Scott Lord Silent Film: Confidence (D.W. Griffith, 1909)

D.W. Griffith wrote and directed the one reel film "Confidence" for the Biograph Film Company during 1909. Photographed by G.W. Bitzer and Authur Marvin, the filmfeatures Florence Lawrence along with D.W. Griffith's wife, Linda Arvidson, and Kate Bruce.

SILENT film D.W. Griffith Biograph Film Company

Scott Lord Silent Film: Greta Garbo in The Temptress (Fred Niblo)

The periodical Motion Picture News during 1926 the filming of "Temptress" with a review entitled "Greta Garbo in the Title Role of 'The Temptress'. It read,"Greta Garbo, Swedish actress, will have the title role in Cosmopolitan's production of 'The Temptress, which will be a Metro Goldwyn Mayer release directed by Mauritz Stiller. She is now working in 'Ibanez' The Torrent'." Greta Garbo had in fact signed to do the film on the condition that Stiller was to direct.

The periodical Motion Picture News during 1925 announced that Mauritz Stiller had been slated to direct "The Temptress" by imparting that he had been brought to the United States by Louis B. Mayer. "Stiller won wide reputation in Europe for his productions."

Author Forsyth Hardy, in his volume Scandinavian Film, curtly, only briefly mentions that Mauritz Stiller was removed as director of the film after a disagreement with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Biographer William Stewart, in The True Life Story of Greta Garbo gives an account purporting that Mauritz Stiller "had not yet mastered the American method of making pictures. Handling crowds gave him trouble and his lack of English made every move difficult." Hollywood writer Bosley Crowther, in his biography of Louis B. Mayer entitled The Hollywood Rajah writes that Mauritz Stiller "proved to be too finicky and slow" and "difficult", a type of director that "were now being got out of the studio", but adds that before the filming of "The Temptress" was completed, Greta Garbo had met and fallen in love with Jack Gilbert. Although Garbo and Gilbert met during 1926, it seems that Crowther is approximating and according to Clarence Brown, her director, Garbo and Gilbert met on the set of the third film Greta Garbo had made in the United States.

Ruth Biery, who writes "I have seldom met anyone more timid than Garbo' became known to readers of fan magazines as the first biographer to introduce Greta Garbo with an interview from New Year's Eve 1927 that resulted in her appearing in three issues during 1928, Garbo the May Photoplay cover. Ruth Biery returned to the subject of Stiller and Garbo four years later. "They cast her in 'The Temptress' because Mauritz Stiller insisted upon it. He was to direct it. He directed the production in a way that would work to the advantage of his protoge. Garbo was tall. Antonio Moreno, the actor, was not so tall. The directed insisted that he wear his hair pompador fashion to make him look taller. He put him into boots- undoubtedly to make Garbo's feet look smaller. Moreno resented his favoritism. There was a battle and Stiller lost. He was removed from the picture. This was Garbo' first experience with studio politics. Because of her, Stiller lost his job. Yet it was her friend Stiller who insisted on her being in the picture. She was bewildered, crushed." Biery continued, "She may have loved Stiller. I do not know. I do know she enshrined him. When she talked to me of Stiller her eyes filled with tears, her entire body trembled with emotion."

The first instance of Greta Garbo granting an interview to journalist Rilla Page Palmborg, author of The Private Life of Greta Garbo, was on the set of "The Temptress". " 'I was frantic when Mr. Stiller was taken from the picture,' she said. 'It is difficult for me to understand direction through an interpreter. Everything over here is strange and different. And this studio is so large it confuses me.' "

The True Life Story of Greta Garbo by William Stewart continues, "The second disaster to occur during the filming of 'The Temptress' was the death of Greta's sister."

In The Private Life of Greta Garbo, journalist Rilla Page Palmborg wrote, "Garbo made even a greater sensation in The Temptress than in The Torrent....But Greta declared she knew nothing of the technique of acting. That for the time being she 'was' the person in the picture. She did not know how she got certain effects. She did not know why she did things the way she did them."

Silent Film

Greta Garbo Victor Seastrom

Scott Lord Silent Film: Mary Pickford in The Old Actor (D.W.Griffith, Biograph 1912)

"The Old Actor" (two reels) was directed by D.W. Griffith for the Biograph Film Company during 1912and was photographed by G.W. Bitzer with a scenario by George Hennessy. The film stars Mary Pickford with Kate Bruce. Silent Film Silent Film

Scott Lord Silent Film: Mary Pickford in The Unchanging Sea (Griffith, 1...

