Louis Monta Bell (February 5, 1891 – February 4, 1958) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter.

Biography

Monta Bell first appeared in theatrical venues with Washington D.C.

stock companies In American theater, summer stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...

and then took up journalism and publishing in New York. While in New York, filmmaker

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

enlisted the 32-year-old Bell to ghost-write his 1922 memoir ''My Trip Abroad''. Bell, along a number of other apprentices including

Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast (6 May 1897 – 17 March 1968) was an Argentine-French screenwriter and director. Early life Henri Charles Armand d'Abbadie d'Arrast was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 6 May 1897, to Arnauld Michel d'Abbadie d'Arra ...

and

Mal St. Clair Malcolm St. Clair (May 17, 1897 – June 1, 1952) was a Hollywood film director, writer, producer and actor. St. Clair's film career spanned the silent and sound era during the Hollywood Golden Age. His work is characterized by a “dynamic vis ...

, became film editors and assistant directors. Here Bell was “exposed to Chaplin’s meticulous style of comedy construction and a complete immersion in all aspects of filmmaking.” In 1924, Paramount manager

Walter Wanger Walter Wanger (born Walter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production of ''Cleopatra,'' his last film, in 1963. He began at Paramo ...

engaged a number of “promising young men without significant directing experience”, among them Bell, to direct pictures at their

Astoria Studios The Kaufman Astoria Studios is a film studio located in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The studio was constructed for Famous Players–Lasky in 1920, since it was close to Manhattan's Theater District. The property was ta ...

, Queens, New York. One of Bell’s early achievements as director is '' The King on Main Street'' (1925). Bell developed into a major cinematic stylist, directing sophisticated film essays on “contemporary sexual mores.” Bell is notable for directing the 1926 ''

Torrent Torrent or torrents may refer to: * A fast flowing stream Animals * Torrent duck, a species of the family Anatidae * Torrent fish * Torrent frog, various unrelated frogs * Torrent robin, a bird species * Torrent salamander, a family of ...

'',

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 ...

's first American film. In 1928, with the advent of sound films, Bell was transferred

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

’ east coast operations, serving as head of production at the Astoria Studios. There Bell directed a number of high comedies and low melodramas and later moved to producing films, Like his mentor Charles Chaplin, Bell championed the superiority of silent cinema as an art form and a method of conveying a story. Bell was married for six years to actress

Betty Lawford Betty Lawford (February 1, 1912 – November 20, 1960) was a United States–based English film and stage actress. Her parents, Ernest Lawford and Janet Slater Lawford, were also actors, and she was a cousin of the actor Peter Lawford. Lawfor ...

, cousin of actor

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford (né Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the "Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president Jo ...

. Monta directed 20 films from 1924 to 1945. In addition, he produced 20 films and wrote 9 screenplays. He died on February 4, 1958, at the

Motion Picture Country House and Hospital The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as tempo ...

, one day before his 67th birthday. He is interred in Section 8 Garden of Legends in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California.

Filmography

Uncredited actor *'' The Adventurer'' (1917, Short) - Man *'' The Pilgrim'' (1923) - Policeman

Footnotes

Sources

*Koszarski, Richard. 1976. ''Hollywood Directors: 1914-1940.'' Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 76-9262. *Koszarski, Richard. 2008. ''Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff.'' Rutgers University Press.

External links

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Monta Bell
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Monta American film editors Film producers from Washington, D.C. 1891 births 1958 deaths Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Film directors from Washington, D.C.