American Cinematographer - August 1993 - 70

in which Ford and Cunard could have turned out

an

independent picture, it must be assumed that Univer¬
sal dumped the untitled "special feature" on Re¬
nowned Pictures because it was not suitable to be in¬
cluded on the Universal program.
Ford went on to team with Mae Gaston for
three features at Universal, and one of these was also

let go to the states rights market. Fie then signed with
Yorke-Metro to direct Harold Lockwood on the East

Coast, but he completed only one film before setting
up an independent production company called
Fordart to produce Berlin Via America. Ford again

a character called Phil Kelly, but the scenario
credited to his wife, Elsie Van Name. Ford spent
the rest of the silent era turning out low-budget inde¬

played
was

pendent serials and melodramas. He did return to
Universal to direct the serials Perils of the Wild (1925),
starring Joe Bonomo, and The Winking Idol (1926), with
William Desmond, but he did not take up a mega¬

phone after 1928. He eventually returned to acting,
usually in small roles that did not require extended ab¬
stinence from
Above: The final

of the last
Ford-Cunard
serial occurs in
"A Prisoner of

scene

Love," Chapter
16 o/The

Purple
Standing,
left to right:
Mask.

Francis Ford,
Jean Hathaway,

Jerry Ash (here
actor, soon to
become a
an

cameraman) and
Peter Gerald.

Grace Cunard is
seated. Right:

Together again:
Ford and Cunard
reminisce at a
1935 Universal
reunion.

Universal announced that the title
of the serial would be changed to
The Purple Mask.
In

a

driver for the film

John
Ford, until his
death in 1953.
Grace
Cunard
also
starred in a
handful of fea¬
tures for Uni¬

com¬

Jackson, two specta¬

tors, and L. B. Jenkins, a camera¬
man from the
Keystone Film Com¬

who

was

all killed. Mechanic John
Ghianda, who was doubling for
Cunard, barely managed to escape death by jumping
from the careening auto.
race, were

Cunard

devastated

by the accident, and
January 17,1917, she surprised her friends by elop¬
ing to Seal Beach, California, with Joe Moore, brother
of actors Owen and Tom Moore. Joe was appearing in
was

L-KO comedies when Cunard met him on the lot, and
he played a role in an episode of The Purple Mask. It is
not clear whether Cunard was marrying for love or

spite, but in February, shortly after completing the
serial, Ford announced a reconciliation with his wife,
and Cunard stated that she would be leaving Univer¬
sal after completing a "special feature" and doing some
retakes for The Purple Mask in March, 1917. Flowever,
in April the

versal, but they
made little im¬

also covering the

on

studio insisted that Ford and Cunard were

still under contract to Universal.

May, 1917, found Cunard back in the hospi¬

68

mostly for his

lost control of his car while
taking a turn at close to a hundred

pany

He contin¬

brother

pany,

miles an hour.

Barley¬

corn.

ued to work,

December, Ford and

Cunard were shooting an episode
built around the Vanderbilt Cup
auto race in Santa Monica. Lewis

Jackson,

John

pression

on au¬
diences. In 1919
she was teamed with Elmo Lincoln to co-star in the se¬
rial Elmo, The Mighty. Cunard was schedule to appear
in Universal's followup, 1920's Elmo, The Fearless, but

fragile health forced her to withdraw, and she limited
her activity to supporting roles and bit parts thereaf¬
ter. She worked into the

1940s, and died in 1967.

Today it is difficult to judge the accomplish¬
ments of Ford and Cunard. Contemporary reviews are
filled with studio-inspired hyperbole, and for many
years none of their work at Universal was known to
survive. In the late 1940s, new management saw fit to
empty the vaults of all silent films to make room for
future monuments of a great art. In recent years, six
episodes of Eucille Love, The Girl of Mystery and five of
The Purple Mask were found in Canada and given to
The Library of Congress by the National Film, Televi¬
sion and Sound Archives of Ottawa. Two

or

three other

tal for another operation, and

she was unable to return
to work until July. In June, 1917, Renowned Pictures

odd reels of the team's Universal films also survive at
Eastman House. So for now, at least, Grace Cunard is

announced the release of a feature film starring Cunard
and Ford titled In Treason's Grasp. The picture was sold
to the states rights market, and since there was no time

still "A Prisoner of Love" to Francis Ford in
16 of The Purple Mask.

American

August 1993

Cinematographer

Chapter
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