Elmer Clifton

Elmer Clifton

  • Birthday: 1890-03-12
  • Deathday: 1949-10-15
  • Place of birth: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Also know as: Elmer Clifford

Biography

Born in Chicago, he was an actor in touring stock companies before making his screen debut in 1912. Joining D.W. Griffith's Fine Arts Studio in 1914, he was cast as Union officer Phil Stoneman in "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) and as The Rhapsodie in the Babylonian story of "Intolerance" (1916). He was also a second-unit director for those films. Promoted to director in 1917, Clifton supervised several successful Fine Arts comedies starring Dorothy Gish while continuing to serve as Griffith's assistant. Their association culminated with the blockbuster "Way Down East" (1920). Clifton shot much of its famous "Rescue from the ice" sequence and doubled for star Richard Barthelmess in the riskier scenes. He then left Griffith to form his own production company and had a smash hit with "Down to the Sea in Ships" (1922), a colorful whaling saga made on location in New England. It made a star of future "It Girl" Clara Bow, who appeared as a cross-dressing stowaway. In 1923 Clifton signed a lucrative seven-year contract with Fox and was poised to become one of Hollywood's major directors. Then tragedy struck. He was filming "The Warrens of Virginia" in Texas when his lead actress died from burns in an accident on the set. Although Clifton was blameless in the incident, he was fired by Fox and his career never regained its momentum.

Filmography

The Missing Links

1916

As Horace Gaylord

Nina, the Flower Girl

1917

As Jimmie

The Fox Woman

1915

As Marashida

The Folly of Anne

1914

As The Sympathtic Publisher

The Sisters

1914

As Frank (Carol's country lover)

The Lost House

1915

As Cuthbert

The Sable Lorcha

1915

As Phillip Clyde - Evelyn's Fiancé

Acquitted

1916

As Ned Fowler

The Lily and the Rose

1915

As Allison Edwards

I Am Not a Racist

0000

As Phil

Martin Eden

1914

As Cub Reporter

The Birth of a Nation

1915

As Stoneman's Elder Son Phil

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

As The Rhapsode (Babylonian Story)

