Marshall Neilan(1891-1958)
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
In the early days of silent pictures, Marshall Neilan was a top
director for Goldwyn Pictures. He had also directed a small number of
Louis B. Mayer's independently produced melodramas, but there was a mutual
dislike between the two men. During the festivities inaugurating the
merger of Metro and Goldwyn Pictures on April 26, 1924, Neilan grew
disgusted at the prospect of listening to Mayer's speech and
interrupted everything by ordering his cast and crew back to the set of
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1924). Mayer later viewed the picture and ordered the downbeat ending
re-shot over Neilan's loud protests. Mayer, wanting to instill his
absolute authority over all production matters, held firm. The prospect
of working for Mayer in the new Metro-Goldwyn super-studio was
unbearable and Neilan quit. His was the first outright desertion from
the studio that others over the next three decades would aspire to be a
part of.
