Grace Cunard: Difference between revisions

| yearsactive = 1906-–1946

| spouse = Harry Harvey<br>(m.1912-&ndash;19??)<br>[[Joe Moore (actor)|Joe Moore]]<br>(m.1917-&ndash;div.1925)<br>Jack Tyler Shannon<br>(m.1925-&ndash;1967; her death)

'''Grace Cunard''' (born '''Harriet Mildred Jeffries'''; April 8, 1893 &ndash; January 19, 1967) was an American actress, [[screenwriter]], and film director.{{efn|The spelling of Curnard's middle name in her birth name varies in modern sources, being given as "Mildred" and in a few sources as "Milfred". Early official records clearly document it as Mildred, including her original 1912 certificate of marriage to Harry Harvey in Manhattan, New York. Her January 24, 1967 obituary in ''The New York Times'' also cites her full birth name as "Harriet Mildred Jeffries".}} During the silent era, she starred in over 100 films, wrote or co-wrote at least 44 of those productions, and directed no fewer than eight of them.<ref name="Abel">Bean, Jennifer M. "Cunard, Grace [Harriet Mildred Jeffries]", entry in ''Encyclopedia of Early Cinema'' by Richard Abel (ed.), London and New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis, 2005, p. 161.</ref> In addition, she edited many of her films, including some of the [[Short film|shorts]], [[Film serial|serials]], and features she developed in collaboration with [[Francis Ford (actor)|Francis Ford]]. Her younger sister, [[Mina Cunard]], was also a film actress.

By 1914, Grace was being recognized too in the press for her writing, including references to her "novels" and many screenplays.<ref name="AZR"/> The Ford-Cunard two-reeler ''The She Wolf'', which was released by [[Bison Pictures]] late in 1913, was one in a series of films in that period that focused attention on Cunard's writing. Promoted as a "photoplay" about an evil woman, a "wrecker of men's hearts and reputations", ''She Wolf'' circulated throughout the country and by May 1914 finally reached Phoenix, Arizona. There the state's leading newspaper, ''[[The Arizona Republican|The Arizona Republican]]'', announced, "One of the most interesting and thrilling moving pictures ever shown at the Regale theater, is that scheduled for today. Francis Ford has dramatized Grace Cunard's famous novel, 'She Wolf', and with Miss Cunard appears in the moving picture version of the story."<ref name="AZR"/>

Cunard and Ford continued their collaboration throughout 1914, releasing an array of two-reel historical dramas, Westerns, comedies, and mysteries. A few examples from that year are ''The Mad Hermit'', ''The Fall of '64'', ''Won in the First'', ''The Mysterious Leopard Lady'', and ''Washington at Valley Forge''. Turning to a more ambitious project, they developed for Universal in 1914 and also co-starred in the 15-episode [[Film serial|serial]] ''[[Lucille Love, Girl of Mystery]]''. That production's enormous success is reflected in the box-office receipts it generated. Costing only $30,000 or $2,000 per episode to make, the ''Lucille Love'' series eventually grossed what was then a staggering return in ticket sales: $1,500,000 (${{Inflation|US|1500000|1914|r=-4|fmt=c}} today).<ref>Wood, Thomas. "The Sad State of the Serial", ''The New York Times'', December 22, 1946, p. 51. ProQuest.</ref> The financial success of ''Lucille Love'' inspired the Ford-Cunard partnership to release between their ongoing shorts three more serials for Universal over the next two years: the 22-episode ''The Broken Coin'' (1915), the 15-episode ''The Adventures of Peg o' the Ring'' (1916), and the 16-episode ''The Purple Mask'' (1916-1917).<ref name="silentera">[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/A/AdventuresOfPegOTheRin1916.html "The Adventures of Peg o’ the Ring"] (1917), ''Progressive Silent Film List'', Silent Era Company, Washington State. Retrieved April 30, 2020.</ref>

[[File:Actress-screenwriter Grace Cunard, publicity photo, 1915.jpeg|thumb|right|Publicity photograph of Cunard at Universal Ranch with lioness that reportedly "later attacked and killed her trainer", August 1915]]

