John Gilbert (July 10, 1899 - January 9,
1936) was an actor and major star of the silent film era.
Known as "the great lover," he rivaled even the great Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw.
Though he was often cited as one of the high profile examples of an actor who was unsuccessful
in making the transition to talkies, his decline as a star in fact had as much to do with
studio politics and money as did the sound of his screen voice.
Life and career:
Born John Cecil Pringle in Logan, Utah to stock company actor parents, he struggled through a
childhood of abuse and neglect before coming to Hollywood as a teenager. He first found work
as an extra with the Thomas Ince Studios, and soon became a favorite of Maurice Tourneur, who
also hired him to write and direct several pictures. He quickly rose through the ranks,
building his reputation as an actor in such films as Heart o' the Hills opposite Mary Pickford.
In 1921, Gilbert signed a three year contract with Fox Film Corporation, where he was cast
as a romantic leading man.
In 1924, he moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he became a full-fledged star with such
high-profile films as His Hour (directed by King Vidor and written by Elinor Glyn), He
Who Gets Slapped (co-starring Lon Chaney, Sr. and Norma Shearer, and directed by Victor
Sjöström), and The Merry Widow (directed by Erich von Stroheim and co-starring Mae Murray)
. In 1925, Gilbert was once again directed by King Vidor in the war epic The Big Parade, which
became the second highest grossing silent film in cinema history. His performance in this
film made him a major star. The following year, Vidor reunited Gilbert with two of his co-stars
from that picture, Renée Adorée and Karl Dane, for the film La bohème which also starred
Lillian Gish.
Gilbert married the highly successful film actress Leatrice Joy in 1922. The union produced a
daughter, Leatrice Gilbert Fountain, but the tempestuous marriage only lasted two years. The
couple divorced in 1924, with Joy charging that Gilbert was a compulsive philanderer.
That same year, Gilbert made Flesh and the Devil, his first film with Greta Garbo. They soon
began a very public relationship, much to the delight of their fans. Gilbert planned to marry
her, but Garbo changed her mind and never showed up for the ceremony. Despite their rocky
off-screen relationship, they continued to generate box-office revenue for the studio, and
MGM paired them in two more silents - Love, a modern adaptation of Anna Karenina, and A Woman
of Affairs. The former film was slyly advertised by MGM as "Garbo and Gilbert in Love."
Career Decline:
With the coming of sound, John Gilbert first spoke in the all-talking musical Hollywood Revue
of 1929. He appeared in a Romeo and Juliet Technicolor sequence along with Norma Shearer in
which they first played the part straight and then modernized it. Reviewers for the film did
not note any problems with Gilbert's voice at this time and, in fact, some praised it.
Gilbert's career faltered mainly due to the quality of the projects he was given -- though it
is certainly true that his light tenor voice and precise stage diction did not match his
dashing screen persona, or what his many fans had imagined him to sound like.
According to film reviews of the day, audiences actually laughed at Gilbert's overly ardent
love-making in his first all-talking feature His Glorious Night (1929). Like a number of
other romance-oriented early talkies, the dialogue was unintentionally ludicrous and the film
played more like a comedy gone bad than a romantic drama. In one scene, Gilbert keeps kissing
his leading lady while saying over and over again "I love you". This scene was famously later
parodied in the MGM musical Singin' in the Rain (1952) where a preview of the fictional The
Dueling Cavalier flops disasterously.
Although Gilbert was given better roles in his later films, his career never recovered from
this disaster. The film was released throughout the country to laughing audiences and his
image as a great lover was tarnished. His Glorious Night has never been shown on television
by Turner Entertainment due to the fact that MGM sold the rights to Paramount for a remake,
and Universal -- which currently owns the rights to all pre-1948 Paramount films -- has not
done anything with it.
In 1932 MGM made the film Downstairs from Gilbert's original story, in which Gilbert played
against type as a scheming, blackmailing chauffeur. The film was well received by critics,
but did nothing to restore Gilbert's popularity. Shortly after making the film he married
co-star Virginia Bruce; the couple divorced in 1934.
Gilbert starred opposite Garbo for the last time in Queen Christina (1933) directed by Rouben
Mamoulian. Garbo was top-billed and Gilbert's name beneath the title. Although his scenes
with Garbo are excellent the picture failed to revive his career, with his next film, The
Captain Hates the Sea, being his last.
By that point, alcoholism had severely damaged his health, and he died of a heart attack
without ever regaining his former reputation. Towards the end of his life, Gilbert became
involved with Marlene Dietrich, and at the time of his death he was slated to star opposite
her in the film Desire.
On his passing in 1936, John Gilbert was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery
in Glendale, California.
He was married four times (including once to film and stage actress Ina Claire), and had two
daughters. His daughter Leatrice Gilbert Fountain (from his marriage to silent film actress
Leatrice Joy), wrote an acclaimed biography of her father's life published in 1985, and
continues as a source of information on his life and career.
John Gilbert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1755 Vine Street and in 1994, he was
honored with his image on a United States postage stamp designed by caricaturist Al
Hirschfeld.
Selected filmography:
* Heart o' the Hills (1919)
* He Who Gets Slapped (1924)
* His Hour (1924) directed by King Vidor
* The Wife of the Centaur (1924) directed by King Vidor
* The Merry Widow (1925) directed by Erich von Stroheim
* The Big Parade (1925) directed by King Vidor
* Ben-Hur (1925)
* Bardelys the Magnificent (1926)
* La Bohème (1926) with Lillian Gish
* Flesh and the Devil (1926) with Greta Garbo
* Love with Garbo
* The Show (1927) with Lionel Barrymore
* Twelve Miles Out (1927) with Joan Crawford
* A Woman of Affairs (1928) with Garbo
* The Phantom of Paris (1931)
* Downstairs (1932)
* Queen Christina (1933) with Garbo, directed by Rouben Mamoulian
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