Background
William Boyd was born on June 5, 1898, in Cambridge, Ohio. He was the son of Charles W. Boyd, a farm worker, and Lida Alberta Wilkins.
(1920 silent film directed by Cecil B Demille starring Glo...)
1920 silent film directed by Cecil B Demille starring Gloria Swanson and Thomas Meighan. This film is based on William C DeMille's story. A married couple, bored with each other, divorce. Time apart and with other people reminds them of what they saw in each other in the first place. This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
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(With this silent-era spectacle, Cecil B. DeMille cemented...)
With this silent-era spectacle, Cecil B. DeMille cemented his reputation as the master of the biblical epic. DeMille tells the story of Christ's life and Passion with great attention to historical accuracy, along the way paying homage to the religious illustrations of Da Vinci and Doré, and, in a modern flourish, restaging Christ's resurrection in luminous Technicolor. In time for Christmas, Criterion will present fully restored editions of both versions of this glorious spectacle in a heavenly two-disc set: the original 155-minute silent version from 1927 - never before available on home video - and the 1931 release, re-cut by DeMille to 112 minutes. The DVD edition will also include new Dolby Digital 5.1 scores by composers Donald Sosin (1927 version) and Timothy J. Tikker (1931 version); the original score for the 1931 release by Hugo Riesenfeld; behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the film; cast portraits, production and costume sketches, a stills gallery of production photos and promotional material; the original illustrated program and press book featuring photographs from the film's gala premiere; and more.
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William Boyd was born on June 5, 1898, in Cambridge, Ohio. He was the son of Charles W. Boyd, a farm worker, and Lida Alberta Wilkins.
Boyd's family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he attended public school. Upon the death of his parents, he left school at an early age and worked in the Oklahoma oil fields.
Boyd held a variety of jobs, including tool dresser and surveyor. In 1919, he went to Hollywood and appeared as an extra in Cecil B. DeMille's production, Why Change Your Wife? (1919). His first important role was in another DeMille motion picture, The Volga Boatman (1926).
When the transition from silent films to talking pictures took place, Boyd was among the fortunate screen actors with a good speaking voice. In keeping with the free-spending spirit of the times among Hollywood actors, he acquired an impressive home in Beverly Hills, a beach house at Malibu, and a ranch.
He also developed a reputation as a playboy. In the depression year of 1931, Boyd's high style of living came to an end when Radio Pictures canceled his contract. Contributing to his downfall was bad publicity that he received in a case of mistaken identity and publication of his picture in newspapers across the country for someone else's crime.
The guilty person was another well-known actor with the same name. He was a William Boyd who had notably played Sergeant Quirt in the stage play, What Price Glory? He had been arrested for the possession of illegal whiskey and gambling equipment.
For the next three years, Boyd, now frequently referred to as BillBoyd, accepted subordinate parts in B movies, usually as a villain in Westerns or as a gangster. Among his gangster films were The Wiser Sex (1932) with Melvyn Douglas and Claudette Colbert and State's Attorney (1932) with John Barrymore and Helen Twelvetrees.
In 1934, he received the part of Hopalong Cassidy for a series of low-budget movies produced by Harry Sherman and distributed by Paramount. The fictional character of the friendly, soft-spoken cowboy had been created by the pulp writer, Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote twenty-five books about this Western hero who walked with a limp caused by a knee injury in a gunfight.
In motion pictures, some of the rougher aspects of the character were eliminated and Hopalong, with his devoted horse Topper, became a symbol of virtue who never smoked, drank, or used profane language. The success of this screen cowboy, particularly but not exclusively with children, led to the production of fifty-four pictures in the series.
Eventually, Hopalong Cassidy became the longest-running role in Hollywood history. By 1936, a critic wrote, "Not knowing Hopalong is about as bad as not knowing Terry and the Pirates or Buck Rogers. " Among these films were Three on the Trail (1936), Partners of the Plains (1938), and Heart of Arizona (1938).
Although critics referred to Hopalong Cassidy films as another of the many "horse operas" that appeared, they also commented that these cattle-rustling, hard-riding, and fast-shooting films were above average for low-budget productions for the family trade. They were polished presentations with competent casts and excellent photography.
By 1943, rising costs forced Sherman to stop production, but Boyd produced twelve more films in partnership with Benedict Bogeaus and Lewis Rachmil. Originally, each picture had a budget of $10, 000 and a ninety-hour shooting schedule. By 1947, Boyd found costs prohibitive and discontinued production.
Boyd, however, had both the imagination to see the intrinsic value of Hopalong Cassidy and the determination to gain television rights to the character. At great risk and sacrifice to himself, he sold many of his assets, including his ranch, to purchase the television rights for about $350, 000 and form Hopalong Cassidy Productions.
The negotiations were a complex matter that took years of bargaining and reportedly it was necessary to sign 1, 500 separate contracts. All of this was done in the early days of television when the prospects for success of such a product were highly speculative. The old Hopalong films were shown on almost every television station in the nation and they proved to be a financial bonanza. This success led to the production of twenty-six half-hour shows for television.
The first, The Knife of Carlos Valero appeared in October 1950. During this same year, there was also an adaptation for radio which was broadcast on the Mutual Network to 496 stations with an estimated audience of twenty-five million, mainly children between the ages of four to thirteen.
In competition with Roy Rogers and Buck Jones, Hopalong Cassidy was promoted on the radio as "the most famous hero of them all. " In addition, a Hopalong Cassidy comic strip appeared in 155 newspapers and there were comic books distributed in the millions. Boyd, an able businessman, took advantage of licensing products associated with the popular character.
Shirts, pants, bicycles, and about fifty other products had a wide appeal for children. Boyd wisely licensed quality products at reasonable prices and refused to merchandise products that did not meet his high standards. It was reported in 1950 that 108 licensed manufacturers turned out products at the rate of seventy million dollars a year.
He retired in 1953, invested in real estate, and lived quietly.
(1920 silent film directed by Cecil B Demille starring Glo...)
(With this silent-era spectacle, Cecil B. DeMille cemented...)
Boyd was the well-built young man, five feet, eleven inches in height, with platinum hair, blue eyes, and an easygoing manner. With his tall stature and white hair, Boyd was a distinctive figure; wearing a black hat and costume and riding a white horse, he quickly became identified by the public with the screen hero.
Boyd married Ruth Miller in 1921. They had one son who lived nine months and were divorced. In 1926, he married Elinor Fair and divorced her in 1929.
He married Dorothy Sebastian in 1930, and they were divorced in 1936. In 1937, he married Grace Bradley, to whom he attributed much of his success.