Lillian Gish

(1893-1993)

Lillian Gish

Perhaps more than any other star, Lillian Gish is synonymous with silent films. She graces many iconic images of the era and she was a champion for the artform when it needed one most.

In addition to hard work and talent, Lillian Gish’s reputation rests on the fact that, unlike too many other performers of the period, almost all of her most famous films still exist. Other stars, Theda Bara for one, have not been so fortunate and their reputation must rest on hearsay alone.

Lillian Gish and her younger sister Dorothy were young stage actresses when they spotted their friend Mary Pickford in a Biograph film. Soon, the sisters joined Mary Pickford in working for D.W. Griffith, Biograph’s top director. At the time, Griffith had a stable of actresses who were given leading parts in turn. Lillian and Dorothy Gish debuted in The Unseen Enemy, (which still exists and is available on DVD) in which they played young girls terrorized by a hand clutching a revolver.

Dorothy and Lillian Gish

Lillian (left) and Dorothy Gish in The Musketeers of Pig Alley. Note the symetrical composition, which takes advantage of their strong family resemblance.

D.W. Griffith liked to cast Lillian Gish as the virginal damsel in distress and Dorothy Gish as the mischeivous, elfin sort of heroine. He claimed they looked so much alike that he could not tell them apart, even going so far as to ask them to wear red and blue hairbows to help with identification. This family resemblance was used in some of his films to create an intriguingly symetrical composition.

Griffith and Gish formed a close bond. They were certainly artistically aligned and there were unconfirmed rumors that they were also romantically involved but nothing was ever known for sure. What is certain that that with Gish in the lead, Griffith would enter into one of the most artistically fruitful periods of his career. Gish won the lead in the controversial Birth of a Nation, played an integral role in Intolerance and was menaced by the Germans in Hearts of the World. But Gish’s quality as an actress is better seen in the delicate Broken Blossoms and the potboiler Way Down Eas.

Blizzard Scene

Lillian Gish endures a real blizzard.

The consummate professional, Gish filmed Broken Blossoms while recovering from the Spanish Influenza. She plays Lucy, the abused daughter of a boxer (Donald Crisp), who enters into a chaste love affair with a Chinese immigrant (Richard Barthelmess). Lillian Gish’s frenzied acting during her tragic death scene—hysterically running from her father, almost losing her mind from fear—is quite harrowing.

Gish was paired again with Barthelmess in Way Down East, a corny tale elevated to art by the cast and crew. In a time of uncertain censorship (individual states and even cities had their own censor boards), Gish and Griffith managed to create a heartbreaking tale of an unwed mother. Filmed on location in the dead of winter, images of Gish’s icicle-encrusted face and shivering body on an ice flow are perhaps the most enduring images of the silent era.

Sisters

Lillian and Dorothy Gish make a final film for Mr. Griffith.

Gish’s final film for Griffith was the French Revolution drama Orphans of the Storm. While a hit, it was not the blockbuster that Griffith needed. After filming was complete, Griffith told Gish that she would do better if she started making motion pictures on her own.

It turned out to be a bad move on Griffith’s part. He never again reached the financial or artistic success that he had enjoyed during his collaboration with Lillian Gish. Her replacement (and Griffith’s inamorata at the time), Carol Dempster, was unpopular with many movie industry insiders and she was not the box office draw that Lillian Gish had been. In spite of the end of their film collaborations, Gish and Griffith remained friends. Throughout her life, Lillian Gish stood ready to defend Griffith against criticism.

The Wind

Lillian Gish goes mad in her final silent masterpiece, The Wind.

Away from Griffith, Gish would reach even greater heights. She signed a lucrative contract with MGM. La Boheme, The White Sister, The Scarlet Letter, The Wind… films that are the very essence of silent cinema artistry followed. Most of these films, it should be noted, featured Gish in the role in which she excelled: victim. It was even humorously suggested that there was a need to form a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Lillian Gish.

Like her mentor, Griffith, Gish never really fit into the Hollywood studio system. With its insistence on fairy tale endings, overblown love scenes and the emphasis on celebrity gossip as a marketing tool, MGM was at odds with its star by the end of the silent era. Lillian Gish made one talkie in 1930 and did not come back for another three years.

Throughout the next decades, Lillian Gish never had to beg for work. She made numerous appearances in supporting roles from the 30’s to the 80’s in such films as Duel in the Sun and Night of the Hunter. Her final role was The Whales of August (1987), for which she received top billing.

A Select Filmography of Lillian Gish's Silent Work

Further Information

Lillian Gish's IMDB Profile

Lillian Gish's Official Website

BGSU's Dorothy and Lillian Gish Film Theater and Gallery

Sources

Silent Lives by Lon Davis

American Silent Film by William K. Everson

The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me by Lillian Gish

Dorothy and Lillian Gish by Lillian Gish

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