J. Searle Dawley: Difference between revisions

'''James Searle Dawley''' (October 4, 1877 &ndash; March 30, 1949) was an [[United States|American]] [[film director]], producer, [[screenwriter]], stage actor, and [[playwright]]. Between 1907 and the mid-1920s, while working for [[Edison Studios|Edison]], [[Rex Motion Picture Company]], [[Famous Players Film Company|Famous Players]], [[Fox Film|Fox]], and other studios, he directed more than 300 [[short film]]s and 56 [[Feature film|features]], which include many of the early releases of stars such as [[Douglas Fairbanks]], [[Mary Pickford]], [[Pearl White]], [[Marguerite Clark]], [[Harold Lloyd]], and [[John Barrymore]].<ref>[https://archive.org/details/filmdaily3134newy/page/n241/mode/2up "J. Searle Dawley"], career profile, ''The Film Daily'' (New York, N.Y.), June 7, 1925, p. 71. [[Internet Archive]], San Francisco, California. Retrieved July 28, 2020.</ref><ref name="Katz">Katz, Ephraim; revised edition by Fred Klein and Ronald Dean Nolan. "Dawley, J. Searle." ''The Film Encyclopedia''. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2001, p. 340. {{ISBN|0-06-273755-4}}.</ref> He also wrote [[screenplay|scenarios]] for many of his productions, including one for his 1910 horror film ''[[Frankenstein (1910 film)|Frankenstein]]'', the earliest known screen adaptation of [[Mary Shelley]]'s 1818 novel.<ref name="PicartSmoot2001">{{cite book|last1=Picart|first1=Caroline Joan|last2=Smoot|first2=Frank|last3=Blodgett|first3=Jayne|title=The Frankenstein Film Sourcebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3f820XIzkN8C&pg=PA87|year=2001|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-31350-9|pages=86–87}}</ref> While film direction and screenwriting comprised the bulk of Dawley's career, he also had earlier working experience in theater, performing on stage for more than a decade and managing every aspect of [[stagecraft]]. Dawley wrote at least 18 plays as well for [[Repertory theatre|repertory companies]] and for several [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] productions.<ref name="IBDB">[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/j-searle-dawley-395529 "J. Searle Dawley"], [[Internet Broadway Database]] (IBDB), The Broadway League, Manhattan, New York. Retrieved July 23, 2020.</ref>

By 1911, Dawley was one of four full-time directors under contract with Edison. The New York-based trade journal ''The Nickelodeon'' in its February 11 issue that year introduces the four men to its readers and highlights Dawley's speciality among his fellow directors:{{quoteblockquote|The producers of the Edison Company, by which is meant the stage directors who superintend and are responsible for the action of the picture as well as the development of the plot used, are four in number—Messrs. J. Searle Dawley, [[Ashley Miller (director)|Ashley Miller]], C. Jay Williams and [[Oscar C. Apfel]]. A producer naturally, like any other man, develops a particular aptitude for some certain line of work. Mr. Dawley, for example, has put on some of the biggest and most sumptuous productions the Edison Company has ever produced. As specimens of his work may be mentioned "The Stars and Stripes," "Through the Clouds," "The Red Cross Seal", "Eldora, the Fruit Girl," "An Eventful Evening," "The Black Bordered Letter," "The Doctor" and "The Price of Victory."<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/nickelodeon05elec#page/156/mode/2up "Producers of Edison Photoplays"], ''The Nickelodeon'', February 11, 1911, p. 157. Internet Archive. Retrieved July 30, 2020.</ref>{{efn|In the early silent era in the United States, the terms "producer" and "director" were not positions that were as clearly defined from one another as in subsequent decades. Often the terms were used synonymously and applied interchangeably in film reviews and news items about motion-picture productions. In the quoted extract from the 1911 ''Nickelodeon'' article, the writer even attempts to clarify the responsibilities of a director.}}}}

[[File:Lord and the Peasant - Die Heimkehr des Reisenden - J. Searle Dawley, 1912, Edison Manufacturing Company.webm|thumb|upright=1.2|'''PLAY''' Edison drama ''Lord and the Peasant'' (1912) directed by Dawley; a German period copy under different title, ''Die Heimkehr des Reisenden'' ("The Traveler's Homecoming"); runtime 00:08:4752.]]

On June 14, 1918, in Denver, Colorado, Dawley married Grace Owens Givens, a native of Illinois.<ref>"Colorado Statewide Marriage Index, 1853-2006", digital image of original typewritten card, "Marriage Record Report", Dawley to Givens, no. 69575, June 14, 1918, Division of Vital Statistics, State of Colorado; archives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. [[FamilySearch]].</ref> The couple remained together over 30 years, until Dawley's death in 1949. On March 29 that year, at age 71, Dawley died of undisclosed causes at the [[Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital|Motion Picture Country Home]] in [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles|Woodland Hills]] in Los Angeles, California.<ref>"J. Searle Dawley", obituary, ''Los Angeles Times'', March 30, 1949, p. 27. ProQuest.</ref> A memorial service was held for him three days later in Los Angeles, followed by the "inurnment" of his ashes in the [[columbarium]] at the [[Chapel of the Pines Crematory]]. Silent film star and producer [[Mary Pickford]] and director [[Walter Lang]], who early in his career was an assistant to Dawley, were among those who spoke at the service.<ref>Slide, p. 50.</ref> Dawley was survived by his wife Grace and his brother Hubert "Bert" Dawley. Later in 1949, Grace Dawley donated a selection of her husband's personal papers, scrapbooks, and several of his Edison production scripts to the [[Margaret Herrick Library]] at the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] in [[Beverly Hills, California]].<ref name="OAC"/>

* ''[[The Trainer's Daughter; or, A Race for Love]]'' (1907)

* ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1912 film)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'' (1912)

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* {{ibdbIBDB name|id=395529|name=J. Searle Dawley}}

[[Category:SilentAmerican silent film directors]]