--- name: "Elmer Clifton" canonical: "https://film.one/person/elmer-clifton" fi1m_id: "elmer-clifton" imdb_id: "nm0166730" tmdb_id: 8838 wikidata_id: "Q195029" roles: ["First assistant director"] born: "12 March 1890" died: "15 October 1949" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_over: 0 updated: "2026-09-24T23:26:25.334916+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Elmer Clifton ## Identity Elmer Clifton - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/elmer-clifton - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** elmer-clifton - **IMDb ID:** nm0166730 - **TMDB ID:** 8838 - **Wikidata ID:** Q195029 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Clifton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q195029, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0166730/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8838 First assistant director. Born 12 March 1890 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Died 15 October 1949. ## Details - **Work:** First assistant director - **Born:** 12 March 1890, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - **Died:** 15 October 1949 - **Active:** 1915–1916 - **Also known as:** Elmer Clifford, Elmer S. Pond, Elmer Pond, Elmer Clifton Forsyth - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Clifton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q195029, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0166730/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8838 ## Biography Elmer Clifton (also credited as Elmer Clifford, Elmer S. Pond and Elmer Forsyth) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He appeared as Phil, Stoneman's elder son, in D.W. Griffith's *The Birth of a Nation* (1915) and as The Rhapsode in *Intolerance* (1916), and served as an assistant director on both films. Clifton began directing feature films in 1917. His best-known work includes the whaling drama *Down to the Sea in Ships* (1922), which introduced Clara Bow. He directed numerous silent features and later low-budget westerns and exploitation pictures. His final project, *Not Wanted* (1949), was completed by Ida Lupino after Clifton fell ill. He died in Los Angeles on 15 October 1949. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages* (1916), Fi1m 83, as The Rhapsode (Babylonian Story) — [page](https://film.one/film/intolerance-loves-struggle-throughout-the-ages.md) - *The Birth of a Nation* (1915), Fi1m 32, as Stoneman's Elder Son Phil — [page](https://film.one/film/the-birth-of-a-nation.md) ## Complete filmography (133) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *I Am Not a Racist* (2019), as Phil (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Outcasts of Black Mesa* (1950), Story - *The Silver Bandit* (1950), Director, Screenplay, Story - *The Kid from Gower Gulch* (1950), Screenplay - *Red Rock Outlaw* (1949), Director, Screenplay - *Not Wanted* (1949), Director - *The Judge* (1949), Director, Screenplay - *Quick on the Trigger* (1948), Screenplay - *Sunset Carson Rides Again* (1948), Writer - *West to Glory* (1947), Screenplay - *Rainbow Over the Rockies* (1947), Screenplay - *Song of the Sierras* (1946), Screenplay - *Outlaws of the Plains* (1946), Story - *Swing, Cowboy, Swing* (1946), Director, Writer - *Lightning Raiders* (1946), Original Story, Screenplay - *Frontier Fugitives* (1945), Screenplay - *Three in the Saddle* (1945), Screenplay - *Marked for Murder* (1945), Director, Screenplay - *The Whispering Skull* (1944), Director - *Dead or Alive* (1944), Director - *Youth Aflame* (1944), Director, Screenplay - *Gangsters of the Frontier* (1944), Director, Screenplay - *Gunsmoke Mesa* (1944), Screenplay - *Seven Doors to Death* (1944), Director, Screenplay - *Brand of the Devil* (1944), Screenplay - *Teen Age* (1944), Screenplay, Story - *Spook Town* (1944), Director, Screenplay - *The Pinto Bandit* (1944), Director, Screenplay, Story - *Guns of the Law* (1944), Director, Screenplay - *Outlaw Roundup* (1944), Screenplay - *Captain America* (1944), Director - *Boss of Rawhide* (1943), Director, Story, Screenplay - *The Return of the Rangers* (1943), Director, Story, Screenplay - *Frontier Law* (1943), Director, Screenplay - *Raiders of San Joaquin* (1943), Screenplay - *Cheyenne Roundup* (1943), Screenplay, Story - *Days of Old Cheyenne* (1943), Director - *The Blocked Trail* (1943), Director - *Bad Men of Thunder Gap* (1943), Writer - *The Sundown Kid* (1942), Director - *The Rangers Take Over* (1942), Writer - *The Old Chisholm Trail* (1942), Director, Screenplay - *Deep in the Heart of Texas* (1942), Director - *Swamp Woman* (1941), Director - *Hard Guy* (1941), Director - *I'll Sell My Life* (1941), Director, Screenplay - *City of Missing Girls* (1941), Director - *The Trail of the Silver Spurs* (1941), Story - *West of Pinto Basin* (1940), Story - *Isle Of Destiny* (1940), Director - *Crashing Thru* (1939), Director - *California Frontier* (1938), Director - *Law of the Texan* (1938), Director - *The Stranger from Arizona* (1938), Director - *Paroled from the Big House* (1938), Director - *The Secret of Treasure Island* (1938), Director, Screenplay - *Assassin of Youth* (1938), Director, Story, Screenplay - *Slaves in Bondage* (1937), Director - *Mile a Minute Love* (1937), Director - *Ten Laps to Go* (1936), Director - *Pilot X* (1936), Director - *Gambling with Souls* (1936), Director - *Wildcat Trooper* (1936), Director - *Wolves of the Sea* (1936), Director, Story - *Custer's Last Stand* (1936), Director - *Custer's Last Stand* (1936), Director - *Skull and Crown* (1935), Director - *Rip Roaring Riley* (1935), Director - *Captured in Chinatown* (1935), Director, Writer - *Rough Riding Ranger* (1935), Director, Screenplay - *Fighting Caballero* (1935), Director, Writer - *Cyclone of the Saddle* (1935), Writer, Director - *Pals of the Range* (1935), Director, Writer - *Maid to Order* (1931), Director - *The Fallen Empire* (1931), Director - *Light of India* (1929), Director - *The Devil's Apple Tree* (1929), Director - *Tropical Nights* (1928), Director - *Virgin Lips* (1928), Director - *Beautiful But Dumb* (1928), Director - *Let 'Er Go Gallegher* (1928), Director - *The Bride of the Colorado* (1928), Director - *The Wreck of the Hesperus* (1927), Director - *Daughters of the Night* (1924), Director - *The Warrens of Virginia* (1924), Director - *Six Cylinder Love* (1923), Director - *Down to the Sea in Ships* (1922), Director, Producer - *Mary Ellen Comes to Town* (1920), Director - *Turning the Tables* (1919), Director - *Nobody Home* (1919), Director - *Nugget Nell* (1919), Director - *I'll Get Him Yet* (1919), Director - *Peppy Polly* (1919), Director - *Boots* (1919), Director - *The Hope Chest* (1918), Director - *Kiss or Kill* (1918), Writer, Director - *Battling Jane* (1918), Director - *Winner Takes All* (1918), Director - *The Eagle* (1918), Director - *Smashing Through* (1918), Director - *The Guilt of Silence* (1918), Director - *The Two-Soul Woman* (1918), Director, Writer - *Brace Up* (1918), Director, Story - *The Flash of Fate* (1918), Director - *The High Sign* (1917), Director - *The Man Trap* (1917), Director - *Flirting with Death* (1917), Director - *A Stormy Knight* (1917), Director - *The Midnight Man* (1917), Director - *High Speed* (1917), Director - *The Flame of Youth* (1917), Director - *Her Official Fathers* (1917), Director - *Nina, the Flower Girl* (1917), as Jimmie - *The Old Folks at Home* (1916), as Steve Coburn - *Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages* (1916), The Rhapsode (Babylonian Story), First Assistant Director — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/intolerance-loves-struggle-throughout-the-ages.md) - *The Little School Ma'am* (1916), as Wilbur Howard - *Acquitted* (1916), as Ned Fowler - *The Missing Links* (1916), as Horace Gaylord - *The Sable Lorcha* (1915), as Phillip Clyde - Evelyn's Fiancé - *The Lily and the Rose* (1915), as Allison Edwards - *The Fox Woman* (1915), as Marashida - *The Lost House* (1915), as Cuthbert - *The Birth of a Nation* (1915), as Stoneman's Elder Son Phil · Assistant Director — Fi1m 32, [page](https://film.one/film/the-birth-of-a-nation.md) - *A Lucky Disappointment* (1914), as Jack Holt - *The Sisters* (1914), as Frank (Carol's country lover) - *The Folly of Anne* (1914), as The Sympathtic Publisher - *Burning Daylight: The Adventures of 'Burning Daylight' in Alaska* (1914), as Charley Bates - *Martin Eden* (1914), as Cub Reporter - *A Duel for Love* (1914), Actor - *John Barleycorn* (1914), as Jack, 3rd period - *Wives at Auction*, Director - *The Truth About Men*, Director - *The Virgin Wife*, Director ## Gallery - ![Elmer Clifton](https://film.one/media/person/3847894/gallery-376912604632.jpg) Elmer Clifton — Photographer uncredited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Elmer_Clifton.jpg/1280px-Elmer_Clifton.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Scene from the 1917 silent film Nina, the Flower Girl](https://film.one/media/person/3847894/gallery-344387fd7f06.png) Scene from the 1917 silent film Nina, the Flower Girl — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Nina%2C_The_Flower_Girl_-_Seated.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Elmer Clifton](https://film.one/media/person/3847894/gallery-98117c4b7d92.jpg) Elmer Clifton — Image via TMDB - ![Elmer Clifton](https://film.one/media/person/3847894/gallery-2377fa413f30.jpg) Elmer Clifton — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/elmer-clifton