Interview conducted by George Pratt.
Photo by Roman Freulich. Courtesy Stills, Posters, and Paper Collections/George Eastman Museum
Content notice: Holmes uses racist language in some of his descriptions when discussing performing in Blackface early in his career.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:33 Early Career – Start in pictures with the Edison Company and Vitagraph Studios
00:06:20 Early Career – Working with Ramo Films on shorts MAN AND WOMAN (1913), A DOG-GONE BARON (1913)
00:08:00 Career – 20th Century Fox, working with Theda Bara, shooting DAUGHTER OF THE GODS (1916) in Jamaica
00:12:00 Career – Doing films in Blackface: A BUCKTOWN ROMANCE (1912), THE GENT FROM HONDURAS (1912)
00:15:20 Career – Acting with Betty Nansen in SHOULD A MOTHER TELL (1915), further discussion of Theda Bara
00:18:05 Career – Working with director Carl Harburgh on THE SCARLET LETTER (1917), THE BROADWAY SPORT (1917)
00:23:00 Career – Meeting Rex Ingram, THE FOUR HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE (1921), friendship with Rudolph Valentino
00:27:20 Career – PRISONER OF ZENDA (1922), WHEN A MAN LOVES (1927), THE SALVATION HUNTERS (1925)
00:39:40 Reflections – Discussion of directors D.W. Griffith, John Ford, Ernst Lubitsch, Josef Von Sternberg
00:59:00 Reflections – On-screen persona
01:03:00 Reflections – Start of career at the Edison Company
The Silver Voices Project, which allowed for digitization and sharing of this archival audio, was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, grant number MA-30-19-0681-19.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this audio do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Library Sciences or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
