John Gilbert

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Film career

Gilbert decided to try screen acting after losing his stage role in 1915, and he found work as a film extra through Herschell Mayall. Gilbert appeared in The Mother Instinct (1915), a short film directed by Wilfred Lucas. He then found work as an extra in Thomas Ince Studios' films including The Coward (1915), Aloha Oe (1915), Civilization (1915), and William Hart's Hell's Hinges (1916).

Gilbert also appeared in films from Kay-Bee Company including Matrimony (1915), The Corner (1916), and Bullets and Brown Eyes (1916). Willie Hudson appeared in The Apostle of Vengeance as Willie Hudson, as well as William S. Hart. Gilbert's salary was $40 a week ($996 today), much more than most American employees in the early 1900s, with studio executives estimating him as a promising but also "juvenile" actor at this point in his career. Gilbert continued to perform in Kay-Bee (1916), The The Phantom (1916), and The Bride of Hate (1917). Enid Bennett's first leading role was in Princess of the Dark (1917), Happiness (1917), and The Hater of Men (1917).

Gilbert went to Triangle Films, where he appeared in The Mother Instinct (1917), Golden Rule Kate (1917), Up or Down, or Down? (1917) and Nancy Comes Home (1918). Gilbert performed Shackled (1918), One Dollar Bid (1918), and Wedlock (1918) and More Trouble (1918) for Anderson, but the company went bankrupt. He appeared in Doing Their Bit (1918) at Fox and then returned to Triangle (1918) from Doing Their Bit (1918). Gilbert did Three X Gordon (1918) for Jesse Hampton, The Man Beneath for Haworth, A Little Brother of the Rich (1919) for Tuerland, A Woman's Honor (1919) for Jess Hampton, Widow by Proxy (1919) for Tyrad (1919) for a Woman in the Hills (1919) for Mary Pickford (1919) for Jesse Hampton (1919) for Jess Hampton, The Mountains (1919) for Helen Pickford (19191919191919191918) for Thomas X Gordon (1918) for Thomas Inclusion (191919191919191920) for Haworth (191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191919191920) for A Woman of the Hills (1919) for Mary Pickford, A Woman's (19191920) for Gilbert, A Man Bene, A Woman in the Mountains (1919) for Gilbert, A Woman's (1919) for Gilbert, The Dawn of the Hill (1919) for Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert, A Woman in Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert, The Man Bene Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert Gilbert (1918) for X Gordon, The Dawn of the Giant, The War (1919) for Thomas's The Man Bene, The White Gilbert, The Man Bene (1919) For the Hill (1919) for Gilbert Gilbert (1919191919191 X Gordon, The Man Bene Gilbert, The Man Bene (1919) for Thomas ah (191919191919191912) for Mary Pickford, Three's, Thomas Benjamin George George Gilbert, The Man Bene (1919) for The Man Bene, The Mother's (1899) for Gilbert Gilbert, The Dawn of the Hill (1919) for Jesse Hampton, The Queen of the Hill, ath (191919) for George (1819) for Jesse Hampton, The Man in 1918) for Margaret, The Busher The War, The Dawn of the Hill (1919191919191911) for Gilbert, The Man, The Bike (18191919191918) for the Hill (1919) for Jes (191910) for Jesse Hampton, The Young (191910) for Jesse Hampton, The Burnti, The Man Biny Gilbert ath, The Man Bene ad, The Dawn of the Hill (191910). (1919) for Screen Classics (1919).

Maurice Tourneur has signed a deal with both write and appear in films. Gilbert co-wrote The White Circle (1920), The Great Redeemer (1921), and Deep Waters (1921) and Deep Waters (1921). He served on The Bait (1921), which starred and was directed by Hope Hampton, as a writer only. Gilbert wrote and directed for Hampton, but he did not appear in Love's Penalty (1921).

Gilbert signed a three-year deal with Fox Film Corporation in 1921, which later starred him in romantic leading roles and branded him as "John Gilbert." In Shame (1921), the actor's first acting role for the film was in Shame (1921). He continued in Arabian Love (1922), Gleam O'Dawn (1922), Honor First (1922), Monte Cristo (1922), and A California Romance (1922). Jules Furthman wrote several of the scenes for these films.

Gilbert returned to Tourneur for a brief period of time with Lon Chaney in While Paris Sleeps (1923). He appeared in Truxton King (1923), Madness of Youth (1923), St. Elmo (1923), and The Exiles (1923), and Back to Fox (1923). Cameo Kirby (1923), directed by John Ford, co-starring Jean Arthur, was the same year he appeared in Cameo Kirby (1923). He and Norma Shearer (1923) together in The Wolf Man (1923), not a horror film, but the tale of a man who suspects his fiancée's brother when he was inebriated. Gilbert appeared in his last films for Fox in 1924, including Just Off Broadway, A Man's Mate, The Lone Chance, and Romance Ranch.

