Motion Picture Classic (Jan-Aug 1919)

CLASSIC The Young-Old Lady of the Screen {Continued from page 37) crowd into the front line of a mob in order that their faces may be seen. And the extras who have been in the game long enough to know something about the business accommodate the novices joyfully. And why not ? Unless they know that it is very close to the end of the picture, they dont want any close-ups. A close-up too often means an extra’s finish so far as that picture is concerned. A moment’s thought will make the reason for this clear. If a girl is distinctly registered as one of the mob storming a millionaire’s house because he isn’t paying enough for their work in the factory, she cant very well appear as a guest in the home of that millionaire in the next reel. Not only that, but the biggest opportunity may come in the later scene. “No, obscurity, or comparative obscurity, is not always a disaster. For instance, I ‘struggle’ along, making three or four hundred dollars a week. Good character women are so scarce in moving pictures that they can ask almost anything they like. If I had gone on being a star the public would possibly have tired of me long ago. Such things do happen. You know, some one has said that the popularity of a moving picture star lasts, on the average, about five years ! “Moving picture work is a business with me.” Which is probably why she does it so well. It seems that one may, with impunity, neglect one’s art, but one may never neglect one’s business — that is an unpardonable sin ! Mary Alden had her own company when she was with Reliance-Majestic, and that was, if my memory serves me aright, about four or five years ago. And now she is planning on having her own company again, but in the meanwhile she does not have to fear a series of setbacks thru the failure of poor pictures. She can frequently choose from a number of parts instead of “taking what she can get,” as many a star must. Good actresses are scarce. Hearken, all you screen aspirants ; there is plenty of room at the top. (All you have to do is get up there!) Her services are always in demand, while every part she plays augments her reputation for careful artistry among producers as well as with her public. No story, however poor, can seriously hurt her. She has security, comfort, money and the knowledge of work well done. No one could ask for more ! When the editor of Motion Picture Classic asked me to interview Miss Alden, I got her number from the Griffith studio and called her on the telephone. She answered in a pleasant, throaty voice and suggested that the interview take place during luncheon. (I love interviewing people who invite me to luncheon.) Anyway, we agreed to meet in the lobby of the Alexandria, but here a difficulty arose. “You wont know me,” she said. (Seventy-one) “Yes, I will,” (I lied like a lady. I seldom recognize people on seeing them for the first time out of make-up.) “M-m-m,” doubtfully. “Whatwill you wear?” I said, and added, quickly, “It will be just as easy to meet you at your home.” So I had a chance to see her apartments at the Rex Arms after all. She has them exquisitely done in rich shades of blue and soft shades of yellow with here and there a touch of deep gold. And I would never have known her. I expected to find her shorter than she appears on the screen; that is a rule one can almost always count on, but still I thought she would be a tall woman, so perfect is her ability to “build herself up” for the screen. In reality, she is just five feet one and a half inches high. An amusing story is told of a prominent producer who was anxious to engage Miss Alden for a part. He made an appointment for her at his office at a certain hour. On arriving there she was asked to wait for a few moments. He came out of his office accompanied by the caller who had caused the delay, glanced around the room, looking directly at Miss Alden, and then said to his stenographer: “When Mary Alden comes, send her right in ; you know, she’s that tall girl who appears in the Griffith pictures.” “No one ever recognizes me,” Mary Alden remarked. The story of Mary Alden’s life is as romantic as is the story of any part she has ever played. She has crammed more adventure into a few years than many a woman ever realizes is in the world. She began by being born in a city of romance, New Orleans, and kept on by going from there to a city which has been the home of romance for centuries, Vienna. She began her stage career as “atmosphere” in a London theater, but played Ophelia and Mrs. Dane before she was nineteen years old. She was a concert singer ; her voice is a rich contralto ; she once chanted in a synagogue and was a newspaper reporter on the New York Press, doing general reporting part of the time and feature and “sob” stuff the rest. She tells a story of her newspaper days which is well worth repeating here. “It was when I was doing ‘sob’ stuff,” she said. “I was sent out to interview a woman figuring in a prominent scandal. The only trouble I anticipated was in getting to her. My experience had shown me that once with people, I could make them talk all right. You can imagine my surprise when I saw this woman without difficulty, only to find her pretending that she could not speak English. This was a new one on me and, of course, I couldn’t be absolutely sure that she was shamming. I tried her on all the languages I know, French, Creole and some Hebrew, and then said the Lord’s prayer at her in Latin, This proved the last straw. 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