C. Gardner Sullivan
{{Short description|American screenwriter (1884–1965)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| image = C Gardner Sullivan, silent film script writer (SAYRE 9339).jpg
| name = C. Gardner Sullivan
| birth_name = Charles Gardner Sullivan
| birth_date = {{birth date|1884|9|18}}
| birth_place = Stillwater, Minnesota, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1965|9|5|1884|9|18}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| occupation = Screenwriter
Film producer
| yearsactive = 1912–1958
| spouse = {{marriage|Ann May|1925}}
| children = 4
}}
Charles Gardner Sullivan (September 18, 1884 – September 5, 1965) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He was a prolific writer with more than 350 films among his credits. In 1924, the magazine Story World selected him on a list of the ten individuals who had contributed the most to the advancement of the motion picture industry from its inception forward. Four of Sullivan's films, The Italian (1915), Civilization (1916), Hell's Hinges (1916), and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), have been listed in the National Film Registry.
Early years
Sullivan was born in Stillwater, Minnesota, and educated in the public schools of St. Paul, Minnesota. Interviewed in 1916, Sullivan said he was "not precisely what one would call a college man, although I had some training at the University of Minnesota.
In 1907, Sullivan went into the newspaper business, working on the staff of the St. Paul Daily News at a starting salary of six dollars per week.{{cite book|author=Carolyn Lowrey|title=The first one hundred noted men and women of the screen, p. 176|year=1920}} Shortly afterward, Sullivan was assigned to write a column that he later said "was supposed to be a humorous column." He moved to New York where he joined the staff of the New York Evening Journal. While working in New York, a colleague showed him an advertisement by a motion picture company in the Saturday Evening Post inviting new authors to contribute stories. Gardner recalled it was that advertisement that got him started with "photoplay writing".
Sullivan's first script was returned to him, and he did not make another submission for some time. The first story he sold was Her Polished Family, which was purchased by Edison Studios for $25.
He later submitted a western story to the New York Motion Picture Corporation run by Thomas H. Ince and received a check for $50. In the following months, Ince's company purchased sixty of Sullivan's stories.
Hollywood screenwriter
In 1914, Ince offered Sullivan a full-time job in Hollywood as a member of his movie studio's "scenario staff".{{cite news|title=Human Note Desired for Film Stories|publisher=Oakland Tribune|date=December 31, 1916}} By that time, Sullivan had married and was uncertain about moving to California. However, he accepted and for the next decade became the "dean" of Hollywood's screenwriters.{{cite news|title=Newspaper Writer Author of Screen Play|publisher=Winnipeg Free Press|date=January 3, 1920}}
Sullivan began his career in Hollywood writing stories for Ince's two-reel films. He then progressed to full-length feature films, and his stories contributed much to the fame of stars including Dorothy Dalton, Enid Bennett, Louise Glaum and Constance Bennett.
His early films were mostly in the western genre, but also included historical dramas such as The Witch of Salem (1913) and The Battle of Gettysburg (1913), and comedies such as "The Adventures of Shorty" two-reelers from 1914 through 1917.
Sullivan's 1915 feature The Italian was one of the biggest box office hits of the year. And his screenplays for William S. Hart, including The Scourge of the Desert, The Aryan, Hell's Hinges, The Return of Draw Egan, Branding Broadway and Wagon Tracks helped make Hart one of the biggest stars of the 1910s.
Showing an ability to handle diverse topics, Sullivan also wrote screenplays involving domestic melodrama. These included The Golden Claw and a series of screenplays for silent film femme fatale, Louise Glaum, such as The Wolf Woman (described as "the greatest vampire woman of all time"), Sahara and the provocatively titled Sex (featuring Glaum performing a sensual "spider dance" dressed in a form-fitting cloak of webs).
With the outbreak of World War I, Sullivan also turned his attention to the war. In Shell 43, he told the story of English spy working behind German lines who saves the life of a German officer and is killed in a German trench by an Allied shell.
Perhaps Sullivan's most famous screenplay was Civilization, a big budget anti-war movie in which Jesus appeared on a World War I battlefield. In the film, a Germanic submarine commander refuses to follow orders to fire torpedoes at a ship carrying innocent passengers, saying he is "obeying orders -- from a Higher Power." The submarine is destroyed, and the commander's soul descends into hell, where he encounters Jesus. Jesus announces that the commander can find redemption by having Jesus occupy his body and return to the living world as a voice for peace. The commander is sentenced to death for refusing to follow orders, and at his execution, the spirit of Jesus emerges from his dead body and gives the king of the warring nation a tour of the battlefields. Jesus asks, "See here thy handiwork? Under thy reign, thy domain hath become a raging hell!" In the film's most famous scene, Jesus departs through the bloodied battlefields. The film was a popular success when it was released in 1916. In fact, the 1916 Democratic National Committee credited the film with helping to re-elect President Woodrow Wilson.{{cite news|author=Scott Rivers|title=1916 Film Brings Jesus to Battlefield|publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=September 7, 1996}} However, after the entry of the United States into the war, the film was pulled from distribution.
