondissement of Paris), his father was a w ...
, ''The Busher'' (1919) for Thomas Ince, ''The Man Beneath'' for Haworth, ''A Little Brother of the Rich'' (1919) for Universal, ''
The Red Viper'' (1919) for Tyrad, ''
For a Woman's Honor'' (1919) for Jess Hampton, ''
Widow by Proxy'' (1919) for Paramount, ''
Heart o' the Hills
''Heart o' the Hills'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Joseph De Grasse and Sidney Franklin, written by Bernard McConville based on John Fox Jr.'s novel of the same name.
Plot
Jason Honeycutt ( Harold Goodwin) is a young bo ...
'' (1919) for
Mary Pickford
Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...
, and ''Should a Woman Tell?'' (1919) for Screen Classics.
Actor, screenwriter and director for Tourneur
Maurice Tourneur
Maurice Félix Thomas (; 2 February 1876 – 4 August 1961), known as Maurice Tourneur (), was a French film director and screenwriter.
Life
Born Maurice Félix Thomas in the Épinettes district (17th arrondissement of Paris), his father was a w ...
signed him to a contract to both write and act in films. Gilbert performed in and co-wrote ''
The White Circle'' (1920), ''
The Great Redeemer'' (1921), and ''
Deep Waters'' (1921). As a writer only, he worked on ''
The Bait'' (1921), which starred and was produced by Hope Hampton. For Hampton, Gilbert wrote and directed as well, but he did not appear in ''
Love's Penalty'' (1921).
Fox and stardom
In 1921, Gilbert signed a three-year contract with
Fox Film Corporation
The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American independent company that produced motion pictures and was formed in 1914 by the theater "chain" pioneer William Fox (producer), William Fox. It was the corporate successor to ...
, which subsequently cast him in romantic leading roles and promoted him now as "John Gilbert". The actor's first starring part for the studio was in ''
Shame
Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness.
Definition
Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...
'' (1921). He followed it with leading roles in ''
Arabian Love'' (1922), ''Gleam O'Dawn'' (1922), ''
The Yellow Stain'' (1922), ''Honor First'' (1922), ''
Monte Cristo'' (1922), ''Calvert's Valley'' (1922), ''
The Love Gambler'' (1922), and ''
A California Romance'' (1922). Many of the scenarios for these films were written by
Jules Furthman.
Gilbert returned temporarily to Tourneur to costar with
Lon Chaney in ''
While Paris Sleeps'' (1923). Back at Fox, he starred in ''
Truxton King'' (1923), ''
Madness of Youth'' (1923), ''
St. Elmo'' (1923), and ''
The Exiles'' (1923). The same year he starred in ''
Cameo Kirby'' (1923), directed by
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
, co starring
Jean Arthur. He went into ''
The Wolf Man'' (1923) with
Norma Shearer, not a horror film, but the story of a man who believes he murdered his fiancée's brother while drunk. Gilbert also performed in his last films for Fox in 1924, including ''
Just Off Broadway'', ''
A Man's Mate'', ''
The Lone Chance'', and ''
Romance Ranch''.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Under the auspices of movie producer
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
, Gilbert obtained a release from his Fox contract and moved to
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
, where he became a full-fledged star cast in major productions. First starring in ''
His Hour'' (1924) directed by King Vidor and written by
Elinor Glyn his film career entered its ascendancy. He followed this success with ''
He Who Gets Slapped'' (1924) co-starring Chaney and Shearer and directed by Victor Sjöström; ''
The Snob'' (1924) with Shearer; ''
The Wife of the Centaur'' (1924) for Vidor.
The next year, Gilbert would star in two of MGM's most critically acclaimed and popular film productions of the silent era:
Erich von Stroheim
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim, ; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of ...
's ''
The Merry Widow
''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...
'' and
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor ( ; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...
's ''
The Big Parade''.
''The Merry Widow'' (1925)
Gilbert was assigned to star in
Erich von Stroheim
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim, ; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of ...
