Launch of United Artists A Film History Moment by Jim Patterson

Lillian Gish Knew Silent Film Era was No Place for Sissies!

(c) Pioneer Press Service

Film History Moment by Jim Patterson 

On February 5, 1919, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith launched United Artists.

Griffith’s first UA film was 1920’s “Way Down East” with Lillian Gish. It was the film that established the legendary dedication of Miss Gish, who risked her life on an ice floe, to director and film. “Way Down East” is not on the National Film Registry, a U.S. film preservation program managed through the Library of Congress.  To nominate “Way Down East” to the National Film Registry via an online form see https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/nominate/. If you would prefer send a letter of nomination to National Film Registry Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation 19053 Mt. Pony Road Culpeper, VA 22701. There is no fee to nominate a film. 

United Artists co-founder Charlie Chaplin, who directed, produced, scored and starred in most of his own films, re-shot one scene in 1931’s "City Lights," featuring his famous "Little Tramp" character, 342 times.

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Jim Patterson is a silent film historian whose work has appeared in Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, Classic Images, San Francisco Examiner, Financial Times, Auburn Magazine and others. He is available to speak at silent film festivals and travels from Washington DC. He served on the Board of the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Theater at Bowling Green State University for more than 10 years.