Sullivan returned to the subject of World War I as the supervising story chief for the 1930 film adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front.
Sullivan prided himself on tackling a diverse range of subject matters, telling an interviewer the following:
I have made all kinds and manner of pictures, none of them the work of a specialist in a certain grooved form. ... The public is fickle. The man who makes pictures for the public must be able to turn from comedy to melodrama, from psychological realism to sophisticated farce, from the big-scale popular spectacle to the cameo of emotions, sentimental drama.
By 1919, Sullivan was the best known screenwriter in Hollywood. The Los Angeles Times wrote of him:
Several years ago, when the newly-formed Triangle organization contributed a new art and finish to the motion picture, there came into great prominence C. Gardner Sullivan, a writer of fine capabilities; a careful, technical craftsman. No author having a contempt for the intellect of his audience -- and many writers of photodramas continue to hold their audiences in contempt -- could have made the success of screen authorship that C. Gardner Sullivan has.
In January 1920, Sullivan left New York for a world tour. He was given a roving commission by Ince allowing him to "leave the studio with a free mind and just browse around wherever fancy dictates; if the spirit should move him he may write a script now and then, 'just for practice,' or he may just store up a fund of mental notes for future use."{{cite news|title=Cinema Close-Ups|publisher=Oakland Tribune|date=December 2, 1919}}
In February 1924, the Los Angeles Times reported that the number of feature films produced from the original stories or adaptations of Mr. Sullivan totaled 311 in eight years. The Times noted: "This record undoubtedly is unrivaled among screen authors. Mr. Sullivan's work is all the more remarkable because of the recognition which it has achieved for unvarying quality and variety."{{cite news|title='The Play's the Thing': Successful Screen Writer Declares Substance of Film Story More Important Than Source|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 17, 1924}} At that time, Sullivan described the rule he applied in the selection of a story for the screen:
Is it human, is it true to life, is it sincere? If you can conscientiously satisfy yourself on these things, you won't have to worry as to whether the public will like the story or not. If you are genuinely moved by it, you may be sure that the public will respond in like manner. ... Give the public a story that touches the heart and is true to life, and, to paraphrase Emerson, 'the world will make a beaten path to the theater box office.'
In his book about the history of American screenwriting, Marc Norman wrote that the Ince studio, where Sullivan was the lead writer, was the first to use the screenplay as the blueprint for the entire production, marking a departure from earlier productions in which the "screenplay" was simply "a one-page précis of the film's narrative."{{cite book|author=Marc Norman|title=What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting, pp. 44-45|publisher=Three Rivers Press|year=2008}} Indeed, Sullivan's scripts detailed locations, the number of actors, costumes, and even the blocking of the shoot. Norman pointed to the following excerpt from the Hell's Hinges script as an example of the directorial detail contained in Sullivan's work:Scene L: Close-Up on Bar in Western Saloon
A group of good western types of the earlier period are drinking at the bar and talking idly -- much good fellowship prevails and every man feels at ease with his neighbor -- one of them glances off the picture and the smile fades from his face to be replaced by the strained look of worry -- the others notice the change and follow his gaze -- their face reflect his own emotions -- be sure to get over a good contrast between the easy good nature that had prevailed and the unnatural, strained silence that follows -- as they look, cut.
Once Sullivan's scripts were completed, Thomas Ince would stamp them "Produce exactly as written," leaving little to the discretion of the directors and cameramen. By setting every detail of the scene in words, Sullivan was able to "control the outcome of the film he saw in his mind's eye."
Producer and screenwriter
In September 1924, Sullivan entered the production end of the business forming a new production company called C. Gardner Sullivan Productions. The company produced Cheap Kisses, a 1924 comedy drama,{{cite news|title=Author Tries Films|publisher=Oakland Tribune|date=April 19, 1924}}{{cite news|title=Garrick Screens 'Cheap Kisses': Sullivan Film Story Shows Perils to Youth Along the Cocktail Route|publisher=Winnipeg Free Press|date=May 9, 1925}} and If Marriage Fails, both based on screenplays written by Sullivan.
