The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me

by Lillian Gish, Ann Pinchot

This colorful, moving memoir is more than the story of one of the greatest stars of all time; here, for the first time, Lillian Gish takes us through the history of the moving picture industry itself. Beginning with her life as a child actress at the turn of the century, Miss Gish portrays her long years as a silent film star, her first experience in sound films, her successful return to the theater after years in movies, and her later television appearances. The story of Lillian Gish is inseparable from the history of movies in from the early days, when the pioneers of the industry worked long hours through hardship and cold, public criticism, the horrors of war, and the poverty of the Depression, united by their common vision of the greatness that was to be. Through warm remembrances Miss Gish gives us insights into the people and events that shaped the development of modern films. Here are glimpses of the giants of film and Pickford, Valentino, von Stroheim, Garbo, Coward, Gielgud, and many others. She brings to life the courageous and innovative David Wark Griffith, the father of film art, whose consuming passion was to create new and better ways to tell a story on celluloid. A long-time member of his company and his lifetime friend, Miss Gish separates the man from the legend. Hard-working, perfectionistic, striving always to reach new heights, he was also tender, generous, sensitive, and hopelessly impractical with money. Lillian Gish's account of the Griffith years gives us an intensely human view of a great man, as well as the inside story of the making of such early film classics as The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms, Way Down East, and Orphans of the Storm. Here is a monument to the golden days and to those who made them memorable. Enhanced by photographs of Miss Gish in many of her most famous roles, this book is a tribute to a great actress and a great lady. It is also a tribute to a man, an industry, and an era.

Genres: Biography, Film, Nonfiction, Memoir, Media Tie In, Biography Memoir, Autobiography

402 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987. The longevity of her career earned her the nickname "The First Lady of American Cinema".

She was a prominent film star of the 1910s and 1920s, particularly associated with the films of director D.W. Griffith, including her leading role in Griffith's seminal Birth of a Nation (1915). Her sound-era film appearances were sporadic, but included memorable roles in the controversial western Duel in the Sun (1946) and the offbeat thriller Night of the Hunter (1955).

She did considerable television work from the early 1950s into the 1980s, and closed her career playing, for the first time, opposite Bette Davis in the 1987 film The Whales of August.

The American Film Institute (AFI) named Gish 17th among the greatest female stars of all time. She was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1971, and in 1984 she received an AFI Life Achievement Award.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"But from the age of nine I was always falling in and out of love.

"But marriage is a twenty-four-hour-a-day job, and I have always been much too busy to make a good wife. Older women used to say to me, 'Whatever you do, don't get married.' All their troubles seemed to be caused by their husbands. Besides, my mother had not been able to succeed in marriage, and I doubted that I could succeed where she, who was wise and perfect, had failed.

"'My films are my children,' I once said to Helen Hayes, and she replied, 'The pain of having a child is nothing compared to the pain of creating a character.'"

[Graceann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lillian Gish glosses over quite a little bit, I'm sure, but that doesn't make this read any less entertaining. She was in the movies almost from the very beginning, and her stories will always be interesting to anyone who cares about film.

[Joseph Longo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this biography of actress Lillian Gish. Gish started acting on stage when she was four years old, at the start of the last century. She became a major silent film star. She died at ninety-nine and was still acting on stage, screen and television into her eighties. Gish was one of D.W. Griffith's leading ladies and his biggest star. Griffith was a silent film director who essentially created filmic story telling. The best part of the biography is Gish's closeness to Griffith and her detailing his evolution as a director and creator of a new way of telling stories. If you are interested in getting a first-hand look at film history and the evolution and career of a great but controversial director, this is a book to read. It is also gives fascinating insights into the life of a woman who worked for more than eighty years as an actress.

[Steffi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very very interesting. Not only is it an autobiography of one of the most distinguished actresses of the last century, it also offers a view on the early days of film making; the reader is witnessing the birth of many of the modern film techniques, and gains knowledge about the beginnings of an industry. It also doubles as a part biography of D.W. Griffith, who was responsible for practically inventing all these techniques. Lillian Gish writes like the lady she apparently was, with good dry humor and wisdom. She talks about famous actors and actresses she met during their early days, about film, theatre, her mother and sister (actress Dorothy Gish) and finally, herself. Recommended for everyone who is interested in film. Note that this book was written in the late 60s so naturally, it doesn't include the rest of Lillian's long career.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story of Gish's life and the people she knew in the early days of the film business.

