Lillian Gish photographs from the Lindsay Anderson Archive

I missed the anniversary of the death of Lillian Gish on the 27th February - she was born in October 1893 and died on 27 February 1993. In honour of Lillian Gish I thought I would post some photographs from the Lindsay Anderson Archive. Anderson worked with Gish on 'The Whales of August', indeed Lillian Gish was the catalyst for the movie being made as Mike Kaplan, the film's producer, was determined to find a film he could make with Gish. I love 'The Whales of August', not because I'm being loyal to my work, but because it is a beautiful, graceful and all too rare portrait of growing old and of paying respect to the older characters in the film. I wasn't surprised when I was cataloguing the material for this film to find that it did very well in Japan, a culture well known for its respect for the elderly.

Lindsay Anderson and Lillian Gish on set of The Whales of August, LA/1/11/4/2
© Lindsay Anderson Collection, University of Stirling Archives

Lindsay Anderson and Lillian Gish on set of The Whales of August, LA/1/11/4/2
© Lindsay Anderson Collection, University of Stirling Archives

Lindsay Anderson and Lillian Gish on set of The Whales of August, LA/1/11/4/2
© Lindsay Anderson Collection, University of Stirling Archives

I think these first two photos maker a good pair - one where Lillian Gish looks to be directing Anderson and the other in which he is directed her.

I was alerted to this important date through the blog of Dan North - the editor of 'Sights Unseen: unfinished British Films' containing a chapter, Hooray for Hollywood? The Unmade Films of Lindsay Anderson, by by Karl Magee (University Archivist here at Stirling University). An extract of this chapter is available to read here.