Cunard’sCunard's collaboration with Ford continued into 1917, the same year she married for the second time, not to Ford but to the Irish-born actor [[Joe Moore (actor)|Joe Moore]]. Although the media had referred to her as "Miss" since she began working with Ford in 1912, Cunard had married earlier that same year in New York before moving to California. That first marriage appears to have been short-lived and ended, if not legally, for all practical purposes by the time she arrived on the West Coast. Nevertheless, Cunard’sCunard's collaboration with Ford finally ended after June 1917 with the release of ''In Treason's Grasp'', a five-reeler he directed for Renowned Pictures and in which she co-starred with him.<ref>[http://archive.org/details/motography18elec/page/324/mode/2up "In Treason's Grasp"], ''Motography'' (Chicago), August 11, 1917, p. 325. Internet Archive. Retrieved May 4, 2020.</ref>

At the time Cunard started working in films, it was not uncommon for members on set and in post-production to assume a variety of additional duties beyond their primary assignments.<ref>Gaines, Jane; Vatsal, Radha. [http://wfpp.columbia.edu/essay/how-women-worked-in-the-us-silent-film-industry/#New_York_California_Before_Hollywood_and_Hollywood_19071923 "How Women Worked in the US Silent Film Industry"], ''WFPP''. Retrieved May 5, 2020.</ref> Cunard was no exception. While it is now well documented that a significant number of the "pioneers" in early American filmmaking were women, it was still not common by the 1910s for a young actress with an eighth-grade education to write, perform in, direct, and edit films to the extent Cunard did, often doing all those duties on a single project. Totals vary in film references regarding the number of silent productions in which she worked. Her entry in the 2005 edition of ''The Encyclopedia of Early Cinema'' credits her with starring in over 100 silent films, writing screenplays or treatments for 44 of those releases, and directing at least eight of them on her own and more in concert with Ford.<ref name="Abel"/> Some period newspapers and trade publications credit her with writing between 150 and 200 "photoplays", while one newspaper in 1915 reported that she had authored 400 scenarios, a highly implausible figure given the amount of time Cunard had worked in motion pictures by then.<ref>Hamilton, Creighton (1916). [http://archive.org/stream/pictureplaymagaz04unse#page/n503/mode/2up "Famous Teams—and Why"], ''Picture-Play Magazine'', June 1916, pp. 46-47. Retrieved May, 6, 2020.</ref><ref>"Grace Cunard Author of 400 Scenarios", ''The Sun'' (Baltimore, Maryland), September 12, 1915, p. 11. ProQuest Historical Newspaper.</ref> Whatever the true totals, news items and reviews of her completed films testify that her output was prodigious, especially between 1913 and 1918.

In 1915, Richard Willis interviewed Cunard for the July issue of ''[[Motion Picture Magazine]]'' and questioned the 22-year-old actress about the different tasks she had performed on film projects and which of those tasks she enjoyed most:{{quote|Honestly, I hardly know how to answer you...I love acting and am awfully fond of writing, too. As to the directing, [although] I have done a good deal of it and often put on a photoplay while Mr. Ford is cutting and assembling a picture, I believe that I best like it in the way I do it—that is occasionally. I hardly believe I would take to it as a steady diet. Later on, when I feel I am too old to take leads...I guess, I will direct entirely, because I will never give up Motion Pictures—I am too wrapped up in them. At the same time I am glad I do direct now and again, for I can say that I have tried every angle of the manufacturing end of the business, and, what is more, that I am conversant with every branch and can even cut and assemble a film, with appealing [[Intertitles|subtitles]], and have done so many times.<ref>Drew, S. Rankin (1915). [http://archive.org/details/motionpicturemag09moti/page/98/mode/2up "Chats With The Players / Grace Cunard, of the Universal Company"], July 1915, ''Motion Picture Magazine'' (New York, N.Y.), p. 99. Internet Archive. Retrieved May 2, 2020.</ref>}}