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't say this book is about the life of Lillian Gish since you learn more about D.W. Griffith than Miss Gish herself. I don't have a problem with it since the man is as essential as she is, but it gave me the impression that she only lived and breathe because of him and her job. The first part is about the early days of films, before the stars, the producers, and the big Hollywood machine. It takes you to a different world, harsh at times but Gish manage to romanticize her ordeals because she loved being part of that new industry. The first half of the book is fascinating, and I really enjoyed it. Once you pass that era, and once there is nothing more to say about Griffith the biography just becomes a long dull list of "I did this " and "I did that". She worked with the greatest but she doesn't have much to say about them unless her involvement had an impact on their career. She didn't really hang out with her fellow actors or go to Hollywood parties, Griffith and the stage set was her entire world.

The chapter about the making of the Birth of a Nation is very interesting, but some parts made me frown. She defends Griffith's portrayal of African Americans during the civil war, claiming that he only told history of what really happened. I think that since Miss Gish didn't get a normal education, she was very naive about the facts so I guess we have to forgive her ignorance. I have only seen the movie once, and even though it is a technical masterpiece that changed the movie industry forever I cannot deny that it did a lot of damage to a portion of the American population. She doesn't recognize that, and it is a pity!

Even though I didn't learn much about Lillian Gish on a personal level, this book made me want to revisit the silent era, and D.W. Griffith's movies in particular. In spite of the issues I had with this biography I would recommend this book to any cinephiles, or lovers of the silent era.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lillian Gish is one of the first movie stars and it's too bad that today's stars aren't more like her. She is graceful and elegant and a woman of character. This book was enjoyable because you got to know her, but also learn about the beginning of film making.

My only complaint is that a large portion of the book is truly a D.W. Griffith biography and not as much about Lillian. But on the flip side of that, when she stops talking about Griffith, the book isn't as interesting.

Overall...a great read!

[M. Slinger-Carreer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title didn't lie. While this is an autobiography, Lillian Gish first and foremost talks about movies, about D.W. Griffith, and then herself. Actually, she talks very little about herself/personal life. This book is more so about the birth of the film industry through her eyes. She also uses over half of her autobiography to write the biography of D.W. Griffith.
Definitely recommended for FILM HISTORY buffs. (Not movie buffs.)

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn't go so far as to say that this book is essential reading for those who are interested in the silent movie era, but it's probably just a notch or two below essential. Lillian Gish was one of the most important figures of the era, and her story is certainly worth reading.

I don't think I had fully appreciated how serious Lillian Gish was about her craft. I should have guessed; she starting acting as a small child and continued into her nineties. Gish's stories about the making of her films are often interesting, especially her trip to France during the first World War to make Hearts of the World as well as behind-the-scenes stories about Broken Blossoms, Orphans of the Storm and Way Down East. And of course, there's Intolerance, a film in which she's barely seen but where she was constantly on set helping with the production, and The Birth of a Nation.

Gish was a great admirer of D.W. Griffith, and although this is her autobiography, it also serves as a biography of Griffith as well. (As indicated by the title.) In reading Richard Schickel's biography of Griffith, D. W. Griffith (which is essential), I had gotten the impression that Gish's famous ice floe scene in Way Down East was a case of a young impressionable actress, in the thrall of the famous director, being subjected to unfair hardship in the filming of that scene. (I don't know if Schickel intended to convey that impression, but it is what I took away from his account.) But reading Gish shows that that wasn't the case. She was a very dedicated actress, and filming in a blizzard, with her hand and hair dragging through ice cold water and risking frostbite was as much her idea as Griffith's. While Lillian Gish may seem frail and willowy on screen, she was tough and determined off screen.

I do have to say, though, that I was disappointed by her defense of Griffith's version of the events he portrayed in The Birth of a Nation. Gish wrote this book around 1969, deep into the Civil Rights era, and she apparently had no conception of how racist and ludicrous that film was. She stated that "Mr. Griffith had nothing to apologize for" and even implied that it was the people who opposed The Birth of a Nation who were the bigots.