D.W. Griffith directed his wife, Linda Arvidson, and actress Mary Pickford in "The Unchanging Sea" (one reel) for the Biograph Film Companyduring 1910. The film was adapted from a poem by Charles Kingsley and photographed by G.W. Bitzer. Silent Film D.W. Griffith Biograph Film Company

Scott Lord Silent Film: One is Buisness, the Other Is Crime (D.W. Griffi...

D.W Griffith directed "One is Buisness, the Other is Crime", photographed by G.W. Bitzer, for the Biograph Film Company during 1912 The film stars actresses Blanche Sweet and Kate Bruce. Authors Edward Wagenkneckt and Anthony Slide, in their volume The Films of D.W. Griffith, put the film's themes of "stockmarket manipulation and political corruption" with those from Griffith's other films on the moral problems of "Gangsterism". It could be that modern audiences eventually view many of Griffith's films as being "lofty sensationalism", perhaps there being no direct link from the muckraking of Thomas Nast and Tammany Hall or from Naturalism. Scholar Mark Sandberg has termed Griffith's dramas as being "uplift cinema".

During 1912 actress Blanche Sweet also appeared onscreen under the direction of D.W. Griffith for Biograph in the film "The Lesser Evil", co-starring with actress Mae Marsh. D. W. Griffith

Bodakingen, The Tyrrany of Hate (Gustaf Molander, 1920)

“The King Boda” (“Tyranny of Hate/Boda kungen”, 1920) was the first film to bear the name of Gustaf Molander as director, Molander having also scripted the photoplay. It was also the first film to be photographed by Adrian Bjurman. The film stars Egil Edie. Both Wanda Rothgardt and her mother, Edla Rothgardt appear in the film, as do acresses Winifred Westover, Hilda Castgren, and interestingly enough, actress Vera Schmiterlow, friend of Greta Garbo from when they were at Dramaten, Stockholm together. Produced by Scandinavisk Filmcentral, the film can well be placed within the Golden Age of Swedish Silent Film.
Also appearing in the film "Bodakungen" was Franz Envall, Greta Garbo mentioned in a 1928 Photoplay magazine interview with Ruth Biery, "Then I met an actor...It was Franz Envall. He is dead now, but has a daughter in stage in Sweden. He asked me if they would let me try to get into the Dramatic School of the Dramatic School of the Royal Theater in Stockholm." Envall's daughter was in fact Signe Envall, who, after having appeared in "Gosta Berling's Saga" (Mauritz Stiller, 1924) and "The Kingdom of Rye" (Ivar Johnsson, 1929), was periodically featured in films from 1944 to 1968. Author Forsyth Hardy credits Gustaf Molander with having introduced actress Greta Garbo to director Mauritz Stiller.

1922 had been the year during which appeared the second film directed by Gustaf Molander, "Amatorfilmen", the first film in which actresses Elsa Ebben-Thorblad and Anna Wallin were each to appear, brought Mimi Pollack to Swedish Film audiences. Written by Bjorn Hodell and photographed by Bjorn Hodell, the film is presumed to be lost, with no surviving copies or fragments.
Gustaf Molander

Gustaf Molander would breifly remain in the shadow of Victor Sjostromand Mauritz Stiller again with photographer Adrian Bjurman, during 1922 by directing actress Vera Schmiterlow, who had first appeared on screen in a brief part in Molander's film "Tyranny of Hate", in the film Thomas Graal's Ward (Thomas Graal's myndling), the third in a series of comedies begun by Mauritz Stiller. To modern American audiences and readers of extratextural discourse Schmiterlow may be more famous for being mentioned in biographies as a friend of Greta Garbo than for Molander having given her her first appearance as star of the film.
Scandinavian Silent Film