's ''The Merry Widow'' by
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
, over the objections of the Austrian-American director. Von Stroheim expressed his displeasure bluntly to his leading man: "Gilbert, I am forced to use you in my picture. I do not want you, but the decision was not in my hands. I assure you I will do everything in my power to make you comfortable." Gilbert, mortified, soon stalked off the set in a rage, tearing off his costume. Von Stroheim followed him to his dressing room and apologized. The two agreed to share a drink. Then Gilbert apologized and they had another drink. The tempest subsided and was resolved amicably. According to Gilbert, the contretemps served to "cement a relationship which for my part will never end."
The public adulation that Gilbert experienced with his growing celebrity astounded him: "Everywhere I hear whispers and gasps in acknowledgment of my presence...
e whole thing became too fantastic for me to comprehend. Acting, the very thing I had been fighting and ridiculing for seven years, had brought me success, riches and renown. I was a great motion picture artist. Well, I'll be damned!"
''The Big Parade'' (1925)
Gilbert was next cast by Thalberg to star in King Vidor's war-romance ''The Big Parade'' (1925), which became the second-highest grossing silent film and the most profitable film of the silent era. Gilbert's "inspired performance" as an American
doughboy
"Doughboy" was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. Though the origins of the term are not certain, the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s, when it was gradually replaced by " G.I." as the following ge ...
in France during World War I was the high point of his acting career. He fully immersed himself in the role of Jim Apperson, a Southern gentleman who, with two working class comrades, experiences the horrors of
trench warfare
Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from a ...
. Gilbert declared: "No love has ever enthralled me as did the making of this picture...All that has followed is balderdash."
The following year, Vidor reunited Gilbert with two of his co-stars from that picture,
Renée Adorée and
Karl Dane, for the film ''
La Bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' (1926) which also starred
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American actress best known for her work in movies of the silent era. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was dubbed the "F ...
. He then did another with Vidor, ''
Bardelys the Magnificent'' (1926).
Greta Garbo
In 1926, Gilbert made ''
Flesh and the Devil'', his first film with
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras.
Regarded as one of the g ...
. Gilbert first encountered Garbo on the set during filming of the railway station scene, and the chemistry between the two was evidently instantaneous. Director
Clarence Brown
Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director.
Early life
Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when h ...
remarked approvingly that he "had a love affair going for me that you couldn't beat, any way you tried." Garbo and Gilbert soon began a highly publicized romance, much to the delight of their fans and to MGM.

He made ''
The Show'' (1927) with Adoree for
Tod Browning
Tod Browning (born Charles Albert Browning Jr.; July 12, 1880 – October 6, 1962) was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville performer, and carnival sideshow and circus entertainer. He directed a number of films of var ...
then did ''
Twelve Miles Out'' (1927) with
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...
and ''
Man, Woman and Sin'' (1927) with
Jeanne Eagels.
Gilbert was reunited with Garbo in a modern adaptation of
Tolstoy's 19th-century novel, ''
Anna Karenina''. The title was changed to ''
Love
Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...
'' (1927) to capitalize on the real life love affair of the stars and advertised by MGM as "Garbo and Gilbert in Love."
Though officially directed by
Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film '' Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwic ...
, Gilbert, though uncredited, was responsible for directing the love scenes involving Garbo. He was perhaps the only person in the industry whose "artistic judgment" she fully respected. As such, MGM approved of this arrangement.

Gilbert made ''
The Cossacks'' (1928) with Adoree; ''
Four Walls'' (1928) with Crawford; ''
Show People'' (1928) with
Marion Davies for Vidor, in which Gilbert only had a cameo; and ''
The Masks of the Devil'' (1928) for
Victor Sjöström.
Gilbert and Garbo were teamed for a third time in ''
A Woman of Affairs'' (1928). His last silent film was ''
Desert Nights'' (1929).
