The Biograph Girl
Encyclopedia
The Biograph Girl is a musical
with a book by Warner Brown, lyrics by Brown and David Heneker, and music by Heneker. Its plot focuses on the silent film
era and five pioneers of American cinema - actresses Mary Pickford
and Lillian Gish
, directors
D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett
, and Paramount Pictures
founder Adolph Zukor
.
, they search for her at the studio headquarters in New York City
. There they discover she has been rechristened Mary Pickford and is known as the Biograph Girl. Before long Lillian and Dorothy are acting in films directed by D.W. Griffith, and when he decides to relocate to Hollywood, he brings the girls and their mother with him.
Lillian is cast in Birth of a Nation, while Mary decides to leave Griffith in order to work for Adolph Zukor at a substantially higher salary. Eventually she finds herself forced to suppress her growing sophistication in order to maintain the image of innocence her fans have embraced. Shocked by the negative public and industry reaction to Birth of a Nation, Griffith vows to make an epic film
advocating peace and tolerance.
Intolerance
proves to be an artistic success but a commercial flop. Griffith's financial woes threaten to end his career until Mary joins him, Charles Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks
to form United Artists
. When Griffith's monetary situation fails to improve, he urges Lillian to accept an offer from another studio, and she reluctantly does.
With the arrival of sound film
s in 1927, the industry's pioneers are forced to re-evaluate their careers and make plans for the future.
, directed by Victor Spinetti
, and choreographed by Irving Davies, the musical premiered at the Phoenix Theatre
in the West End
on 19 November 1980 and closed after 57 performances. The cast included Sheila White
as Mary Pickford, Bruce Barry as D.W. Griffith, Kate Revill as Lillian Gish, Guy Siner
as Mack Sennett, and Ron Berglas as Adolph Zukor.
found it to be "a most excellent, delicate and perceptive entertainment, with young players of talent so outstanding that after fifty years of play going I was taken by delighted surprise" and concluded, "I would ask all London to go and see it."
Francis King of the Sunday Telegraph
said the score "is always tuneful, witty and sophisticated," and Jack Tinker of the Daily Mail
called it "a sweet lament for lost innocence" and "a minor miracle" and added, "This delightfully unassuming show contains the same naive charm as those early flicks' themselves." In his review in the International Herald Tribune
, Sheridan Morley
described it as "a joyous celebration of the silent screen ... a delight. It captures moments of sheer exuberant nostalgia."
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by Warner Brown, lyrics by Brown and David Heneker, and music by Heneker. Its plot focuses on the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era and five pioneers of American cinema - actresses Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
and Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
, directors
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett was a Canadian-born American director and was known as the innovator of slapstick comedy in film. During his lifetime he was known at times as the "King of Comedy"...
, and Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
founder Adolph Zukor
Adolph Zukor
Adolph Zukor , born Adolph Cukor, was a film mogul and founder of Paramount Pictures.-Early life:...
.
Plot
When Mary Gish and her daughters Lillian and Dorothy recognize their friend Gladys Smith in a film made by the American Mutoscope and Biograph CompanyAmerican Mutoscope and Biograph Company
The American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1928. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over three thousand short...
, they search for her at the studio headquarters in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. There they discover she has been rechristened Mary Pickford and is known as the Biograph Girl. Before long Lillian and Dorothy are acting in films directed by D.W. Griffith, and when he decides to relocate to Hollywood, he brings the girls and their mother with him.
Lillian is cast in Birth of a Nation, while Mary decides to leave Griffith in order to work for Adolph Zukor at a substantially higher salary. Eventually she finds herself forced to suppress her growing sophistication in order to maintain the image of innocence her fans have embraced. Shocked by the negative public and industry reaction to Birth of a Nation, Griffith vows to make an epic film
Epic film
An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...
advocating peace and tolerance.
