Jeanie Macpherson

by Jane Gaines
Jeanie Macpherson imagines scenario, BYU

Jeanie Macpherson imagines a scenario. Courtesy of Brigham Young University. 

Jeanie Macpherson is best known as Cecil B. DeMille’s screenwriter since she collaborated exclusively with the director-producer from 1915 through the silent era and into the sound era, in a working relationship lasting fifteen years. Like many other women who became established as screenwriters, she began her career as a performer, first as a dancer and then as an actress. Her numerous acting screen credits begin in 1908, and nearly thirty of the short films she appeared in for the Biograph Company, most directed by D. W. Griffith, are extant. At Universal Pictures, Macpherson began to write, but due to a fluke she also directed the one film that she wrote there—a one-reel Western, The Tarantula (1913), according to a 1916 Photoplay article (95). Although Anthony Slide cannot confirm the success of the film, both he and Charles Higham retell the story that when the film negative was destroyed by accident, the actress was asked to reshoot the entire motion picture just as she recalled it since the original director was unavailable (Slide 1977, 60; Higham 1973, 38).

Jeanie Macpherson on set of "Joan The Woman" (1917). BYU

Jeanie Macpherson on the set of Joan The Woman (1917). Courtesy of Brigham Young University.

There are several versions of how Jeanie Macpherson, out of work after The Tarantula, was hired by DeMille at the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company. The most elaborate version is from Higham, who describes Macpherson’s attempt to get an acting job as involving a series of battles between the two while the director was shooting Rose of the Rancho (1914) (38–40). The tempestuousness of their relationship is echoed in DeMille’s account of their final breakup at a luncheon thirty years later: “I disagreed with Jeanie rather sharply—she got up and left the table—I said, if you go now you can’t come back” (BYU, Dec. 1953 note, box 15, fldr. 65). Stormy or not, the relationship appears to have been highly productive, if screen credits are any indication. Of the silent films produced and/or directed by DeMille in the 1915–1930 period, Macpherson is given scenario credit on thirty-two (Cherchi Usai and Codelli 1991, 20). Still, the question of DeMille’s relation to Macpherson has continued to color the assessment of her involvement in the silent film industry, where she was on the board of Palmer Photoplay Company and listed as a founder of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Jeanie Macpherson (a/d) The Tarantula (1913), AMPAS

Jeanie Macpherson, The Tarantula (1913). Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library. 

Jeanie Macpherson with Cecil and Constance DeMille and daughter Cissy, BYU

Jeanie Macpherson with Cecil and Constance DeMille and daughter Cissy. Courtesy of Brigham Young University.

The director’s niece Agnes deMille (different spelling) confirms that Macpherson was one of DeMille’s three mistresses, the others of whom were the actress Julia Faye and his secretary Gladys Rosson, liaisons publicly accepted by Constance DeMille, the director’s wife (deMille 1990, 182–183). The significance of Macpherson’s part in her collaboration with DeMille, however, still needs to be clarified, particularly since the record is contradictory. In a 1957 interview DeMille says of Macpherson: “She was not a good writer. She would bring in wonderful ideas but she could not carry a story all the way through in writing. Her name is on many things because she wrote with me. I carried the story and she would bring me many, many ideas. You’ll find her name on a lot of scripts.” The daughter of Beulah Marie Dix (Flebbe), Evelyn Flebbe Scott, recalls that her mother, one of the top Lasky Company writers, although more impressed with screenwriter Frances Marion, still respected Macpherson for understanding exactly what DeMille wanted in every scene: “Mother never really thought of her as a writer, but as an exceptional collaborator for an exceptional man… Jeanie had a genius (for some reason everybody called her ‘Janie,’ so there is no alliteration) for putting this on paper” (70). Yet another story is told by the salary records of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. In 1918, Macpherson was making less than Marion Fairfax but more than Dix, and by the mid-1920s, she was the highest paid employee in the scenario department.

Jeanie Macpherson (w/d/a) with Cecil B. DeMille. BYU

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation Payroll 4/17/28

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation Payroll 4/17/28. Courtesy of Brigham Young University.