Sound era
With the coming of sound, Gilbert's vocal talents made a good first impression, although the studio had failed to conduct a voice test. The conventional wisdom of the day dictated that actors in the new talkies should emulate "correct stage diction". Gilbert's strict adherence to that method produced an affected delivery that made audiences giggle, rather than any particularity in Gilbert's natural speech. Indeed, the "quality of his voice compared well with that of co-star
Conrad Nagel, regarded as having one of the best voices for sound."
Gilbert signed an immensely lucrative multi-picture contract with MGM in 1928 that totaled $1,500,000. The terms of the agreement positioned MGM executives
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
and
Nicholas Schenck
Nicholas M. Schenck (14 November 1880, Rybinsk, Russian Empire, Russia – 4 March 1969, Florida) was a Russian-American Studio executive, film studio executive and businessman.
Biography Early life
One of seven children, Schenck was born t ...
, both sympathetic to the star, to supervise his career. Gilbert, however, frequently clashed with studio head
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1884Mayer maintained that he was born in Minsk on July 4, 1885. According to Scott Eyman, the reasons may have been:
* Mayer's father gave different dates for his birthplace at different times, so ...
over creative, social and financial matters. A confrontation between the two men, which became physical, occurred at the planned double-wedding of Garbo and Gilbert and director King Vidor and actress Eleanor Boardman. Mayer reportedly made a crude remark to Gilbert about Garbo, and Gilbert reacted by knocking Mayer to the floor with his fist. While that story has been disputed or dismissed as
hearsay
Hearsay, in a legal forum, is an out-of-court statement which is being offered in court for the truth of what was asserted. In most courts, hearsay evidence is Inadmissible evidence, inadmissible (the "hearsay evidence rule") unless an exception ...
by some historians, Vidor's bride, Eleanor Boardman, insisted that she personally witnessed the altercation.
In the all-star musical comedy ''
The Hollywood Revue of 1929'' (1929), Gilbert and
Norma Shearer played the balcony scene from Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet'', first as written, then followed with a slang rendition of the scene. The comic effect served to "dispell the bad impression" produced by Gilbert's original "mincing" delivery.
''His Glorious Night''
Audiences awaited further romantic roles from Gilbert on the talking screen. The next vehicle was the
Ruritanian romance ''
His Glorious Night'' (1929), directed by Lionel Barrymore. According to reviewers, audiences laughed nervously at Gilbert's performance. The offense was not Gilbert's voice, but the awkward scenario along with the overly ardent love scenes. In one, Gilbert keeps kissing his leading lady, (
Catherine Dale Owen), while saying "I love you" over and over again. The scene was parodied in the MGM musical ''
Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), in which a preview of the fictional ''The Dueling Cavalier'' flops disastrously, and again in ''
Babylon
Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
'' (2022).
Director King Vidor speculated that, had he lived, the late Rudolph Valentino, Gilbert's main rival for romantic leads in the silent era, probably would have suffered the same fate in the talkie era. It was Gilbert's inept phrasing, his "dreadful enunciation" and the "inane" script as the genuine sources of his poor performance, that drew "titters" from audiences.
"Squeaky voice" myth
The persistent myth that John Gilbert had a "squeaky voice" that doomed his career in sound films, first emerged from his 1929 performance in ''His Glorious Night''. It was even rumored that Louis B. Mayer ordered Gilbert's voice to be
gelded, by manipulating the sound track, to give it a higher, less masculine pitch. Later, after analyzing the film's sound track, British film historian,
Kevin Brownlow
Kevin Brownlow (born Robert Kevin Brownlow; 2 June 1938) is a British film historian, television documentary-maker, filmmaker, author, and film editor. He is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era, having become inter ...
, found that the timbre and frequency of Gilbert's speaking scenes in ''His Glorious Night'' were no different than in his subsequent talkies. From that analysis, Brownlow also reported that Gilbert's voice, overall, was "quite low". With regard to the alleged manipulation of Gilbert's footage by Mayer or by anyone else, television technicians in the 1960s determined that the actor's voice was consistent with those of other performers on the same print, casting doubt that any targeted "sabotaging" of Gilbert's voice had occurred.
