Hollywood 1916
When Kathleen’s train arrived in Los Angeles in November of 1916, it was not a 17 year-old dreamer who stepped onto the platform, but as 14 year-old convent student-turned actress named Colleen Moore. In “Silent Star” Colleen wrote that her uncle Walter took great pride in having secured her chance in films for her, saying that “Colleen Moore” was her child. Walter Howey had decided with a friend that Kathleen Morrison was too long a name to fit on a movie theater marquee, and that “Kathleen” did not sound Irish enough for the girl he assumed would become the first big irish actress (though both her parents were born in the United States, her grandparents had been Irish on her mother’s side and Scottish on her father’s). Walter warned her that Hollywood was a land of strange creatures called “press- | An image from the Silent Ladies gallery, one that was also used in "Silent Star." |
agents,” whose job it is to spin fanciful tales about her background. He warned her not to believe them, but she wrote that he eventually became so ena mored of spinning his fabricated tale for her that he came to believe it himself.
She and her grandmother (and her mother, there to see to it that they found satisfactory lodgings were met by Mrs. Brown, whose son Karl would later write “Adventures with D. W. Griffith” (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973). Mrs. Brown, he wrote, was a cross between official greeter and enforcement officer, whose job it was to make sure there was no hanky-panky on the lot.
| Portrait by Murillo of L.A. |
Colleen and her grandmother moved into a bungalow on Fountain Street, a few short blocks from the Babylon sets of “Intolerance,” which had been left to decay. A young director named King Vidor wrote that he had managed to sneak his way onto the set and watch Griffith at work, in search of inspiration. She would walk to the studios in the mornings with Carmel Meyers.
The Bad Boy
Colleen's new contract was with Triangle Fine 
Arts, but already the studio was in trouble; "Birth of a Nation" had been a resounding success, but criticism that the film was racist was stinging to Griffith. He set out to produce his own answer to the critics. Griffith sank a fortune into “Intolerance,” and made very little back. Although Triangle had little to do with the production of the film, the fate of “Intolerance” seemed to spill over onto the studio. "Intolerance" was a big, complicated film, more akin to an art experiment in its editing than anything the public was used to at the time. Legal problems kept Griffith out of California and away from the studio, and in March he and Lillian Gish sail off to England to make “Hearts of the World.” Though supposedly "discovered" by Griffith, she would not actually meet him until after working for the studio.
“The Bad Boy” was her first film at Triangle Fine Arts; she played Ruth, a sophisticated city girl. Mildred Harris, soon to be Mrs. Charles Chaplin, was the leading lady. Some of the film, maybe Colleen's part, was shot in Sawtelle, a small town between Hollywood and the ocean, at the Soldier’s Home, a complex of red-roofed, double-storied buildings with ornate copulas and open galleries that were reminiscent of old Southern mansions. Perfect for a film set in the south. Released on February 18th, it featured Robert Harron (who had been in “Intolerance” and “Birth of a Nation”), Richard Cummings, Josephine Crowell, and Mildred Harris (who would later become Charles Chaplin’s first wife). Two months later it was followed by “An Old Fashioned Young Man,” again with Robert Harron.
An Old Fashioned Young Man
In February “The Moving Picture World” (page 693) mentioned of Colleen in connection with her next film, this time directed by Lloyd Ingraham. She had a whole paragraph: “Mr. Griffith saw Miss Moore in Chicago during the production of ‘Intolerance’ at the Colonial theater. The following day, accompanied by her mother, Miss Moore was en route for Los Angeles. The second day after arrival at the coast studios she was cast as one of the leading characters for a Fine Arts-Triangle play.”
The story said “Ingraham will take part of his company across the country for his production. Scenes will be taken at El Paso, Texas, New Orleans, Atlanta Ga., Washington, D.C., and make the finishing touches in New York City. He intends to start his trip via the Southern Pacific within the next two weeks.” The film’s working title was “A Gentleman of the Old School.” Colleen’s part, while featured, was a small one. She was only worked at the studio while the principals traveled. During this time Colleen joined Tod Browning
| Triangle-Fine Arts Studio circa 1916 |
for “Hands up!”The choice to take the cast on location when sets could be manufactured in-house was an artistic one but expensive. Outwardly things at the studio seemed fine. The studio had even been given a fresh coat of paint shortly after Colleen’s arrival, all the building painted dark green. However “Intolerance” had turned out to be a spectacular failure. Though not released under Triangle’s auspices, the failure cast a shadow over Triangle. Unbeknownst to Colleen, while her career was just starting to take off, the studio was on a downward slump.