DeMille credited Jeanie Macpherson and paid her well, but may not have fully understood her point of view. In his autobiography he praises her choice of the title for his 1917 film about Joan of Arc, but while he says he sees the title Joan, the Woman as emphasizing the “humanity” over the sainthood of the historical figure, he doesn’t mention that the film turned her into a “woman” by giving the celibate saint a torrid romance (DeMille 1959, 171). In 1924, DeMille made some attempts to secure for Macpherson the rights to the original stories that she had written for him. These included Forbidden Fruit (1921), Adam’s Rib (1923), The Little American (1917), Don’t Change Your Husband (1919), and The Ten Commandments (1923) (Higashi 1994, 227). Macpherson is also credited with Hector Turnbull on the DeMille classic, The Cheat (1915), the Gloria Swanson vehicles Male and Female (1919) and Manslaughter (1922), and many of the melodramas of marriage and divorce for which the director was legendary, although he later mused that she probably didn’t take as much credit as she might have (DeMille 1959, 342). Since about seventy-five percent of the films on which Macpherson’s name appears survive, a more in-depth analysis is due, beginning with her original story for The Little American (1917), a Mary Pickford vehicle. Set in the US prior to and during World War I, the film features Pickford as an American girl heiress (Angela Moore), torn between German and French suitors. Her indecision is played out over the siege of her aunt’s French chateau, where she is attacked by her own former lover, the German Karl, who fights her in the dark until the lights go on and her identity is revealed. Karl renounces Prussian ruthlessness, but is still unable to keep the German officers from attacking women, and the Pickford character complains in the intertitle: “Somewhere in this house—there must be a man who is something more than a splendidly drilled beast!” The American flag-waving patriotism, ordered by studio head Jesse Lasky in a 1917 letter to DeMille, may be excessive for later decades. Standing for all Americans, Pickford single-handedly proves to be more courageous than the French, who appeal to her to intervene to stop a firing squad. Although the film retains the characteristic lightheartedness of a Pickford comedy, its structure calls attention to the ludicrousness of war by juxtaposing stubborn love with belligerent animosity. The Little American deserves comparison with at least one of Marion’s screenplays for Pickford. Like The Love Light (1921), which Marion wrote and also directed, The Little American is an antiwar film, and in casting Pickford in films about the heart-wrenching trauma of World War I, both films dare to add bitterness to the sweet Pickford persona.

Jeanie Macpherson on set of "Joan The Woman" (1917). BYU

Jeanie Macpherson on set of Joan The Woman (1917). Courtesy of Brigham Young University.

Jeanie Macpherson (w/d/a) with photo of Cecil B. DeMille. BYU

Jeanie Macpherson with photo of Cecil B. DeMille. Courtesy of Brigham Young University.

More research needs to be done on DeMille’s total paternalism, which extended to his talented secretary Rosson as well as to Academy Award-winning editor Anne Bauchens, both of whom, like Macpherson, never married. DeMille’s guardianship involved managing Macpherson’s finances—deducting her back income taxes from her salary—and even rescuing her from bankruptcy after their relationship had ended around 1930. The end of the relationship was the end of her career, and she died August 26, 1946.

We are left to interpret documents like Macpherson’s portrait of the producer titled “DeMille,” where she defends him fiercely, attempting to soften the man who was known for his cold monomania: “Scintillating, dominant and magnetic. Or as shy as a boy at graduation is Cecil B. DeMille. A connoisseur of rare tapestries, and gems, and human beings.” Jeanie Macpherson’s own capabilities should not be in question, however, as much evidence points to her New Woman risk-taking resourcefulness, the most well-known example of which was her passion for piloting airplanes (Beach 54).

Jeanie Macpherson death certificate

Jeanie Macpherson’s death certificate. 

With additional research by Elisa Lleras

See also: Gladys Rosson, “Shaping the Craft of Screenwriting: Women Screen Writers in Silent Era Hollywood.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Beach, Barbara. “The Literary Dynamo.” Moving Picture World (13 July 1921): 54 - 55, 81.