Film critic
John Baxter described Gilbert as having "a light speaking voice", a minor defect that both MGM and the star "magnified into an obsession." Despite any conflicting opinions or myths surrounding the actor's voice, Mayer's lingering resentment and hostility toward Gilbert remained apparent, especially after MGM's star signed a new contract for six pictures at $250,000 each. Those ill feelings fueled additional speculation that Mayer deliberately assigned Gilbert bad scripts and ineffective directors in an effort to void the contract.
Decline
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cast Gilbert in a film adaptation of ''
The Living Corpse'' by Tolstoy re-titled as ''
Redemption'' (1929). The bleak atmosphere and maudlin dialogue presaged the disaster looming in the star's personal life and career. Gilbert's confident screen presence had vanished, while his use of the exaggerated stage diction that elicited laughs from the audience persisted. In one scene Gilbert declares ominously "I'm going to kill myself to let the whole world know what it has lost."
MGM put him in a more rugged film, ''
Way for a Sailor'' (1930) with
Wallace Beery
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' (1 ...
. He followed it with ''Gentleman's Fate'' (1931).
Gilbert became increasingly depressed by progressively inferior films and idle stretches between productions. Despite efforts by studio executives at MGM to cancel his contract, Gilbert resolved to thwart Louis B. Mayer and see the six-picture ordeal through to the end.
Gilbert's fortunes were temporarily restored when MGM's production chief Irving Thalberg gave him two projects that were character studies, giving Gilbert an excellent showcase for his versatility. ''The Phantom of Paris'' (1931), originally intended for
Lon Chaney (who died from cancer in 1930), cast Gilbert as a debonair magician and showman who is falsely accused of murder and uses his mastery of disguise to unmask the real killer.
''Downstairs'' (1932) was based on Gilbert's original story, with the actor playing against type as a scheming, blackmailing chauffeur. The films were well received by critics and fans but failed to revive his career. In between, he appeared in ''West of Broadway'' (1931).
Shortly after making ''Downstairs'', he married co-star
Virginia Bruce; the couple divorced in 1934.
Gilbert fulfilled his contract with MGM with a perfunctory "B" picture – ''Fast Workers'' (1933) directed by Browning. He left the studio in 1933, terminating his $10,000 a week contract.
Exhausted and demoralized by his humiliations at MGM and his declining success at the box office, Gilbert began to drink heavily, contributing to his declining physical and mental health.
''Queen Christina'' (1933)
Gilbert announced his retirement from acting and was working at Fox as an "honorary" director when, in August 1933, he announced he had signed a seven-year contract with MGM at $75–100,000 a picture. The reason was Greta Garbo insisted that Gilbert return to MGM to play her leading man in ''
Queen Christina'' (1933), directed by
Rouben Mamoulian. Garbo was top-billed, with Gilbert's name beneath the title. ''Queen Christina'', though a critical success, did not revive Gilbert's poor self-image or his career. Garbo was reported to have dropped the young
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...
scheduled to play the part, but Mamoulian recalled that Olivier's screen tests had already eliminated him from consideration.
Comeback
In 1934
Harry Cohn
Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation.
Life and career
Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...
, head of then low-budgeted
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
, gave Gilbert what would be his final chance for a comeback in ''
The Captain Hates the Sea''. Cohn was always on the alert for current stars who had been dropped by other studios, so that he could sign them for their name value. He also wanted to show, as author
Bob Thomas noted, that he could succeed with an MGM castoff: "Never was Cohn more satisfied than when he could score some such victory over M-G-M." Director
Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein (Russian: Лейб Мильштейн); September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was an American film director. Milestone directed '' Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) and '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1 ...
guided Gilbert through a screen test, which impressed both Milestone and Cohn. Cohn told Gilbert, "If you keep your nose clean on this picture, I'll see that you get work. I'll go to bat for you with every producer in town."