Swedish Silent Film Gustaf Molander

Swedish Silent Film, director George af Klercker

Anne-Kristin Wallengren, for Nordic Academic Press, only indirectly refers to the work of Gosta Werner and the restoration of lost silent film in the article, Welecome Home Mr. Swanson-Swedish Emigrants and Swedishness on Film. "There is the still extant film Storstadfaror (Perils of the Big City, Manne Gothson, 1918), in which a young man goes to America and at the end of the film, returns to Sweden, rich; however, while this was one of the very few films made in the 1910's to show America in a positive light, it is also significant that his was only a supporting role." The film Perils of the Big City was written by Gabrielle Ringertz and photographed by Gustav A. Gustavson. Appearing in the film were Mary Johnson, who, having made several films with George af Klerker, would later film under the direction of Mauritz Stiller. Appearing in the film with Johnson were actresses Agda Helin, Tekl Sjoblom and Lilly Cronin.
Peter Cowie, in his volume Scandinavian Cinema, elaborates,"Several of the 27 geatures completed by Klercker at Hasselblad were enhanced by the etheral beauty of Mary Johnson,an actress in the mould of Lillian Gish; she would reachher apogee as ELsalilli in 'Sir Arne's Treasure'" The film apparently was the only film produced at Hasselblad Fotografiska, from its first film in 1915, untill it merged early in 1918 to become Filmindustri Skandia, not to have been directed by George af Klercker, Manne Gothson had previously been Klercker's assistant director. This having been said, scholar Astrid Soderberg Widding points out that Gosta Werner neglects or omits the films made by Af Klercker before he began with Hasselblad, almost to confer with other authors that place Sjostrom and Stiller at the forefront of Swedish Silent Film's Golden Age; Leif Furhammer has advanced that Af Klercker had been an Auteur  only to heighten the comparison that can be made between George Af Klercker and Carl Th. Dreyer, despite Dreyer's having entered directing later and his only having scripted melodramas while searching for adaptations.

The fourty one minute film 'Mysteriet natter till den 25ie' proves to be more enigmatic than its director. it stars Swedish Silent Film actress Mary Johnson with Carl Barklind and was photographed by Sven Peutersson- one of the first films to demonstrate the need for silent film preservation, it was not shown to audiences until, 1975. Recently a genealogical study on the af Klercker family, which not only includes George af Klercker, but also Birgitta af Klercker and Fredrick af Klercker mentioned the film, but not as a film that had been lost, as many silent films have, or lost and then later found, but as a film that was originally banned by Swedish film censorship. The Swedish Film Institute confirms the film having been originally banned as a "Nick Carter" detective film, but that when the film became no longer lost, in 1975, the elements in the film that were objectionable were no longer able to be censored and the restored version was given a "for all" rating after having been missing for nearly sixty years. Describing the film as a "three act sensational drama", Peter Cowie writes, "Klercker's ingenuity yeilds constant suprises.", there being a sensibility in keeping with the director's eye evident in that "this fascination with mirrors and decor colours all Klercker's cinema".
Clearly George af Klercker was eclipsed by Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjostrom in that af Klercker left had Svenska Bio before  Stiller and Sjostrom had gained renown internationally for films of longer running length. The director Geroge af Klerker is portrayed by actor Bjorn Granath in the film "The Last Scream" ("The Last Gasp", Stig Bjornman, 1995), a two character play in one act lasting almost an hour which depicts a fictional, ie. Imaginary, meeting between the director Klercker and Charles Magnussion, founder of Svensk Filmindustri and which was written by Ingmar Bergman. Actress Anna Von Rossen stars as Miss Holm. The play was published by New Press in the volume, The Fifth Act, in which also appeared Monologue, After the Rehearsal and Presence of a Clown. Stig Bjorkman, noted for his interviews of Ingmar Bergman is also the director of I Am Curious Film, and But Film is My Mistress. It should be noted that Bjorn Granath portrays George af Klercker in the film "Jag ar nyfiken, film" (1999) in which he appears with, of course, Lena Nyman, who interviews Sven Nykvist, Eva Isaksen, Stefan Jarl and Liv Ullman, but it should also be noted that Victor Sjostrom and Ingmar Bergman are listed in the cast of players in the film "Images from the Playground" (Bilder fran Lekstugan,2009), written and directed by Stig Bjorkman, which appeared in the 2022 Cannes film festival- while many noted scholars have chosen to appraise Swedish film through the form of the essay, Stig Bjorkman has brought the interview into the onscreen literature of the documentary.

