The Love Light (1921) Frances Marion

[Danny]

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing THE LOVE LIGHT (1921). Almost everything about it impressed me. Director's credit goes to famed screenwriter, Frances Marion. I kept thinking it looked like a European production from its stark lighting and moody, expressive cinematography. That, of course, is the accomplishment of Mary Pickford's favorite lighting man, Charles Rosher.

But going back to Frances Marion. IMDB has a disappointed way of crediting her. For instance, THE LOVE LIGHT says, story-uncredited/written by, with no mention of what movies she DIRECTED. Did she direct others?

Mary Pickford gives a credible performance, along with the other cast. If I was to nit pick anything, it was the unfunny sequence of the farm animals getting drunk that turned the mood of the film in the wrong direction. The DVD score, by Maria Newman had some screechy-horn incongruities, but the majority of the time, the music matched the mood. I liked the pacing of the film and the suspense. Before seeing it, I had read some unkind reviews, so I was delighted to see it for myself and I'm glad I did.

Danny

[Harold Aherne]

But going back to Frances Marion. IMDB has a disappointed way of crediting her. For instance, THE LOVE LIGHT says, story-uncredited/written by, with no mention of what movies she DIRECTED. Did she direct others?

She also directed Just Around the Corner (1921), a Cosmopolitan/Paramount film, and co-directed The Song of Love (1923) with Chester M. Franklin for Norma Talmadge Productions. LOC has material on both, although Corner is incomplete.

-HA

[sepiatone]

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing THE LOVE LIGHT (1921). Almost everything about it impressed me.

But going back to Frances Marion. IMDB has a disappointed way of crediting her. For instance, THE LOVE LIGHT says, story-uncredited/written by, with no mention of what movies she DIRECTED. Did she direct others?



Danny

IMDb takes a bit getting used to if you're not familiar. As Harold mentioned all of her director credits are there. IMDb is broken down into sections ie Actress, Writer, Producer, Miscellaneous, Himself/Herself etc. Since Marion's career consisted mostly of writing that's what comes first. Right after that section are the three director credits. What annoys me about IMDb is that a person's credits are listed from most recent-then-backwards. So if Cheyenne Autumn is John Ford's last directorial effort (1964) then his whole filmography is listed 1964, 1963, 1962....all the way back to whenever he made his first directorial effort, I think it was 1915 or 16. This reflects IMDb's UK origins as the guy who created IMDb is from England. Its sort of like the Brits driving with right-hand drive as opposed to Americans left-hand drive.

[Mike Gebert]

It can also mean that, say, Chaplin has a million credits after his death whenever a clip was used in something— and they're the first thing you see.