Gilbert obtained a release from his Fox contract and joined MGM, where he became a full-fledged actor cast in major films under the auspices of movie producer Irving Thalberg. His time (1924) was his first film appearance in His Hour (1924), directed by King Vidor and written by Elinor Glyn. He was inspired by his debut with He Who Gets Slapped (1924) starring Chaney and Shearer, and produced by Victor Sjöström; The Snob (1924) for Vidor.

Gilbert will appear in two of MGM's most critically acclaimed and popular film films of the silent period: Erich von Stroheim's The Merry Widow and King Vidor's The Big Parade are two of the next year.

Gilbert was given a role in Irving Thalberg's The Merry Widow, despite the Austrian-American director's objections. "I am obliged to use you in my picture," Von Stroheim expressed his displeasure immediately to his leading man: "Gilbert, I am coerced to use you in your portrait." I don't want you to die, but the decision was not in my hands. "I promise you that I will do everything possible to make you happy." Gilbert, who was mortified, screamed out the set in a fit, tearing off his costume. Von Stroheim escorted him to his dressing room and apologized. The two decided to drink a drink together. Then Gilberts were apologetic and had another drink. The tempest subsided and was settled amicably. The protests, according to Gilbert, helped to "cement a friendship that for my part will never cease."

Well, I’ll be damned!"

Gilbert was cast by Thalberg in King Vidor's war-romance (1925), the second-highest grossing silent film and the most profitable film of the silent period. Gilbert's "inspired debut" as an American doughboy in France during World War I was the pinnacle of his acting career. Jim Apperson, a Southern gentleman who, alongside two other service members, is first exposed to the horrors of trench warfare. Gilbert said, "No love has ever enthralled me as has the making of this picture."

Gilbert reunited Gilbert with two of his co-stars from the film La Bohème (1926), which also starred Lillian Gish. Bardelys the Magnificent (1926), he did a second go round with Vidor (1926).

Gilbert made Flesh and the Devil, his first film with Greta Garbo in 1926. Gilbert first saw Garbo on the set during filming of the railway station scene, and the chemistry between the two people was evidently instantaneous. Clarence Brown 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 publicized romance, much to the delight of their followers and MGM.

He appeared on The Show (1927) with Adoree For Tod Browning, then did Twelve Miles Down (1927) with Joan Crawford and Man, Woman and Sin (1927) with Jeanne Eagels.

In a recent Tolstoy's 19th-century book Anna Karenina, Gilbert was reunited with Garbo. The name was changed to Love (1927) to capitalize on the actor's true life love affair and MGM's slogan "Garbo and Gilbert in Love" was released.

Despite being officially directed by Edmund Goulding, Gilbert, though uncredited, was ultimately responsible for directing the Garbo love scenes. He was certainly the first person in the company to have "artistic judgment" that she utterly agreed with. MGM accepted this arrangement as a result.

Gilbert made The Cossacks (1928) with Adoree; Four Walls (1928) with Crawford; Show People (1928) with Marion Davies for Vidor, in which Gilbert did not have a cameo; and Victor Sjöström's The Masks of the Devil (1928) with Marion Davies (1928).

Gilbert and Garbo were teamed for the third time in A Woman of Affairs (1928), a group of women (1928). Desert Nights (1929), his last silent film, was his last silent film.

Gilbert's vocal abilities made a good first impression when the studio did not conduct a voice test, despite the studio's inability to perform a voice test. Actors in the new talkies should imitate "correct stage diction," according to the conventional wisdom of the day. Gilbert's adherence to this technique resulted in an affected delivery that made audiences chuckle, not due to any particularity in Gilbert's natural speech. In fact, the "quality of his voice was comparable to that of co-star Conrad Nagel, who is known as having one of the best voices for sound."

Gilbert signed a multi-picture deal with MGM in 1928, earning him $1,500,000. Irving Thalberg and Nicholas Schenck, both sympathetic to the actor, were given the opportunity to manage his career under the terms of the deal. Gilbert, on the other hand, was frequently fighting with studio head Louis B. Mayer over artistic, socioeconomic, and financial problems. At the planned double-wedding of Garbo and Gilbert, director King Vidor, and actress Eleanor Boardman, there was a clash between the two guys, one that became physical. Mayer allegedly made a crude remark about Garbo, and Gilbert responded by knocking Mayer to the ground with his fist. Though this tale has been disputed or dismissed by some scholars, Vidor's bride Eleanor Boardman insisted she was present at the altercation.

Gilbert and Norma Shearer appeared in the all-star musical comedy The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929), first as written, then as illustrated, followed by a slang interpretation of the scene. The comedic effect of Gilbert's original "mincing" delivery "didell the bad image" provided by the parody.

