Elmer Clifton

Directing

Elmer Clifton

Born 1890-03-12 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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.

Acting credits

Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages poster
7.1

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

1916

The Birth of a Nation poster
5.9

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

1915

Martin Eden poster
NR

The tale of an individualist proletarian in a time marked by the rise of mass political movements. In early 20th-century Italy, illiterate sailor Martin Eden seeks fame as a writer while torn between the love of a bourgeois girl and allegiance to his social class.

Martin Eden

1914

No artwork available
10.0

Hoping to elope, farmer's daughter Myrtle Fairley and her beau Jack Holt are forced to return home after finding the minister not at home. Upon arrival they discover a pair of incompetent safe crackers trying to force Mr. Fairley to give up his money, leading to a tense resolution.

A Lucky Disappointment

1914

The Sisters poster
NR

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

1914

The Sable Lorcha poster
NR

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

The Sable Lorcha

1915

No artwork available
9.0

A picture from the short story of Ellen Farley in "The Cavalier," and screened by John O'Brian. The story is of a girl who tries to be an author and has the usual fate of such. The new interest comes when she enters the home of the publisher because the policemen won't let her sit on the park benches and she wants to hide out of sight of them. She is starving and there is fruit on the table which she eats, but when the "burglar" comes she feels in duty bound to protect the place from him; it is the publisher, and from this meeting the two young people fall in, it always happens in fiction, why say it? But even with this ending the offering has much to commend it. Able direction and good acting give it atmosphere and it will go all right.

The Folly of Anne

1914

The Old Folks at Home poster
NR

Senator John Coburn's son Steve, who associates more with gamblers, criminals and drug addicts than with his father's congressional cronies, impulsively murders his mistress' new lover. The senator tries to use his influence to have Steve acquitted, but all of the evidence firmly and correctly implicates him, and so the jury prepares to find Steve guilty without much deliberation. Before the verdict can be announced, however, Steve's mother rises in court to make an impassioned plea for her son. As a result, moved by the mother's grief, the jurors choose to ignore all of the evidence, and declare that Steve is not guilty.

The Old Folks at Home

1916

Burning Daylight: The Adventures of 'Burning Daylight' in Alaska poster
NR

Elam Harnish, known as "Burning Daylight," is a leader among the men of Circle City, Alaska in the days before the gold rush. Nell, a dance hall girl, loves Harnish, though he has never offered her anything but friendship. Harnish's hunch that the big strike is coming soon proves true, and he throws himself into the frenzy of activity that follows, staking claims and eventually accumulating eleven million dollars. Harnish leaves Alaska for San Francisco without knowing that Nell has killed herself because of his departure. -From TCM.com Database, powered by the AFI.

Burning Daylight: The Adventures of 'Burning Daylight' in Alaska

1914

The Lily and the Rose poster
NR

To the dismay of Allison Edwards, her bookworm, adoring neighbor, Mary Randolph, falls in love with and marries Jack Van Norman, a rich and handsome former football star. After a few months of marital contentment, Jack becomes infatuated with Rose, an exotic dancer.

The Lily and the Rose

1915

No artwork available
10.0

Young teacher Nan Cartwright leaves Virginia for a narrow-minded Western town. Facing constant harassment from townspeople, her reputation is ultimately ruined after a carriage accident forces her to spend the night in the woods.

The Little School Ma'am

1916

No artwork available
NR

Hard-working insurance company bookkeeper John Carter, comes home Easter eve to his suburban cottage with a potted lily for his loving wife and two daughters. The Carters live happily until cashier Charles Ryder is murdered by the night watchman, a "coke sniffer" in need of money, and Carter is accused because he worked with Ryder that evening.

Acquitted

1916

Nina, the Flower Girl poster
NR

Nina, a blind girl, lives with her grandmother, who has taught her to make artificial flowers, which she sells at a flower-stand. Nina, and Jimmie, a crippled newsboy who sells papers on the same corner, are sweethearts. Nina's grandmother dies, and she turns to Jimmie. One day Jimmie has a fight with another newsboy, whom he thinks is hanging about Nina's stand too much, and the other boy is soon begging for mercy. Miss Fifi Chandler, an artist, happens to be passing, and becoming interested, she accompanies Nina and Jimmie to their rooms, and is surprised to find that Jimmie is an artist, having made a beautiful plaster cast of Nina. Fifi brings Jimmie and his protégé to the notice of her fellow artist, Fred Townsend, who falls in love with Nina.

Nina, the Flower Girl

1917

No artwork available
9.0

A Duel for Love is a 1914 dramatic short.

