Post by historyman12 on Jun 9, 2008 18:27:11 GMT -5
Swords and Movies was founded in 1920 by Edmund Liam Berkely, a famed British theatre actor. When it was founded, it consisted of only 10 actors and actresses. They are the now legendary team of: Annabel Stewart, the up and coming actress, who appeared alongside John Deptford in the classics "Andrew the Cobbler" the story of romance in the city in the 1920's, and "I Love You, but I Can't Stand Up," a film made later in their careers about an old man and woman in love.
John Deptford, the symbol of romance for almost 25 years, who appeared in too many romances to shake a stick out. One legend even claims he helped Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night"! Some even regard him as superior to Gable.
His younger brother, Daniel, a comedic star rivaled only by Chaplin, Lloyd, and scarcely anyone else. There have been longstanding debates over which brother was better, John or Daniel. That debate has been carrying on since 1925 and shows no signs of slowing up, even as the brothers have been dead for almost 20 years.
Thomas Ross was the principal action star of the film company, rising to prominence after 1924's "Bent Copper" the epic tale of an Easterner in the Wild Wild West. He also made several comedies, though he was never as well respected as Deptford.
Ross's best friend, Nicholas Martin, was another funnyman, but he is best known for directing many of Ross's films. The two could rarely be seen apart, and Ross demanded that Martin make a cameo in all the movies that Ross starred in.
Bob Wade was another director, though he, like Ross was an action man. He directed all of Ross's films that Martin couldn't. Some say that, despite the amount of action films he directed, he directed horror pictures better. He and Martin had friendly rivalry over who was a better director, but, contrary to myths and legends, they were friends.
Alexander Hutchings made many horror films, such as the eternal classic, Sinner's Sanctum, and many other classic black and white horror films of the 30's and 40's. It is a little known fact that he briefly appeared in Dracula, and Bela Lugosi inspired him to become a horror star, a departure from his first films, which were westerns.
Jessica Moore was another woman star, rising as Daniel Deptford's counterpart, and eventual wife. Their comedic escapades in the movies were mirrored on their honeymoon. She also appeared in several science-fiction films with Ross.
Adam Clixby was the last director in the studio, and he was the director of any films that Martin and Wade didn't want. He was by no means a bad director, in fact, he could capably direct films of all genres, unlike Martin and Wade, who were specialists. As such, he landed with all of the romance, sci-fi, and any action films that came up while Hutchings and Wade were doing a horror film, and Deptford and Martin were doing a comedy.
The last star was E.L. Berkely himself, who came out of theatre and was a splendid actor. He was skilled in comedy and romance, and throughout the first years of the studio there was talk of making a "dream comedy" with Deptford, Martin and Berkely. He was also born in 1875, unlike the rest of the stars who were born between 1896 (John Deptford) and 1902 (Jessica Moore)
In 1921 the studio released its first film, The Baggage Boy, starring Daniel Deptford, it was a minor success and it is still seen rarely on classic movie channels. The next year, the studio released Love Lasso, a pathetic romance reviled and ridiculed. Berkely's shock move was questioned on radio, and mocked onstage, Berkely's beloved first medium. In 1924, the studio silenced critics with "Bent Copper" the tale of an Easterner in the Wild Wild West. It starred Ross, and was directed by Martin, the first film by the team. It was among the first westerns made, and is a classic to this very day. In early 1925, the first Lionhead Awards Ceremony yielded no results for the studio, with the awards ceremony awarding: Maxipack Worldwide, the oldest studio, with highest charting studio, Nathaniel Prefrement of Creamboat Creations highest star, "The Richard Barton Affair" by Old Rope Cinema highest grossing movie, and Most Prestigious Studio lot went to Maxipack Worldwide.
Later in 1925 Andrew The Cobbler was released, starring John Deptford and Annabel Stewart, establishing them as a firm romantic team. In 1927, Berkely, eager for a "push over the cliff" to completely cement the studio's reputation, talked his childhood friend and fellow thespian William MacDess into helping them make a movie. It was a drama, released in 1928, and a talkie! It starred Berkely, MacDess, J. Deptford, and Moore. The movie, "Earnest Ernest," has made many "greatest movie of all time" lists, and is considered a landmark, along with "The Jazz Singer", in talking pictures. In 1929, Ross and Hutchings, in his first major role, starred in "Death to The Front of Them, Trenches To The Back of Them" a Great War epic. Clixby directed this film, rising him to prominence. The stock market crash later that year aversely affected the studio, causing it struggle for several years. The best event of that period, however, was that "Earnest Ernest" won highest grossing movie.
