He was first hired by Lubin to direct the company’s San Diego operations, however Lubin closed the studio the following year. Sloman was subsequently hired by the American Film Company (”
lying A”) studio, directing several films starring Mary Miles Minter and also directed other projects such as the serial Diamond from the Sky (1916).
After American ceased production in early 1919, Sloman went to producer Benjamin B. Hampton and was selected as director for The Westerners (1919). The film was a major success and led to steady employment with other independent producers. Sloman was hired by Universal Pictures in1924. His fourth film for Universal His People (1925), a sentimental Jewish-American melodrama, was a big hit and secured his position within the studio, where he remained for five years.Among his many films are included “Surrender” (1927), “The Foreign Legion and We Americans” (1928). His last silent film “Girl on the Barge” (1929) garnered critical ridicule for its clumsily inserted talking sequences and was a financial disaster. Sloman left Universal after which he made a few films for lesser companies including “The Lost Zeppelin (1929)”, Hell’s Island (1930). At Paramount Pictures he directed several important early talkies including “The Kibitzer” (1930), “The Conquering Horde” (1931), “Murder by the Clock” (193), ” Gun Smoke” (1931) and “His Woman” (1931, with Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert).
Sloman made his last film in 1938 and in 1939 left the film industry to enter radio broadcasting as a writer, producer and director. Unfortunately the majority of Sloman’s works have been lost. However his 1927 Universal silent Alias the Deacon starring Jean Hersholt is held by the Library of Congress. He died in Woodland Hills, California in 1972 aged 86.
The Sloman House is located at 300 South McCadden Place in the historic Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Please do not use this information in any media without my permission. © All rights reserved. Michael Locke
