“I directed the first Klaw and Erlanger-Biograph picture ever put on, ‘Classmates.’ The first Famous Players’ picture that I directed was ‘The Eagle’s Mate,’ in which I played the lead opposite Mary Pickford.” — James Kirkwood
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
“Well, of course, any director prefers a plastic actor. But it makes no difference to me whether they come to me from the stage with nationwide reputations, or whether they come from the ranks of ‘extras,’ as long as they do as I want them to do. Take Mary Pickford, for instance. She placed herself entirely in my hands; and even when she made suggestions that I did not accept, she went right ahead, doing things as I wanted them done….There can be but one director in a company.” — James Kirkwood
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
“Stories that deal with nature in her wildest yet most beautiful moods always interest me deeply. There’s an an inspiration about doing outside production that is utterly lacking under the flare of the ‘Cooper Hewitts’ in an inside studio.” — James Kirkwood
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
Photo: The Struggle Everlasting (1918). With Florence Reed
“Of course I like to direct, but I also like to act. I’ll tell you what I don’t like – both to act and direct. I don’t particularly care for that; you can’t devote enough time to either one to be absolutely satisfied.” — James Kirkwood
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
“But I think that acting on the stage is an art, like poetry, sculpture and so on, and that it will never give way to pictures. Acting for pictures is just as much an art, but so different that there’s never a fear of their clashing, to the detriment of one or the other. It is something that Moving Pictures have, by their cheapness, won away from the theater the poorer, uneducated class of people who could not afford the theater. But this is wrong. Everybody goes to Moving Pictures, and everybody enjoys them.” — James Kirkwood
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
“I was on the stage for ten years before going into pictures, and when I deserted it a number of my friends thought that I was giving up my career. Most of them are member of the Players Club, and are now interested in the very art that they once despised.” — James Kirkwood
Source: Pearl Gaddis (1915)
The Luck of the Irish (1920). With Anna Q. Nilsson. Directed by Allan Dwan.
