Producer / director/ screenwriter Monta Bell was born on
February 5, 1891, in Washington, DC. He attended public schools there, graduating from Eastern High School. Bell turned to the stage as an actor
after trying his hand at journalism in that city. He was cast by
Charles Chaplin in the great comedian's
The Pilgrim (1923), which was Bell's sole
screen appearance as an actor. He worked for Chaplin as an editor
and assistant director before becoming a director in his own right in
1924. He specialized in comedies of manners akin to early
Cecil B. DeMille and
Ernst Lubitsch. He directed
Greta Garbo in her American film debut,
The Torrent (1924), at MGM.
Bell left MGM to take over Paramount's New York City Astoria Studios as head of production.
While he was studio chief, Astoria turned out
The Marx Brothers' debut
film
The Cocoanuts (1929). Going back behind the camera, Bell
directed comedies and melodramas in the early '30s, the time of
the "talkies". He quit directing in 1933 to return full-time to
producing. Twelve years later, he directed his final film,
China's Little Devils (1945), starring
former silent film star
Harry Carey.
Monta Bell died on April 4, 1958, in Hollywood, CA.
China's Little Devils(1945)
The Worst Woman in Paris?(1933)
Downstairs(1932)
Personal Maid(1931)
Up for Murder(1931)
The Letter(1931)
The Letter(1929)
The Bellamy Trial(1929)
The Pilgrim(1923)as Policeman
The Adventurer(1917)as Man
Beyond the Blue Horizon(1942)
Birth of the Blues(1941)
Aloma of the South Seas(1941)
West Point of the Air(1935)
Student Tour(1934)
A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate(1923)
The Cocoanuts(1929)
1925 Studio Tour(1925)as Self - a Director
Garbo(2005)as Self
Hollywood(1980)as Self
The Big Parade of Comedy(1964)as Self - Director of 'Pretty Ladies'
The Chaplin Revue(1959)as Policeman (segment "The Pilgrim")
