Lewis Milestone was born on September 30, 1895 in Odessa, Russia, and his original name was Milstein. His parents were well-off Russian Jews, and they had little appreciation for his early interest in drama, so he was sent off to an engineering college in Mitweide, Germany in 1912. Bored by engineering, Milestone neglected his studies and spent most of his time at the local theater. Restless and wanting adventure, Milestone used the money sent by his father to return home during the school break to go to America.
It wasn’t as reckless as it seems, since he had an aunt living in New York City. Milestone went through a series of dead-end jobs until he began working as a photographer’s assistant in 1915 and became a successful salesman. More important, the job showed him how to deal with people and taught him the fundamentals of photography. His introduction to film came when he joined the Army Signal Corps after America entered WWI, and he ended up editing training films and combat footage. Milestone became an American citizen after he was discharged in February 1919, and he changed his name at the same time.
He had met Jesse Hampton, an independent film producer, through the Signal Corps, and he used this connection to get a job as an assistant editor at $20 a week. Unfortunately, the job was in Hollywood, on the other side of the country, but Milestone’s love of adventure and growing fascination with film meant that his tiny savings were quickly exchanged for a train ticket.
Milestone died on September 25, 1980, a year after receiving a tribute from the Directors Guild. Since most of his career took place during the studio system, Milestone never had any illusions about his work, it was a job, and he was hired to put stories on film, not to tell his own stories. However, John Ford, Frank Capra, and Howard Hawks all existed in the same system, and they still managed to imprint their own vision on their movies. In the end, Milestone allowed himself to be limited by the quality of the material he was given, and he never developed his own style.