All that changed in 1932 when the studio took Jay Hughes, who had worked as a builder in the studio, as part of a "Who wants to be a star" competition, and made him an actor. It was the luckiest move the studio ever made. Hughes' first films were actions, and major successes. In 1934, The New Man, starring Ross and directed by Wade was released, a major success, and still seen rarely. In 1935, Hughes won most prolific star, another upside. The studio quickly climbed out of its problems, and rose to success. In 1936, a comedy starring Daniel Deptford, Berkely, and directed by Martin was released.
This movie was such a success, Swords and Movies was catapulted to second place, surpassing Creamboat Creations and Old Rope Cinema. Now only Maxipack Worldwide stood in Swords and Movies way. The studios began a furious war, releasing movie upon movie, and competing for newcomers, and established stars. Prefrement and Hughes competed furiously, driving them both to exhaustion. The other stars competed, with the teams of Ross and Martin, and Christopher Herrington and Irving Young competing. Wade and Clixby went back and forth against Dennis O'Shea and Bertram Neil. The Deptford brothers banded together, despite their differing styles, to take on Lewis Dixon and Richard Aldrich. Even E.L. Berkely and Samuel Adams Chaucer, the owner of Maxipack Worldwide taking shots at each other.
In 1940, all eyes turned to the awards ceremony. It was a near-even split, with Hughes winning highest charting star, Prefrement winning most prolific star. Several polls were taken to placate rabid Americans, distracted from the Great Depression by such a furious contest. Ross and Martin won best team, O'Shea and Neil winning best directors, Daniel Deptford won best acting performance, Young winning best direction. Some polls bordered on ridiculous, such as "Best Building arrangements" "Best Logo" and even the absolutely bizarre "Best Dancers". SaM took best technological advances, but MPW clearly won most employees, and most stars. It all came down the biggest award of them all. Highest Charting Studio. Would the newer studio, barely 20 win? Or one of the first film companies in all of Hollywood? Americans were divided nearly even. Winning, barely, barely, barely, was Swords and Movies. Celebration and borderline insanity broke out in the award studio, and across America. When Berkely walked up to take the award, he motioned for his stars to join him. Chaucer stood, up and took his stars to the stage as well. Some feared a fight would break out onstage! Berkely instead stepped forward, and reached out his hand, as did Chaucer. The image of the two rival studio heads shaking hands, with stars behind, lights flashing, and the award givers standing behind them has gone down in lore, thanks to the masterful camerawork of Ryan Robinson, little more than a New York Times staff photographer at the time. He always denied it was any feat of skill, but rather of luck. Berkely stepped forward into the mike and said, "Let's stop this fighting. I'm too damned old." The picture, the story, and the curse went to the front page of newspapers. Berkely, in an interview only several months later laughed about the incident, saying he was tired, happy, and, he paused too darned old for all that.
Sadly, 1 year and 1 month to the day after the awards ceremony, March 12, 1941, Edmund Liam Berkely died. The nation, and the studio mourned, and all stars came to the funeral, including Ross Martin and Moore who were Catholic, and Hutchings, who was Lutheran. Berkely left control of the studio to his son Warren, who was the same age as many of the stars.
In 1942, the studio lured Andrew Eagle, a sizable star from Lionear Productions, into the studio. In 1945, the studio released "The Fight On The Coast," a war movie starring Hughes, a new star named Dom Oldrey, and Eagle, and directed by Clixby It created a huge flap, as the Germans captured the American sniper. Eagle left, unhappy with the controversy, and his pay, and even Clixby, an "original star" quietly left.
Only 5 years later, he returned. Around that time, the studio hired John and G.M., Gregory Marion, Silke, the second set of brothers to enter the studio. They made a war movie "Normandy Glory" called by some a B-War Movie, others hailed it as brilliant. In 1955, Alison Coles, Jeremie Texier, Dustin Green, and Helen Farrer entered the studio. Coles was a director, SaM's first female director, Texier, an action man, Green, a man of many comedic antics, Farrer was an African American, the first black to enter SaM's doors. In 1960, John Castro, Benjamin Balvo, and Chris Fielding, another African American entered the studio doors. Armed with a new generation of stars, Swords and Movies is ready to face whatever comes next.