It is clear that Astrid Soderberg Widding outlines the ostensible difference between the director George af Klercker and his contemporaries Victor Sjostrom and Mauritz Stiller by accurately placing him as a director of "melodrama and sensational adventures" made in Denmark, those which had established the director Viggo Larsen ; he is also apart from the type of film made in Kristianstad before he had began with Svenska Bio at Lindingo. As academic writing among film historians can be cumulative, each seminal text nodding to what is salient in each of its predecessors, it is certain that Soderberg Widding will not only contribute to film history research, but will springboard later film theory. She describes the directing of Af Klercker with, "A purely film-theoretical aspect that becomes evident when looking at Af Klercker's production deserves to be highlighted. it has to do with the relationship between the visual and narrative elements: phenomena which in film-theoretical historiography are not infrequently regarded as counterpoints......Af Klercker's films are in their narratives quite conventional and typical of their time. They provide thrilling stories while expressing a supreme control over film as a medium." In describing this, Astrid Soderberg Widding articulates the interrelationship between content and form while praising the films of Af Klercker for their "stylistic stability and visual extravagance, if only to reiterate that characters are developed within the miss en scene context of their created environment in the narrative plots of both Danish and Swedish silent film "Here one encounters a driven visual narrator   who demands a high degree of focus. many of the different narrative devices and stylistic features are noteworthy: his utilization of a qualified depth-of-focus cinematography aw well as the effect of advanced lighting." The author notes that one instance of this was Klerker's use of door frames within the image. In no academic papers already copyrighted, Soderberg Widding looks intricately at technique including the element of editing, so as not to neglect shot structure being in tandem with composition, by distinguishing a signature of Af Klercker's composition, "to use an undivided screen space where dissectons and doubling so takes place within a general frame rather than the introduction of several frames."

Swedish Silent Film director George af Klercker had been the head of the studios of Svenska Bio, Stockhom, his wife, Selma af Klercker often appearing on screen in his films. He was joined there by actorMauritz Stiler and Victor Sjostrom, who was then also leaving the theater. It has been noted that there were aprroximately 325 movie theaters open in Sweden during 1912.

Dodsritten under cirkuskupolen (1912) had been written by Charles Magnusson and photographed by Henrik Jaenzon. George Af Klercker had written his own screenplay to the 1912 film Jupiter pa Jorden, also filmed by Henrik Jaenzon. Although Af Klerker directed a short film photographed by Sven Petterson and starring actress Tyra Leijman Uppstrom during 1913, he that year also directed The Scandal (Skandalen) for Svenska Biographteatern, his photographer again Henrik Jaenzon, as was the case with the film Med Vapen I Hand that year,actress Selma Wiklund Af Klerker also returning for both films. As director, Klercker appeared on screen on camera in front of the lens of cameraman Henrik Jaenzon during "Med Vapen hand", which he did again while directing "For faderneslandent" with Jaenzon as camera man. Ragnar Ring codirected the film and wrote it's screenplay and actress Lilly Jacobsen starred in the film.

It has been noted that George af Klercker had spent time in Copenhagen and Paris after leaving Svenska Bio.

In Goteborg, Sweden, the two films produced by Hasselblads Fotofraphiska during 1915 were both filmed by George af Klerker and Sve Petterson. That year George af Klercker contributed the film "The Rose of Thistle Island" ("Rosen pa Tistelon), the first film in which actress Elsa Carlsson and Anna Lofstrom were to appear. The novel had been filmed previously by director Mauritz Stiller as "Pa livets Odesvager".

Among the films directed by George Af Klercker during 1916 was The Gift of Health (Aktie bolaget Halsams gave), the first film photographed by cinematographer Gustav Gustafson and the first film in which actress Tekla Sjoblom was to appear. Carl Gustaf Florin also is credited as having photographed with Gustafson. One of only two photoplays to be scripted by Gustaf Berg, the film is presumed to be lost with no suviving copies. Also starring in the film were Mary Johnson and Anna Lofstrom.

