Arthur Rolette Berthelet (October 12, 1879September 16, 1949; credited as Rolette Bertheletto, Arthur Berthelet, and Arthur R. Berthelet) was an American actor, stage and film director, dialogue director, and scriptwriter."California Death Index, 1940–1997", Arthur Rolette Berthelet, September 16, 1949; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento, California. Microfilm image of original state record retrieved online via FamilySearch archives, Salt City, Utah, March 16, 2022. With regard to screen productions, he is best remembered for directing the 1916 crime drama Sherlock Holmes starring William Gillette, an actor who since 1899 had distinguished himself on the Broadway stage and at other prominent theatrical venues with his numerous, "definitive" portrayals of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's great fictional detective.Hutchinson, Pamela (2016). Review of the centennial screening in London of the 1916 film Sherlock Holmes; published in Sight and Sound (British Film Institute, London), volume 26, issue 3 (March 2016), p. 101. Retrieved through subscription at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, March 16, 2022. In 1918, Berthelet also directed the controversial author and feminist Mary MacLane in Men Who Have Made Love to Me, a production notable for being among the first cinematic dramas to break the "fourth wall" and among the earliest American film projects to bring together on screen a woman's work as a published author, "scenarist", actor, and narrator through the use of intertitles.Buck, Julie (2013). "Mary MacLane", Women Film Pioneers Project, online reference, Columbia University Libraries, New York, N.Y. Last retrieved March 16, 2022.
Early life Born in Wisconsin in 1879, Arthur Berthelet was the third child of seven children of Louisa Matilda (née Thibault) and Joseph Reuben Berthelet, Jr. Both of Arthur's parents were Canadian natives, and his father supported the family working as a sewer-pipe manufacturer and later as a superintendent of the Milwaukee Cement Company."Tenth Census of the United States: 1870", enumeration page documenting Joseph R. Berthelet [Jr.], his wife Louisa, and oldest child "Willie" residing in household of Joseph R. Berthelet [Sr.], June 17, 1870, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Image of original document retrieved via Family Search online archives, March 16, 2022."Twelfth Census of the United States: 1900", enumeration page for June 7–8, 1900 for household of Joseph R. Berthelet, Ward 18, Precinct 4, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; citing microfilm record for enumeration district (ED) 160, sheet 7B, family 150, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Image of original census page retrieved via Family Search, March 16, 2022. There are conflicting records regarding Arthur's educational background. A biographical sketch of him in 1916, one published in October that year in an American film-studio directory, states that he studied at the University of Notre Dame after attending public schools in Milwaukee."Motion Picture Studio Directory", entry for Arthur Berthelet, Motion Picture News (New York, N.Y.), October 21, 1916, p. 105. Retrieved via the Internet Archive (San Francisco, California), March 16, 2022. Yet, Berthelet himself certifies in the United States Census of 1940 that he actually completed his education only through the eighth grade."Sixteenth Census of the United States Census: 1940", Arthur Berthelet household, Beverly Hills City, Los Angeles County, California, April 20, 1940; image of original enumeration page, ED19-46, Bureau of the Census, Archives Records Administration (NARA), Washington, D.C. Retrieved via FamilySearch online archives, March 18, 2022.
Stage career As early as 1899, twenty-year-old Berthelet is already identified in stage publications as a notable actor, who in that early period of his entertainment career was credited in reviews with his middle name "Rolette" instead of Arthur and with an Italianized surname, "Bertheletto". The San Francisco Dramatic Review, for example, reports in its October 21, 1899 issue about the performance of the play Magda starring Nance O'Neil and presented at the local California Theatre. Rolette Bertheletto is also highlighted in that production and complimented as "uncommonly good" in his role as Max, "the boylieutenant in love with his cousin Marie"."At the Local Theaters/The California" The San Francisco Dramatic Review (San Francisco, California), volume 1, number 7, October 21, 1899, p. 4. Retrieved via Internet Archive, March 22, 2022. Six months later, in the April 14, 1900 issue of The San Francisco Dramatic Review, a special correspondent for trade paper describes a production of Quo Vadis conducted by the Lyceum Stock Company in Denver, Colorado. Berthelet, still a member of that company, is commended by the correspondent for his role as "Chilo" and is once again recognized with "honors" for his performance."Eastern Doings.../Denver", The San Francisco Dramatic Review, volume 2, number 6, April 14, 1900, p. 8. Retrieved via Internet Archive, March 22, 2022.