In the late 1920s, Sullivan signed on with Cecil B. DeMille as a producer. While working with DeMille, Sullivan made such films as The Yankee Clipper. In 1927, he was referred to as "the man who knows box office":
C. Gardner Sullivan, creator of 365 box-office hits, maker of 'The Yankee Clipper,' ... as well as of 'White Gold,' ... producer for the De Mille studios, whose reputation is that of 'the man who knows box office,' is the man who chose to film a story as truth rather than as 'mush for the morons' ...
With the arrival of censorship in the motion picture industry, Sullivan was an outspoken critic of the practice. In 1931, Sullivan argued publicly that censorship was impeding the presentation of satire in motion pictures. He noted that "some of the finest examples of screen writing are being rejected because their keen satire would be resented by some strata of society."{{cite news|title=Censors Impeding Satire, Says C. Gardner Sullivan|publisher=Syracuse Herald|date=November 8, 1931}}
Sullivan remained active as a screenwriter in the 1930s with works including DeMille's 1938 adventure film The Buccaneer. His final film credit was the story of Jackass Mail, a 1942 western directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Wallace Beery.
Personal life and death
Sullivan married actress Ann May on February 14, 1925 in Santa Ana.https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61460/images/47732_B354128-00913?pid=676099&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid%3D61460%26h%3D676099%26indiv%3Dtry%26o_vc%3DRecord:OtherRecord%26rhSource%3D7602&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}} They had four children together; daughter Sheilah Dree, and sons Charles Gardner, Michael Patrick, and Timothy Reese.https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2442/images/m-t0627-00221-00145?pid=73904719&backurl=http://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/73904719:2442&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/401552573/?article=238f11c6-aa21-424e-96cd-0284d615d140&focus=0.26791728,0.6796022,0.3786281,0.73200685&xid=3355&_ga=2.230768668.2027890353.1621729253-933749568.1620085902 |title=30 Jul 1985, 56 - The Los Angeles Times at |publisher=Newspapers.com |date=1985-07-30 |accessdate=2022-06-05}} He was an avid golfer and crossword puzzle enthusiast.
In September 1965, Sullivan died of a heart attack at age 80 at his home in West Hollywood, California.{{cite news|title=C.G. Sullivan Rites Slated for Tuesday|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 6, 1965}}
Role in film history
In 1924, the magazine Story World selected a list of the ten individuals who had contributed the most to the advancement of the motion picture industry from the time of its inception. The list included Gardner (the only screenwriter on the list), director D.W. Griffith, actors Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, Carl Laemmle (founder of Universal Studios), Charles Francis Jenkins (inventor of the motion picture projector), producer Thomas H. Ince, and art director Wilfred Buckland.{{cite news|title=Ten Greatest Names|publisher=The Indianapolis Star|date=June 22, 1924}}{{cite news|title=News of the Movies|publisher=Syracuse Herald|date=June 15, 1924}}
Four of Sullivan's films, The Italian (1915), Civilization (1916), Hell's Hinges (1916) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), have been listed in the National Film Registry.
Filmography
File:Aryan poster.jpg (1915)]]
File:Civilization Poster.jpg (1916)]]
File:Wagon Tracks 1919 film.jpg (1919)]]
File:Silver Sheet January 01 1925 - PLAYING WITH SOULS.pdf, cover illustration of Playing with Souls by Clara Longworth de Chambrun]]
- Her Polished Family (1912) - the first story sold by Sullivan to Edison
- When Lee Surrenders (1912) (scenario)
- The Altar of Death (West, 1912) (co-director, writer with T. Ince)
- The Army Surgeon (F. Ford, 1912) (writer)
- The Invaders (F. Ford and T. Ince, 1912) (uncredited)
- The Dead Pay (1912) (scenario)
- A Shadow of the Past (T. Ince, 1913) (scenario)
- Days of '49 (T. Ince, 1913) (scenario)
- The Witch of Salem (West, 1913) (writer)
- Will o' the Wisp (1913) (writer)
- The Reaping (1913) (story)
- The Seal of Silence (1913) (scenario)
- The Boomerange (1913) (scenario)
- The Battle of Gettysburg (T. Incee, 1914) (titles)
- The Telltale Hatband (1913) (scenario)
- The Paymaster's Son (1913) (scenario)
- The Bargain (Barker, 1914)
- The Wrath of the Gods (1914) (writer)
- One of the Discarded (1914) (writer)
- Two-Gun Hicks (Hart, 1914) (writer)
- In the Sage Brush Country (1914) (scenario, story){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=TheLancaster Daily Eagle|date=January 29, 1915}} ("A romantic adventure of a woman of the '50s by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thos. H. Ince. Featuring Rhea Mitchell, Herchal Mayal, Thos. Kuribara and Wm. S. Hart, the man who played 'Hicks' in Monday's Broncho drama 'The Passing of Two Gun Hicks.'")
