Harold Shaw — Directors I Have Met (1924) 🇬🇧
My correction of the mistaken idea came as one of the results of my trip to California where I met Mr. Shaw at the Metro Studio after having made an appointment to interview him for this series.
by Elizabeth Lonergan
“But I am an American!” he told me.
Of course I persisted, for I wanted to prove my argument. “Well, didn’t you put on a lot of good pictures for the old London Film Company?”
Mr. Shaw smiled indulgently, though evidently pleased at my long memory. “Indeed I did. I went from the Edison Studio to London in 1913, and was their first director-in-chief and made a great many pictures for them. Perhaps, that is why you, and many others, think I am English born. I am quite flattered when anyone says so because I value my experience across the water more than I can say, and I have so many good friends in England and the Colonies. My wife and I are hoping to have another trip back to London soon, and we agreed not long ago that every two or three years we would have a holiday across the Atlantic.”
“I wish that you would tell me something about the difference in directing in the two countries,” I asked, voicing a question that is often put to me.
“There is absolutely no difference in direction, and I consider that English actors are equally well trained with those in this country. It is too bad that salaries are not more equal and that more money cannot be allowed for productions in England. I will admit that too much is sometimes paid out in American studios, but there is a happy medium and I feel sure that English pictures would benefit if they were able to invest more capital in their pictures. One thing that I shall always remember about my association with the London Films is the loyalty of everyone from highest to lowest employee. If my pictures were good, much of it was due to the fine co-operation that existed in the studio. My association with Sir William Jury, one of the greatest men in the game and who should be better known over here, is one of the pleasantest remembrances of my three years in England.”
In the meantime he and his wife send their love to their many friends in the land of their adoption.
G. K. Arthur and Edna Flugrath (Mrs. Harold Shaw) in “Kipps,” one of Harold Shaw’s British productions.
Above: Harold Shaw.
Below, Left: Harold Shaw and Viola Dana discussing the script of “Rouged Lips.”
Right: A scene from Rouged Lips.
Collection: Picturegoer Magazine, January 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