Pictures and the Picturegoer (October 1915 - March 1916)

PICTURES AND THE PICTUREGOER 66 Picture News and notes A RE you hunting the stars hidden in those puzzle pictures i * # # * Life seems just one moving picture after another. • • • Moving "pictures"-. Taking our goods, chattels, and ourselves from Adam Street to Long Acre. * # # # The horrcrs of war can't be any worse than the acting in some of the war pictures. S'awful! says the Review. * # # # Fashion Note: When entering the cinema theatre leave your new winter hat on as long as possible so that those behind can admire the same. * # # # A fat man, " much fatter than Fatty or Bunny."' recently advertised for a post as cinema-actor. Given a "fat" part he should be an all-round bouncing success. He says he is really active. * * * # How would you like to lie on a cake of ice for twenty minutes? Otis Harlan had to do so during the filming of a scene in a Red Seal Play at the Chicago Studio. And being a "" Selig," the scene can't be a frost, ice or no ice. * # # * " Chang," the almost human onrangoutang of the Selig Company is dead. He drank a pint of paint and never recovered, and scenarios written round him and not yet filmed will l>e wasted'. But you will see him in The Oiirtuuj Otitariff, a coming release. * * * # The German who escaped from Alexandra Palace to a neutral country is said to have told a newspaper reporter tin: n> that, although he spent the afterno. m in Loud in in several cinematheatres, not one single picture showed any feeling of hate against Germany. * # # # " Her Triumph." GABY DESLYS who made her first appearance before the camera for the Famous Players in the abovenamed production, has been on tour in the pro\ inces with her dancing partner, Harry Pilcer. By the way. Gaby lost her dog "a little dog like a r'r'rat " and offered 620 reward. Later: The little doo like a " r'rat " was found, and ( oiliy smiles again. Lost and Found a B.iby I TH E articles h'l't behind in the seats ef picture-theatres by alisentmiuded picturegoers an' numerous and varied. Hut a Liverpool theatre probably achieved a record in this reS; pect, when at the conclusion of a performance the attendants discovered that some careless person had mislaid a baby! The mot her had been, so carried away by the pictures that she had forgotten to carry away her offspring. She did not realise her loss until the second house was nearly full. Film Producing in Wartime. Dl RING the filming in a Paris suburb of the guillotine scene in ./<n,t Dart, iii which Mme; Sarah Bernhardt acted for the first time since her leg was amputated, the buz/, of an aeroplane was heard. Soldiers, police, executioner's assistants, and even the condemned man all looked skywards and saw a German Taube speeding away before a pursuing French biplane. Tl:e actors followed the pursuit with breathless interest until both machines were cut of sight. The stage-manager then found that the light had changed, and it was necessary to oostpone the conclusion of the filming till the next day. Jean DprS is now completed. It is a Broadway Trans-Atlantic Feature. To Blow or Not to Blow. TALKING of Sarah Bernhardt, the great actress was narrating reminiscences of the stage to friends. 'Mash notes,' yon call them, n'e*t ce pas ?" she said, laughing. " Well, I re Matswoer: "That's too loud." IMwisr: "But it's marked Forte.'' Maxahei; : " Then make it thirty-live.'" ceived a very funny mash-note once in a small town of your Far West. "You are adorable.' my mash-note ran. ' and I'd have preferred to send you orchids; but in this one-horse town I am reduced to molasses candy, of which I am forwarding a two-pound bag. Will you take supper with me to-night ? If yon consent, blow your nose on the stage, and 1 will understand.'" Mme. Bernhardt laughed again. "And the worst of it was." she said. " 1 had a had cold at the time, and was afraid to blow my nose all the evening." Fantomas Alakes Thrilling; Fiction. SOME time ago the Ganmont Company released a series of Fantoma.i film-dramas, with the result that millions of picturegoers enjoyed the Wf.t.k ENDING Oct. 23, 1915 screen exploits of that amazing French criminal in fiction. And now one can read about them in l>ook-forni. Stanley Paul and Go. have jnst published at six shillings an English version of 1 . the novel bv Pierre Sonyestre and Marcel Allain, which a huge success in France, and candidly we_ have never rea< 1 1 er gripping-power. Every one of the thirty-two chapti _• nis of 1 struction and ingenuity, and each lea the reader so wrapt in mystery that litis forced to read on to the very end. Moreover, the work throughout sesses the charm of refinement s, , rarely present in stories of crime. We heartily recommend you to read Faniom Prison Tortures in Pictures. LORD LYTTOXS novel, /." Aram, which deals with the bardships and cruelties of English prison life in the nineteenth century, is an ideal story for screen adaptation and. no better company than the Ed is could have chosen it for that purpose. They have succeeded in this product in catching the atmosphere of the period with admirable skill. Marc McDermott as an Englishman is intimately acquainted with the phase* of life depicted in the novel, and makes the character of Eugene Aram stand out as a gem of brilliant acting. He recently regaled on interviewer with tales of cruelties practised in the old prisons of this country. One room, known as the " pi-ess " ro mi. consisted of a torture-chamber where the prisoner was strapped to the floor by iron bands, hand and foot. and a heavy weight slowly lowered on the prostrate victim, with the intent of making him confess. This weight would press more and more on the chest till often blood sprang from the nose and mouth, while the more rUgged would endure this weight crushing them almost for two h A Grand Old Mart. EliiHTY-FIYE years old and an active and accomplished photoplayer! Such is James Wright — affectionately known as "Jimmy" who. like so many of the Essanay players, is an Englishman. He was born in Birmingham, and at the age of fourteen emigrated to the United St a where for years he led a chequered and varied career. He drifted on to the stage, and after many years the Essanay Company prevailed on him to join them as an experiment. In a short time the unique histrionic talent of the old man made itself apparent, and he was soon acclaimed a successful film player. Mr. Wright, is an advocate of the simple life. He .Iocs not, however, carry his ideas to the point of fanaticism. Hisf/ od i of the simple, yet substantial. kind, and in a recent interview the old man stated that six or seven hours' sleep was ample for his mental reinvigoration. His recreation, too, is of the most simple order, consisting of long, solitary walks. No other form of entertainment appeals to " .Jimmy " Wright, except, of course, his profession, which he follows vv ith an ardent interest.