- The Hour of Reckoning (1914) (written by)
- Shorty and the Fortune Teller (1914) (story)
- Shorty and Sherlock Holmes (1914){{cite news|title=Latest Shorty Story: Feature Picture at Bijou Theatre For the Remainder of the Week|publisher=Newport Daily News|date=November 20, 1914}} ("The feature picture at the Bijou Theatre for the remainder of the week is the Broncho two-reel film, 'Shorty and Sherlock Holmes,' the latest release of the well known Shorty stories by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thomas H. Ince.")
- Mother of the Shadows (Osborne, 1914){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The Cedar Rapids Republican|date=December 10, 1914}} ("Kay Bee in 2 parts—-the thrilling story of a Heroic Indian Girl by Thomas H. Ince and C. Gardner Sullivan")
- Destiny's Night (1914){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The Evening Gazette (Iowa)|date=December 14, 1914}} ("Broncho in Two Parts. An{{sic |nolink=yes}} unique plot with a happy finale, by Thomas H. Ince and C. Gardner Sullivan.")
- Not of the Flock (Sidney, 1914) (producer){{cite news|title=Amusements|publisher=Naugatuck Daily News|date=December 22, 1914}} ("'Not of the Flock' is the love story of a girl who never had a chance. It was produced by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thomas H. Ince and the cast includes
Charles French, Charles Ray, Enid Markey, Margaret Thompson and Webster W. Campbell.")
- Markia, aka The Fall of Carthage (1914){{cite news|title=Amusements|publisher=Naugatuck Daily News|date=December 23, 1914}}
- The City of Darkness (1914){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher= The Evening Gazette|date=December 28, 1914}} ("Broncho in Two Parts. A thrilling Drama of the Electric Chair by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thomas H. Ince.")
- Breed o' the North (1914) (writer)
- Willie (1914) (scenario)
- The Worth of a Life (1914) (story)
- The World of His People (1914) (story){{cite news|title=A Western Romance: History of Feature Picture in New Bill at the Bijou Theatre|publisher=Newport Daily News|date=November 11, 1914}} ("The feature picture in the new bill at the Bijou Theatre for today and tomorrow is a two-reel Kay Bee film, 'The Word of His People,' a romance of Western life, by Thomas H. Ince and C. Gardner Sullivan.")
- Satan McAllister's Heir (1915) (writer)
- The Last of the Line (T. Ince, 1915) (scenario){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=Middletown Daily Times-Press|date=February 27, 1915}} ("C. Gardner Sullivan and Thomas H. Ince Present 'The Last of the Line' A Thrilling (Broncho) Story of an Old Indian and His Renegade Son.")
- The Roughneck (Hart and Smith, 1915) (writer)
- The Ruse (Hart and Smith, 1915) (writer)
- Pinto Ben (Hart, 1915)
- Mr. 'Silent' Haskins (1915) (writer)
- The Cross of Fire (1915) (written by)
- In the Land of the Otter (1915) (written by)
- The Grudge (1915) (writer)
- The Darkening Trail (1915) (writer){{cite news|title=William S. Hart in "The Darkening Trail"|publisher=Galveston Daily News|date=June 6, 1915}} ("C. Gardner Sullivan, the author of the feature and also author of 'The Cup of Life' and 'On the Night Stage,' is probably most admired of truly American dramatists writing original stories for the screen.")
- On the Night Stage (Barker, 1915) (story)
- Winning Back (1915) (scenario){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The Lancaster Daily Eagle|date=April 5, 1915}} ("And a Special Two-Reel Broncho Drama 'Winning Back' Wherein a Faithful Wife Adopts Desperate Methods to hold her hutband's love, by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thos. H. Ince.")
- On the High Seas (1915){{cite news|title=Amusements|publisher=The Lancaster Daily Eagle|date=April 9, 1915}}("Two reels. A thrilling drama on shipboard by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thomas H. Ince.")
- The Shoal Light (1915){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The Lancaster Daily Eagle|date=June 14, 1915}}("Special Two-Reel Domino Drama 'The Shoal Light' A Charming Story of Love and Adventure by Thos H. Ince and C. Gardner Sullivan.")
