
Elmer Clifton
Directing
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.
Known For

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
The Birth of a Nation

Superhero Captain America battles the evil forces of the archvillain called The Scarab, who poisons his enemies and steals a secret device capable of destroying buildings by sound vibrations.
Captain America

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

A Royal Canadian Mountie is assigned to bring in a criminal called "The Raven." The problem is that no one has ever seen him.
Wildcat Trooper

Polly has herself arrested and committed to a reformatory in order to investigate conditions at the institution, after the committee charged with the investigation whitewashes the facts.
Peppy Polly

A pretty socialite / pilot runs into gun smugglers when she lands her plane on a Pacific island.
Isle Of Destiny

In China, a man is arrested and tortured for a crime committed years before by his twin brother.
The Sable Lorcha

May and her younger sister, Carol, live in a small town. May is the more lovely of the two, but Carol is wooed by Frank, a country boy. George, a city man, comes to town on a visit, falls in love with Carol and wins her away from Frank. Carol is pleased with his attentions and poor Frank is brokenhearted. Calling one day to see Carol, George meets May and falls madly in love with her, and finally runs away with her and they are married. Carol, in despair, turns back to Frank and they are married, and a year later a baby is born.
The Sisters

Texas Rangers Tex Wyatt, Jim Steele and Panhandle Perkins are sent to the district of Rawhide to investigate the killings of several ranchers. Tex enters the town posing as a tramp while the other two Rangers join a troupe of itinerant minstrels.
Boss of Rawhide

Famed striptease artist Ann Corio stars as Annabelle, a cabaret dancer who returns to the Florida bayous whence she came.
Swamp Woman

Renfrew of the Mounties hunts brother-and-sister gold hijackers.
Crashing Thru

Patsy Ruth Miller stars as the romantic bone of contention between pearl divers Malcolm McGregor and Wallace MacDonald. When McGregor's brother is murdered, Miller is arrested for the crime. The actual killer, however, is MacDonald, who does an expert job covering his tracks.
Tropical Nights

Hoping to increase its box-office allure by adopting the title of a popular song, Deep in the Heart of Texas (clap!clap!clap!clap!) was the first Johnny Mack Brown western of the 1942-43 season. The plot concerns a group of insurrectionists who intend to keep Texas separate from the rest of the USA.
Deep in the Heart of Texas

After a beautiful but unsophisticated girl is seduced by a worldly piano player and gives up her out-of-wedlock baby, her guilt compels her to kidnap another child.
Not Wanted

Rangers Tex Haines and Dave Wyatt track a killer known as the Whispering Skull. In the wake of the Skull's slaughter, a band of thieves takes advantage of the fear he's brought to town.
The Whispering Skull

Tex Wyatt is blamed for a murder actually committed by Ransom and Holman, a couple of thieves. Tex manages to escape and is reunited with his two ranger pals Jim Steele and Panhandle Perkins, both of whom are working undercover as performers in a medicine show.
Bad Men of Thunder Gap

Captain Slocum of the Hesperus arrives on shore in a New England village to find that the girl he loves has been tricked into marrying John Hazzard in his absence. Heartbroken and bitter, the captain, with his daughter, Gale, and second mate, Singapore Jack, returns to sea. He rescues from a burning vessel John Hazzard, Jr., son of his rival, and though he tries to keep the boy from Gale, a romance develops. ...
The Wreck of the Hesperus

Hero Henry Court (Herbert Rawlinson) is very much his parents' child, having inherited the predominant character traits of both his go-getting father and his shy, retiring mother. The "father" side of his nature manifests itself on the college football field, where Henry excels. Unfortunately, the "mother" side is evidenced by a streak of cowardice, which surfaces at all the wrong times. Hoping to expunge the cowardly part of his make-up, Henry hires a bunch of self-styled mentalists to "concentrate" his problems away. Pretty soon, Henry is a virtual slave to the whims of the mentalists, who push his emotional buttons with reckless abandon.
Brace Up

Ellen Williams' father has a valuable collection of furs and an outlaw gang is after them. Before he is killed, Williams hides a note revealing their location. The Texas Rangers are on the job and to get more information, they have Panhandle pose as an Indian chief.
Frontier Fugitives

No description available.