[Phil Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lillian Gish and D.W. Griffith are perhaps the two most important figures in early film. At the time, Griffith was making movie and after movie, ground-breaking in scope and technique while Gish was creating one of the most memorable dignified movie star personaes around. I find Gish a fascinating person, with her kind of Victorian sensibility thrown headlong into the modern world of movie-making as she spins her POV of the excitment and experiment that was early filmmaking. She makes for some interesting yarns, which a lot of this turns out to be, all in a kind of matter-of-fact way that you can totally see her saying in a conversation, especially if you have seen any video of her speaking (as in the KINO Broken Blossom DVDs bonus material).

Still, you have to wonder how much of it is "true", particularly when it comes to her claiming to have influenced D.W. on the making of some of his most important work such as Intolerance. I for one believe her to an extent, and really appreciate her take on how movies were made in the early days, when everyone did everything and the material was not overtaken by producers and the Studios, which she claims lead to Griffith's demise as a filmmaker; the lack of control over his material. (Well, that and the drinking.) If you love the silent era and early Hollywood storytelling, and don't mind the yarning, this is right up your reading alley and perhaps required reading.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

So strangely enough I've become a bit of a silent film buff (well D.W. Griffith's films anyways). It all started with a wonderful chapter describing Griffith's 1916 epic Intolerance in the novel Mendoza in Hollywood by Kage Baker. I was fascinated by the movie and have been working my way through Griffith's other works. Griffith tended to use the same actors and actresses so I've become interested in their lives too, which led me to pick up this Lillian Gish autobiography.

I learned that Gish was born in Springfield, OH and spent some of her early years in Dayton. She also has several McConnell's in her family tree so although I haven't established it yet I believe we are probably distantly related. Cool!

This book was very engaging and although Gish is a biased observer I always think it is interesting to get the actual person's own insights before moving on to more objective biographers. Gish also spends a lot of time covering Griffith's life and work and I enjoyed learning about the legend's process and innovations.

[Brooke Stephenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a deep live and respect for the movies of the silent era and upon reading one biography (without laying down - Frances Marion) I quickly accumulated a list of biographies and period books to read up on the subject.
I didn't know much about lillian Gish, but had seen a few of her movies over the year. The book itself is well written and follows her career with d.w. Griffith, teetering off near the end as she had limited contact with him in the later years of his life.
Ms Gish is a strong personality and she speaks of such high respect of mr Griffith and his vision that it's quite easy to swept back to that time.
I strongly recommend this book as I found it a wonderful read.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is utterly fantastic!!!!!!!! If you are at all interested in filmmaking or acting, you should read it. D.W. Griffith is my new hero. He invited film as we know it. Reading about how he created the close-up and a million other famous shots and conventions is astounding. His vision is one of the clearest and most influential in the 20th century. And Lillian's writing is irresistible -- her tales of growing up in touring companies is incredible. I'm not even finished yet, and I know I will keep it and refer back to it for years to come.

[Helen Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered Lillian Gish early last year, when researching Early 20th Film and how it effects todays media. I was immediately in love with her, her acting, even though there was none speech in those years. I was interesting how D.W.Griffith came up ideas of Intolerance and how it uses such matters like WW1, Slavery etc. This was taken from her point of view, and you can imagine what was going on in those years and her private life with her Sister Dorothy and her mother. This book is for any film fan, such as I am.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the early days of movie-making. Learned a lot about DW Griffith. Lillian Gish learned all aspects of making a movie from him. He even gave her the chance to direct a movie when he had to be elsewhere -- she did it but did not want to do it again. In the early days when she worked with Griffith the actors were their own costumers, make-up artists, prop people, etc. She even helped in editing the movies and was able to provide suggestions. During her long career she saw a lot of changes in how movies were made and the actors' roles in them.

[Magid · Rating 2 out of 5]

According to her autobiography, Lillian Gish was an absolute angel who never did 'it' with anyone, who never had a bad review, and who really did love the negroes, because, you see, it was the fault of the white man that they had become so evil and corrupted. Someone was once nasty to her, so she sued them.

[Bonni Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. She not only told about movie making but gave a lot of credit to the man who helped her along the way. A lot of people who become famous forget about the people who helped them out.

