~Charles Brabin~

Born: April 17, 1882 in Liverpool, England, UK
Died: November 3, 1957 in Santa Monica, CA, USA
~Promotional photograph of Director Charles Brabin
with Writer June Mathis - Preproduction meeting for
Ben-Hur~
~Silent Filmography~
British-born director Charles J. Brabin came to the States as a stage actor, switching to films at the
Edison Studios in New Jersey in 1908. Making the transition to director, Brabin guided such
well-received productions as The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1914) and The Raven (1914). Brabin
gave a leg-up to the career of fellow director Rex Ingram, who was his assistant in several important
films. In 1919, Brabin directed two of the last films of exotic actress Theda Bara, who married him in
1921. Gaining critical adulation for his independently produced Driven (1923), Brabin was assigned to
MGM's mammoth Ben-Hur. Despite the support of the film's scenarist June Mathis, who regarded
his technique as "perfect," Brabin was replaced for working too slow for the tastes of the studio's new
administration (one close friend allowed that Brabin was better at describing a beautiful scene than
actually filming it). Brabin responded by suing the studio for damages, but returned to the MGM fold
in 1930 as a contract director. His early talkies The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) and Beast of the City
(1932) are masterpieces of gloomy morbidity, leading MGM to believe that Brabin could handle the
melancholy aspects of the studio's Rasputin and the Empress (1933). Again, however, Brabin's work
failed to impress the higher-ups, and again he was replaced, this time never to return to MGM. He
spent the last quarter century of his life in retirement with his first and only bride, Theda Bara. In her
declining years, Ms. Bara began affecting the high-toned British accent of her husband -- itself an
affectation, since Brabin was born in Liverpool. Theda Bara died in 1955; Charles Brabin passed away
two years later.

Biography by Hal Erickson, AllMovie.com
~Biography~
.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929)
The Whip (1928) (as Charles J. Brabin)
Burning Daylight (1928)
The Valley of the Giants (1927)
Hard-Boiled Haggerty (1927)
Framed (1927)
Twinkletoes (1926)
Mismates (1926)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) (uncredited)
... aka Ben-Hur (USA: short title)
Stella Maris (1925) (as Charles J. Brabin)
So Big (1924)
Six Days (1923)
Driven (1923)
The Lights of New York (1922)
The Broadway Peacock (1922)
Footfalls (1921) (as Charles J. Brabin)
Blind Wives (1920)
While New York Sleeps (1920) (as Charles J. Brabin)

La belle Russe (1919) (as Charles J. Brabin)
Kathleen Mavourneen (1919)
Thou Shalt Not (1919)
The Poor Rich Man (1918)
Buchanan's Wife (1918)
His Bonded Wife (1918)
A Pair of Cupids (1918)
... aka Both Members (reissue title)
Social Quicksands (1918)
Breakers Ahead (1918)
Persuasive Peggy (1917) (as Charles J. Brabin)
Red, White and Blue Blood (1917)
The Adopted Son (1917)
Mary Jane's Pa (1917)
The Sixteenth Wife (1917)
... aka His Sixteenth Wife
... aka Olette the Elusive
... aka Tina and the Turk
Babette (1917) (as Charles J. Brabin)
The Secret Kingdom (1916)
The Price of Fame (1916)
The Higher Destiny (1916) (as Charles J. Brabin)
That Sort (1916) (as Charles J. Brabin)
... aka That Sort of Girl (UK)
The Bridesmaid's Secret (1916) (as Charles J. Brabin)
The Raven (1915) (as Charles J. Brabin)
Vanity Fair (1915)
The Woman Hater (1915)
The House of the Lost Court (1915)
The Stoning (1915)
A Theft in the Dark (1915) (as Charles J. Brabin)
An Invitation and an Attack (1915)
The Premature Compromise (1914)
The Birth of Our Saviour (1914)
The Best Man (1914/II)
The King's Move on the City (1914)
A Question of Identity (1914)
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (1914)
The Letter That Never Came Out (1914)
The Long Way (1914)
The Man in the Street (1914)
The Man Who Disappeared (1914)
The Price of the Necklace (1914)
All for His Sake (1914) (as Charles J. Brabin)
The Necklace of Rameses (1914)
The Antique Brooch (1914)
The Stolen Plans (1913)
Silas Marner (1913)
The Foreman's Treachery (1913)
A Daughter of Romany (1913)
The Stroke of the Phoebus Eight (1913)
Keepers of the Flock (1913)
Flood Tide (1913/II) (as Charles J. Brabin)
The Coast Guard's Sister (1913) (as Charles J. Brabin)
A Concerto for the Violin (1913)
The Risen Soul of Jim Grant (1913) (as Charles J. Brabin)
Kathleen Mavourneen (1913/II)
A Will and a Way (1913)
... aka What Happened to Mary? Episode 8 (USA)
The Minister's Temptation (1913)
His Enemy (1913)
The Princess and the Man (1913)
The Ambassador's Daughter (1913)
The Maid of Honor (1913)
An Unsullied Shield (1913)
Tim (1912)
A Soldier's Duty (1912)
What Happened to Mary? (1912)
The Awakening of John Bond (1911)