Cherchi Usai, Paolo, and Lorenzo Codelli. “The DeMille Legacy: An Introduction.” In Paolo Cherchi Usai and Lorenzo Codelli, eds. L’eredità DeMille/ The DeMille Legacy. Pordenone: Edizione Biblioteca dell’immagine, 1991, 14 – 29.

deMille, Agnes. Portrait Gallery. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990.

------. Interview with Art Arthur. Typescript. 17 July 1957.[ Box 13, fldr. 8]. Brigham Young University.

Higashi, Sumiko. Cecil B. DeMille and American Culture: The Silent Era. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.

Higham, Charles. Cecil B. DeMille. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973.

Lasky, Jesse L. Letter to Cecil B. DeMille. 5 March 1917. repr. in Cherchi Usai and Codelli, 517.

Macpherson, Jeanie. “DeMille.” Unpublished ms. Brigham Young University.

------. The Necessity and Value of Theme in the Photoplay. Los Angeles: Palmer Photoplay Co., 1920.

Martin, Alice. “From ‘Wop’ Parts to Bossing the Job.” Photoplay (June 1916): 95.

Scott, Evelyn F. Hollywood When Silents Were Golden. New York: McGraw Hill, 1972.

Archival Paper Collections:

Cecil B. DeMille Archives. Brigham Young University, Harold B. Lee Library.

Jeanie Macpherson clippings file. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library.

Jeanie Macpherson photograph album. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library.

Filmography

A. Archival Filmography: Extant Film Titles:

1. Jeanie Macpherson as Screenwriter

Carmen. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: William C. de Mille, Jeanie Macpherson (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1915) cas.: Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid, si, b&w, 35mm, 5 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Gosfilmofond, BFI National Archive.

The Cheat. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Cecil B. DeMille, Jeanie Macpherson, E.W. Towsend (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1915) cas.: Victor Moore, Camille Astor, si, b&w, 35mm, 5 reels, 5,210 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

Chimmie Fadden Out West. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Hector Turnbull and Jeanie Macpherson (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1915) cas.: Fannie Ward, Sessue Hayakawa, si, b&w, 35mm, 5 reels. Archive: Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, Cineteca del Friuli, George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, BFI National Archive, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Academy Film Archive, Harvard Film Archive.

The Golden Chance. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson and Cecil B. DeMille (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1916) cas.: Cleo Ridgely, Wallace Reid, si, b&w, 6 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

The Heart of Nora Flynn. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson, Hector Turnbull (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1916) cas.: Mary Doro, Elliott Dexter, si, b&w, 35mm, 5 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

Joan the Woman. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson, William C. de Mille (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1916) cas.: Geraldne Farrar, Raymond Hatton, si, b&w, 35mm, 10 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Academy Film Archive, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée, BFI National Archive.

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson and Cecil B. DeMille (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1916) cas.: Charlotte Walker, Theodore Roberts, si, b&w, 35mm, 5 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress.

The Devil-Stone. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Deatrice C. DeMille, Leighton Osmun, Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1917) cas.: Geraldine Farrar, Wallace Reid, si, b&w, 5 reels,  5,905 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

The Little American. Prod.: Cecil B. DeMille, Mary Pickford, dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson, Cecil B. DeMille, cost.: Lucy Duff-Gordon (Mary Pickford Film Corp. US 1917) cas.: Mary Pickford, Jack Holt, si, b&w, 6 reels, 5,925 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Cineteca del Friuli.

Romance of the Redwoods. Prod.:Cecil B. DeMille, Mary Pickford, dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson, Cecil B. DeMille (Mary Pickford Film Corp. US 1917) cas.: Mary Pickford, Elliott Dexter, si, b&w, 35mm, 7 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

The Woman God Forgot. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: William C. de Mille, Jeanie Macpherson, cost. : Natacha Rambova  (Artcraft Pictures Corp. US 1917) cas.: Raymond Hatton, Geraldine Farrar, si, b&w, 6 reels, 5,192 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Cineteca del Friuli.

Old Wives for New. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson and Cecil B. DeMille (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1918) cas.: Elliott Dexter, Florence Vidor. si, b&w, 7 reels, 6,249 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Academy Film Archive.