On the talking screen, Audiences awaited Gilbert's further romantic roles. The next vehicle was the Ruritanian romance His Glorious Night (1929), directed by Lionel Barrymore. Audiences erupted with Gilbert's performance, according to reviewers. The offence was not Gilbert's voice, but it was the tragic setting along with the overly ardent love scenes. Gilbert continues to kiss his leading lady (Catherine Dale Owen), while still saying "I love you" over and over again. (In MGM's Rain (1952), a scene in which a preview of the fictional The Dueling Cavalier flops disastrously.)

If King Vidor lived, the late Rudolph Valentino, Gilbert's key romantic leads in the silent period, may have met the same fate in the talkie period. Gilbert's poor wording, his "dreadful enunciation" and the "inane" script were among the primary sources of his poor show that attracted "titters" from audiences.

From his appearance in 1929 with His Glorious Night, John Gilbert had a "squeaky voice" that didomed his career in sound films. It was also believed that Louis B. Mayer ordered Gilbert's voice to be gelded by manipulating the sound track to give it a more appealing pitch. Kevin Brownlow, a British film historian, found that the timbre and frequency of Gilbert's speaking scenes in his Glorious Night were no different than in his subsequent talks. Gilbert's voice, according to Brownlow, was "quite low" in the original report. Gilbert's footage was allegedly manipulated by Mayer or someone else, television technicians in the 1960s found that the actor's voice was consistent with that of other actors on the same press, casting doubt on the possibility that any malicious "sabotaging" of Gilbert's was occurring.

Gilbert was described by film critic John Baxter as having "a light speaking voice," a minor defect that both MGM and the actor "converted to a passion." Despite any conflicting information or myths surrounding the actor's voice, Mayer's lingering animosity toward Gilbert remained strong, particularly after MGM's actor renewed a new deal for six pictures worth $250,000 each. Mayer knowingly gave Gilbert poor scripts and ineffective directors in an attempt to terminate the relationship, fueling further rumors.

Gilbert of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer appeared in a Tolstoy film adaptation titled Redemption (1929). The bleak atmosphere and maudlin dialogue hinted at the tragedy that was looming in the actor's personal life and career. Gilbert's confident on screen presence had faded, but the audience erupted with his use of the exaggerated stage diction that caused joking. "I'm going to kill myself to let the whole world know what it has lost," Gilbert says in one scene.

In a more challenging film, Way for a Sailor (1930) with Wallace Beery, MGM put him in a more rugged style. He followed it with Gentleman's Fate (1931). Gilbert was increasingly distraught by increasingly poor films and sluggish stretches between productions. Despite MGM's attempts to terminate his employment, Gilbert managed to thwart Louis B. Mayer and see the six-picture era come to an end.

Gilbert's fortunes were briefly revived when MGM's production chief Irving Thalberg gave him two projects that were character studies, giving Gilbert a great showcase for his versatility. The Phantom of Paris (1931), which was originally intended for Lon Chaney (who died of cancer in 1930), portrays Gilbert as a debonair magician and showman who is mistakenly accused of murder and masks the true murderer.

Downstairs (1932) was based on Gilbert's original story, with the actor playing against type as a scheming, blackmailing chauffeur. Critics and followers loved the films, but they were unable to sustain his careers. In the years between, he appeared in West of Broadway (1931). He married co-star Virginia Bruce shortly after making Downstairs; the couple divorced in 1934.

Gilbert did his MGM apprenticeship with this perfunctory "B" photograph (33 years ago), directed by Browning. He left the studio in 1933, halting his $10,000 a week employment.

Gilbert, who was tired and demoralized by his humiliations at MGM and his diminishing success at the box office, started to drink heavily, contributing to his poor physical and mental stability.

Gilbert resigned from acting and was working at Fox as a "honorary" director when he announced that he had signed a seven-year deal with MGM for $75,000.000 a picture. Greta Garbo requested that Gilbert return to MGM to appear as her leading man in Queen Christina (1933), directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Garbo was top-billed, with Gilbert's name under the title. Queen Christina, although a critical success, did not heal Gilbert's poor self-image or his career. Garbo was supposed to have dropped Laurence Olivier, a young singer who had intended to appear on the film, but director Rouben Mamoulian confirmed that Olivier's screen tests had already barred him from consideration.

Gilbert was given what seemed to be his last chance as "a dissatisfied, bitter [and] cynical" playwright by Columbia Pictures in which he gave an excellent appearance as "a dissatisfied, bitter [and] cynical" playwright. But heavy drinkers on the off-screen cast of Heavy Drinkers encouraged his inebriation. It was his last film.

Both the man and his career were destroyed in Kevin Brownlow's eulogy to John Gilbert: the man and his profession were both destroyed.

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