Passages of Lillian Gish costar Fritz Weaver and "Whales of August" screenwriter David Berry

Broadway veteran Fritz Weaver, 90, died November 25 at his Manhattan home. In 1958 Weaver worked with Lillian Gish in the Broadway production of T.S. Eliot's "The Family Reunion" at The Phoenix Theater. The play ran for 32 performances, October 20 to November 16, 1958. Lead actor in the pay was Conrad Bain and Lillian Gish played the role of Agatha. Weaver won a Tony Award in 1970 for the Robert Marasco Roman Catholic boys school drama, "Child's Play."  He had a long career in film, TV, and theater.




Playwright David Berry, who wrote the play and screenplay "The Whales of August" died December 16 at his Brooklyn home. He was 73 and had a heart attack.

Berry wrote the screenplay for the 1987 movie version of "The Whales of August," directed by British director Lindsay Anderson and starring Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Ann Southern, Vincent Price, Harry Carey, Jr., Mary Steenbergen, Tisha Sterling (Southern's daughter) and Diane Ladd. This was Lillian's last film.

"The Whales of August" was filmed on location at Cliff Island, Maine, in the Casco Bay in the late summer and fall of 1986. Lillian celebrated her October 14th birthday on the island. The cast lived in trailers on the island during the production because the ferry ride from Portland was long, the ocean could be rough and the fog very thick. It was a great screenplay and a great film. Ann Southern was nominated for an Academy Award for her robust and appealing supporting role as Tisha.




Lillian Gish and Vincent Price in "The Whales of August" 1987. The film was about two elderly sisters coming to terms with their relationship, families, and their remaining time together in Lillian's Maine vacation cabin as winter approaches. Vincent Price plays Lillian's romantic interest. The play/film is set in the 1950s. It is a lovely film about how relationships change and grow over time. It is told from the perspective of the elder stars and is not explained to the audience by younger cast members.

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Jim Patterson, Editor
Writer/Speaker/Blogger
Celebrating the Life and Legend of Lillian Gish
December 27, 2016

Lillian Gish Film "The Musketeers of Pig Alley" on The National Film Registry 2016

                                              Lillian in print advert for Blackgama circa 1980s.

December 14, 2016 D.W. Griffith’s 1912 “Musketeers of Pig Alley,” the first gangster film, starring Lillian Gish and Robert Harron, was named to the National Film Registry, bringing the number of total films recognized to 700. This is Lillian’s sixth film, and her first short film, on the National Film Registry. See below.

Lillian played the role of The Little Lady. Her costars included sister Dorothy Gish, Elmer Booth, Robert Harron and two actors, Lionel Barrymore and Harry Carey, Sr, who had larger roles in other Gish films, 1947’s “Duel in the Sun,” and Harry Carey, Sr., in Griffith’s 1912 “An Unseen Enemy,” which was the film debut of The Gish Sisters. (Harry Carey, Jr., starred in Lillian’s last film “the Whales of August” in 1987.) The film also starred Jack Pickford, brother of actress Mary Pickford.  Future Academy Award-winner Donald Crisp also has a gangster role. The 17-minute film, released in October 1912 when Lillian was 19 based on an 1893 birthday, was shot at Fort Lee, New Jersey, and New York City.

Under the National Film Preservation Act, movies are only eligible to be preserved under the registry if they are at least a decade old and recognized in the National Film Preservation Board’s view as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The Librarian of Congress has the final decision and the public can also nominate films for registry consideration.

Other Lillian Gish films on The National Film Registry:  The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916), Broken Blossoms (1919), The Wind (1928), and The Night of the Hunter (1955).

Personal note: When the National Film Registry selected Lillian’s films, I sent her a note or letter of congratulations. She always responded. Based on her letters, she was most proud “The Wind” was recognized for the film registry.  

Jim Patterson, Writer/Speaker