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==== 1915–20: Young ingenue ==== [[File:Bessie Love as Hulda in The Flying Torpedo.jpg|thumb|Love as Hulda, the Swedish maid, in ''[[The Flying Torpedo]]'' (1916), her second onscreen appearance]] In June 1915, while a student at [[Los Angeles High School]], Horton went to the set of a film to meet with actor [[Tom Mix]], who had recommended that she visit him if she wanted to "get into pictures".{{sfn|Love|1977|p=25}} However, when Mix was unavailable, she was advised to meet with pioneering film director [[D.W. Griffith]],{{sfn|Love|1977|p=25}} who placed her under personal contract.<ref name="dunham" /> When it was decided that her given name was too long for theater marquees and too difficult to pronounce,<ref name="nostranger" /> Griffith's associate [[Frank E. Woods|Frank Woods]] gave Horton the stage name Bessie Love:<ref name="filmdope33">{{cite magazine|magazine=Film Dope|last=Surowiec|first=Catherine A.|title=Bessie Love|issue=36|date=Feb 1987|pages=33–36}}</ref>{{sfn|Love|1977|p=25}} "Bessie, because any child can pronounce it. And Love, because we want everyone to love her!"<ref name="nostranger" /> Love dropped out of high school to pursue her film career, but she completed her diploma in 1919.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturemag18moti/page/n199|page=104|title=Little Whisperings from Everywhere in Playerdom|magazine=Motion Picture Magazine|date=September 1919|volume=18|issue=8}}</ref> Griffith gave her a small role in his ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916). Although ''Intolerance'' was her first performance to be filmed, it was her ninth film to be released.<ref name="nostranger" /> The first films Love made were with Griffith's [[Fine Arts Film Company|Fine Arts]] company, yet ''Intolerance'' was the only film that he formally directed.{{efn|At Fine Arts, other directors would direct the films, but Griffith would direct the final rehearsal before filming.<ref name="dunham" />}} Her "first role of importance"<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Bessie Love's Popularity Growing|page=1233|magazine=[[The Moving Picture World]]|date=March 1, 1919|url=https://archive.org/details/movwor39chal/page/1232}}</ref>—in the second of her films to be released—was in ''[[The Flying Torpedo]]'' (1916). She later appeared opposite [[William S. Hart]] in ''[[The Aryan]]'' and with [[Douglas Fairbanks]] in ''[[The Good Bad-Man]]'', ''[[Reggie Mixes In]]'', and ''[[The Mystery of the Leaping Fish]]'' (all 1916). This string of appearances and supporting roles led to her first starring role, in ''[[A Sister of Six (1916 film)|A Sister of Six]]'' (1916).<ref name="dunham" /> In her early career, she was likened to [[Mary Pickford]],{{sfn|Side|1980|p=[https://archive.org/details/kindergartenofmo0000slid/page/84 84]}} and was called "Our Mary" by Griffith.{{sfn|Side|1980|pp=[https://archive.org/details/kindergartenofmo0000slid/page/12 12]–13}} In early 1918, Love left Fine Arts for a better contract with [[Pathé Exchange|Pathé]].<ref name="dunham" /> After the Pathé films were unsuccessful,<ref name="dunham" /> she signed a nine-film contract with [[Vitagraph Studios|Vitagraph]] later that year,{{efn|All nine films with Vitagraph were made: 1918's ''[[The Dawn of Understanding]]''; 1919's ''[[The Enchanted Barn]]'', ''[[The Wishing Ring Man]]'', ''[[A Yankee Princess]]'', ''[[The Little Boss]]'', ''[[Cupid Forecloses]]'', ''[[Over the Garden Wall (1919 film)|Over the Garden Wall]]'', and ''[[A Fighting Colleen]]''; and 1920's ''[[Pegeen (film)|Pegeen]]''.}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew18moti_7/page/3146|magazine=Motion Picture News|title=Vitagraph|page=3146|date=November 30, 1918}}</ref> all of which were directed by [[David Smith (director)|David Smith]]. Her performances often received positive reviews, but her films often were shown at smaller [[movie theater]]s, which impacted the growth of her career.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Photo-Play Journal|date=April 1919|page=36|title=The Silent Trend|first=Bert D.|last=Essex|url=https://archive.org/details/photoplayjournal03cent/page/n221}}</ref>
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