Cunard's work as an actor, writer, and director did not cease after her collaboration with Ford ended. She starred in ''Hell's Crater'', an elaborate five-reel Western written and directed by W. B. Pearson and filmed on location in [[Death Valley National Park]].<ref>[http://catalog.afi.com/Film/14972-HELLS-CRATER?sid=6f6c5822-c812-4b50-a6b8-e9c10d4a3a34&sr=10.658277&cp=1&pos=0 "Hell’s Crater (1918)"], catalog, [[American Film Institute]] (AFI), Los Angeles, California. Retrieved April 28, 2020.</ref> Released by Universal in early 1918, ''Hell's Crater'' was heavily promoted in trade publications. The next year she returned to acting in a serial format, "supporting" [[Elmo Lincoln]] in 18 episodes of ''Elmo the Mighty''<ref>Advertisement for [http://archive.org/stream/moving40chal#page/n755/mode/2up "Elmo the Mighty"], ''The Moving Picture World'', May 31, 1919, pp. 1262-1263. Internet Archive. Retrieved May 1, 2020.</ref> During 1920 and 1921, she had opportunities working with Marion H. Kohn Productions of San Francisco to once again use the full range of her talents in a series of two-reel Westerns.{{efn|In some period publications as well in some modern references, the name of the San Francisco-based Marion H. Kohn Productions is incorrectly spelled "Cohn".}} She wrote, directed, and starred in ''The Man Hater'' (1920); directed and starred in ''Gasoline Buckaroo'' (1920) and ''A Daughter of The Law'' (1921); wrote and starred in ''The Gun Runners'' (1921); and co-wrote, directed and co-starred with Cole Hebert in ''Her Western Adventure'' (1921).<ref>[http://archive.org/details/filmdailyvolume11314newy/page/1330/mode/2up/ "'The Man Hater'"], ''The Film Daily'', December 12, 1920, p. [25]; [http://archive.org/stream/motionpicturenew212unse#page/n31 Promotion of Grace Cunard releases] for Marion H. Kohn Productions, ''Motion Picture News'', March 27, 1920, p. 2828. Internet Archive. Retrieved May 1, 2020.</ref> After she co-starred in ''The Last Man on Earth'' and ''The Elk's Tooth'' in 1924, she was cast in fewer and fewer primary roles and was relegated to playing secondary characters for the remainder of the decade.<ref name="AFI">[http://catalog.afi.com/Person/63023-Grace-Cunard?sid=b2f8263d-b9c5-426b-b38a-7efd5eb095b8&sr=11.7029505&cp=1&pos=0&isMiscCredit=false e "Grace Cunard"], filmography, AFI. Retrieved May 4, 2020.</ref>{{efn|The Ford-Cunard two-reel short ''The Woman of Mystery'' was released by Universal in 1920, but it was not new. It was a substantially cut reissue of the 1917 five-reeler of the same title.}}

Cunard throughout the 1930s continued to act but the complexity of her roles steadily declined until she performed predominantly in minor or uncredited bit parts. In the 1940s she still secured work at [[RKO Pictures|RKO]], [[Republic Pictures|Republic]], and in few productions at her old "home studio", Universal.<ref name="AFI"/> One of her more visible roles among her final appearances in that period is in the 1942 serial ''[[Gang Busters (serial)|Gang Busters]]''. She only appears as a [[landlady]] in one of its 13 episodes, but her presence in that production was deemed important enough by Universal to include her name in a third-tier bold credit on the serial's theater posters.<ref>See"No Blackout in Shorts Production Activity", ''Showmen's Trade Review'', January 3, 1942, p. 21; Internet Archive. Also see cast listing and color image of the noted theatrical poster with Grace Cunard credited, [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034767/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt "Gang Busters (1942)"], [[Internet Movie Database]] (IMDb), [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]], Seattle, Washington. Retrieved May 3, 2020.</ref> Her last screen appearance, one uncredited, is in the role of a woman with a baby in the 1946 drama ''[[Magnificent Doll]]''.<ref name="AFI"/> Shortly after the release of that film, Universal underwent a change in leadership and administrative restructuring, which resulted in the studio discontinuing its program of serials and low-budget features.<ref>{{cite web|title=International Pictures and the merger with Universal Pictures|url=http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/international_universal.htm|website=cobbles.com|accessdate=May 4, 2020}}</ref> Cunard was 53 years old by that time, so after working nearly four decades in motion pictures, she decided to retire permanently from the industry.

