Typed Letter - Signed

Gish, Lillian

Publication Date: 1972

About this Item

Typed letter personally signed by Lillian Gish on her personal letterhead dated January 16, 1972. The letter is addressed "Dear John Firca, Thank you for your most kind letter which I received upon my return from Austria and due to the fact that I was abroad unfortunately I was unable to see any of my dear friend, Mary Pickford's films. in regards to obtaining silent films, there is a company called Blackhawk which deals in these films. Enclosed is a brochure from my touring program on the art of film - 1900-1928 - which takes me to colleges and universities throughout the United States which I thought might be of interest to you. With every fond wish, In remembrance, Lillian Gish". Fine Condition. She was the archetypal silent film heroine -- the delicate damsel in distress, fainting on an ice floe, cowering before a brutal bounder, languishing in a garret. She has been called "the first lady of the silent screen," and film director D.W. Griffith extolled her "exquisite, ethereal beauty." She was Lillian Gish, the star of movies, television, radio, and the stage for nearly all of the 20th century. Gish was born in Springfield, Ohio in October of 1896. She and her sister grew up in the theater, performing in melodramas for $10 a week. Beginning at the age of five, she performed in New York and with a traveling road company. From that young age Gish loved the theater, calling it a "beautiful, kind, generous, unselfish world." Before she was ten she had danced with Sarah Bernhardt in New York, and in 1912 had her film debut in D.W. Griffith's AN UNSEEN ENEMY. In the years they worked together, Gish and Griffith formed one of film's famed collaborative teams. Sharing a passionate devotion to their work, they learned a great deal from each other. With her fragile, child-like beauty, Gish was the perfect Griffith heroine, starring in many of his most famous films. While working with Griffith, Gish would shoot a film in short intensive sessions. Of that time, Gish recalled, "We worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week, and we liked it because it was so interesting . We were all one family. We were after one thing: to get whatever that was up on the canvas perfect." Her earliest films (and her actor's education) were all done with Griffith. Among her more than two dozen films with him were THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915), INTOLERANCE (1916), BROKEN BLOSSOMS (1919), WAY DOWN EAST (1919) and ORPHANS OF THE STORM (1922). Griffith's visionary work expanded the possibilities of the medium, and for Gish this was a perfect testing ground for her budding talents. His long films and spontaneous directing approach gave Gish the opportunity to experiment with diverse elements in her acting style. Many of her trademark wistful gestures and contemplative looks were first tested in front of Griffith's camera. By 1924, Gish had left Griffith for MGM, who had offered her an astounding $800,000 contract. At MGM she not only starred in, but made substantial contributions to, the production of LA BOHEME (1926), THE SCARLET LETTER (1926), and THE WIND (1928). In the 1930s problems with the studio prompted Gish to leave Hollywood and resume a career on the stage. Performing in only a handful of films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Gish concentrated on theater and radio. In 1948 she made her television debut in THE LATE CHRISTOPHER BEAN, and continued to appear on television regularly for the rest of her life. Gish's complex and subtle style had been a revelation during the silent era, and though her popularity dwindled after the 1930s, her talent never did. Over the years she appeared in such fine films as DUEL IN THE SUN (1946), THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955), THE UNFORGIVEN (1960), and her final work, THE WHALES OF AUGUST (1987). Gish's ability to dazzle viewers with a complex range of emotions gave them insight into each character and a sense of intimacy. It was this intimacy that, over eighty-five years, brought her many characters to life. Seller Inventory # 002205

Bibliographic Details

Title: Typed Letter - Signed

Publication Date: 1972

Binding: Unbound

Condition: Fine

Signed: Signed by Author(s)