A Duel for Love

1914

The Missing Links poster
NR

A 1916 film directed by Lloyd Ingraham.

The Missing Links

1916

No artwork available
NR

Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name. Jack London has struggled with alcoholism most of his life. At age five he was instructed to bring a pail of beer to his father and drank some to prevent it spilling over, getting drunk for the first time. As an adult, he goes through cycles of abstinence only to return to hard drinking.

John Barleycorn

1914

The Lost House poster
NR

Before his niece and ward, Dosia Dale, comes of age, her uncle, who has spent her entire fortune, must think of a way to account for his actions. He proposes marriage, and when Dosia indignantly refuses him, he conspires with his evil friend, Dr. Protheroe, to do away with her. Declaring Dosia insane, the two men lock her up in the doctor's insane asylum, but she manages to drop a note from the window. Her plea for help is found by a reporter named Ford, who feigns insanity in order to gain admittance to the asylum. Dr. Protheroe becomes suspicious of Ford and locks him up with Dosia, whereupon Ford, knowing that his friend Cuthbert will notify the police if he and Dosia do not emerge safely by twelve, barricades the door and waits. In a furious battle with the police and the militia, Dosia's uncle and Dr. Protheroe are killed and the house set ablaze, but Ford and Dosia escape, leaping from the roof into a fire net below. All danger passed, Ford and Dosia become engaged.

The Lost House

1915

I Am Not a Racist poster
NR

A parody of D. W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation", "I Am Not a Racist" rearranges the scenes of the classic movie and recreates its dialogues to criticize the racism in it and also in the world today. Freemenville is a little city somewhere in the USA. A city ashamed because of its past of slavery, but proud of being the first in the country to end it. There is an annual ball to celebrate this fact. And this year's ball may be the biggest ever, because of the possible presence of a big celebrity, who is coming to town to see the premiere of a play. However, the play happens to be D. W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation", a racist work that starts a series of events exposing the racism that still exists in the city, culminating in the recreation of the KKK.

I Am Not a Racist

2019

No artwork available
NR

According to Japanese legend, the Fox Woman was not possessed of a soul. To exist, she was obliged to steal the soul of others.

The Fox Woman

1915

Behind the camera

Nobody Home poster
8.0

A young woman is so superstitious that she cannot make a move or a decision without the approval of the cards or the stars. Pursued romantically by two men, one virtuous, the other villainous, the cards point her toward the villain. Which will she follow, her cards or her heart?

Nobody Home

1919

Virgin Lips poster
3.3

In a banana republic, way south of the Texas border, a dumb-Dora American girl, Norma (Olive Borden), lets her ruby-red lips promise more than she is willing to deliver, and she finds herself a prisoner in a notorious dance-hall/brothel. But her American aviator boyfriend, Barry Blake (John Boles), is flying to her rescue. He does just that but, alas, they are quickly captured by a gang of outlaws. Possibly the many expensive pieces of jewelry she has gathered from the many male friends she has made along the way, including El Presidente, captured the outlaws' attention.

Virgin Lips

1928

High Speed poster
NR

“Speed” Cannon, an ambitious young businessman is determined to win the affections of a boarding-school girl whose father made millions in the pork industry. He must use his wit and "speedy" business acumen to navigate the social demands of the girl's father, ultimately trying to win her hand in marriage.

High Speed

1917

Captain America poster
5.3

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

1944

Nugget Nell poster
7.0

Big Hearted Jim, the sheriff, loves the tomboyish Nugget Nell ( Dorothy Gish ), who runs a hash house in the mining country, but although she has romantic feelings, they are not aroused by Jim. Nell agrees to an old miner friend's request to care for his "child," Nell is shocked to meet the six-foot girl, but she cares for her just the same. Nell falls in love with the City Chap, out West to look after his mining property, but he barely notices her, having become intrigued by the Ingenue, whom he met on the stagecoach. The jealous Nell steals stylish clothes to allure him, but she has trouble walking in French high-heels.

Nugget Nell

1919

Not Wanted poster
6.8

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

1949

The Rangers Take Over poster
7.0

Jim Steele spots Pete Dawson taking horses over the Mexico-Texas border, but Dawson has an alibi. A new group of recruits arrives at the Ranger station, among them Tex Wyatt, the son of Ranger Captain John Wyatt, whom he hasn't seen for many years. Captain Wyatt tells Tex that he is in the Rangers strictly on his own merit and there will be no favors played. He assigns Tex to pick up Dawson's trail, but orders that no arrest be made without proof.

The Rangers Take Over

1942

Hard Guy poster
5.7

Investigators crack down on a gang of nightclub con artists that has been victimizing wealthy bachelors.

