Denison Clift (1885 – 1961) was an American playwright, novelist,

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. He directed in both America and Great Britain, mainly during the

Silent Era A silent film is a film with no 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 ...

Biography

Clift was educated at Stanford University. He began his career as a short story writer, novelist, and playwright. After he started writing,

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

entrusted him with writing Lasky scenarios. Clift entered the film industry in 1918, penning the screenplay for William S. Hart's '' Wolves of the Rail''. He began a contract writer with Fox, and was promoted director in 1920. Less than a year later, Clift was imported by a British firm in a larger movement to liven their domestic silent films by employing Hollywood directors. He directed a number of British films during the silent era, such as ''

Demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

'' (1921) featuring fellow American expatriate

Evelyn Brent Evelyn Brent (born Mary Elizabeth Riggs; October 20, 1895 – June 4, 1975) was an American film and stage actress. Early life Brent was born in Tampa, Florida, and known as Betty. When she was age 10, her mother Eleanor (née. Warner) died, ...

and '' The Love of Mary, Queen of Scots'' (1923), with

Fay Compton Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie, (; 18 September 1894 – 12 December 1978), known professionally as Fay Compton, was an English actress. She appeared in several films, and made many broadcasts, but was best known for her stage per ...

in the title role. Clift remained in Great Britain after the transition to

sound films A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befor ...

, occasionally directing small-budget melodramas- including ''The Mystery of the Marie Celeste'', which he also wrote- but was predominantly a freelance screenwriter. His 1929 play ''Scotland Yard'' was adapted into films twice. Denison Clift - Jun 1920 MPN

Selected filmography

Director

* '' The Iron Heart'' (1920) * ''

A Woman of No Importance ''A Woman of No Importance'' by Oscar Wilde is "a new and original play of modern life", in four acts, first given on 19 April 1893 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirises English upper-class society. It ...

'' (1921) * '' The Diamond Necklace'' (1921) * ''

'' (1921) * ''

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

'' (1921) * '' A Bill of Divorcement'' (1922) * ''

This Freedom ''This Freedom'' is a 1923 British silent drama film directed by Denison Clift and starring Fay Compton, Clive Brook Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English film actor. After making his first ...

'' (1923) * '' Ports of Call'' (1925) * ''

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

'' (1928) * ''

Taxi for Two ''Taxi for Two'' is a 1929 part talkie British romantic comedy film drama directed by Denison Clift and Alexander Esway and starring Mabel Poulton and John Stuart. Produced by Gainsborough Pictures, it was the first sound film made by Gainsbo ...

'' (1929) * ''

High Seas The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...

'' (1929) * '' City of Play'' (1929) * '' The Mystery of the Mary Celeste'' (1935)

Screenwriter

* ''

Gambling in Souls ''Gambling in Souls'' is a 1919 American silent crime drama film directed by Harry F. Millarde and starring Madlaine Traverse, Herbert Heyes, Murdock MacQuarrie, Lew Zehring, Mary McIvor, and Henry A. Barrows. The film was released by Fox Film ...

'' (1919) * ''

The Coming of the Law ''The Coming of the Law'' is a 1919 American silent Western film directed by Arthur Rosson and starring Tom Mix, Agnes Vernon and George Nichols.Langman, Larry. ''A Guide to Silent Westerns''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1992. p. 86. . . Cast ...

'' (1919) * ''

The Hell Ship ''The Hell Ship'' is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Scott R. Dunlap and starring Madlaine Traverse, Alan Roscoe, Betty Bouton, Dick La Reno, and Jack Curtis. The film was released by Fox Film Corporation in February 1920. Cast ...

'' (1920) * ''

The Little Wanderer ''The Little Wanderer'' is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Howard M. Mitchell and starring Shirley Mason, Raymond McKee and Cecil Van Auker.Solomon p.264 Cast * Shirley Mason as Jenny * Raymond McKee as Larry Hard * Cecil Van Au ...

'' (1920) * ''

Power Over Men ''Power Over Men'' is a 1929 British silent mystery film directed by George Banfield and starring Isabel Jeans, Jameson Thomas and Wyndham Standing. It was made at Walthamstow Studios in London. Cast * Isabel Jeans as Marion Delacour * James ...

'' (1929) * ''

All That Glitters All That Glitters or All That Glisters may refer to: * '' All that glitters is not gold'', a well-known saying Literature * ''All That Glitters'' (novel), by V. C. Andrews * ''All That Glitters'', a novel by Michael Anthony * ''All That Glitte ...

'' (1936) * ''

Secrets of Scotland Yard ''Secrets of Scotland Yard'' is a 1944 American thriller film directed by George Blair and starring Edgar Barrier, Stephanie Bachelor and C. Aubrey Smith. The screenplay was by Denison Clift, adapting one of his own stories "Room 40, O.B." from ...

'' (1944)

References

External links

Full filmography of Denison Clift
at AFI * 1885 births 1961 deaths American film directors {{US-film-director-1880s-stub