That year Swedish film director Af Klercker also appeared on screen in the film Under the Spell of Memories (I minnenasband), in which he directed Elsa Carlsson, Tora Carlsson and Elsa Berglund. The film was written and photographed by Sven Pettersson. The 1916 film Hogsta Vinsten, in which director George Af Klercker appeared on screen with actress Gerda Thome Mattsson lasted a brief running time of only sixteen minutes at a time when the average running time had been increased from four reels to six. The film was photographed by Sven Pettersson. Also among the film's directed by George af Klercker in 1916 were "Triumph of Love" ("Karleken segrar") photographed by Carl Gustaf Florin and starring Mary Johnson, Teklas Sjoblom, Selma Wikland Klercker and Lily Cronwin in the first film in which she was to appear and the film "Mother in Law Goes for a Stroll" ("Svar pa rift") photographed by Gustav A. Gustafson and starring Greta Johansson, Maja Cassell and Zara Backman. Peter Cowie contrasts the directing of George af Klercker with that of Mauritz Stiller, "Mood and composition, however, distinguish Klercker's work more than performances."
Af Klercker had gained renown not only for his blending artificial and natural light, but while at Hasselblad he innovated the techniques involved with a lens system that was suited for filming objects at a distance, ranging from a focal length of a few feet to that of a mile.
The Swedish Film Institute credits George af Klercker for having made two films in which actress Olga Hallgren starred whereas databases in the United States credit her with three films, all produced in Sweden during 1917 by Hasselblad studios. Klercker directed the 1917 "Ett Konstnarsode" photographed by Carl Gustaf Florin, in which Hallgren starred with actress Greta Pfeil and Klercker directed the 1917 film "Brottmalsdomanen" ("The Judge"), photographed by Carl Gustaf Florin, also starring Olga Hallgren. Sources from the United States credit Klercker with the film "Det Finns Inga Gudar pa Jordan" ("There are no Gods on Earth") from 1917 in which Olga Hallgren again starred with Greta Pfeil.

It wasn't untill 2017 that there was an unearthed copy of the 1926 film "Flickorna pa Solvik", the last film to be directed by George af Klercker, when it was rediscovered in a private collection. One of only two photoplays scripted by John Larson, the film starred actress Wanda Rothgardt, Anna Wallin and a young director Alice O Fredericks appearing in the film as an actress.

During 1918, George af Klercker directed the films "The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter" (Fryvaktarens Dottar), photographed by Gosta Staring and starring Mary Johnson and Agnes Obergsson, "Night Music" (Nattliga Toner), photographed by Gustaf A. Gustafson and starring Agda Helin, Helge Kihlberg and Tekla Sjoblom, and "Nobelpristagaren".

Klercker would appear on screen as an actor during 1925, at the helm Carl Barklind to man the ship's wheel for the film "Tre Lejon", his costars Edit Rolf and Marta Ottoson. The film was photographed by Carl Hilmers.

Danish Silent Film

Victor Sjostrom and Mauritz Stiller

Swedish Silent Film

Swedish Sound Film

Greta Garbo Silent Film

Scott Lord Scandinavian Silent Film: Masterkatten i Stovlar (John Bruniu...

Author Forsyth Hardy, in his volume Scandinavian film explains that the film "Puss and Boots" was for Swedish Silent Film director John Brunius an early, debut attempt at filmaking and that he quickly established himself among his contemporary directors of the Golden Age of Swedish Silent Film by directing historical dramas.

The beautiful Mary Johnson stars with Gosta Ekman in the film, the director John Brunius also appearing in the film onscreen with son Palle Brunius. The cinematography was done by photographers Gustav A. Gustafson and Carl Gustav Florin.

"Puss and Boots" featured the first on screen appearance of actress Anna Carlsten.
Silent Film John Brunius John Brunius

Scott Lord Silent Film: Mary Pickford in The Mender of Nets (Biograph Film Company, D.W. Griffith, 1912)

During 1912 D.W. Griffith directed Mary Pickford,Mabel Normand and Maugeritte Marsh in "The Mender of Nets", photographed by G.W. Bittzer. Biograph Film Company Silent Film

Scott Lord Silent Film: Lonely Villa (D.W. Griffith, Biograph, 1909)

In her autobiography, Lillian Gish discusses D.W. Griffith's use of shot length in "The Lonely Villa". Linda Arvidson, wife of D.W. Griffith, in her autobiography "When the Movies Were Young" claims that "The Lonely Villa" was the second film in which Mary Pickford had appeared, her having made her motion picture debut in the earlier "The Violin Maker of Cerona". Mack Sennett had gleaned the plot to "The Lonely Villa" from a newspaper.

