Arthur Mackley — “Sheriff” of Motion Pictures (1915) 🇺🇸
The far famed “Sheriff” of motion pictures tells how he got the title.
In the multitude of pictures that have portrayed the story of the West, of the pioneer period as well as of the present time, no figure is more familiar to followers of the screen than is that of Arthur Mackley, “the sheriff” — who has in theaters all over the world been shown as the representative of law and order, as the man behind the star which in primitive communities is often the sole symbol of the heavy hand of the law.
The history of the territory which to-day is becoming recognized as the real West, the far West, covers hardly more than the span of a human life-we are speaking now of the American phase as distinguished from that of the Spanish.
As one journeys through this rugged country, this land of great distances, where even to-day you may travel scores of miles without seeing — from a car window — a sign of human habitation, he is impressed by the fact that there is substantial basis for the stories of the early conquerors, of the tales seemingly romantic that have made so vivid an appeal to the imagination.
In the history of the West the character of the sheriff bulks big. It is a type that needs no introduction. So it is the natural thing that man who has been seen in hundreds of portrayals of this official, in a period covering four years, and at a time when releases were comparatively few, should be known to the picture public as “the sheriff,” in spite of the fact that his work to-day is in roles more varied and perhaps also in keeping with the changing requirements of the exhibitor. For a year and a half Mr. Mackley has been producing pictures at the Reliance-Majestic studio at 4500 Sunset Boulevard.
“How did I get into that sheriff role?” said “Mack,” in response to an inquiry. “Well, we were making pictures, mostly Western, that as a rule had a crook in them, and of course the crook had to be taken care of. It was in the very first picture made by the Western Essanay company, in Golden, Col., just after we left Chicago in August, 1910, that I had the part of a sheriff. It was not much of a part, but they seemed to think my work looked that of a sheriff. It was the beginning of a long association in the picture public mind that I was the sheriff. Of course, for a considerable while I was unidentified by name, but I used to get letters, nevertheless, from five to ten a day. They were addressed to ‘The Sheriff, Essanay Company.’
“We have had in the company some bad men — men who could not go back to Texas; and when you say that a man can’t go back to Texas you are talking in language that cowboys understand — fellows who will shoot at the drop of a hat. There was a time when it seemed if any cowboy got tired of his job he would look up the Essanay company and apply for a place. We’ve had them by the dozens.”
The talk turned to the outstanding characteristics of men who were “bad.” Mr. Mackley agreed with William S. Hart that the really dangerous citizen is a man of few words. “There is an old saying in the West,” remarked the sheriff, “‘Don’t have your hand near the hilt of your gun when you are talking with a man that doesn’t talk back,’ and you may be sure that is good advice.”
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The “Sheriff,” Mrs. Mackley and “Alice.”
Collection: Moving Picture World, July 1915
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see also Chats with the Players — Arthur Mackley, of the Essanay (1913)