Christy Cabanne
Christy Cabanne | |
---|---|
Beyond the Rainbow (1922) with debuting Clara Bow. | |
Born |
William Christy Cabanne April 16, 1888 St. Louis, Missouri |
Died |
October 15, 1950 62) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | (aged
Cause of death | heart attack |
Years active | 1911 to 1948 |
Christy Cabanne, born William Christy Cabanne, (April 16, 1888 – October 15, 1950) was an American film director, screenwriter and silent film actor. Christy Cabanne was, along with Sam Newfield and William Beaudine, one of the most prolific directors in the history of American film.
Biography
Cabanne (pronounced "CAB-a-nay") spent several years in the Navy, leaving the service in 1908. He decided on a career in the theater, and became a director as well as an actor. Although acting was his main profession, when he finally broke into the film industry it was chiefly as a director after appearing in over 40 short films between 1911 and 1914. He signed on with the Fine Arts Co., then was employed as an assistant to D.W. Griffith. Miriam Cooper credited him with discovering her as an extra in 1912.
Being a published author, he was hired by Metro Pictures to write a serial. After that he formed his own production company, but was shut down only a few years later. He then became a director for hire, mainly of low- to medium-budget films for such studios as FBO, Associated Exhibitors, Tiffany and Pathe, although he worked at MGM on a few occasions in the mid- to late 1920s on films such as The Midshipman (1925). Cabanne directed legendary child actress Shirley Temple in The Red-Haired Alibi (1932) in her first ever credited role in a feature-length movie.
In the 1930s he made many films with Universal. By the 1940s he continued to direct Universal's popular B pictures, and made himself available to low-budget, independent producers. In 1947 he directed a Bela Lugosi thriller, Scared to Death, which was experimental in that it was photographed on semi-professional, economical 16mm color film. (Robert L. Lippert released it on standard 35mm film in 1947.)
Personal life
Christy Cabanne was married to Millicent Fisher. They had two children, a son William, and daughter Audrey.
Partial filmography
- The Battle (1911)
- For His Son (1912)
- The Transformation of Mike (1912)
- Under Burning Skies (1912)
- The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch (1912)
- The Punishment (1912)
- A Temporary Truce (1912)
- The Inner Circle (1912)
- Two Daughters of Eve (1912)
- So Near, Yet So Far (1912)
- The Painted Lady (1912)
- Heredity (1912)
- The Informer (1912)
- My Hero (1912)
- A Cry for Help (1912)
- The God Within (1912)
- A Chance Deception (1913)
- Near to Earth (1913)
- A Misunderstood Boy (1913)
- The House of Darkness (1913)
- The Wanderer (1913)
- A Timely Interception (1913)
- The Mothering Heart (1913)
- The Sorrowful Shore (1913)
- During the Round-Up (1913)
- An Indian's Loyalty (1913)
- So Runs the Way (1913)
- The Conscience of Hassan Bey (1913)
- Judith of Bethulia (1914) (actor)
- The Hunchback (1914)
- The Quicksands (1914)
- The Rebellion of Kitty Belle (1914)
- The Sisters (1914)
- The Lost House (1915)
- Martyrs of the Alamo (1915)
- Enoch Arden (1915)
- Pathways of Life (1916)
- Daphne and the Pirate (1916)
- Sold for Marriage (1916)
- Diane of the Follies (1916)
- National Red Cross Pageant (1917)
- Beyond the Rainbow (1922)
- The Midshipman (1925)
- Altars of Desire (1927)
- Graft (1931)
- The Red-Haired Alibi (1932)
- The World Gone Mad (1933)
- Jane Eyre (1934)
- Behind the Green Lights (1935)
- Storm Over the Andes (1935) — about the Chaco War
- Another Face (1935)
- The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1937)
- Everybody's Doing It (1938)
- The Mummy's Hand (1940)
- Scattergood Baines (1941)
- Timber (1942)
- Keep 'Em Slugging (1943)
- Scared to Death (1944, released 1947)
- The Man Who Walked Alone (1945)
- Robin Hood of Monterey (1947)
- Silver Trails (1948)
External links and sources
Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Christy Cabanne. |