Till I Come Back to You. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players-Lasky Corp. US 1918) cas.: Bryant Washburn, Florence Vidor. si, b&w, 35mm, 6 reels, 6,249 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

The Whispering Chorus. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players-Lasky Corp. US 1918) cas.: Raymond Hatton, Kathlyn Williams. si, b&w, 7 reels, 6,655 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Academy Film Archive, BFI National Archive.

Don’t Change Your Husband. Dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson. (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1919) cas.: Gloria Swanson, Lew Cody, si, b&w, 5 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Cinémathèque Québécoise, Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, Svenska Filminstitutet.

For Better or For Worse. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: William C. de Mille, Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1919) cas.: Elliott Dexter, Gloria Swanson, si, b&w, 7 reels, 6,890 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

Male and Female. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc./adp.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1919) cas.: Thomas Meighan, Gloria Swanson, si, b&w, 9 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Academy Film Archive, Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, Cinemateca do Museu de Arte Moderna, Filmoteka Narodowa, Cineteca Nazionale.

Something to Think About. Dir.: Cecil B. DeMile, st.: Jeanie Macpherson, cost.: Clare West, Natacha Rambova (Famous Players-Lasky Corp. US 1920) cas.: Gloria Swanson,  si, b&w, 35mm. Archive: George Eastman Museum, EYE Filmmuseum.

The Affairs of Anatol/Five Kisses, Anotol. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corporation US 1921) cas.: Wallace Reid, Gloria Swanson, Elliot Dexter, Elinor Glyn, si, b&w, 35mm, 9 reels, 8,508 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, Münchner Stadtmuseum, Filmoteka Narodowa, Gosfilmofond, Danske Filminstitut.

Forbidden Fruit. Dir.: Cecil B. DeMile, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson,  cost.: Clare West, Natacha Rambova, Mitchell Leisen, ard.: Natacha Rambova, Mitchell Leisen (Famous Players-Lasky Corp. US 1921) cas.: Kathlyn Williams, si, b&w, 35mm., 8 reels, 7,804 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Museum of Modern Art, Gosfilmofond.

Saturday Night. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1922) cas.: Leatrice Joy, Conrad Nagel, si, b&w, 35mm, 9 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Academy Film Archive, EYE Filmmuseum, Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique.

Manslaughter. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc./adp.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players-Lasky Corp. US 1922) cas.: Thomas Meighan, Leatrice Joy, si, b&w, 10 reels, 9,061 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, EYE Filmmuseum.

Adam’s Rib. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1923) cas.: Milton Sills, Elliott Dexter. si, b&w/col, 10 reels, 9,526. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

The Ten Commandments. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1923) cas.: Theodore Roberts, Charles De Roche, si, b&w, 13 reels, 12,397. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, EYE Filmmuseum.

Triumph. Prod/dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc./adp.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1924) Cas.: Leatrice Joy, Rod La Rocque, si, b&w, 8 reels,8,288 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress.

The Golden Bed. Prod./Dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (Famous Players- Lasky Corp. US 1925) cas.: Lillian Rich, Vera Reynolds, si, b&w, 35mm, 9 reels, 8,584 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

The Road to Yesterday. Prod./Dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, adp.: Jeanie Macpherson (DeMille Pictures Corp. US 1925) cas.: Joseph Schildkraut, Jetta Goudal, si, b&w, 35mm, 10 reels, 9,980 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Her Man o’ War. Dir.: Frank Urson, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson, Charles Logue (DeMille Pictures Corp. US 1926) cas.: Jetta Goudal, William Boyd. si, b&w, 6 reels, 6,102 ft. Archive: UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Young April. Dir.: Donald Crisp, adp.: Jeanie Macpherson, Douglas Z. Doty (DeMille Pictures Corp. US 1926) cas.: Joseph Schildkraut, Rudolph Schildkraut, si, b&w, 7 reels, 6,858 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée, Cinemateca Romana, Filmoteca de Catalunya.

The King of Kings. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (DeMille Pictures Corp. US 1927) cas.: H.B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming. si/sd, b&w/col, 18 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, Cineteca del Friuli, Cineteca Nazionale, Cinemateca Romana, BFI National Archive.