- The Tools of Providence (1915) (scenario)
- The Floating Death (1915) (scenario)
- The Reward (scenario){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=Des Moines Capital|date=June 25, 1915}} ("'Reward' By C. Gardner Sullivan ... A careful picture of a chorus girl's life hack of the stage, from the dressing room to the wings the back-stage world is shown in detail, as are the intriguings of the back-stage Johnny.")
- Hostage of the North (1915){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The Lancaster Daily Eagle|date=June 30, 1915}} ("'Hostage of the North' A Powerful and Thrilling Drama of the Alaska Gold Fields by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thos. H. Ince.")
- The Man from Nowhere, aka The Silent Stranger (1915) (scenario, story for The Silent Stranger)
- The Cup of Life (West, 1915) (writer){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The Lancaster Daily Eagle|date=August 12, 1915}}("The Cup of Life By C. Gardner Sullivan Featuring Bessie Barriscale")
- The Painted Soul (Sidney, 1915) (writer)
- The Iron Strain (Barker, 1915) (scenario){{cite news|title=No Rest for Bessie|publisher=The Atlanta Constitution|date=August 22, 1915}}("Like 'The Iron Strain,' 'The Painted Soul' is from the joint pens of C. Gardner Sullivan and Thomas H. Ince.")
- The Man Who Went Out (1915){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The Lancaster Daily Eagle|date=August 25, 1915}}("'The Man Who Went Out' A Special Two-Reel Domino Drama by C. Gardner Sullivan and Thos. H. Ince")
- Matrimony (Sidney, 1915) (scenario){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=Waterloo Times-Tribune|date=December 18, 1915}}('Matrimony' By C. Gardner Sullivan and Thomas H. Ince")
- In the Switch Tower (1915) (scenario){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The Lancaster Daily Eagle|date=April 26, 1915}} ("Special Two Reel Broncho Drama 'In the Switch Tower' A thrilling drama of railroad life, by Thos. H. Ince and C Gardner Sullivan. Featuring Waller Edwards, Frank Borzage, Lewis Morrison, Gertrude Claire and Lewis Durham")
- The Girl Who Might Have Been (1915) (writer){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=the Lancaster Daily Eagle|date=April 16, 1915}}("Special Two Reel Kay.Bee Drama 'The Girl Who Might Have Been' Wherein a dance hall girl proves her gratitude to her benefactor. By C. Gardner Sullivan and Thos. H. Ince. Featuring Leona Mutton, Frank Borzage and Edw. Brennan.")
- The Man from Oregon (1915) (scenario){{cite news|title='The Man from Oregon,' One of Most Striking Photoplays At Jefferson To-Day|publisher=Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette|date=October 16, 1915}}("C. Gardner Sullivan, author of 'The Man from Oregon', long a well known newspaper man whose profession has frequently brought him in close touch with various lobbies and the powers behind them, is exceptionally well versed of the corrupt methods used and in writing this photodrama, his
knowledge has stood him in good stead.")
- The Toast of Death (1915) (scenario){{cite news|title=In Local Theaters|publisher=Galveston Daily News|date=August 16, 1915}} ("C. Gardner Sullivan has again taken his virile pen in hand and written of life. This time he has shown a deeper insight into the character of men and women who make up a world. ... This prediction is unquestionable, after seeing 'The Toast of Death,' the new C. Gardner Sullivan — Thomas H. Ince Mutual Masterpiece ...")
- The Mating (1915) (scenario){{cite news|title=Bessie Barriscale Will Be Seen in 'The Mating,' an Excellent Film That Will Appeal to All Lovers of Real Art and Ability|publisher=Galveston Daily News|date=July 25, 1915}} ("C. Gardner Sullivan wrote the scenario.")
- Between Men (1915) (screenplay, story)
- The Winged Idol (1915) (scenario){{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=The La Crosse Tribune|date=January 12, 1916}}("'The Winged Idol' By C. Gardner Sullivan")
- The Golden Claw (Barker, 1915) (scenario){{cite news|title='The Golden Claw': A Strong Five-Reel Kay-Bee by C. Gardner Sullivan|publisher=Daily Advocate|date=February 26, 1916}} ("A motion picture story of the highest class, of vital subject, original development and striking characterization, 'The Golden Claw' is one of those rare products calculated to interest many millions of intelligent people and bring into tho fold those other millions of intelligent people who are repelled by poor examples of new art.")
