Born in Chicago he was an actor in touring stock companies before making his screen debut in 1912 Joining DW Griffiths Fine Arts Studio in 1914 he was cast as Union officer Phil Stoneman in The Birth of a Nation 1915 and as The Rhapsodie in the Babylonian story of Intolerance 1916 He was also a secondunit director for those films Promoted to director in 1917 Clifton supervised several successful Fine Arts comedies starring Dorothy Gish while continuing to serve as Griffiths assistant Their association culminated with the blockbuster Way Down East 1920 Clifton shot much of its famous Rescue from the ice sequence and doubled for star Richard Barthelmess in the riskier scenes He then left Griffith to form his own production company and had a smash hit with Down to the Sea in Ships 1922 a colorful whaling saga made on location in New England It made a star of future It Girl Clara Bow who appeared as a crossdressing stowaway In 1923 Clifton signed a lucrative sevenyear contract with Fox and was poised to become one of Hollywoods major directors Then tragedy struck He was filming The Warrens of Virginia in Texas when his lead actress died from burns in an accident on the set Although Clifton was blameless in the incident he was fired by Fox and his career never regained its momentum
HydraHD