The Godless Girl/Les Damnes Du Cœur. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson, Ernest Pascal, ttl : Beulah Marie Dix, ed.: Anne Bauchens (DeMille Pictures Corp. US 1928) cas.: Lina Basquette, Marie Prevost, si/sd, b&w, 12 reels, 9,328 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Gosfilmofond, Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Cineteca Nazionale.

Dynamite. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson. (Metro Goldwin Mayer Corp. US 1929) cas.: Kay Johnson, Charles Bickford. si, b&w, 14 reels, 10,771 ft. Archive: UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Madam Satan. Dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson, (Metro Goldwin Mayer Corp. US 1930) cas.: Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny. b&w, 13 reels, 10,320 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

2. Jeanie Macpherson as Actress

The Christmas Burglars. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: Florence Lawrence, Adele De Garde, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 679 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

The Clubman and the Tramp. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: Florence Lawrence, Mack Sennett, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 994 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

Concealing a Burglar. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: Arthur Johnson, Florence Lawrence, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, reel, 663 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

The Fatal Hour. Dir./sc.: D.W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: George Hebhardt, Harry Solter, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 663 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, George Eastman Museum.

Father Gets in the Game. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: Mack Sennett, Harry Solter, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 604 ft. Archive: Library of CongressCineteca del Friuli.

Money Mad. Dir./sc.: D.W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: Inslee, Charles Solter, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 684 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

A Smoked Husband. Dir./sc.: D.W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: Florence Laurence, John R. Cumpson, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 469 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, BFI National Archive.

The Test of Friendship. Dir./sc.: D.W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: Arthur Johnson, Florence Lawrence, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 775 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

The Vaquero’s Vow. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1908) cas.: Charles Inslee, Harry Solter, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 804 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

Confidence. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Arthur Johnson, Florence Lawrence, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 973/990 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, Academy Film Archive.

The Curtain Pole. Dir.: D. W. Griffith, sc.: D. W. Griffith, Mack Sennett (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Linda Arvidson, Mack Sennett, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 635 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

The Day After. Dir.: D. W. Griffith, Frank Powell, sc.: Mary Pickford (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Arthur Johnson, Marion Leonard, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 460 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, Academy Film Archive.

The Death Disc.Dir.: D. W. Griffith, sc.: Frank E.Woods (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: George Nicholls, Marion Leonard, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 995 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, BFI National Archive.

In a Hempen Bag. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Grace Henderson, Ruth Hart, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 455 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

In Little Italy. Dir.: D. W. Griffith, sc.: Frank E. Woods (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Leonard Marion, George Nicholls, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 956 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, Deutsche Kinemathek.

In the Window Recess. Dir.: D. W. Griffith, sc.: Frank E. Woods (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: George Nichols, Adele De Garde, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel; 337 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

A Midnight Adventure. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Mary Pickford, Billy Quirk, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 519 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

Mr. Jones has a Card Party. Dir.: D. W. Griffith, sc.: D. W. Griffith, Frank E. Woods (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: John R. Cumpson, Florence Lawrence, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 584 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

Mrs. Jones Entertains; Jones Entertains. Dir.: D. W. Griffith, sc.: D. W. Griffith, Frank E. Woods (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: John R. Cumpson, Florence Lawrence, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 635 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

The Open Gate. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: D.W. Griffith, Frank E. Woods (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: George Nicholls, Kate Bruce, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 988 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

The Peachbasket Hat. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: John R. Cumpson, Anita Hendrie, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 666 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

Sweet Revenge. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Arthur Johnson, Marion Leonard, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 471 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

Through the Breakers. Dir.: D. W. Griffith, sc.: Stanner E. V. Taylor (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Marion Leonard, Adele De Garde, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 974 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, Academy Film Archive, BFI National Archive.

Tragic Love. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: John Arthur, Linda Arvidson, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 892 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

Winning Coat. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Owen Moore, Marion Leonard, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 767 ft. Archive: Museum of Modern Art.

A Wreath in Time. Dir./sc.: D. W. Griffith (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. US 1909) cas.: Florence Lawrence, Mack Sennett, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 558 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

An Affair of the Hearts. Dir.: D.W. Griffith and Frank Powell, sc.: Stanner E. V. Taylor (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Florence Barker, Billy Quirk, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 967 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, Academy Film Archive.

