Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1927)

January 1, 1927 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 33. Casting Men Name Cohill As President Casting directors in Hollywood, Culver City and Burbank have formed what is tentatively entitled The Casting Directors Association. Members of this important department of studio activities at a recent meeting elected for the time being the following officers : William Cohill, Universal, president ; Fred Schuessler, Warner Brothers, vice-president; Jack Votion, F. B. O., secretary, and Patricia Foulds, Metropolitan, treasurer. Nearly every studio in the industry was represented at the first meeting and those present included Bill Mayberry, Columbia; Fred Schuessler, Warner Brothers; William Cohill, Universal; Jack Votion, F. B. O. ; Nora Ely, Harold Lloyd Productions ; Patricia Foulds, Metropolitan ; Mollie Thompson, Hal Roach and Bobby Webb, Associated, and Von Stroheim productions. Chaplin to Resume Work in January After what has amounted to practically a cessation of all activities during the past six weeks, Charlie Chaplin Studios are again taking on the semblance of activities. Although it has not been officially announced to the trade, Moving Picture World learns that Chaplin is planning to reopen his studios at full blast earily in January. It was stated at the time that Chaplin has about six weeks more of actual shooting to do before “The Circus” which has been in production for some time will be completed. “Glorifying Girls” “Glorifying the American Girl,” according to late advices, will go into production on the Paramount lot here on February 1, under the direction of H. D'abbadie D’arrast who has just returned to Hollywood from Europe where it was said he “shot” several of the scenes in “Wings” in Paris. Fay Wray has been selected to play the title role in D’arrast’s latest production. Stone Tells How to Write For Pictures John. Stone, one of William Fox’s leading scenarists who wrote the screen version of “The Auctioneer,” observes that writers aspiring for recognition in filmdom must use the simplest of vocabularies if they expect their manuscripts to be even read by the average scenario editor. “The majority of well-known authors,” declares Stone, “feel that motion pictures are not an art, that the only interest an author should have in it is the treasurer’s check. So long as this feeling exists the future of the industry depends upon the younger generation who are inspirted to write for the screen. However, they must give more thought to the technique of writing because the latter is not merely a . conglomeration of meaningless words and phrases.” Stone has just been elected by Studio Chief Sol Wurtzel to write the screen version of Gerald Beaumont’s “The Outlaw of Rer River,” which will be a Tom Mix starring vehicle. June Mathis Now Writing for M-G-M Yuletide finds Miss June Mathis in her first vehicle as a free lance writer since resigning from First National. This is “The Enemy” from Channing Pollock’s stage play, for which Miss Mathis is doing a continuity and adaptation for Metro-Goldwyti-Mayer. During this season Miss Mathis’ husband. Director Ealboni observes that while motion pictures of Europe are inferior in camera technique compared with American pictures, yet they are superior in creative work. United Artists Active The United Artists Studio, formerly the Pickford-Fairbanks lot, is active these days. New stages, power units, shops, wardrobes and dressing rooms are rapidly nearing completion and in the midst of this work the new productions are getting under way. The Duncan Sisters are to make “Topsy and Eva,” for which John W. Considine, Jr., has engaged Lois Weber, the famous woman director. George Lewis doesn’t care for Dorothy Gulliver’s music in Universal’s “Collegian” series. Mary Pickford Searches For New Screen Scripts (Continued from page 29) Fate into a Prince Charming romance. After several days and a few weeks of such search, it was finally whispered that Miss Pickford had found what she considered a possible theme for her next production. This story, as partly described to us just before press time, had Miss Pickford as a little girl associated with a gang of scoundrels — the kind of a little girl who stole things. The “stealing” angle was the inevitable bone of contention with this story, we are informed. While the screen story could have been portrayed in such a way as to have the little girl steal things of no material value, but appropriate them merely because of their intrinsic worth — such as bright buttons and highly colored bits of calico — yet the angle of American girlhood and Miss Pickford’s pedestal on the screen in that respect constantly injected itself in the conferences on this particular story, we are told. Finally it was decided behind closed doors that the subject of making a production at this time would be temporarily shelved. In the meantime the story with the little girl who stole little odds and ends just because they appealed to her childish taste, and other stories will have a chance for re-reading. Incidentally writers who got a late tip on the Pickford desire, will have a chance to heat up their keys. Doug Fairbanks has his hands filled with what is said to be the most enormous theme he has ever even considered. Casting Directors Now Are United