Arthur Berthelet

Arthur Rolette Berthelet (October 12, 1879 – September 16, 1949) was an American actor, stage and film director, dialogue director, and scriptwriter. Born in Wisconsin as the third of seven children of Louisa Matilda (née Thibault) and Joseph Reuben Berthelet, Jr., both of whom were Canadian natives, Berthelet grew up in Milwaukee, where his father worked as a sewer-pipe manufacturer and later as superintendent of the Milwaukee Cement Company. Records conflict on the extent of his formal education: a 1916 film-studio directory states he attended public schools in Milwaukee before studying at the University of Notre Dame, while Berthelet himself indicated in the 1940 United States Census that he completed only through the eighth grade. He appeared in stage productions under several credited names, including Rolette Bertheletto, Arthur Berthelet, and Arthur R. Berthelet.

By 1899, at the age of twenty, Berthelet had already attracted notice in stage publications, performing at that time under the Italianized name Rolette Bertheletto. The San Francisco Dramatic Review noted his work in a production of Magda starring Nance O'Neil at the California Theatre, praising him as "uncommonly good" in the role of Max, described as "the boy-lieutenant in love with his cousin Marie." The following spring, the same publication highlighted his performance as Chilo in a production of Quo Vadis by the Lyceum Stock Company in Denver, Colorado, again recognizing him with honors. During 1903 and 1904, Berthelet was advertised as a prominent supporting player in a farewell revival of The Two Orphans starring Kate Claxton, who had built her reputation in the role of Louise since the 1870s.

Alongside his work with traveling stock companies, Berthelet maintained a presence on Broadway between 1900 and 1912. His Broadway credits included King Henry V in 1900, Beaucaire in 1902, A Man's World in 1910, and His Wife by His Side in 1912, a range of productions spanning both Shakespearean and contemporary drama. During this same period he began taking on directing responsibilities in addition to performing. Between 1909 and 1911 he managed summer stock in Portsmouth, Ohio, after which he managed Lucille La Verne's company before moving to Richmond, Virginia in 1914 to serve as stage director for Grayce Scott. By 1915 he was leading his own Bijou Stock Company in Richmond, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch noted the departure of the company that July, describing the productions Berthelet had offered the city as among the best performances seen there in years. Berthelet and his wife, actress Leona Ball, had first met while both were members of the original Savage Company, and both appeared in their original roles in the company's closing production of the Hungarian comedy The Devil.

In the latter half of 1915, Berthelet shifted his focus to the motion picture industry, joining Essanay Studios in Chicago. His first film for the studio was Tides That Meet, a three-reel romantic adventure co-starring Bryant Washburn and Ann Kirk, set against the backdrop of unsettled conditions in Mexico and released in early October 1915. His second Essanay project that year, Twice Into the Light, was a three-reel melodrama starring John Lorenz about a blind violinist who overcomes physical and emotional hardship to find success. These early films led Essanay to assign Berthelet to more elaborate productions, among them The Misleading Lady, The Primitive Strain, Vultures of Society, and Sherlock Holmes, all released in 1916.

Sherlock Holmes became one of the most significant productions of Berthelet's career. The seven-reel, 116-minute film starred William Gillette, who since 1899 had performed the role of the fictional detective on stage hundreds of times on Broadway and in theaters in Canada and England. The production was the first American film to portray Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, and Berthelet's background as both a stage performer and a manager of theatrical productions positioned him to translate Gillette's celebrated stage portrayal into a silent format reliant on pantomime and intertitles. Filming took place in Chicago, with exterior locations in the city used to represent areas of London spanning the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. The Moving Picture World critic James S. McQuade credited Berthelet directly for the film's settings and direction, and Motion Picture News judged the direction of the film as excellent.

In 1918, Berthelet directed Men Who Have Made Love to Me, starring the author and feminist Mary MacLane. The production was notable for being among the first cinematic dramas to break the fourth wall and among the earliest American films to combine a woman's work as a published author, scenarist, actor, and narrator through the use of intertitles.