The Call. Dir.: D. W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Florence Barker, Henry B. Walthall, James Kirkwood, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

A Child’s Stratagem. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: Belle Taylor (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Edwin August, Stephanie Longfellow, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 997 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

A Gold Necklace. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: Frank E. Woods (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Kate Bruce, Mary Pickford, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 576 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

His Sister-In-Law. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: M.B. Harvey (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Lottie Pickford, Gradys Egan, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 997 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

The Lesson. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: Dell Henderson (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: W. Chrystie Miller, Joseph Graybill, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 994 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, EYE Filmmuseum.

Love in Quarantine. Dir.: Frank Powell (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Mack Sennet, Dorothy West, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 505 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

The Newlyweds/Little Grains of Rice. Dir./sc.: D.W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Arthur Johnson, Florence Baker, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 981 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

An Old Story with a New Ending. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, Frank Powell (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Mabel van Buren, Clara T. Bracy, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 984 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

A Salutary Lesson. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: William Butler (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Charles West, Gladys Egan, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 980 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

Winning Back his Love. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: Anthony Donnelly (Biograph Co. US 1910) cas.: Wilfred Lucas, Stephanie Longfellow, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 997 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, Academy Film Archive, EYE Filmmuseum.

The Blind Princess and the Poet. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: Harrriet Quimby (Biograph Co. US 1911) cas.: Blanche Sweet, Charles West, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 984 ft. Archive: Museum of Modern Art, BFI National Archive.

Enoch Arden. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, adp.: Linda Arvidson (Biograph Co. US 1911) cas.: Wilfred Lucas, Linda Arvidson, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 2 reels. Archive: George Eastman Museum, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Museum of Modern Art, Academy Film Archive, Harvard Film Archive, Fundación Cinemateca Argentina, Cinemateca Romana, BFI National Archive.

Heart Beats of Long Ago. Dir.: D.W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1911) cas.: Wilfred Lucas, Linda Arvidson, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 997 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art, EYE Filmmuseum.

The Last Drop of Water. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: Stanner E. V. Taylor (Biograph Co. US 1911) cas.: Blanche Sweet, Joseph Graybill, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 1056 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Museum of Modern Art.

Out From the Shadow. Dir.: D.W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1911) cas.: Wilfred Lucas, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 997 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Art.

The Midnight Marauder. Dir.: Frank Powell (Biograph Co. US 1911) cas.: Edward Dillon, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 split reel, 390 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Aart [USM].

The Spanish Gypsy. Dir.: D.W. Griffith (Biograph Co. US 1911) cas.: Jeanie Macpherson, Marion Sunshine, si, b&w, 1 reel, 997 ft. Archive: Museum of Modern Art.

A Wreath of Orange Blossoms. Dir.: D.W. Griffith, sc.: Belle Taylor (Biograph Co. US 1911) cas.: Edwin August, Florence Barker, Jeanie Macpherson. si, b&w, 1 reel, 994 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Museum of Modern Aart [USM].

The Butler and the Maid. (Thomas A. Edison, Inc. US 1912) cas.: Harry Beaumont, Jeanie Macpherson, Viola Dana. si, b&w, 35mm, 1 split reel, 191 ft. Archive: Library of Congress, Library and Archives Canada.

Rose of the Rancho.Prod./dir./sc.: Cecil B. DeMille (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1914) cas.: Bessie Barriscale, Dick La Reno, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 35mm, 5 reels, 4,990 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum.

The Girl of the Golden West. Prod./dir./sc.: Cecil B. DeMille (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1915) cas.: Mabel van Buren, Theodore Roberts, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 35mm, 5 reels, 4,419 ft. Archive: George Eastman Museum, Library of Congress, UCLA Film & Television Archive, Cineteca del Friuli.

The Rugged Coast. Dir.: Edwin August (Powers Film Co. US 1923) cas.: Edwin August, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 1 reel, 984 ft. Archive: BFI National Archive.