- The Forbidden Adventure (1915) (scenario)
- The Edge of the Abyss (1915) (scenario)
- The Scourge of the Desert (1915) (writer)
- The Italian (Barker, 1915) (story) - ranked #15 at the box office in 1915{{cite news|title=advertisement|publisher=Warren Evening Times|date=February 9, 1915}} ("By Thomas H. Ince and C. Gardner Sullivan, Produced by
H. Ince, producer of 'The Typhoon' and 'The Bargain.' A simple story of Love and Faith and Loyalty that will appeal to all people.")
- The Valley of Hate (1915){{cite news|title=The Valley of Hate|publisher=Titusville Herald|date=May 31, 1915}}("A stirring drama of the Tennessee hills, in which a most beautiful story is told. Written by C. Gardner Sullivan and produced under the personal direction of Thomas H. Ince, featuring the talented actress, Rhea Mitchell, with an exceptionally strong company.")
- The Coward (Barker, 1915)
- The Aryan (Hart and Smith, 1915) (screenplay, story)
- Peggy (Giblyn, 1915) (writer){{cite news|title=Billie Burke Crystalline in Play of 'Peggy'|work=Los Angeles Times|date=December 21, 1915}}
- The Beckoning Flame (1916) (scenario)
- The Conqueror (Barker, 1916) (scenario)
- Honor's Altar (1916) (scenario){{cite news|author=Pansy Panitall|title=Criticisms|publisher=Atlanta Constitution|date=February 20, 1916}} ("'Honor's Altar' should do as much as any picture I have seen to establish he right of the narrative over all other things else on the screen. ... In the entire picture Gardner Sullivan has shown us a remarkable piece of screen carpentry. He has taken a more or less fresh theme and woven around it a simple narrative that hasn't a single thrill a solitary punch or trick.")
- The Last Act (1916) (scenario)
- The Moral Fabric (1916) (scenario)
- The Stepping Stone (Barker, 1916) (scenario){{cite news|title=Screen|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 25, 1916}} ("an unusual photodrama by C. Gardner Sullivan")
- Civilization's Child (Giblyn, 1916) (writer)
- The No-Good Guy (Edwards, 1916) (scenario)
- The Dividend (1916) (writer)
- The Beggar of Cawnpore (Swickard, 1916) (scenario)
- Not My Sister (Giblyn, 1916) (writer)
- The Market of Vain Desire (Barker, 1916) (story)
- The Bugle Call (Barker, 1916) (scenario)
- The Eye of the Night (Edwards, 1916) (writer){{cite news|author=Grace Kingsley|title=Lighthouse Keeping|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 18, 1916}} ("a heart-interest story from the pen of C. Gardner Sullivan")
- The Payment (West, 1916) (scenario)
- Home (1916) (scenario)
- A Corner in Colleens (Miller, 1916) (scenario)
- The Dawn Maker (Hart, 1916) (screenplay, story)
- Plain Jane (Miller, 1916) (scenario)
- The Criminal (Barker, 1916) (scenario)
- The Corner (1916) (screenplay, story)
- Shell 43 (Barker, 1916) (writer)
- Hell's Hinges (Hart and Swickard, 1916) (screenplay, story)
- The Green Swamp (Sidney, 1916) (writer)
- Civilization (T. Ince, 1916) (writer)
- The Wolf Woman (1916) (scenario)
- The Return of Draw Egan (Hart, 1916) (screenplay, story)
- The Thoroughbred (Bartlett, 1916) (scenario)
- Three of Many (1917) (screenplay, story)
- The Iced Bullet (Barker, 1917) (scenario)
- The Pinch Hitter (1917) (scenario)
- Happiness (Barker, 1917) (writer)
- The Zeppelin's Last Raid (1917)
- The Hater of Men (1917) (scenario){{cite news|title=advertisement|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 24, 1917}} ("C. Gardner Sullivan's Gripping Story of New York Bohemian Life")
- The Girl, Glory (1917) (scenario)
- The Crab (1917) (scenario)
- Those Who Pay (Wells, 1918) (scenario)
- Without Honor (1918) (story)
- Keys of the Righteous (1918) (screenplay, story)
- Love Me (Neill, 1918) (scenario)
- The Cast-Off (1918) (scenario)
- Selfish Yates (Hart, 1917) (screenplay, story)
- Shark Monroe (Hart, 1918) (screenplay, story){{cite news|title=Gardner Sullivan Signs With Ince|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 26, 1921}}
- Vive la France! (1918) (scenario)
- The Border Wireless (Hart, 1918) (writer)
- When Do We Eat? (1918) (screenplay, story)
- Branding Broadway (Hart, 1918) (writer)
- Naughty, Naughty (Storm, 1918) (story)
- The Vamp (Storm, 1918)
- The Poppy Girl's Husband (Hart and Hillyer, 1919) (scenario){{cite news|author=Antony Anderson|title=Films: Poppy Girl's Husband; William S. Hart in Powerful Crook Play|work=Los Angeles Times|date=April 15, 1919}} ("We are accustomed to think of Bill Hart as a 'bad man,' but now C. Gardner Sullivan, who has made him bad so many times in motion pictures, has made him worse.")
