Volume III: Biographies

LUND, O.A.C.

Director (1916-1917)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Oscar A.C. Lund joined Thanhouser in August 1916 and was a director there for a brief time.

Biographical Notes: O.A.C. Lund was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and was educated at Uppsala University. At one time he was a newspaper correspondent in Russia, after which he went to Germany to study art and music. Following in the steps of his father, he went on stage, where he worked with the Folk Theatre in Stockholm and the Royal Dramatic Theatre. Around 1903 he came to America.

The Moving Picture World, April 11, 1914, carried this item: "Of those holding a prominent place in pictures today there are mighty few who successfully write, direct and play leads at the same time. O.A.C. Lund, for the past year affiliated with the Eclair, is one of the very few. And what is more, he stands at the top of his class. When one recalls such feature plays as The Trail of the Hanging Rock, The Devil Fox of the North, The Greater Call, The Beaten Path, and When God Wills, every one of them unusual from a sales standpoint, one could better appreciate his worth in the motion picture industry. Mr. Lund wrote them and directed them and many more of equal success. Later successes have been in When Pierre Met Pierrot, The Wolf, and Lady Lind.

"To say in which line - directing, writing or playing leads - Mr. Lund excels would be difficult. As a director he has perfected himself in every detail of the work through years of training and study. The same thing holds true relative to his writing. He has traveled the world over, has sailed as a cabin boy, before the mast, has studied in the capitals of Europe, and he knows life in every phase; in writing his photoplays he draws on his wide experience and insight into the human emotion. As an actor perhaps his success is considerably due to his natural ability in this direction. True, he has had much experience before the camera, but he is a great believer in instinct for such work.

"Born in Stockholm, Sweden, he went through the public schools and graduated from the Uppsala University. Soon after, he went down into Russia and became a newspaper correspondent. Then he moved over into Germany where he studied historical paintings and music. Following this, he was a globe trotter for years. Eleven years ago he came to this country, and soon followed in the footsteps of his father, who was a stage director. Before joining the Eclair he was in the film producing business for himself."

Exhibitors Herald, September 6, 1916, stated that Lund had been connected with the motion picture industry since 1899. However, most other accounts have it that O.A.C. Lund's screen career began a number of years later with his own business, The Washington Film Company, which produced films adapted from stage plays, including The Dollar Mark, M'liss, and The Marked Woman.

The director then joined the Eclair studio in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He remained with Eclair for three years, through early 1914, after which he worked at other studios. He spent one year with World, during which time he received much publicity for When Broadway Was a Trail, which he wrote and directed and in which he played a role as well. For World he played in and directed Bret Harte's story, M'liss. By the spring of 1915 he was with Universal, after which he went to Metro.

Among his films for various studios were Silent Jim, Just Jim, Autumn, When Broadway Was a Trail, Dorian's Divorce, The Price of Malice, and The Trail of the Slacker. He wrote scenarios for many of the films which he directed. At one time or another O.A.C. Lund directed such personalities as Violet Mersereau, Lionel Barrymore, Hamilton Reville, Barbara Tennant, Harry B. Carey, and Robert Warwick. O.A.C. Lund worked for Thanhouser for only a brief time and directed the 1917 release of Her New York. In 1916 his home address was 587 Riverside Drive, New York City. In 1918, during his tenure with Fox, his mailing address was care of the Screen Club, New York City. Later films directed by O.A.C. Lund include Mother Love and the Law (Crystal Film), The Painted Madonna (Fox), Peg of the Pirates (Fox, May 1918) and Together (Bluebird-Universal, November 1918).

Thanhouser Filmography:

1917: Her New York (1-7-1917)

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