Berthelet for several years continued to travel extensively with stock companies. During 19031904, he was advertised as one of the "prominent" support players in a "farewell revival" of The Two Orphans starring the legendary actress Kate Claxton, who since the 1870s had made a career of performing as "Louise" in the well-known French play.The New York Clipper, March 5, 1904, p. 26. Retrieved via Internet Archive, March 23, 1905., pp. 87–88. Yet, Berthelet did not limit his acting to traveling shows. He also performed regularly on Broadway, appearing there in a variety of Shakespearean and contemporary-based plays such as King Henry V (1900), Beaucaire (1902), A Man's World (1910), and His Wife by His Side (1912)"Arthur Berthelet", online play list, Internet Broadway Database (IBDB), The Broadway League, Manhattan, New York. Retrieved March 22, 2022. Over that span of time, however, he began to combine more and more his duties as an actor with directing stage productions and later with managing stock companies himself. He was managing summer stock in Portsmouth, Ohio between 1909 and 1911, and then left that position to manage Lucille La Verne's company before moving on in 1914 to serve as stage director for Grayce Scott in Richmond, Virginia."Chicago Notes/To Join Stock", The Show World, June 12, 1909, p. 29; "Dramatic & Musical", Billboard, August 19, 1911, p. 59. Retrieved via Internet Archive, May 24, 2022."Local Changes", Variety (New York, N.Y.), October 17, 1914, p. 13. Retrieved via Internet Archive, May 22, 2022. The next year in Richmond, in its July 11, 1915 issue, the Richmond Times-Dispatch announces to its readership the departure of Berthelet's "Bijou Stock Company":
Films During the latter half of 1915, Berthelet began to transition professionally, moving from his career as a stage actor and as a director and manager of stock companies to working in the rapidly expanding motion picture industry. Essanay Studios in Chicago contracted him to direct several films, beginning with Tides That Meet, a three-reel romantic adventure set within "the unsettled conditions in Mexico"."'TIDES THAT MEET' (Essanay)", The Moving Picture World (New York, N.Y.), October 2, 1915, p. 93. Retrieved via Internet Archive, March 20, 2022.Caward, Neil G. (1915). "'Tides That Meet'", review, Motography (Chicago), October 16, 1915, p. 810. Retrieved via Internet Archive, March 20, 2022. Released in early October 1915 and co-starring Bryant Washburn and Ann Kirk, the feature was widely promoted and popular with audiences for its "thrilling situations and hairbreadth escapes"."Tides That Meet", Essanay advertisement in Pictures and the Picturegoer in issue ending January 8, 1916, p. 335. Retrieved via Internet Archive, March 20, 2022. Berthelet's next screen project for Essanay in 1915, another three-reeler, was Twice Into the Light. That melodrama starred John Lorenz and presented the story of a violinist who was born blind but ultimately found success musically and romantically after overcoming a series of physical and emotional struggles.
Following the positive film-industry and public reactions to Berthelet's first two projects, Essanay assigned him to direct longer, more elaborate "photoplays" such as The Misleading Lady (1916), The Primitive Strain (1916), Sherlock Holmes (1916), and Vultures of Society (1916).
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes proved to be an especially challenging and notable release for Berthelet. The production—the first American film to portray Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's very popular fictional detective—features American actor William Gillette, who since 1899 had already performed on stage as Sherlock Holmes hundreds of times on Broadway and in select theatres in Canada and England.McQuade, James S. (1916). "Sherlock Holmes", review, The Moving Picture World (New York, N.Y.), May 27, 1916, p. 1530. Retrieved via Internet Archive, May 25, 2022. Widely recognized and celebrated for being the definitive interpreter of Holmes, Gillette was an authority on all of Doyle's related writings."Sherlock Holmes (1916)TCM Intro (Lost and Found)", discussion about William Gillette by longtime Turner Classic Movies (TCM) host Robert Osborne, originally posted October 19, 2015. Retrieved via YouTube, May 25, 2022. Berthelet's own experience as a stage performer and his substantial knowledge of stage management made him an ideal director to adapt effectively a portrayal of Doyle's eloquent detective to a silent format dependent solely on pantomime and intertitles. In addition to directing an acclaimed expert in the role of Holmes, Berthelet had to film the seven-reel, 116-minute motion picture in Chicago and select exterior locations in that city to represent believably areas of London between the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. The results of his work received widespread accolades in 1916 film-industry publications and newspapers. Critic James S. McQuade of the New York trade journal The Moving Picture World praised Berthelet for the film's composition and general appearance, stating that "The settings are worthy of the acted production, and these and talented direction must be credited to Director Arthur Berthelet." In its assessment of the film, Motion Picture News, another widely read trade journal, judged the direction of this film version of Gillette's stage play as "excellent". The reviewer for Motography, Genevieve Harris, in her June 10, 1916 examination of Sherlock Holmes describes the film overall as "well produced" but questions the decision to extend the picture's length to nearly two hours, a running time that she contends detrimentally affects the story's pacing and clarity in some parts: Although the critic for Motography found the running time of Sherlock Holmes too long, other prominent reviewers did not consider it excessive for presenting a thorough portrayal of Holmes. The New York Clipper, which in 1916 was promoted as "The Oldest Theatrical Journal in America", applauded Berthelet's work as both a critical and commercial achievement:
Final Essanay films, 1917–1918