[''King Cohn'', p. 98.] Gilbert's conduct was exemplary for two weeks, until self-doubts came to the surface, resulting in drunken episodes and ulcer flare-ups. Gilbert's resolve was further weakened by other cast members (
Victor McLaglen,
Walter Connolly,
Walter Catlett, and
Leon Errol
Leon Errol (born Leonce Errol Sims, July 3, 1881 – October 12, 1951) was an Australian-American comedian and actor in the United States, popular in the first half of the 20th century for his appearances in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in film ...
) plying Gilbert with cocktails and encouraging his alcoholism. "It's too goddam bad," muttered Cohn, "but if a man wants to go to hell I can't stop him."
Gilbert completed the film, giving a capable performance as "a dissipated, bitter
ndcynical" playwright, but it failed to revive his career. It was his last film.
Biographer Kevin Brownlow's eulogy to John Gilbert considers the destruction of both the man and his career:
"The career of John Gilbert indicates that the star, and the person playing the star, were regarded by producers as separate entities, subject to totally different attitudes. Gilbert, as an ordinary human being, had no legal right to the stardom that was the sole property of the studio. When Gilbert, as an employee, tried to seize control of the future of Gilbert the star, the studios decided to save their investment from falling into the hands of rivals, othey had to wreck their property. Other properties – books, films, sets – could be destroyed with impunity. But the destruction of a star carried with it the destruction of a person…it seems somewhat abhorrent that it took such tragedies as that of John Gilbert to bring us our entertainment."
Personal life
Gilbert was married four times. His first marriage, on August 26, 1918, was to Olivia Burwell, a native of
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
whom Gilbert had met after her family moved to California. They separated the following year and Burwell returned to Mississippi for a while. She filed for divorce in Los Angeles in 1921.
In February 1921, Gilbert announced his engagement to actress
Leatrice Joy
Leatrice Joy (born Leatrice Johanna Zeidler; November 7, 1893 – May 13, 1985) was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era.
Early life
Joy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to dentist Edward Joseph Zeidler.
She at ...
. They married in
Tijuana
Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...
in November 1921. As Gilbert had failed to secure a divorce from his first wife and the legality of Gilbert and Joy's Mexican marriage was questionable, the couple separated and had the marriage annulled to avoid a scandal. They remarried March 3, 1922. The marriage was tumultuous, and Joy filed for legal separation in June 1923 when she claimed Gilbert slapped her face after a night of heavy drinking. They reconciled several months later. In August 1924, Joy, who was pregnant with the couple's daughter, filed for divorce. Joy later said she left Gilbert after discovering he was having an affair with actress
Laurette Taylor. Joy also claimed Gilbert had affairs with
Barbara La Marr (with whom he had a romance before his marriage to Joy),
Lila Lee and
Bebe Daniels. Gilbert and Joy had a daughter, Leatrice Gilbert (later Fountain; September 4, 1924 – January 20, 2015). Joy was granted a divorce in May 1925.
In 1929, Gilbert eloped with actress
Ina Claire to
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. They separated in February 1931 and divorced six months later. Gilbert's fourth and final marriage was on August 10, 1932, to actress
Virginia Bruce, who had recently costarred with him on the MGM film ''
Downstairs''. The entertainment
trade paper ''
The Film Daily
''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informati ...
'' reported that their "quick" wedding was held in Gilbert's dressing room on the MGM lot while Bruce was working on another studio production, ''
Kongo''.
["GILBERT'S QUICK MARRIAGE"](_blank)
news item, ''The Film Daily'' ew York (West Coast Bureau) August 12, 1932, page 4. Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
, San Francisco. Retrieved August 18, 2018. Among the people attending the small ceremony were the head of MGM production
Irving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
, who served as Gilbert's
best man;
screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
Donald Ogden Stewart, whose wife Beatrice acted as Bruce's
matron of honor; MGM art director and set designer
Cedric Gibbons
Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1890 – July 26, 1960) was an American Art director#In film, art director for the film industry. He also made a significant contribution to motion picture theater architecture from the 1930s to 1950s. Gibbons de ...