Author Stanley J. Solomon, in his volume The Film Idea sees "The Lonely Villa" as only the beginning of the development of new film techniques by D.W. Griffith, almost intimating that there would be a synthesis of Griffith as an autuer and new developments in filmmaking would combine. "Although Griffith was working now with materials that could not be effectively duplicated onstage, 'The Lonely Villa' was not really totally cinematic. Griffith's understanding of spatial relationships was still limited; to get a person from one point to another, Griffith shows him moving there in stages." The passage is particularly refreshing because through it Solomon imparts to us where the title of his volume The Film Idea comes from and how it is his point of departure. He writes,"But Griffith learned quickly that a meaningful narrative must be embedded in a total film idea. Otherwise, when the surface movement is the whole film idea, the camera functions simply as a recording device and most of its expressive possiblilities are relegated to either unimportance or mere technique."

In her volume her volume D.W. Griffith, American film master, Iris Barry sees the film technique used by D. W. Griffith developed quickly during a short period of time, "In The Lonely Villa many scenes begin quietly with the entrance of the characters into the set, significant action follows this slow-paced start only belatedly. In The Lonedale Operator there is no leisurely entrance, the characters are already in mid-action when each shot begins and there is no waste footage- no deliberation in getting on with the story when haste and excitement are what is needed." Barry adds, "At no time did he use a scenario. But there was considerable protest when, quite early in his directorial career, he insisted on retaking unsatisfactory scenes and succedded in gaining permission to do so in The Lonely Villa. Bitzer and others were aghast at his extravagence with film."

Silent Film D. W. Griffith Biograph Film Company Biograph Film Company

Scott Lord Silent Film: The Country Doctor (D.W. Griffith, Biograph, 1909)

One technique used to present narrative by D.W. Griffith, although the principle thematic action was two interior scenes connected by cutting on action, was to introduce the film with an exterior panning shot as the establishing shot. The film is concluded with a similar exterior shot which pans in the opposite direction to imply the story had reached an irrevocable conclusion.

Written and directed by D.W. Griffith for the Biograph Film Company the film stars Gladys Egan, Mary Pickford, Florence Lawrence and Kate Bruce. D.W.Griffith D.W. Griffith Biograph Film Company

Scott Lord Silent Film: Corner in Wheat (D.W. Griffith, Biograph, 1909)

"The Miller's Daughter", "The Song of the Shirt"(1908) and "A Corner of Wheat", directed by D.W. Griffith for the Biograph Film Company are early films that depicted the individual within a social context. Kay Sloan, in her copyrighted paper "Silent Cinema as Social Criticism, Front Page Movies", writes, "The comedies, melodramas and occaisional westerns about labor conflict, tenement poverty or political corruption reveal through fantasy an America torn with ideological conflict." Pointing out that film companies looked to the contemporay "muckrackers" for story lines, she includes the films "The Suffragete's Revenge" and "The Reform Candidate" as being timely depictions of audience involved in reception, extending that audience to the readers of Upton Sinclair, but later attributes the decline of social drama to the development of the feature film after World War I. She adds to these the film "The Govenor's Boss" which took its storyline from Tammany Hall while modernizing its theme and message, a technique often attempted by D.W. Griffith. Studio advertisements for "A Corner in Wheat" hailed "The Story of Wheat in Symbolism", writing, "This is possibly the most stirring and artistic subject ever produced by Biograph. It starts with an animated portrayal of Millet's masterpiece 'The Sowers'." "A Corner of Wheat" had been adapted by D.W. Griffith and Frank Woods from the novel "The Pit" and the short story "A Deal in Wheat", both written in 1903 by the sometimes controversial author Frank Norris.

The steady, weekly competition from other studios during 1909 was typical for the release of the Biograph film "In a Corner of Wheat"; from Selig there was "Pine Ridge Fued", from Lubin there was "Romance of the Rocky Coast", from Essany there was "The Heart of a Cowboy", from Vitagraph there was "Two Christmas-Tides" and from Edison Films there was "Fishing Industry in Gloucester, Mass.". The following week Biograph released "A Trap for Santa Claus" while Vitagraph vied for its audience with "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Selig with "A Modern Dr. Jeckyll". As the competition was weekly, the month before Kalem had released "Dora", a dramatization of the poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Vitagraph had offered "Lancelot and Elaine". Silent Film D.W. Griffith Biograph Film Company