Elmer Clifton

He acted on the stage from 1907 and worked with 'D.W. Griffith' (qv) in various capacities between 1913-22, including appearances in _The Birth of a Nation (1915)_ (qv) and _Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916)_ (qv). He became a director in 1917, with his best-known production probably being the big-budget whaling epic _Down to the Sea in Ships (1922)_ (qv), which brought 'Clara Bow' (qv) to the attention of audiences. Unfortunately, his career began to wane in the late 1920s; although he occasionally worked for such "major" studios as Columbia or RKO, he spent most of the rest of his career mired in the depths of Poverty Row, writing and/or directing quickie westerns and thrillers for such bottom-of-the-barrel studios as PRC and even lower-budget exploitation pictures for such shoestring producers as 'J.D. Kendis' (qv) and the Weiss Brothers.::A. Nonymous