John Deptford, the symbol of romance for almost 25 years, who appeared in too many romances to shake a stick out. One legend even claims he helped Clark Gable in "It Happened One Night"! Some even regard him as superior to Gable.
His younger brother, Daniel, a comedic star rivaled only by Chaplin, Lloyd, and scarcely anyone else. There have been longstanding debates over which brother was better, John or Daniel. That debate has been carrying on since 1925 and shows no signs of slowing up, even as the brothers have been dead for almost 20 years.
Thomas Ross was the principal action star of the film company, rising to prominence after 1924's "Bent Copper" the epic tale of an Easterner in the Wild Wild West. He also made several comedies, though he was never as well respected as Deptford.
Ross's best friend, Nicholas Martin, was another funnyman, but he is best known for directing many of Ross's films. The two could rarely be seen apart, and Ross demanded that Martin make a cameo in all the movies that Ross starred in.
Bob Wade was another director, though he, like Ross was an action man. He directed all of Ross's films that Martin couldn't. Some say that, despite the amount of action films he directed, he directed horror pictures better. He and Martin had friendly rivalry over who was a better director, but, contrary to myths and legends, they were friends.
Alexander Hutchings made many horror films, such as the eternal classic, Sinner's Sanctum, and many other classic black and white horror films of the 30's and 40's. It is a little known fact that he briefly appeared in Dracula, and Bela Lugosi inspired him to become a horror star, a departure from his first films, which were westerns.
Jessica Moore was another woman star, rising as Daniel Deptford's counterpart, and eventual wife. Their comedic escapades in the movies were mirrored on their honeymoon. She also appeared in several science-fiction films with Ross.
Adam Clixby was the last director in the studio, and he was the director of any films that Martin and Wade didn't want. He was by no means a bad director, in fact, he could capably direct films of all genres, unlike Martin and Wade, who were specialists. As such, he landed with all of the romance, sci-fi, and any action films that came up while Hutchings and Wade were doing a horror film, and Deptford and Martin were doing a comedy.
The last star was E.L. Berkely himself, who came out of theatre and was a splendid actor. He was skilled in comedy and romance, and throughout the first years of the studio there was talk of making a "dream comedy" with Deptford, Martin and Berkely. He was also born in 1875, unlike the rest of the stars who were born between 1896 (John Deptford) and 1902 (Jessica Moore)
In 1921 the studio released its first film, The Baggage Boy, starring Daniel Deptford, it was a minor success and it is still seen rarely on classic movie channels. The next year, the studio released Love Lasso, a pathetic romance reviled and ridiculed. Berkely's shock move was questioned on radio, and mocked onstage, Berkely's beloved first medium. In 1924, the studio silenced critics with "Bent Copper" the tale of an Easterner in the Wild Wild West. It starred Ross, and was directed by Martin, the first film by the team. It was among the first westerns made, and is a classic to this very day. In early 1925, the first Lionhead Awards Ceremony yielded no results for the studio, with the awards ceremony awarding: Maxipack Worldwide, the oldest studio, with highest charting studio, Nathaniel Prefrement of Creamboat Creations highest star, "The Richard Barton Affair" by Old Rope Cinema highest grossing movie, and Most Prestigious Studio lot went to Maxipack Worldwide.
Later in 1925 Andrew The Cobbler was released, starring John Deptford and Annabel Stewart, establishing them as a firm romantic team. In 1927, Berkely, eager for a "push over the cliff" to completely cement the studio's reputation, talked his childhood friend and fellow thespian William MacDess into helping them make a movie. It was a drama, released in 1928, and a talkie! It starred Berkely, MacDess, J. Deptford, and Moore. The movie, "Earnest Ernest," has made many "greatest movie of all time" lists, and is considered a landmark, along with "The Jazz Singer", in talking pictures. In 1929, Ross and Hutchings, in his first major role, starred in "Death to The Front of Them, Trenches To The Back of Them" a Great War epic. Clixby directed this film, rising him to prominence. The stock market crash later that year aversely affected the studio, causing it struggle for several years. The best event of that period, however, was that "Earnest Ernest" won highest grossing movie.
