George William Hill (April 25, 1895 – August 10, 1934) was an American

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 ...

and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

Career

He began his film career at age 13 as a stagehand with director D. W. Griffith. A cinematographer of silent films known for his skill in lighting female stars, he worked on a series of independently produced features for

Mae Marsh Mae Marsh (born Mary Wayne Marsh; November 9, 1894U.S. Census records for 1900, El Paso, Texas, Sheet No. 6 – February 13, 1968) was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life Mae Marsh was born Mary Wayne M ...

and others in the years following World War I and was eventually recruited by the burgeoning major studios to be a director, beginning in 1920. Hill directed '' The Midnight Express'' (1924), which the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' noted was "a far better production than one is apt to gather from the title" and also that "the story is unfolded with skill and imagination." Through the following years, Hill's directing career began to gain serious traction and his assignments allowed him access to top stars such as

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

and

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin's film classic ''The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the ...

. Hill directed

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

's biggest money-maker, '' Tell It to the Marines'' (1926). Four years later,

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'' (193 ...

headed the cast of one of Hill's most memorable films, '' The Big House'' (1930), a stark prison drama that is regarded by critics as a major achievement in early sound film artistry. For this film, and many others, he worked with his eventual wife, screenwriter

Frances Marion Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...

(Hill and Marion married in 1930 and divorced in 1933). ''

Min and Bill ''Min and Bill'' is a 1930 American Pre-Code comedy-drama film, directed by George W. Hill and starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery. Adapted by Frances Marion and Marion Jackson from Lorna Moon's 1929 novel, ''Dark Star'', the film tells ...

'' (1931) paired Beery and

Marie Dressler Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. She ...

as alcoholic tugboat owner-operators, again with a script by Marion. This phenomenally popular film made both Beery and Dressler into

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

's two top stars for the next couple of years, and formed the basis for many later stereotypical routines about hard-nosed seagoing men.

Death

Hill was severely injured in a June 1934 car accident just when his career was at its peak, and it is rumored that his injuries were the root cause of his apparent suicide two months later on August 10, 1934.Frasier, David K. "George W. Hill -- The Lone Wolf" (''David K. Frasier'', June 12, 2014)
/ref> His body was found in his Venice beach home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. At the time of his death, Hill was preparing to direct, and had done some shooting in China for, ''

The Good Earth ''The Good Earth'' is a historical fiction novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in her ''House of Earth'' trilogy, continued in ''Sons'' (1932) ...

'', produced at MGM 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 ...

, an Oscar-winning film released to great acclaim in 1937.

Partial filmography

Cinematography

* ''

The Sea Wolf Seawolf, Sea wolf or Sea Wolves may refer to: Animals * Sea wolf, a wolf subspecies found in the Vancouver coastal islands * Seawolf (fish), a marine fish also known as wolffish or sea wolf * A nickname of the killer whale * South American sea ...

'' (1913) * ''

The Flying Torpedo ''The Flying Torpedo'' is a 1916 American silent drama directed by John B. O'Brien and Christy Cabanne. It was produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by the Triangle Film Corporation. The film was written by John Emerson (who a ...

'' (1916) * ''

Less Than the Dust ''Less than the Dust'' is a 1916 American silent feature film produced by and starring Mary Pickford with a release by Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount Pictures. John Emerson directed and Eric von Stroheim was one of the assistant di ...

'' (1916) * '' The Cinderella Man'' (1917) * '' Polly of the Circus'' (1917) * ''

The Waiting Soul ''The Waiting Soul'' is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Burton L. King and starring Olga Petrova, Mahlon Hamilton and Mathilde Brundage.Lowe p.425 Cast * Olga Petrova as Grace Vaughan * Mahlon Hamilton as Stuart Brinsley * Mathild ...

'' (1917) * ''

The Beloved Traitor ''The Beloved Traitor'' is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by William Worthington and starring Mae Marsh, E.K. Lincoln and Hedda Hopper.Connelly p.131 The film's sets were designed by the art director Hugo Ballin. Cast * Mae Marsh ...

'' (1918)

Director

* '' Get Your Man'' (1921) * ''

The Foolish Virgin ''For the earlier silent.film of the same name see The Foolish Virgin (1916 film)'' ''The Foolish Virgin'' is a lost 1924 American silent romantic drama film released by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by George W. Hill and stars Elaine H ...

'' (1924) * ''

Zander the Great ''Zander the Great'' is a 1925 American silent comedy drama film directed by George W. Hill, in his first directing role for MGM. The film stars Marion Davies. The screenplay by Frances Marion is based upon the Edward Salisbury Field 1923 play ...

'' (1926) * '' Tell It to the Marines'' (1926) * ''

The Callahans and the Murphys ''The Callahans and the Murphys'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by George W. Hill. The film was based on a novel by Kathleen Norris, and was the first of several MGM films to star Marie Dressler and Polly Moran. The film was ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Flying Fleet ''The Flying Fleet'' is a 1929 romantic drama film directed by George W. Hill and starring Ramon Novarro, Ralph Graves, and Anita Page. Two United States Navy officers are rivals for the love of the same woman. The film is silent, and in black a ...

'' (1929) * '' The Big House'' (1930) * ''

'' (1930) * ''

The Secret Six ''The Secret Six'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code crime film starring Wallace Beery as "Slaughterhouse Scorpio", a character very loosely based on Al Capone, and featuring Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown, John Mack Brown, Jean ...

'' (1931) * ''

Hell Divers ''Hell Divers'' is a 1932 American pre-Code black-and-white film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable as a pair of competing chief petty officers in early naval aviation. The film, made with the cooperation of the Unite ...

'' (1932) (uncredited)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, George W 1895 births 1934 suicides American cinematographers American film producers American male screenwriters Film directors from Kansas People from Douglass, Kansas Suicides by firearm in California Screenwriters from Kansas 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters