Denison Clift

Denison Clift (1885–1961) was an American playwright, novelist, screenwriter and film director.

Clift entered the film industry in 1918, penning the screenplay for William S. Hart's Wolves of the Rail.

Less than a year later, Clift was imported by a British firm in a larger movement to liven their domestic silent films by employing Hollywood directors.

He directed a number of British films during the silent era, such as Demos (1921) featuring fellow American expatriate Evelyn Brent and The Love of Mary, Queen of Scots (1923), with Fay Compton in the title role.

Clift remained in Great Britain after the transition to sound films, occasionally directing small-budget melodramas- including The Mystery of the Mary Celeste, which he also wrote- but was predominantly a freelance screenwriter.

Photograph of Clift from the June 19, 1920 publication of Motion Picture News