3. Jeanie Macpherson as Screenwriter and Actress

The Captive. Prod./dir.: Cecil B. DeMille, sc.: Jeanie Macpherson (Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Co. US 1915) cas.: Blanche Sweet, House Peters, Jeanie Macpherson, si, b&w, 35mm, 5 reels, 4,596 ft. Archive: Library of Congress.

B. Filmography: Non-Extant Film Titles:

1. Jeanie Macpherson as Screenwriter

The Lie, 1913; Red Margareth, Moonshiner, 1913; The Dream Girl, 1916; The Love Mask, 1916; Temptation, 1916;  Red Dice, 1926; Evidence, 1926.

2. Jeanie Macpherson as Actress

The Rose Breaker, 1914.

3. Jeanie Macpherson as Actress and Screenwriter

The Sea Urchin, 1913; The Desert Sting, 1914; The Trap, 1914.

4. Jeanie Macpherson as Director

The Tarantula, 1913.

C. DVD Sources:

The Cecil B. DeMille Classics Collection. DVD. (Passport US 2007)

Male and Female. DVD. (Image Entertainment US 1999)

Male and Female. DVD. (Flicker Alley US 2017)

The Captive. DVD. (Olive Films US 2016)

Joan the Woman. DVD. (Flicker Alley US 2015)

Joan the Woman. DVD (Image Entertainment US 2001)

Saturday Night. DVD (Alpha Video US 2014)

The Ten Commandments: Ultimate Collector's Edition. DVD. (Warner Brothers US 2013)

The Ten Commandments. DVD. (Paramount Home Video US 2017)

The King of Kings. DVD. (Criterion Collection US 2010)

Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900-1934. DVD. (Image Entertainment US 2007) - contains The Godless Girl (1928)

Manslaughter/The Cheat. DVD. (Kino Lorber US 2002)

Adam's Rib. DVD. (Grapevine Video US 2013)

For Better or For Worse (Silent Hall of Fame Enterprises US 2016)

The Woman God Forgot. DVD. (Silent Hall of Fame Enterprises US 2016)

The Whispering Chorus. DVD. (Alpha Video US 2014)

Something to Think About. DVD. (Alpha Video US 2015)

D.W. Griffith Director, Vol. 1. DVD (Grapevine Video US 2011)

Male and Female. DVD. (Image Entertainment US 1999)

The Affairs of Anatol. DVD. (Image Entertainment US 2000)

A Romance of the Redwoods. DVD. (Alpha Video US 2013)

The Gloria Swanson Collection. DVD. (Passport Video US 2007)

Griffith Masterworks: Biograph Shorts (1908-1914). DVD. (Kino Video US 2002)

D. W. Griffith Monumental Epics. DVD. (Eureka Entertainment UK 2002)

The Road to Yesterday. DVD. (Alpha Video US 2013)

Carmen. DVD. (Video Artists International US 2006)

Carmen/The Cheat. DVD. (Image Entertainment US 2002)

D. Streamed Media:

Trailer for The King of Kings (1927)

 

Winning Back His Love (1910) is streaming online via the EYE Filmmuseum (Dutch intertitles)

The Lesson (1910) is streaming online via the EYE Filmmuseum (Dutch intertitles)

Heart Beats of Long Ago (1911) is streaming online via the EYE Filmmuseum (Dutch intertitles)

Joan the Woman (1916) is streaming online via Kanopy

The Affairs of Anatol (1921) is streaming online via Kanopy

Manslaughter (1922) is streaming online via Kanopy

The King of Kings (1927) is streaming online via Kanopy

The Ten Commandments (1923) is streaming online via Amazon Video

The Ten Commandments (1923) is streaming online via the Internet Archive

Male and Female (1919) is streaming online via the Internet Archive

Saturday Night (1922) is streaming online via the EYE Filmmuseum (Dutch intertitles)

Credit Report

Although IMDb lists Jeanie Macpherson as actress in The Tarantula (1913), neither director nor producer is listed. The American Film Institute Catalogue Online does not list The Tarantula. Spehr 1996 lists Macpherson as cast (378).

Citation

Gaines, Jane. "Jeanie Macpherson." In Jane Gaines, Radha Vatsal, and Monica Dall’Asta, eds. Women Film Pioneers Project. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2013.  <https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-6f7m-rc94>

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