Table Of Content(continued from front flap) FILM STUDIES/BIOGRAPHY J o h n
and the Devil (1926), and Love (1927). A G
“Debunking the longstanding myths about Gilbert’s demise, while also paying heartfelt
dramatic and interesting personality with o G i l b e r t
an underlying flair for comedy, Gilbert tribute to his talent and versatility, Golden provides a clear-eyed, intelligent, and utterly t h e
served as one of the inspirations for the persuasive account of Gilbert’s rise and fall. Carefully considering each of the many l
D
character George Valentin in the Academy factors that accelerated his ruin, Golden absorbs readers in the aching, urgent drama of
the l ASt oF the
Award–winning movie The Artist (2011). Gilbert’s downward spiral. Along the way, she brings the silent era, the transition to e l a s t o f Silent FilM S tArS
John Gilbert is a multifaceted biogra- sound, and pre-Code Hollywood to vivid life, creating a compact and often illuminating n
e Ve Go lDe n
phy that offers insight into stardom in an picture of those times.”
era that defined Hollywood. Meticulous,
—John DiLeo, author of Screen Savers: 40 Remarkable Movies Awaiting Rediscovery t h e
comprehensive, and generously illustrated, Charming and timelessly handsome,
the book provides a behind-the-scenes John Gilbert (1897–1936) was
“This may be Golden’s finest achievement yet. John Gilbert has been plagued by a
look at one of the silent period’s greatest among the world’s most recogniz-
barrage of bogus hyperbole throughout the nearly eighty years since his untimely death; s i l e n t
stars and the glamorous yet brutal world J able actors during the 1920s. He was a wild,
in which he lived. Golden, through diligent and exhaustive research, has brilliantly debunked every one of swashbuckling figure on screen and off,
these out-and-out ‘fish’ stories. She wields her pen with as much flourish and verve as o but the introduction of sound to movies
Gilbert brandishing a sword in one of his action swashbucklers, and the result is a work t f i l m devastated his career, making him a highly
h
that is both responsible and valuable.” visible casualty from the silent film era.
e
—MeL neuhaus, film writer for Examiner.com lh Many myths have developed around the
s ta r s
A larger-than-life star in the eighty years since
S his untimely death at the age of thirty-eight.
“This book will certainly be the definitive biography of John Gilbert. Golden has created tn
o In John Gilbert: The Last of the Silent Film
a gripping, detailed chronicle of Gilbert’s life, providing readers with the full tragic story
F
Stars, Eve Golden sets the record straight.
of an emotionally deprived child who gained tremendous fame and wealth through his t
h While many accounts of Gilbert’s life
looks, talent, and drive and then lost it all.”
e have focused on his high-profile romances
—JaMes RobeR t PaRish, author of Fiasco: A History of Hollywood’s Iconic Flops SG with Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, his
i
l legendary conflicts with movie mogul Louis
e
“The reader is completely absorbed in the life and times of John Gilbert, and the author
ni B. Mayer, his four tumultuous marriages,
succeeds in painting a picture of a real human being. It’s well balanced and far from dull, t and his swift decline after the introduction
trashy movie star adoration. Highly recommended to fans, and also to those who have yet Fil of talkies, this definitive biography sepa-
l
eve Golden is the author of Anna to discover Gilbert and the movie stars of his era.” M rates fact from fiction, debunking some of
Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld’s Broadway, —bettina uhLich, author of the German biography on Jean Harlow, Sb J o h n the most pernicious rumors about the
The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall, Das Leben der Leinwandgöttin Jean Harlow actor, including the oft-repeated myth that
Vernon and Irene Castle’s Ragtime Revolu- e he had a high-pitched, squeaky voice that
tion, as well as a collection of essays on “Myths have distorted the legacy of John Gilbert, one of the giants of the silent screen. In t ruined his career. John Gilbert traces the
A
silent film stars. her lively, well-researched, and clear-eyed biography, Golden tells a riveting life story rr actor’s life from his youth spent traveling
S
with his mother in acting troupes, to his big
while setting the record straight.”