; and his wife, actress
Dolores del Río.
Bruce retired briefly from acting following the birth of their daughter Susan Ann; however, she resumed her career after her divorce from Gilbert in May 1934.
Before his death, Gilbert dated actress
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
from 1935 until his death in 1936 as well as
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras.
Regarded as one of the g ...
from 1926 to 1927. When he died, he had recently been slated to play a prominent supporting role in Dietrich's film ''Desire (1936 film), Desire''.
Death
By 1934, alcoholism had severely damaged Gilbert's health. He suffered a serious myocardial infarction, heart attack in December 1935, which left him in even worse condition. A second heart attack on January 9, 1936, at his Bel Air, Los Angeles, Bel Air home, was fatal.
A private funeral was held on January 11 at the B.E. Mortuary in Beverly Hills. Among the mourners were Gilbert's two ex-wives, Leatrice Joy and Virginia Bruce, his two daughters, and stars
Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
, Gary Cooper, Myrna Loy, and Raquel Torres.
Gilbert was cremated and his ashes were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale in Glendale, California.
Gilbert left the bulk of his estate, valued at $363,494 (equivalent to $ million in ), to his last ex-wife Virginia Bruce and their daughter, Susan Ann. He left $10,000 to his elder daughter Leatrice, and other amounts to friends, relatives and his servants.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Gilbert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1755 Vine Street. In 1994, he was honored with his image on a List of people on stamps of the United States, United States postage stamp designed by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld.
Filmography
Fictional portrayals
Gilbert has been portrayed in several films. Barry Bostwick appeared as the actor in the television film ''The Silent Lovers'' first shown in 1980. He has also been portrayed by his grandson, John Fountain, in ''Sunset (1988 film), Sunset'' (1988), Christopher Renstrom in ''La Divina'' (1989), and Adnan Taletovich in ''Return to Babylon'' (2012). Gilbert was the inspiration behind the character of George Valentin, played by Jean Dujardin in ''The Artist (film), The Artist'' (2011), and Jack Conrad, played by Brad Pitt in ''
Babylon
Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...
'' (2022).
Footnotes
Sources
*Baxter, John. 1970. ''Hollywood in the Thirties''. International Film Guide Series. Paperback Library, New York. LOC Card Number 68–24003.
*Baxter, John. 1976. ''King Vidor''. Simon & Schuster, Inc. Monarch Film Studies. LOC Card Number 75–23544.
*Kevin Brownlow, Brownlow, Kevin and John Kobal, Kobal, John. 1979. ''Hollywood: The Pioneers''. Alfred A. Knopf Inc. A Borzoi Book, New York.
*Koszarski, Richard. 1983. ''The Man You Loved to Hate: Erich von Stroheim and Hollywood.'' Oxford University Press.
*Laurier, Joanne. 2011. ''The Artist: An amiable gimmick.'' The World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved May 26, 2020. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/01/arti-j07.html
*Phillips, Richard. 2009. ''Several movies well worth revisiting: Sydney Film Festival 2009.'' World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved May 24, 2020.https://www.wsws.or g/en/articles/2009/07/sff5-j17.html
*Reinhardt, Bernd. 2020. ''Rediscovering Hallelujah (1929), director King Vidor's sensitive film with all-black cast'': 70th Berlin International Film Festival. World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved May 24, 2020. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/07/ber2-a07.html
External links
*
Interviewwith Marlene Dietrich's daughter mentioning Gilbert
Photographs of John GilbertBook review/essay with considerable biographical material concerning John Gilbert
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, John
1897 births
1936 deaths
20th Century Studios contract players
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male writers
Alcohol-related deaths in California
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American male silent film actors
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Film directors from Los Angeles
Film directors from Utah
Male actors from Utah
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players
People from Bel Air, Los Angeles
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from Utah
Writers from Logan, Utah
20th-century American screenwriters