- Stepping Out (Niblo, 1919){{cite news|title=Here's Hoping for More Like This One|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 16, 1919}} ("It's thanks to directors such as Fred Niblo, writers such as C. Gardner Sullivan ... that we are getting real life on the screen, instead of the tiresome old artificial stuff ...")
- The Market of Souls (De Grasse, 1919)
- John Petticoats (Hillyer, 1919) (scenario, story)
- Wagon Tracks (Hillyer, 1919) (screenplay, story){{cite news|author=Grace Kingsley|title=Flashes: Hart Rings Bell; 'Wagon Tracks' Is Greatest Desert Epic|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 2, 1919}} ("the background of this masteripiece of Mr. Sullivan's -- this strikingly original story")
- Happy Though Married (Niblo, 1919) (writer)
- The Haunted Bedroom (Niblo, 1919) (screenplay, story){{cite news|title=advertisement|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 3, 1919}} ("'The Haunted Bedroom' was written by C. Gardner Sullivan, author of 'Civilization,' the great Ince spectacle, and considered the foremost contributor to film literature.")
- Other Men's Wives (Schertzinger, 1919) (screenplay, story)
- Sahara (Rosson, 1919) (story, scenario){{cite news|title=A Bred-In-The-Bone Scenario Writer: Sullivan Learned Game Right in Picture Studio|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 27, 1919}} ("This brilliant author is found at his best, it is said, in his newest drama, 'Sahara' ...")
- The Virtuous Thief (Niblo, 1919) (screenplay, story)
- Stepping Out (1919) (scenario, story)
- Dangerous Hours (Niblo, 1919) (scenario)
- The Lady of Red Butte (1919) (screenplay, story)
- The Woman in the Suitcase (1920) (screenplay, story)
- Love Madness (Henabery, 1920) (screenplay, story){{cite news|title='Love Madness' Appeals|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 28, 1920}} ("The story by C. Gardner Sullivan tells of a woman who cleverly outwits a band of crooks to save her husband's life, after he has been accused of murder.")
- Sex (Niblo, 1920) (writer)
- The False Road (Niblo, 1920) (screenplay, story)
- Hairpins (Niblo, 1920) (screenplay, story)
- Good Women (Gasnier, 1921) (screenplay, story)
- Mother O' Mine (Niblo, 1921) (adaptation){{cite news|author=Edwin Schallert|title=Reviews: Mother O' Mine; Human Action and Adventure in Ince Feature|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 18, 1921}} ("The film is an original by C. Gardner Sullivan, in which the inspiration apparently is Kipling's celebrated poem of the same title.")
- Greater Than Love (Niblo, 1921) (writer)
- Hail the Woman (Wray, 1921) (writer)
- White Hands (Hillyer, 1922) (story)
- Human Wreckage (Wray, 1923) (writer){{cite news|title=Picture Bills of Interest on View: Human Wreckage|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 12, 1923}} ("C. Gardner Sullivan wrote the story and builds to dramatic climaxes ...")
- Soul of the Beast (Wray, 1923) (story)
- Dulcy (S. Franklin, 1923) (writer){{cite news|title=To Direct Talmadge Pictures: Dean of Scenarists Is Engaged as Director of Talented Sisters|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 27, 1923}} ("The appointment comes, not only in recognition of Mr. Sullvan's long conceded place as editorial director, but as the direct outcome of his contributions to the filming of 'Connie's' last picture, 'Dulcy,' the deft and refreshing qualities of which, particularly the titles prepared by Mr. Sullivan, have received widespread comment.")
- The Dangerous Maid (Heerman, 1923) (writer)
- Long Live the King (Schertzinger, 1923) (adaptation){{cite news|title=Cost Not Considered by Coogan|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 10, 1923}} ('Long Live the King,' adapted by Eve Unsell and C. Gardner Sullivan, from Mary Roberts Rhinehart's novel of that name ...")
- Strangers of the Night (Niblo, 1923) (adaptation)
- The Goldfish (Storm, 1924) (writer){{cite news|title=Screen Star Leads Hectic Marital Life|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 17, 1924}} ("'The Goldfish,' adapted by C. Gardner Sullivan from Gladys Unger's stage play ..."){{cite news|title=C. Gardner Sullivan Busy|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 13, 1924}} ("'The Goldfish,' which he adapted from Marjorie Rambeau's popular stage success of that name.")