screen debut at Triangle Studios with
—eMiL y W. LeiDeR, author of Myrna Loy: The Only Good Girl in Hollywood t G i l b e r t
producer and director Thomas Ince, to his
work with Fox in the early 1920s. His fame
S Cr e e n Cl A S SiC S
and celebrity status reached their peak
SERIES EDITOR: Patrick McGilligan
after he signed with MGM, where he
starred opposite Mae Murray, Norma
Shearer, Joan Crawford, and other actress-
Jacket design by Kathleen Lynch/Black Kat Design e Ve Go lDe n es in popular films such as The Merry
Jacket photograph: portrait of John Gilbert by Ruth Harriet Louise, Widow (1925), The Big Parade (1925), Flesh
January 8, 1927 (Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research).
Author photograph by Amy Sussman (continued on back flap)
John Gilbert
Also by Eve Golden
Platinum Girl:
The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow
(1991)
Vamp:
The Rise and Fall of Theda Bara
(1996)
Anna Held and the Birth of Ziegfeld’s Broadway
(2000)
Golden Images:
41 Essays on Silent Film Stars
(2001)
The Brief, Madcap Life of Kay Kendall
(2002)
Vernon and Irene Castle’s Ragtime Revolution
(2007)
Bride of Golden Images:
Essays on Stars of the 1930s–60s
(2009)
J o h n
G i l b e r t
The
Last
of the
Silent
Film
Stars
E G
vE oldEn
Copyright © 2013 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky,
Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown
College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead
State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University,
Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville,
and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508–4008
www.kentuckypress.com
17 16 15 14 13 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Golden, Eve.
John Gilbert : the last of the silent film stars / Eve Golden.
pages cm
Includes filmography.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8131-4162-6 (hardcover : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8131-4163-3 (epub) — ISBN 978-0-8131-4164-0 (pdf)
1. Gilbert, John, 1897-1936. 2. Motion picture actors and actresses—United
States—Biography. I. Title.
PN2287.G517G65 2013
791.4302’8092—dc23
[B] 2012051380
This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American
National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
To my Aussie pals
Mark Johnson and Ross Trevelyan
Contents
Introduction 1
Part 1. The Climb
Chapter One 7
Chapter Two 17
Chapter Three 37
Chapter Four 66
Part 2. The Peak
Chapter Five 75
Chapter Six 88
Chapter Seven 117
Chapter Eight 129
Chapter Nine 139
Part 3. The Decline
Chapter Ten 183
Chapter Eleven 192
Chapter Twelve 215
Chapter Thirteen 232
Chapter Fourteen 251
Chapter Fifteen 272
Afterword 284
Acknowledgments 289
Filmography 291
Notes 323
Bibliography 347
Index 351
Introduction
October 1929, “If I Had a
Talking Picture of You”
It’s all very well to make pictures of these heroes and villains of
the past, but are they honestly and truthfully any more romantic
than the man who fills my gasoline tank? How do you know
what emotions the man across the street from you is experienc-
ing? How do you know what love has come into his life, what
he feels?
—John Gilbert, 1927
I wish I could tell you, in a few words, the whole story of those
dreadful years, these years that the locusts have eaten. . . . So
many things, so many reasons, they would fill a book.
—John Gilbert, 1933
Honeymooners John Gilbert and Ina Claire were among the more eye-
catching American tourists in Europe in the summer of 1929. Fortyish
Ina Claire was Broadway’s leading light comedienne, and as for John
Gilbert—in his early thirties, he was the screen’s hottest heartthrob, the
top male sex symbol of the late 1920s and one of MGM’s box-office
champs. Handsome, mercurial, and very talented, he had already mar-
ried and divorced one star (Leatrice Joy) and had famously taken movie
newcomer Greta Garbo as his lover—“Jack” Gilbert (as he was known
to friends and enemies alike) would go on to marry another actress (in-
1
Description:Charming and classically handsome, John Gilbert (1897--1936) was among the world's most recognizable actors during the silent era. He was a wild, swashbuckling figure on screen and off, and accounts of his life have focused on his high-profile romances with Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, his lege
