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Elmer Clifton (March 14, 1890 – October 15, 1949) was an American writer, director, and actor from the early silent days. A collaborator of D.W. Griffith, he appeared in ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915) and ''Intolerance'' (1916) before giving up acting in 1917 to concentrate on work behind the camera, with Griffith and Joseph Henabery as his mentors. His first feature-length solo effort as a director was ''The Flame of Youth'' with Jack Mulhall. Clifton honed his talents during the late 1910s, directing vehicles for Mulhall and Herbert Rawlinson at Universal and then for Dorothy Gish for Famous Players-Lasky. Two of his projects with Gish, ''Nobody Home'' and ''Nugget Nell'', featured performances from pre-stardom Rudolph Valentino. Most of this early output has been lost.〔Golden, Eve; ''Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars''; Jefferson: McFarland & Co; p 40. Web August 17th, 2012〕 He was the first filmmaker to discover the talents of Clara Bow, whom he cast in ''Down to the Sea in Ships'', released on March 4, 1923.〔"Real life story of Clara Bow", in sixteen parts, by Louella Parsons, published by San Antonio light, May 15 - June 4, 1931〕 The independently produced film was well reviewed for its visual authenticity. During the 1920s, Clifton directed films for several different studios. During the filming of ''The Warrens of Virginia'' (1924) for Fox Film Corporation, lead actress Martha Mansfield suffered a fatal accident from burns when her costume caught fire. Clifton directed ''The Wreck of the Hesperus'' for Cecil B. deMille's production company, and filmed on location in the Grand Canyon for ''The Bride of the Colorado''. He also directed some Technicolor short films, including ''Manchu Love'' with an all-Asian cast.〔Slide, Anthony; ''Silent Topics: Essays On Undocumented Areas Of Silent Film''; Scarecrow Press; p. 37; Web August 17th, 2012〕 In the sound era, Clifton wrote and directed many poverty row Westerns and "exploitation" classics, among them the anti-marijuana polemic ''Assassin of Youth'' (1937). He also directed the vice films ''Gambling with Souls'' (1936), ''Slaves in Bondage'' (1937) and ''City of Missing Girls'' (1941), all of which portrayed addiction and white slavery to some degree. His last film was ''Not Wanted'' (1949), which was finished by star Ida Lupino when Clifton became ill and was unable to work anymore. He died in 1949 of a cerebral hemorrhage shortly after the film's release. ==Selected filmography== * ''Days of Old Cheyenne'' (1943) 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elmer Clifton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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