When the Clouds Roll By (1919)
1919 was a good year for the star of this film, Douglas Fairbanks. Together with his best friend (Charlie Chaplin), his future wife (Mary Pickford), and D.W. Griffith, they founded United Artists. These four individuals were essentially the biggest stars in town at the time. They banded together to form United Artists in order to secure more financial and artistic control over their work.
The following year Fairbanks would marry Pickford and the first major celebrity couple is born. Though I doubt the fans merged their names into one. What would that even be anyway? Maryouglas? Dougary? They were however considered Hollywood royalty and Fairbanks was subsequently nicknamed “The King of Hollywood.” Fairbanks would also go on to host the first Academy Awards. Oh, and one more fun fact about Fairbanks you should know. Douglas Fairbanks was the inspiration for the look of Superman. When the Clouds Roll By was the first film Victor Fleming directed. Fleming would go on to have quite the distinguished career as a Hollywood director. Two of his more famous films were released twenty years later in 1939. One being The Wizard of Oz and the other for which he took home his academy award for Best Director was called Gone with the Wind.
So there you have it. Some of the backstory, the gossip, and fun facts from the films and talent we showcased in our 1919 Centennial Cinema. Not to mention all those connections to Superman in a six degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of way. Again we thank all those who helped make the evening possible, as well as all of those who came out to see these pictures.
I hope you will join us next year for the 1920 Cinema Centennial!
