Lucille McVey

Lucille McVey (April 18, 1890 – November 3, 1925) also known as Mrs Sidney Drew, was an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actress. In the early 1900s, she was part with her husband Sidney Drew of the famous comedy duo Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew.

Biography

Early career Lucille McVey was born in Sedalia, Missouri, on April 18, 1890. From the age of 15, she worked as a comedian and was recognized as a foremost "child dialect reader". She went for a screen career in 1911 at the age of 21. At that time she was credited under the pseudonym of Jane Morrow, her grandmother's name. She started producing comedies with her husband under the name Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew. They occupied their own unit at the Vitagraph Studios. Soon they specialized in what came to be known as "polite" or "refined" domestic comedies also called high-brow comedies - or situation comedies according to the current terminology. They found their humor in the small misunderstandings affecting the bourgeois people.

alt=Still from the American film Bunkered (1919) with Mrs. Sidney Drew

Their first big success, Playing Dead (1915), was a five-reel "human interest drama" based on Richard Harding Davis's book. Sidney Drew directed it and Lucille McVey was credited as screenwriter. who became their distributor. They continued producing short domestic comedies for $90,000 a year, Despite her relative inexperience at her debut, she produced and directed more often than her husband and her input had an important impact on duo's creation.

For McVey, the essential of their ideas needed to be clear and thoughtful, inspired and based on real people and event. "Story must be real", she declared at the Photoplay in 1917. They based their stories mostly on married life, which offered a multiplicity of themes while being a "great part of the human". Subsequently, they mostly played husband and wife characters.

Lucille McVey bared the importance of the intimate in characters. The Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew comedies were mostly based on the use of subtitles. She believed they were "direct and human", helping to "get the story started and put continuity over quickly and speedily".

The Drew style was defined by the use of everyday situations of the bourgeois class turned into comical short comedies which was greatly acclaimed by the audience at their time.

Selected filmography

Short films

Year Film Director Producer Writer Actress 1914 Pickles, Art and Sauerkraut (Short) Never Again (Short) Bunny's Scheme (Short) Innocent But Awkward (Short) Too Many Husbands (Short) 1915 Auntie's Portrait (Short) The Hair of Her Head (Short) Wanted, a Nurse (Short) The Homecoming of Henry (Short) Playing Dead (Short) The Combination (Short) 1916 His Wife Knew About It (Short) When Two Play a Game (Short) A Telegraphic Tangle (Short) Peace at Any Price (Short) Childhood's Happy Days (Short) 1917 Lest We Forget (Short) Safety First (Short) Her Lesson (Short) Nothing To Wear (Short) Her Anniversaries (Short) 1918 Their Mutual Motor Why They Left Home 1919 Romance And Rings 1920 The Stimulating Mrs. Barton The Emotional Miss Vaughn The Charming Mrs. Chase The Unconventional Maida Greenwood 1921 Cousin Kate

Play

Year Title 1918 Keep Her Smiling