Hard Guy

1941

Boots poster
4.0

Boots is a young servant girl who polishes shoes in an English inn. She is an incurable romantic, addicted to melodramatic stories of love and adventure. When she discovers a Bolshevik plot to blow up a government official, she takes it on herself to foil the plot.

Boots

1919

Pilot X poster
6.3

Aircraft are being shot down by a large black plane with a big "X" painted on the wing. The chief suspects are invited for the weekend to an old dark mansion.

Pilot X

1936

Swamp Woman poster
5.0

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

Swamp Woman

1941

Smashing Through poster
NR

Claim jumper Dave Marco and his boss Earl Foster, a crooked investment broker, hire chemist Ralph Brandon to falsify papers that a certain worthless mine is valuable then convince Ralph's mother to invest all her money in the mine. Ralph’s sister Holly meets Jack Mason, whose mine is actually valuable though not yet profitable, and they fall for each other. Once Mrs. Brandon finds out she has been duped, though forced into silence by the threat of having Ralph’s malfeasance exposed, and Marco attempts to jump Jack’s claim events come to a head until the happy conclusion.

Smashing Through

1918

No artwork available
7.0

Teen-Age is another "exposé" film of the 1940s, cheaply made but widely distributed. In the guise of a warning against wartime juvenile delinquency, the film offers the exploitational tale of a bunch of wild, unsupervised kids at large in a small community. With nothing but time on their hands, the young protagonists become involved with petty theft, inevitably leading to some pretty serious consequences.

Teen Age

1944

Peppy Polly poster
8.0

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

1919

Isle Of Destiny poster
5.7

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

Isle Of Destiny

1940

Three in the Saddle poster
9.0

Peggy Barlou is a young rancher who refuses to sell her spread to greedy stage-line proprietor John Rankin. Tex Haines, meanwhile, is accused of killing Bill Dugan, Rankin's bodyguard, but eludes capture long enough to hook up with Dave Wyatt and Panhandle Perkins, a couple of rangers in disguise.

Three in the Saddle

1945

No artwork available
9.0

While trying to nab a gang of diamond smugglers, the police are notified by Scotland Yard that the gang's leader, a beautiful Englishwoman who was on her way to the States to take control of the gang, has been caught. Because the American gangsters don't know what their English boss looks like, the police persuade a female impersonator to pretend to be her and infiltrate the gang.

Maid to Order

1931

The Judge poster
5.5

A study of an amoral and sleazy defense lawyer who suddenly tries to "go straight" when he finds out that his tart wife is cheating on him; as well as the similarities he has in life with one of his clients.

The Judge

1949

The Judge poster
5.5

A study of an amoral and sleazy defense lawyer who suddenly tries to "go straight" when he finds out that his tart wife is cheating on him; as well as the similarities he has in life with one of his clients.

The Judge

1949

Beautiful But Dumb poster
NR

Janet Brady, a stenographer, wants the love of her boss. She learns her personality has no appeal, so she drops her mannish clothes and blossoms forth as a simpering flapper. She develops sex appeal plus and though her boss is nonplussed for a time she wins him in the end.

Beautiful But Dumb

1928

Custer's Last Stand poster
8.0

The feature length version of the serial by the same name. A mystical medicine arrow, the key to a lost gold treasure, is lost in one of many Indian attacks. It is recovered by the only two survivors, a Major and his daughter, who become the targets of those who wish to possess it. General George Armstrong Custer and army scout Kid Cardigan attempt to stop the ensuing war over the arrow, but fail in their efforts, which becomes the historic Custer's Last Stand.

Custer's Last Stand

1936

No artwork available
8.0

Silent romantic drama follows a couple as they make their way through the sheer scale of the Grand Canyon and the treacherous river rapids.

The Bride of the Colorado

1928

The Guilt of Silence poster
NR

During the Alaskan gold rush, two unscrupulous fortune-seekers, Amy and her husband Gambler Joe, rob Mathew Smith, who has offered them shelter from a snow storm. Mathew pursues them but loses his way, and by the time Harkness finds him, he is nearly dead from exposure. Mathew, nicknamed "Silent" Smith because the storm has robbed him of his voice, lives in friendship with Harkness until the latter marries Amy, who has found employment in a local dance hall.

The Guilt of Silence

1918

Wolves of the Sea poster
6.0

A young socialite, marooned on a desert island after her passenger ship sinks, is rescued by a sailing vessel looking for salvage and finds herself dealing with a mutinous crew and a semi-insane captain.

Wolves of the Sea

1936