Lillian Diana Gish www.lilliangish1893.com

  TRUE HEART SUSIE By HAZEL SIMPSON NAYLOR (Motion Picture Magazine – 1919) Motion Picture Magazine – September 1919 Reviews of Recent Pictures By HAZEL SIMPSON NAYLOR TRUE HEART SUSIE D. W. GRIFFITH, ARTCRAFT Robert Harron, Clarine Seymour, Lillian Gish – True Heart Susie “True Heart Susie” is one of the very few photoplays I have seen which shows a complete understanding of women. It is the tale of a pale little country girl who loves a country youth with the lasting devotion of the uncomplex soul. She sacrifices her few simple possessions that he may be sent to college and become a great preacher. Upon his return, however, he meets a jazzy little milliner and, like all men, falls for the silken cocoon and fails to hunt for the heart of his rose. They are married and Susie is bridesmaid and best friend. She protects the little wife from the results of her small sinnings, until nature takes a hand and the unhappy butterfly, oppressed in her inappropriate, sunless home, quietly dies of

  George Jean Nathan and Lillian Gish – by Thomas Quinn Curtiss (1988) An Applause Original THE SMART SET: George Jean Nathan & H.L.Mencken by Thomas Quinn Curtiss Copyright © 1998 by Thomas Quinn Curtiss Nathan had been denouncing the movies as a menace to the arts for many years, but the screen appearance of Miss Gish bewitched him. A year earlier he had published a rapturous essay about her in Vanity Fair, attempting to explain the spell her celluloid image cast. That she is one of the few real actresses that the films have brought forth, either here or abroad, is pretty well agreed upon by the majority of critics. But it seems to me that, though the fact is taken for granted, the reasons for her eminence have in but small and misty part been set down in print. Lillian Gish and George Jean Nathan — Chateau Du Plessis France “The girl is superior to her medium, pathetically so. Her genius lies in making the definite charmingly indefinite. Her technique consists in thinking out a

  Life With Father – Booklet (Chicago) When Life with Father opened in New York in November 1939, no one could have predicted that it would become the longest-running nonmusical play in Broadway’s history—3,224 performances in more than six years. Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse’s family comedy meant to raise no earthshaking issues. At a time when war news was crowding the daily press, its depiction of the life of an affluent New York family in the “gilded” 1880s delighted audiences nostalgic for crises no larger than those touched off by the irascible but good-natured ” Father. Lindsay and Crouse urged Lillian not to sign a run-of-the-play contract since they were about to produce a vehicle that would be ideal for the two sisters. The Gishes did not heed their advice and lost out on the chance to create the hit Arsenic and Old Lace on Broadway. Life with Father kept them gainfully employed for far longer than they had anticipated. Lillian’s company opened in Chicago on February 19, 1

  Gossip of all the Studios – By Cal York (Photoplay – 1929) Photoplay – November 1929 Gossip of all the Studios – By Cal York LILLIAN GISH is back in New York after a long stay abroad, waiting to make “The Swan.” She’s living at a quiet little hotel on a side street—going to the theater now and again with George Jean Nathan, who seems as devoted as ever. Lillian Gish Oddly enough, she came back on the same ship with her former boss, Charles H. Duell, who sues her for millions every now and then, and spent most of the trip avoiding him, to hear her tell it. Her mother, Mrs. May Gish, is in London, carefully tended by Sister Dorothy. Dorothy Gish – Nell Gwyn Mrs. Gish’s health is a little improved. She’s been an invalid now for some years, you remember. DOROTHY, by the way, has had a successful voice test made in England and will appear in a British talkie, “Wolves.” Funny, but Dorothy has her best luck in England. She made her best picture, “Nell Gwyn,” over there, and the British publ

  Tragedy and misfortune for Griffith Stars – By Marquis Busby (Photoplay – November 1929) Photoplay – November 1929 The Other Side of the Story – By Marquis Busby Tragedy and misfortune have stalked many who “Got their chance with Griffith” WHEN a movie star kneels down in his little nightie and offers up a prayer he says—”Please let me do a picture with Griffith. Amen.” Ever since “The Birth of a Nation” these fervent prayers have been wafted skyward. All actors were firm in the belief that David Wark Griffith, THE Great Griffith, THE Master Director, would get the utmost from them—more than any other director could achieve. It was, and is, true. Popular favorites of the screen have offered to work for nothing in his pictures just to gain the advantage of his training. Griffith stars were the most envied people on the screen. It meant much to be hailed as a Griffith “discovery.” It was almost an assurance of success. To appear in a Griffith picture meant as much as to appear in a Bel