Cunard was married three times. On April 30, 1912, in New York, at the age of 19, she married actor Harry Harvey, who was 20 years her senior.<ref>"New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940", marriage certificate, Harry Harvey and Harriet Mildred Jeffries, April 30, 1912, [[Manhattan]], New York; microfilm, New York City Municipal Archives, New York.</ref>{{efn|Records show that actor-director Harry Harvey was born in New York City on June 4, 1873, so he was just shy of 39 years old in 1912. On his and Jeffries' (Cunard's) marriage certificate, however, he is listed as 36, which was due to either a deliberate misrepresentation on his part or his age was recorded incorrectly at the time.}} That marriage ended before 1917, although the reasons for its ending are not clearly documented. Her next marriage was to Irish-born actor [[Joe Moore (actor)|Joe Moore]]. They wed at [[Seal Beach, California]], on January 17, 1917, but divorced eight years later.<ref>"California Marriages, 1850-1952", certificate of marriage, Joseph Moore and Harriet Jeffries, January 17, 1917, Seal Beach, Orange County, California, California State Board of Health, Sacramento; digital image of original document, archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.</ref> Then, on September 1, 1925, Cunard married Frederick Lorenzo Tyler, a film [[stunt double|stuntman]] who professionally used the name Jack Tyler Shannon.<ref name="CalMar">"California County Marriages, 1850-1952", Frederick Lorenzo Tyler and Harriet M. Jeffries, September 1, 1925, Los Angeles, California State Board of Health, Sacramento; database copy, archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.</ref> They remained married for over 40 years, until her death from cancer in 1967. At the time of her death, she was residing at the [[Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital|Motion Picture Country Home]] in [[Woodland Hills, California|Woodland Hills]], a neighborhood of Los Angeles.<ref name="NYT"/> Her gravesite is also in Los Angeles, at [[Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery]] in the neighborhood of [[Chatsworth, Los Angeles|Chatsworth]].<ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8726367/grace-cunard "Grace Cunard Shannon"], Oakwood Memorial Park, Chatsworth, Los Angeles County, California. [[Find a Grave]], memorial registration 8726367 with image of marker. Retrieved April 28, 2020.</ref>

The Ford-Cunard 1917 short ''[[Unmasked (1917 film)|Unmasked]]'' was selected in 2014 by the United States Film Preservation Board for inclusion in the [[National Film Registry]].<ref>[http://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ "Unmasked"] (1917) added to National Film Registry, United States Film Preservation Board, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Retrieved May 4, 2020.</ref> In 2018, in recognition of the many contributions made by women to the development of the motion-picture industry in the silent era, film library and distributor [[Kino International (company)|Kino Lorber, Inc.]], in cooperation with the Library of Congress, released a special six-[[DVD|disc]] box set titled ''Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers''. Included in that set are copies of three episodes from Cunard's 1916-1917 serial ''The Purple Mask'' as well as a copy of the short ''The Daughter of 'The Law''', which she directed and starred in, in 1921.<ref>Dargis, Manohla (2018). [http://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/movies/first-women-filmmakers-film-series.html "Critic's Notebook: Thrills, Tears and the Real Gone Girls of Cinema"], review and discussion of Kino Lorber's film presentations and its DVD series ''Pioneers: The First Women Filmmakers'', ''The New York Times'' (online edition), July 19, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2020.</ref>

* ''[[Unmasked (1917 film)|Unmasked]]'' (1917) co-directed

* ''[[Society's Driftwood]]'' (1917)

* ''[[Hell's Crater]]'' (1918)

* ''East[[Easy to Look At]]'' (1945)

==References and notes==

* [https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-grace-cunard/ Grace Cunard]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at Women Film Pioneers Project

[[Category:American filmFilm directors from Ohio]]