[Suilyaniz Cintron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful biography on one of my favorite actresses, the legendary Lillian Gish. It is fascinating to read about the time of silent films from someone who actually lived through it. If you are a fan of Lillian Gish or silent films in general then this book is a must read. Loved it!

[Gilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea how much one man influenced what we see in movies today. Well worth reading as a history of early motion pictures, as well as the story of a fascinating and talented woman.

[Ida · Rating 4 out of 5]

eh, 100 pages on birth of a nation, but interesting when you think about what a mess the whole movie industry started out as. seems so much more fun then than now but im a romantic.

[Mary Narkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great autobiography which I could not put down, and did not want to put down.. it's on my to -read- again list.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased Lillian Gish’s autobiography The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me way back in 1969, when it was released. Unlike many unread books that have been discarded, this one sat on my shelf ever since that time. I never could define for myself why I didn’t read it. Finally, while searching for another book that I wanted to re-read, I came across the Gish book. It was time for me to read it, the universe said. What a wonderful book! It is a quietly told story, not flowery and filled with the gushes of many theatrical people. As a theater person myself, I respect the art and those practicing it, but I also know some of us are prone to hyperbole. But Gish, if we are to believe this book, remained throughout her lifetime a humble, gracious lady. We hear of her early days, touring in plays as a five year old, without her mother and sister. An older woman in the cast acted as her guardian, a practice that would most likely be outlawed or at least be frowned upon these days. We see her showing up on the set of a film by DW Griffith, barely fifteen years old, and ready to act in movies, even though doing so would tarnish her theatrical reputation—or so it was thought at the time. And we journey with her as she makes film after film for Griffith, securing her own reputation and his as two of the pioneers of the film industry. Her praise of Griffith is astounding; her appraisal of his faults and quirks is enlightening. This book is a textbook of film history. It made me want to seek out Griffith’s classics The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms, Way Down East, and such, for I need to see their magnificence and experience them not only as entertainment but also as pieces of history. Gish’s book is a masterpiece.

[Djr Djr · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there is one book to read to climb behind the camera during Hollywood's infancy, this is it. Lillian Gish provides so many personal experiences that shed light not simply on the history of early Hollywood, or on the backstory of the movies, but on who the people were and what life was like for those dreamers who were there for the beginning. Gish worked with nearly every big name there was and she relates those experiences in a very personal way. Nothing sensationalistic. No dirt. She just tells the tales as though she is your grandmother revealing the amazing life she lived...the one you had no idea she lived.

[Tirzah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read about Miss Gish's life and the history of the silent film. I enjoyed her acting in "The White Sister," "True Heart Susie," "Romola", "Orphans of the Storm," "Whales of August," and "The Scarlet Letter." With it entering public domain this year, I finally got to see her 1928 silent film, "The Wind."

Recommend for classic film buffs. Gish mentions a lot of classic actors/actresses and directors. It comes with a generous supply of photos.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this autobiography. Lillian is my favorite actress and I find her fascinating. I loved being able to learn about her life. I also had a blast reading about what happened behind the scenes of some of my favorite films that she’s starred in.

Wish she could have gone into more detail about it her time working on Night of the Hunter. Charles Loughton was brilliant. So grateful that I got my hands on a copy of this wonderful book. Shoutout to ThriftBooks! lol

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dual biography of D. W. Griffith and an autobiography of Lillian Gish, so also a sort of history of film. Mr. Griffith is handled somewhat worshipfully, but his eccentricities are not concealed. The book was written with the help of Ann Pinchot, still, Ms. Gish, in her writings, seems to be dignified, clear-headed, and observant.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stage and screen actress Lillian Gish, writes about the movies she did with director, D.W. Griffith. She offers many details of her experiences filming the silent era with the legendary director. Pretty interesting read for those who like to read about movies done in the silent film era.

[Luna · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at about 35%.

This honestly isn't bad, I'm just not in the mood to read another biography this month... and I also don't want to read about DW Griffith. I'll likely come back to this at a later date, as it is decently written.

[PB · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read this again, this time as a companion to "The Parade's Gone By" (still reading that one). This really seems to be Lillian Gish's voice here, and her perspective of Mr. Griffith and that time when the movies were young is invaluable.

[Raul Garcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded down.