Marcel Le Picard — Little Close-Ups of the A. S. C. (1922) 🇺🇸
It was in 1904, eighteen years ago, that Marcel Le Picard shouldered his Pathé and started out to shoot the festive scenic for Pathé Frères. He wandered through Europe and a large part of Africa shooting everything that came his way until the end of 1908 when, weary of chasing the elusive scenic, he went to New York and organized a photo-engraving company of which he was the active head for three years. But the camera called and Marcel left the laboratory and joined the Majestic Mutual Motion Picture Company which afterward became known as the Reliance.
It takes one back to old times to read the names of some of the fledglings Mr. Le Picard found in his casts in those days, and strange to say, all of them have stuck — Blanche Sweet, Mary Alden, Mae Marsh, Lillian [Lillian Gish] and Dorothy Gish, Raoul Walsh, Francelia Billington, Jack Livingston, Robert Harron, Wallace Reid, George Siegmann, Earle Foxe, Miriam Cooper, Courtenay Foote, Donald Crisp.
In 1915 Mr. Le Picard went to South America to film publicity for the Argentine government and the next year he joined Universal where he photographed features starring Violet Mersereau, Effie Shannon, Louise Huff and others. He left there to film The Daughter of the Gods for Fox, at Jamaica, British West Indies, and then in ’17–’18 joined with Ivan in which connection he filmed seventeen features with such well known players as Anna Nilsson [Anna Q. Nilsson], Barbara Castleton, Rita Jolivet, Milton Sills, Vincent Serrano, Zena Keefe, Grace Valentine and others.
From the latter part of 1918 to and including 1921 Mr. Le Picard’s professional home was with Goldwyn both at Fort Lee and Culver City. In this service he photographed all of Madge Kennedy’s starring vehicles at Fort Lee and all of Will Rogers’ at Culver City.
When Rogers finished his contract with Goldwyn he engaged Mr. Le Picard to photograph three productions financed by himself only one of which, The Roping Fool has been released.
Mr. Le Picard is now co-directing with George Roland for the Penn Picture Co., a newly organized concern with studios at Philadelphia.
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Collection: American Cinematographer, February 1922
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