Production

Pilot X

1936

As Director

The Judge

1949

As Director

Slaves in Bondage

1937

As Director

Assassin of Youth

1938

As Director

Captain America

1944

As Director

Hard Guy

1941

As Director

Not Wanted

1949

As Director

Crashing Thru

1939

As Director

Gangsters of the Frontier

1944

As Director

Skull and Crown

1935

As Director

Seven Doors to Death

1944

As Director

Rough Riding Ranger

1935

As Director

Captured in Chinatown

1935

As Director

Youth Aflame

1944

As Director

Down to the Sea in Ships

1922

As Director

Wildcat Trooper

1936

As Director

Wolves of the Sea

1936

As Director

Let'er Go Gallegher

1928

As Director

Ten Laps to Go

1936

As Director

Isle Of Destiny

1940

As Director

City of Missing Girls

1941

As Director

Fighting Caballero

1935

As Director

Custer's Last Stand

1936

As Director

Spook Town

1944

As Director

I'll Sell My Life

1941

As Director

The Wreck of the Hesperus

1927

As Director

Guns of the Law

1944

As Director

Battling Jane

1918

As Director

The Whispering Skull

1944

As Director

Cyclone of the Saddle

1935

As Director

Red Rock Outlaw

1949

As Director

The Pinto Bandit

1944

As Director

Days of Old Cheyenne

1943

As Director

Boss of Rawhide

1943

As Director

Marked for Murder

1945

As Director

Rip Roaring Riley

1935

As Director

Mile a Minute Love

1937

As Director

Swamp Woman

1941

As Director

The Blocked Trail

1943

As Director

The Old Chisholm Trail

1942

As Director

Custer's Last Stand

1936

As Director

The Sundown Kid

1942

As Director

Frontier Law

1943

As Director

The Return of the Rangers

1943

As Director

Dead or Alive

1944

As Director

Her Official Fathers

1917

As Director

Swing, Cowboy, Swing

1946

As Director

The Silver Bandit

1950

As Director

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1916

As First Assistant Director

The Birth of a Nation

1915

As Assistant Director

Brace Up

1918

As Director

The Eagle

1918

As Director

A Stormy Knight

1917

As Director

The Two-Soul Woman

1918

As Director

Winner Takes All

1918

As Director

Tropical Nights

1928

As Director

The Midnight Man

1917

As Director

Flirting with Death

1917

As Director

The Man Trap

1917

As Director

The Warrens of Virginia

1924

As Director

The Flash of Fate

1918

As Director

California Frontier

1938

As Director

Virgin Lips

1928

As Director

The Flame of Youth

1917

As Director

Gambling with Souls

1936

As Director

Kiss or Kill

1918

As Director

Mary Ellen Comes to Town

1920

As Director

Six Cylinder Love

1923

As Director

Light of India

1929

As Director

Nobody Home

1919

As Director

The Stranger from Arizona

1938

As Director

Law of the Texan

1938

As Director

Maid to Order

1931

As Director

Boots

1919

As Director

The Hope Chest

1918

As Director

Peppy Polly

1919

As Director

I'll Get Him Yet

1919

As Director

Nugget Nell

1919

As Director

Turning the Tables

1919

As Director

The Devil's Apple Tree

1929

As Director

The Fallen Empire

1931

As Director

Pals of the Range

1935

As Director

Down to the Sea in Ships

1922

As Producer

The Kid from Gower Gulch

1950

As Screenplay

The Judge

1949

As Screenplay

Assassin of Youth

1938

As Story

Assassin of Youth

1938

As Screenplay

Gangsters of the Frontier

1944

As Screenplay

Lightning Raiders

1946

As Screenplay

Lightning Raiders

1946

As Original Story

Frontier Fugitives

1945

As Screenplay

Youth Aflame

1944

As Screenplay

Rough Riding Ranger

1935

As Screenplay

Outlaws of the Plains

1946

As Story

The Pinto Bandit

1944

As Screenplay

Bad Men of Thunder Gap

1943

As Writer

Guns of the Law

1944

As Screenplay

The Rangers Take Over

1942

As Writer

Teen Age

1944

As Screenplay

Teen Age

1944

As Story

I'll Sell My Life

1941

As Screenplay

Seven Doors to Death

1944

As Screenplay

The Old Chisholm Trail

1942

As Screenplay

Captured in Chinatown

1935

As Writer

Quick on the Trigger

1948

As Screenplay

West of Pinto Basin

1940

As Story

Cheyenne Roundup

1943

As Story

Boss of Rawhide

1943

As Screenplay

Boss of Rawhide

1943

As Story

Raiders of San Joaquin

1943

As Screenplay

Cheyenne Roundup

1943

As Screenplay

Frontier Law

1943

As Screenplay

The Return of the Rangers

1943

As Screenplay

The Pinto Bandit

1944

As Story

Brand of the Devil

1944

As Screenplay

Gunsmoke Mesa

1944

As Screenplay

Outlaw Roundup

1944

As Screenplay

Spook Town

1944

As Screenplay

Marked for Murder

1945

As Screenplay

Three in the Saddle

1945

As Screenplay

Swing, Cowboy, Swing

1946

As Writer

West to Glory

1947

As Screenplay

Red Rock Outlaw

1949

As Screenplay

The Silver Bandit

1950

As Screenplay

The Silver Bandit

1950

As Story

Rainbow Over the Rockies

1947

As Screenplay

Brace Up

1918

As Story

The Two-Soul Woman

1918

As Writer

Kiss or Kill

1918

As Writer

Cyclone of the Saddle

1935

As Writer

Song of the Sierras

1946

As Screenplay

Pals of the Range

1935

As Writer

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