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Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein; Russian: Лейб Мильштейн; September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Russian-American filmmaker. Milestone directed Two Arabian Knights (1927) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), both of which received the Academy Award for Best Director. He also directed The Front Page (1931), The General Died at Dawn (1936), Of Mice and Men (1939), Ocean's 11 (1960), and received the directing credit for Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), though Marlon Brando largely appropriated his responsibilities during its production.
Lev or Leib Milstein was born in Kishinev, capital of Bessarabia, Russian Empire (now Chișinău, Moldova), into a wealthy, distinguished family of Jewish heritage. Milstein received his primary education at Jewish schools, reflecting his parents' liberal social and political orientation, and including a study of several languages. Milstein's family discouraged his early love of theater and his desire to follow the dramatic arts, and dispatched him to Mittweida, Saxony, to study engineering.
After neglecting his classes to attend local theater productions, Milstein failed his coursework. He was intent on pursuing a theatrical career and bought a one-way ticket to the United States. Milstein arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on November 14, 1913, shortly after his eighteenth birthday.
Milstein, who found difficulty supporting himself in New York City, worked as a janitor, door-to-door salesman and lace-machine operator before finding a position as portrait-and-theater photographer in 1915. In 1917, shortly after the US entered World War I, he enlisted in the Army Signal Corps. Milstein was stationed in New York City and Washington, D.C., and was assigned to the corps' photography unit, where he trained in aerial photography, assisted on training films and edited documentary combat footage. His cohorts in the Signal Corps included future Hollywood directors Josef von Sternberg and Victor Fleming. In February 1919, Milstein was discharged from the army, immediately obtained US citizenship, and legally changed his surname to Milestone. An acquaintance from the Signal Corps Jesse D. Hampton, now an independent film producer, secured Milestone an entry-level position as an assistant editor in Hollywood.
When Milestone arrived in Hollywood, he was still in financial difficulties. He later said to sustain himself until his studio job commenced, he briefly worked as a card dealer at a Los Angeles City Oil Field gambling venue.
Milestone accepted mundane assignments from Hampton[who?] at $20 per week, and progressed from assistant editor toward director. In 1920 he was chosen as general assistant to director Henry King at Pathé Exchange. Milestone's first credited work was as assistant on King's film Dice of Destiny (1920).
During the next six years, Milestone "took on jobs in any capacity available" in the Hollywood film industry, working as editor for director-producer Thomas Ince, as general assistant and co-author on film scripts by William A. Seiter and as a gag writer for comedian Harold Lloyd. In 1923, Milestone followed Seiter[who?] to Warner Brothers studios as assistant director on Little Church Around the Corner (1923), completing most of the film-making tasks on the production. Milestone's reputation as an effective "film doctor" who was skilled at salvaging movies led Warner to began offering Milestone's services to other studios at inflated rates.
By 1925, Milestone was writing screen treatments for films at Universal and Warner studios, among them The Mad Whirl, Dangerous Innocence, The Teaser and Bobbed Hair. The same year, Milestone approached Jack L. Warner with a proposal: Milestone would provide the producer with a story free of charge if he was allowed to direct it. Warner agreed to sponsor Milestone's directorial debut Seven Sinners (1925).
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Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein; Russian: Лейб Мильштейн; September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Russian-American filmmaker. Milestone directed Two Arabian Knights (1927) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), both of which received the Academy Award for Best Director. He also directed The Front Page (1931), The General Died at Dawn (1936), Of Mice and Men (1939), Ocean's 11 (1960), and received the directing credit for Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), though Marlon Brando largely appropriated his responsibilities during its production.
Lev or Leib Milstein was born in Kishinev, capital of Bessarabia, Russian Empire (now Chișinău, Moldova), into a wealthy, distinguished family of Jewish heritage. Milstein received his primary education at Jewish schools, reflecting his parents' liberal social and political orientation, and including a study of several languages. Milstein's family discouraged his early love of theater and his desire to follow the dramatic arts, and dispatched him to Mittweida, Saxony, to study engineering.
After neglecting his classes to attend local theater productions, Milstein failed his coursework. He was intent on pursuing a theatrical career and bought a one-way ticket to the United States. Milstein arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on November 14, 1913, shortly after his eighteenth birthday.
Milstein, who found difficulty supporting himself in New York City, worked as a janitor, door-to-door salesman and lace-machine operator before finding a position as portrait-and-theater photographer in 1915. In 1917, shortly after the US entered World War I, he enlisted in the Army Signal Corps. Milstein was stationed in New York City and Washington, D.C., and was assigned to the corps' photography unit, where he trained in aerial photography, assisted on training films and edited documentary combat footage. His cohorts in the Signal Corps included future Hollywood directors Josef von Sternberg and Victor Fleming. In February 1919, Milstein was discharged from the army, immediately obtained US citizenship, and legally changed his surname to Milestone. An acquaintance from the Signal Corps Jesse D. Hampton, now an independent film producer, secured Milestone an entry-level position as an assistant editor in Hollywood.
When Milestone arrived in Hollywood, he was still in financial difficulties. He later said to sustain himself until his studio job commenced, he briefly worked as a card dealer at a Los Angeles City Oil Field gambling venue.
Milestone accepted mundane assignments from Hampton[who?] at $20 per week, and progressed from assistant editor toward director. In 1920 he was chosen as general assistant to director Henry King at Pathé Exchange. Milestone's first credited work was as assistant on King's film Dice of Destiny (1920).
During the next six years, Milestone "took on jobs in any capacity available" in the Hollywood film industry, working as editor for director-producer Thomas Ince, as general assistant and co-author on film scripts by William A. Seiter and as a gag writer for comedian Harold Lloyd. In 1923, Milestone followed Seiter[who?] to Warner Brothers studios as assistant director on Little Church Around the Corner (1923), completing most of the film-making tasks on the production. Milestone's reputation as an effective "film doctor" who was skilled at salvaging movies led Warner to began offering Milestone's services to other studios at inflated rates.
By 1925, Milestone was writing screen treatments for films at Universal and Warner studios, among them The Mad Whirl, Dangerous Innocence, The Teaser and Bobbed Hair. The same year, Milestone approached Jack L. Warner with a proposal: Milestone would provide the producer with a story free of charge if he was allowed to direct it. Warner agreed to sponsor Milestone's directorial debut Seven Sinners (1925).