The New Klondike (1926)
A sports-themed drama based on a Ring Lardner story, The New Klondike was shot on location in Florida.
Despite “lukewarm” response from critics, Paramount was enthusiastic regarding Milestone’s prospects, showcasing him with other young studio talent in the promotional Fascinating Youth (1926).
A subsequent contretemps with screen star Gloria Swanson on the set of Fine Manners (1926) led to Milestone walking off the project.
Director Richard Rosson received credit when he completed the picture.
The Garden of Eden (1927)
Made under a Caddo releasing agreement with Universal Pictures, The Garden of Eden, a sophisticated variation on the Cinderella story, was adapted by screenwriter Hans Kraly.
It resembles, in both script and visual production, the works of Ernst Lubitsch.
The project benefited from the lavish sets designed by William Cameron Menzies and the cinematography of John Arnold.
The film stars the popular Corinne Griffith.
Milestone’s direction of Two Arabian Knights and The Garden of Eden established him as a practitioner of “rough and sophisticated” comedy.
The Racket (1928)
Wary of being stereotyped as a comedy director, Lewis Milestone shifted to an emerging genre popularized by director Josef von Sternberg in Underworld (1927).
The Racket, a taut and realistic depiction of mobster-controlled police department distinguished Milestone as an able practitioner of the genre, but its reception was damaged by the large number of superior gangster films released in the late 1920s.
The Racket was nominated for Best Picture at the 1928 Academy Awards.
