“I was born in Oxford, England. I am English born, but American bred, am proud of being an American citizen. My hobby! Automobiling. I am very fond of reading. Shakespeare is my favorite above all other writers. He was a wonderful man and has left us some wonderful literature….Yes, I have written scenarios. About forty of them, I think; both comedies and dramas.” — Herbert Prior
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
“My highest ambition? To have enough money to retire and yet to beat the income tax.” — Herbert Prior
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
“Are Motion Pictures destined to outshine the stage? Never! As to the improvements for Motion Pictures, they are innumerable, but I want to say one thing; The surest way to ruin the Motion Picture business is by the continued production of the multiple-reel pictures. People who are downtown and have perhaps an hour or less to spare will step into a Motion Picture theater. Perhaps a three- or four-reel picture is being shown. They haven’t time to wait for the first of it, should they perhaps come in during the middle of it. They leave without knowing what it was all about. And then, too, perhaps the picture is poor. If it is only one reel, we say” ‘Oh, well, that will soon be over and perhaps the next one will be good.’ But a three- or four-reel picture – that is bad. It seems to me that five hundred feet for a comedy and one thousand for a drama is long enough. Sometimes a three-reel picture only contains enough plot to make a corking one-reel, and it is padded until the real plot is smothered.” — Herbert Prior
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
A Game for Two (1912). With Mabel Trunnelle.
“I spend my evenings in different ways. Naturally, I don’t like to do the same thing all the time. I read, go to theaters, Motion Pictures, all that sort of thing – and beat my wife.” — Herbert Prior
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
“The greatest living statesman? Myself, of course. Politically, I’m for any good man. I think Woodrow Wilson is a fine man. I consider him the right man in the right place at the right time. My religion? I’m Protestant-Episcopalian born and bred. I believe in all Nature as a religion.” — Herbert Prior
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
“The public, after all, is the real censor, the court of last resort, and while I do not object to the National Board of Censors, I feel that even that distinguished body would die a natural death if they were to adopt a policy that was not in accord with the demands of the public. There is no excuse for official censorship.” — Herbert Prior
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
Photo: Does Your Wife Love You? (1912). With his wife Mabel Trunnelle.
Herbert Prior (1867-1954)