Intolerance
Intolerance (film)
Intolerance is a 1916 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era. The three-and-a-half hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines each separated by several centuries: A contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; a...
proves to be an artistic success but a commercial flop. Griffith's financial woes threaten to end his career until Mary joins him, Charles Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro....
to form United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
. When Griffith's monetary situation fails to improve, he urges Lillian to accept an offer from another studio, and she reluctantly does.
With the arrival of sound film
Sound film
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 would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
s in 1927, the industry's pioneers are forced to re-evaluate their careers and make plans for the future.
Production
Produced by Harold FieldingHarold Fielding
Harold Lewis Fielding was an English theatre producer.Fielding was one of Britain's foremost theatrical producers who produced several musicals, including Mame, Charlie Girl, Half a Sixpence, Show Boat, Scarlett, Barnum, Sweet Charity, The Biograph Girl, and Ziegfeld.The son of a stockbroker,...
, directed by Victor Spinetti
Victor Spinetti
Victor Spinetti is a Welsh comic actor.-Early life:Spinetti was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales of Welsh and Italian heritage from a grandfather who was said to have walked from Italy to Wales to work as a coal miner...
, and choreographed by Irving Davies, the musical premiered at the Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix Theatre (London)
The Phoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located on Charing Cross Road . The entrance is in Phoenix Street....
in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
on 19 November 1980 and closed after 57 performances. The cast included Sheila White
Sheila White (actress)
Sheila White is an English actress and West End musical star. She is married to the former theatre producer Richard M. Mills and lives in Kingston, Surrey.- Early life and career :White was born in London...
as Mary Pickford, Bruce Barry as D.W. Griffith, Kate Revill as Lillian Gish, Guy Siner
Guy Siner
Guy Siner is an American-born English actor known for his role as Lieutenant Hubert Gruber in the British television series Allo 'Allo!.-Early life:...
as Mack Sennett, and Ron Berglas as Adolph Zukor.
Critical reception
Veteran theatre critic Harold HobsonHarold Hobson
Sir Harold Hobson was an influential English drama critic and author.He was born in Thorpe Hesley near Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England and read History at Oxford University. He was an assistant literary editor for the Sunday Times from 1944 and later became its drama critic...
found it to be "a most excellent, delicate and perceptive entertainment, with young players of talent so outstanding that after fifty years of play going I was taken by delighted surprise" and concluded, "I would ask all London to go and see it."
Francis King of the Sunday Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
said the score "is always tuneful, witty and sophisticated," and Jack Tinker of the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
called it "a sweet lament for lost innocence" and "a minor miracle" and added, "This delightfully unassuming show contains the same naive charm as those early flicks' themselves." In his review in the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, Sheridan Morley
Sheridan Morley
Sheridan Morley was an English author, biographer, critic, director, actor and broadcaster. He was the eldest son of actor Robert Morley and grandson of actress Dame Gladys Cooper, and wrote biographies of both...
described it as "a joyous celebration of the silent screen ... a delight. It captures moments of sheer exuberant nostalgia."
Song list
- The Moving Picture Show ... Company
- Working in Flickers ... Mary Pickford
- That's What I Get All Day ... Wally and Company
- The Moment I Close My Eyes ... D.W. Griffith
- Diggin' Gold Dust ... Company
- Every Lady Needs a Master ... Lillian Gish
- I Just Wanted to Make Him Laugh ... Mack Sennett and Lillian Gish
- I Like to Be the Way I Am in My Own Front Parlour ... Mary Pickford and Company
- Beyond Babel ... D.W. Griffith and Company
- A David Griffith Show ... Company
- More Than a Man ... Lillian Gish
- The Industry ... Adolph Zukor, Mary Pickford, Wally, and Company
- Gentle Fade ... D.W. Griffith
- Nineteen Twenty-Five ... Company
- The Biograph Girl ... Mary Pickford and Company
- One of the Pioneers ... D.W. Griffith
- Put It in the Tissue Paper ... Mack Sennett, Mary Pickford, and Lillian Gish
- Finale (Working in Flickers) ... Company