George Walter Terwilliger (February 27, 1882 – December 12, 1970) was an American
film director,
screenwriter, and journalist.
["TERWILLIGER, George"](_blank)
entry "Motion Picture Studio Directory" supplement, ''Motion Picture News
The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930.
History
The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...
'' (New York, N.Y.), October 21, 1916, p. 121. Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
, San Francisco, California. Retrieved April 15, 2020. He worked in both the
silent and sound eras, directing at least 76 productions between 1912 and 1936. He also wrote scores of screenplays for films released between 1910 and 1939. In 1912 alone, he was contracted by
Lubin film studio to write one story a week for the company.
Early life and journalism
Born in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in 1882, George Terwilliger was the middle child of three children of James G. and Catherine A. (
née Graves) Terwilliger. By 1900 his father, who worked as a clerk for the
Central Railroad of New Jersey
The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...
, had moved the family to the township of
Linden in that state.
["Twelfth Census of the United States: 1900", Linden Township, Union County, New Jersey, June 8, 1900; digital copy of original enumeration page, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C.; archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.] Young George received a relatively modest education, completing just two years of high school before quitting to find a job and a career. He was still living at his parents' home in New Jersey in 1900, but he soon returned to Manhattan, where he was hired by ''
The New York Dramatic Mirror
The ''New York Dramatic Mirror'' (1879–1922) was a prominent theatrical trade newspaper.
History
The paper was founded in January 1879 by Ernest Harvier as the ''New York Mirror''. In stating its purpose to cover the theater, it proclaimed t ...
'' to work as an editor and writer. ''The Mirror'', a weekly, provided some traditional news reports but focused on covering the world of theatre, reviewing stage acts, and Broadway plays. The newspaper in the first years of the twentieth century only allotted occasional coverage to the emerging industry of motion pictures, a relatively small patch of entertainment that ''The Mirror'' and many others in the New York media regarded then as a passing oddity, a "queer freak", that did not warrant considerable print.
[Grau, Robert. ''The Theatre of Science: A Volume of Progress and Achievement in the Motion Picture Industry''. New York, London and Paris: Broadway Publishing Company, 1914, p. 250.]
Around 1910, Terwilliger left ''The Mirror'' after working there for nine years to accept a job at ''
The Morning Telegraph
''The Morning Telegraph'' (1839 – April 10, 1972) (sometimes referred to as the ''New York Morning Telegraph'') was a New York City broadsheet newspaper owned by Moe Annenberg's Cecelia Corporation. It was first published as the '' Sunday ...
'', another long-established New York weekly newspaper. ''The Telegraph'' contained general news and financial reports, although it specialized in theatrical coverage and horse-racing. Early on, it established too a department at the paper devoted specifically to covering motion pictures.
[Grau, p. 84.] Terwilliger spent only a year with ''The Telegraph'', but during that time he significantly expanded its film department's staff and operations. He also wrote reviews and film-related features under the
pen name "Gordon Trent".
To supplement his limited income as an employee of newspapers published just once a week, Terwilliger wrote and edited stories, and sold "
scenarios" to
Biograph Studios in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
such as ''
The Lucky Toothache
''The Lucky Toothache'' is a 1910 silent film short directed by Frank Powell and starring Mary Pickford and Mack Sennett. It was produced and distributed by the Biograph Company.
The film survives because it was transferred by the Library of Con ...
'' in 1910 and ''The Battle'', directed by
D. W. Griffith and released in 1911.
Selected filmography
Terwilliger served as both screenwriter and director on many film projects during his long career and as a cast member in a few productions. The following is just a partial list of his films.
* ''
The Lucky Toothache
''The Lucky Toothache'' is a 1910 silent film short directed by Frank Powell and starring Mary Pickford and Mack Sennett. It was produced and distributed by the Biograph Company.
The film survives because it was transferred by the Library of Con ...
'' (1910)
* ''
The Clod'' (1913)
* ''
The Daughters of Men'' (1914)
* ''The Gamblers'' (1914)
* ''The Nation's Peril'' (1915)
* ''
The Ringtailed Rhinoceros'' (1915)
* ''
The City of Failing Light
''The City of Failing Light'' is a lost 1916 silent film drama directed by George Terwilliger. It was produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company.
Cast
* Herbert Fortier - John Gray/David Gray
* Octavia Handworth - John's wife
* William H. Turne ...
'' (1916)
* '
* ''Race Suicide'' (1916)
* ''The Lash of Destiny'' (1916)
* ''Her Good Name'' (1917)
* ''The Price Woman Pays'' (1919)
* ''
Tom's Little Star
''Tom's Little Star'' is a 1919 short film and a part of the Stage Women's War Relief films.
It is unknown if a copy of this film survives, but more of a chance it might be lost. The film, directed by George Terwilliger, is known for being the ...
'' (1919)
* ''Dollars and the Woman'' (1920)
* ''
Slaves of Pride
''Slaves of Pride'' is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by George Terwilliger and starring Alice Joyce, Percy Marmont and Gustav von Seyffertitz.Langman p.155
Cast
* Alice Joyce as Patricia Leeds
* Percy Marmont as Brewster Howard
* T ...
'' (1920)
* ''
The Sporting Duchess'' (1920)
* ''
The Fatal Hour'' (1920)
* ''
The Misleading Lady'' (1920)
* ''
Bride's Play
''The Bride's Play'' is a 1922 American silent romance film
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the ...
'' (1922)
* ''
What Fools Men Are
''What Fools Men Are'' is a 1922 American silent comedy drama film directed by George Terwilliger and starring Faire Binney, Lucy Fox, and Huntley Gordon. It is based upon the play ''The Flapper'' by Eugene Walter.
Plot
As described in a film ...
'' (1922)
* ''Children of Dust'' (1923)
* ''
Wife in Name Only
''Wife in Name Only'' is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by George Terwilliger and starring Mary Thurman, Arthur Housman, and Edmund Lowe.
Plot
As described in a film magazine review, the wealthy and beautiful Philippa L'Estrange fa ...
'' (1923)
* ''
Daughters Who Pay
''Daughters Who Pay'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by George Terwilliger, starring Marguerite De La Motte and John Bowers, and featuring Béla Lugosi as Serge Romonsky.
Plot
Margaret Smith attempts to save her brother by visiti ...
'' (1925)
* ''Married?'' (1925)
* ''
The Big Show'' (1926)
* ''
The Highbinders
''The Highbinders'' is a 1915 American short crime film directed by Tod Browning. It is not known whether the film currently survives.
Plot
As recorded in a film magazine, Maggie, the daughter of Pat Gallagher, a brutal saloon keeper, to esc ...
'' (1926)
* ''
After the Fog
''After the Fog'' is a 1929 pre-Code drama film directed by Leander De Cordova and starring Mary Philbin, Edmund Burns and Carmelita Geraghty.Munden p. 9 It was an early sound film, made during the transition from silent films. A separate silent ...
'' (1929)
* ''Sentinel Light'' (Star) (1929), serial
* ''
Ouanga'' (1936)
* ''
The Devil's Daughter'' (1939)
* ''Poncomania'' (1940)
References
References
Notes
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terwilliger, George
1882 births
1970 deaths
American film directors
American male screenwriters
20th-century American male writers
Silent film screenwriters
20th-century American screenwriters