All that changed in 1932 when the studio took Jay Hughes, who had worked as a builder in the studio, as part of a "Who wants to be a star" competition, and made him an actor. It was the luckiest move the studio ever made. Hughes' first films were actions, and major successes. In 1934, The New Man, starring Ross and directed by Wade was released, a major success, and still seen rarely. In 1935, Hughes won most prolific star, another upside. The studio quickly climbed out of its problems, and rose to success. In 1936, a comedy starring Daniel Deptford, Berkely, and directed by Martin was released.
This movie was such a success, Swords and Movies was catapulted to second place, surpassing Creamboat Creations and Old Rope Cinema. Now only Maxipack Worldwide stood in Swords and Movies way. The studios began a furious war, releasing movie upon movie, and competing for newcomers, and established stars. Prefrement and Hughes competed furiously, driving them both to exhaustion. The other stars competed, with the teams of Ross and Martin, and Christopher Herrington and Irving Young competing. Wade and Clixby went back and forth against Dennis O'Shea and Bertram Neil. The Deptford brothers banded together, despite their differing styles, to take on Lewis Dixon and Richard Aldrich. Even E.L. Berkely and Samuel Adams Chaucer, the owner of Maxipack Worldwide taking shots at each other.
In 1940, all eyes turned to the awards ceremony. It was a near-even split, with Hughes winning highest charting star, Prefrement winning most prolific star. Several polls were taken to placate rabid Americans, distracted from the Great Depression by such a furious contest. Ross and Martin won best team, O'Shea and Neil winning best directors, Daniel Deptford won best acting performance, Young winning best direction. Some polls bordered on ridiculous, such as "Best Building arrangements" "Best Logo" and even the absolutely bizarre "Best Dancers". SaM took best technological advances, but MPW clearly won most employees, and most stars. It all came down the biggest award of them all. Highest Charting Studio. Would the newer studio, barely 20 win? Or one of the first film companies in all of Hollywood? Americans were divided nearly even. Winning, barely, barely, barely, was Swords and Movies. Celebration and borderline insanity broke out in the award studio, and across America. When Berkely walked up to take the award, he motioned for his stars to join him. Chaucer stood, up and took his stars to the stage as well. Some feared a fight would break out onstage! Berkely instead stepped forward, and reached out his hand, as did Chaucer. The image of the two rival studio heads shaking hands, with stars behind, lights flashing, and the award givers standing behind them has gone down in lore, thanks to the masterful camerawork of Ryan Robinson, little more than a New York Times staff photographer at the time. He always denied it was any feat of skill, but rather of luck. Berkely stepped forward into the mike and said, "Let's stop this fighting. I'm too damned old." The picture, the story, and the curse went to the front page of newspapers. Berkely, in an interview only several months later laughed about the incident, saying he was tired, happy, and, he paused too darned old for all that.
Sadly, 1 year and 1 month to the day after the awards ceremony, March 12, 1941, Edmund Liam Berkely died. The nation, and the studio mourned, and all stars came to the funeral, including Ross Martin and Moore who were Catholic, and Hutchings, who was Lutheran. Berkely left control of the studio to his son Warren, who was the same age as many of the stars.
In 1942, the studio lured Andrew Eagle, a sizable star from Lionear Productions, into the studio. In 1945, the studio released "The Fight On The Coast," a war movie starring Hughes, a new star named Dom Oldrey, and Eagle, and directed by Clixby It created a huge flap, as the Germans captured the American sniper. Eagle left, unhappy with the controversy, and his pay, and even Clixby, an "original star" quietly left.
Only 5 years later, he returned. Around that time, the studio hired John and G.M., Gregory Marion, Silke, the second set of brothers to enter the studio. They made a war movie "Normandy Glory" called by some a B-War Movie, others hailed it as brilliant. In 1955, Alison Coles, Jeremie Texier, Dustin Green, and Helen Farrer entered the studio. Coles was a director, SaM's first female director, Texier, an action man, Green, a man of many comedic antics, Farrer was an African American, the first black to enter SaM's doors. In 1960, John Castro, Benjamin Balvo, and Chris Fielding, another African American entered the studio doors. Armed with a new generation of stars, Swords and Movies is ready to face whatever comes next.