George B. Seitz (Who’s Who at MGM, 1937) 🇺🇸

George B. Seitz directs his pictures with an artist’s eye, for, next to directing, Seitz likes best to paint. A quiet man, Seitz spends most of his spare time at an easel, painting portraits in his studio or landscapes in the field. He has won honorable mention in several art exhibits.

Seitz was born January 3, in Boston. When he was four his family moved to Philadelphia, where he attended grade school and Friends Central High School. Later he returned to Boston to study art. Like many talented art school graduates, he first became an illustrator. He combined this with a flair for creative writing and made a good living doing magazine work.

Did Serial Thrillers

When he had several novels to his credit, he joined the film industry as a scenario writer. His first script was the famous Perils of Pauline, starring Pearl White. This was followed by “The Shielding Shadow,” and other highly imaginative melodramatic serials.

Seitz became a director of his own stories and made “Rogues and Romance,” “Way of a Man,” “Fortieth Door” before talking pictures came in. With the talkies, Seitz made such films as “Wild Horse Mesa,” “Vanishing American,” “Desert Gold,” “Pals in Paradise,” “Last Frontier,” “Jim the Conqueror,” “Isle of Forgotten Women,” “Blood Ship,” “Black Magic,” “Guilty,” “Midnight Mystery” and “Murder on the Roof.”

With M-G-M Since 1933

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer placed him under contract in 1933, since which time he has directed “Lazy River,” “Women in His Life,” “Society Doctor,” “Shadow of Doubt,” “Times Square Lady,” “Calm Yourself,” “Woman Wanted,” “Kind Lady,” “Exclusive Story,” “Absolute Quiet,” “Three Wise Guys,” The Last of the Mohicans, “Mad Holiday,” “Under Cover of Night,” “Mama Steps Out,” “A Family Affair,” The Thirteenth Chair, “Between Two Women” and My Dear Miss Aldrich.

It was Seitz who started Robert Taylor up the ladder of fame. He introduced the good-looking college boy to screen fans in the second lead of Society Doctor. An immediate hit. Taylor stepped into his first lead in Times Square Lady, also directed by Seitz.

Seitz is five feet eleven inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, has brown hair and blue eyes.

The director is one of the type who draws on an experience of years in working out his problems. Practically any situation that arises in one of his pictures calls to his memory a similar experience or emergency. He handles emergencies with lightning speed.

Crayon Artist Also

In “Mama Steps Out,” a portrait of Alice Brady, supposedly drawn on the wall by Ivan Lebedeff, was needed. The artist to draw it had been overlooked in the production call.

Seitz remarked that there was no time to wait for the artist, took the crayon and drew the picture himself. In ten minutes the cameras were turning on the new work of art.

He takes an active interest in politics and current events, likes to travel occasionally, and reads anything that comes to hand. He and Lionel Barrymore, whose hobby is etching, often hold long discussions on art and painting, and make suggestions regarding each other’s work. He has an unusual technique in handling mystery stories, but does not particularly care for detective fiction.

Seitz is a keen student of American history, and his greatest ambition is to direct a picture dealing with Revolutionary period. His home town of Boston especially interests him for picture material.

Collection: Who’s Who at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1937)