Editing Tod Browning (section)

==Director: early silent feature films, 1917–1919==
In 1917, Browning wrote and directed his first full-length feature film, ''[[Jim Bludso]]'', for [[Fine Arts Film Company|Fine Arts]]/ [[Triangle Film Corporation|Triangle]] film companies, starring [[Wilfred Lucas]] in the title role. The story is based on a poem by [[John Hay]], a former personal secretary to [[Abraham Lincoln]] during the [[American Civil War]].<ref>Barson, 2021: Browning "moved to the [[Fine Arts Film Company]] in 1917, where he co-directed (with [[Wilfred Lucas]]) his first full-length feature, [[Jim Bludso]] (1917)."<br />Robinson, 1968 p. 125: Browning "directed his own full-length picture in 1917."<br />Brogan, 2008: "After apprenticing with Griffith on ''Intolerance'' (1916), Browning made his directorial debut with Jim Bludso (1917), which he also wrote."</ref><ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 8: Browning's "solo directorial debut was on Jim Bludso in 1917." Add see p. 60 on John Hay poem</ref>

Browning married his second wife [[Alice Watson (actress)|Alice Watson]] in 1917; they would remain together until her death in 1944.<ref>Alford, 1995: "Alice Watson became his second wife [in 1917], and remained so until her death in 1944."</ref>

Returning to New York in 1917, Browning directed pictures for [[Metro Pictures]].<ref name=":3">Barson, 2021: "Browning spent a year at Metro Pictures..."</ref><ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 60: See here for Metro filmography in 1917 and 1918.</ref> There he made ''[[Peggy, the Will O' the Wisp]]'' and ''[[The Jury of Fate]]''. Both starred [[Mabel Taliaferro]], the latter in a dual role achieved with [[double exposure]] techniques that were groundbreaking for the time.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} Film historian [[Vivian Sobchack]] notes that many of these films "involved the disguise and impersonations found in later Browning films." (See Filmography below.)<ref name=":1">Sobchack, 2006 p. 22</ref> Browning returned to Hollywood in 1918 and produced three more films for Metro, each of which starred [[Edith Storey]]: ''[[The Eyes of Mystery]]'', ''[[The Legion of Death]]'' and ''[[Revenge (1918 film)|Revenge]]'', all filmed and released in 1918. These early and profitable five-, six- and seven-reel features Browning made between 1917–1919 established him as "a successful director and script writer."<ref>Herzogenrath, 2006 p. 11</ref><ref name=":3"/><ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 60: See here for Metro filmography and leading actors.</ref>

In the spring of 1918 Browning departed Metro and signed with [[Bluebird Photoplays]] studios (a subsidiary of [[Carl Laemmle]]'s [[Universal Pictures]]), then in 1919 with Universal where he would direct a series of "extremely successful" films starring [[Priscilla Dean]].<ref>Rosenthal, 1975 p. 8: "At Universal studios he made an extremely successful series of Universal "Jewels" [prestige films] with Priscilla Dean." And p. 60: See Filmography section on "Bluebird"</ref><ref>Barson, 2021: Browning "signed with the Universal Film Manufacturing Company in 1918. There he made nine films with leading actress Priscilla Dean."</ref>