Al Christie — Directors I Have Met (1924) 🇬🇧
When this series was started, one of the English cousins who was destined to be included, was Al Christie, one of the best-known producers and directors, whose pictures are shown all over the world and who enjoys an unusual record in their distribution.
by Elizabeth Lonergan
Unfortunately, Mr. Christie does not care much for New York, viewing it as a necessary evil between Los Angeles and London and spending only a very short time in the largest of American cities. His visits are crowded with appointments and interviews and it is next to impossible to sec the genial head of Christie films. Not that he is exclusive — far from it — simply trying to crowd a week’s work into a few short hours and then off to England. He is the globe trotter of producers but when he is in the States, he prefers Hollywood.
That is where I found him after a couple of attempts to reach him.
“I am very fond of England,” Mr. Christie said, “and greatly enjoy my frequent visits there. It seems as if either my brother Charles [Charles Christie] or I am over there all the time. Sometimes these are holiday trips but more often business is mixed with pleasure. Just now it seems probable that I may produce comedies on English soil in the near future. I have been offered a Studio and with such excellent help, I feel certain that I could turn out some good two-reel comedies with American players in the leads and English support. By the way, I wish you would make it plain that the Bathing Girl is a thing of the past so far as Christie is concerned. We introduced the craze, had many imitators and then withdrew before the famous type was out of style.”
“Who were some of your famous bathing beauties?” we asked.
“The list is a long and interesting one. We had Betty Compson, Colleen Moore, Clarine Seymour, Mrs. Wallace Reid, Mrs. Tom Mix (Victoria Forde) Alice Lake and a dozen others who have risen to fame and fortune since they first played on the Christie ‘lot.’ Today I will gladly offer a reward of £20 to anyone who can discover a bathing beauty in the place! We were the first to say that the Bathing Girl was dead and I am firmly convinced that we yelled it so loud that we killed her completely.”
Al Christie is proud that he is the exponent of short reel comedies. He has no desire to produce longer pictures or those of a different type. Two reels is long enough, he contends, and his aim is to please those who like short snappy comedies.
Above: Al Christie who has been making comedies since the early days of the movies.
Above: Filming “Any Old Port,” featuring Neal Burns.
Above: On location filming desert scenes for “That Son of a Sheik.”
Below: Al Christie (in bow of boat) directing indoor nautical stuff. The girl on the tower is Dorothy Devore.
Collection: Picturegoer Magazine, June 1924
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see also other entries of the Directors I Have Met series:
- 1923-02: Frank Lloyd
- 1923-03: Allan Dwan
- 1923-04: Rex Ingram
- 1923-05: Frederic Sullivan-Londoner
- 1923-06: James Cruze
- 1923-07: John Robertson
- 1923-08: J. Gordon Edwards
- 1923-09: Elmer Clifton
- 1923-11: Herbert Brenon
- 1924-01: Harold Shaw
- 1924-06: Al Christie
- 1924-11: Millard Webb
- 1925-11: John Francis Dillon