- The Marriage Cheat (Wray, 1924) (adaptation)
- Wandering Husbands (Beaudine, 1924) (screenplay, story){{cite news|title='Wandering Husbands' for Mission Screen|work=Los Angeles Times|date=June 6, 1924}} ("The story of 'Wandering Husbands' is by C. Gardner Sullivan ...")
- The House of Youth (R. Ince, 1924) (writer)
- The Only Woman (Olcott, 1924) (writer){{cite news|title=Norma Lives Her Roles|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 23, 1924}} "'The Only Woman' was directed by Olcott from the original story by C. Gardner Smith.")
- Idle Tongues (Hillyer, 1924) (adaptation)
- The Mirage (Archainbaud, 1924) (adaptation)
- Dynamite Smith (R. Ince, 1924) (screenplay, story){{cite news|title=Somber Melodrama: Dynamite Smith|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 10, 1924}}("The picture was directed by Ralph Ince, and the scenario was written by C. Gardner Smith ...")
- Cheap Kisses (R. Ince and Tate, 1925) (screenplay, story, producer)
- The Monster (West, 1925) (titles)
- Playing with Souls (R. Ince, 1925) (adaptation)
- The Pinch Hitter (1925) (story)
- Wild Justice (C. Franklin, 1925) (screenplay, story){{cite news|title='Wild Justice' Only Another Dog Movie|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 31, 1925}} ("C. Gardner Sullivan is credited with its creation and well he might, for he has written it innumerable times before.")
- Tumbleweeds (Baggot, 1925) (adaptation)
- If Marriage Fails (J. Ince, 1926) (screenplay, story)
- Three Faces East (Julian, 1926) (adaptation)
- Bachelor Brides (Howard, 1926) (adaptation and scenario)
- Sparrows (Beaudine, 1926) (adaptation)
- Gigolo (Howard, 1926) (supervising story editor){{cite news|author=Edwin Schallert|title=Playdom: 'Gigolo' Unusual; Paul Whiteman Jazz Festival Delights Crowd|work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 2, 1926}} ("C. Gardner Sullivan supervised this picture, which has been unusually well directed by William K. Howard.")
- Her Man o' War (1926) (supervisor)
- The Clinging Vine (1926) (presenter)
- Corporal Kate (1926) (supervisor)
- The Bugle Call (Sedgwick, 1927) (writer)
- Turkish Delight (1927) (supervisor)
- Vanity (supervisor)
- The Yankee Clipper (1927) (producer)
- White Gold (1927) (producer){{cite news|title=Sullivan Knows His Box Office: Producer of 'White Gold' Says Studio Must Watch Change in Public|work=Los Angeles Times|date=March 27, 1927}}
- Tempest (Taylor, 1928) (writer)
- The Woman Disputed (H. King and Taylor, 1928) (screenplay)
- Sadie Thompson (Walsh, 1928) (titles, editor)
- Alibi (West, 1929) (screenplay)
- The Locked Door (Fitzmaurice, 1929) (screen adaptation)
- All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) (supervising story chief)
- What Men Want (1930) (supervising story editor)
- Hell's Heroes (1930) (chief story supervisor)
- The Cuban Love Song (Van Dyke, 1931) (screenplay)
- Huddle (Wood, 1932) (dialogue continuity)
- Strange Interlude (Strange Interval) (Leonard, 1932) (dialogue continuity)
- Skyscraper Souls (Selwyn, 1932) (adaptation)
- Men Must Fight (Selwyn, 1933) (writer)
- Father Brown, Detective (Sedgwick, 1934) (writer)
- Car 99 (Barton, 1935) (screenplay)
- The Awakening of Jim Burke (1935) (story, production supervisor)
- Three Live Ghosts (Humberstone, 1936) (screenplay)
- The Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936) (uncredited)
- The Buccaneer (DeMille, 1938) (screenplay)
- Union Pacific (DeMille, 1939) (screenplay)
- North West Mounted Police (DeMille, 1940) (screenplay)
- Jackass Mail (McLeod, 1942) (story)
- The Buccaneer (1958) (based on Sullivan's 1938 screenplay)
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
{{commons category|C. Gardner Sullivan}}
- {{IMDb name|0837989|C. Gardner Sullivan}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, C. Gardner}}
Category:University of Minnesota alumni
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:People from Stillwater, Minnesota
Category:Screenwriters from Minnesota
Category:Film producers from Minnesota