John Cecil Pringle (1897-1936) was one of the greatest stars of the late silent cinema. He had starred in Erich Von Stroheim’s The Merry Widow (1925) and King Vidor’s hugely successful First World War epic, The Big Parade (1925). Most significantly, his onscreen partnership, and offscreen relationship, with Greta Garbo had become the obsession of film fans and the magazines they read.
The decline of Gilbert’s career after the introduction of sound is often wrongly attributed to the unsuitability of his voice, but his appearance in The Hollywood Revue of 1929 demonstrates the falsity of this claim. His voice is perfectly acceptable, capable of speaking Shakespeare’s lines with clarity and as much fullness as the technology of the time permitted. Gilbert’s demise was much more to do with personal issues and, in particular, with the enmity of Louis B Mayer, who was prepared to destroy his own studio’s star for petty vengeance.
The decline of his career spurred on Gilbert’s alcoholism and he was dead from a heart attack at 38.
Leave a Reply