Motion Picture News (Jan - Mar 1914)

THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS 3i PUTTING EUROPE ON THE SCREEN Producing Films in the Land of the Ancient Not Always a Bed of Roses for the American Player, as Those Who Have Been There Can Testify AMERICAN motion picture actors who have invaded Europe to produce subjects requiring a genuinely foreign setting have not found that theirs was always a bed of roses. Many of them have brought back a fund of anecdotes, which while often amusing, are frequently of a character that may MARC McDERMOTT AND CHARLES BRABIN BEFORE THE ROMAN COLISEUM cause some qualms in the breasts of future invaders of the land of the ancient. Marc McDermott. who, with Miriam Nesbitt, Director Charles Brabin and a company of the Edison players, recently returned from a visit to the other side, tells many interesting tales about his trip. In Rome and amid the ruins of Pompeii he spent some time in work and recreation and here he frequently met Americans, who recognized him from their previous acquaintance with his screen personality. Among these was a tobacco-chewing citizen of the United States, who insisted on following McDermott and Miss Nesbitt wherever they went. They found it difficult to avoid him, as he lived at the same hotel and they were compelled to suffer his attentions in silence for some time. Once he nearly got them into trouble in St. Peter's by squirting a stream of nicotine on the floor and remarking that the great altar, where only the Pope, himself, ever conducts service, was "some altar, by gosh," an action resented by some Italians, who were near and who did not understand the purport of his remark. After that experience the players decided to change their hotel. During the trip across McDermott was violently ill from mal de mer and when he reached England he was too weak to stand. He was carried down the gangway and lifted into an open carriage where he sat waiting for Charles Brabin, the director, to look after his luggage. A young fellow after looking into the carriage started after Brabin and insisted upon helping him. When the baggage had all been taken care of Brabin offered the felow a tip, but he refused it, saying, "I didn't do it for that. I did it for Mr. MacDermott. ' I knew him the moment I saw him." In Wales the players stopped, among other places, at an inn called the "Royal Goat" and as Marc MacDermott laconically remarked, "It was." The first meal was cabbage, potatoes and lamb ; the second was varied only in that the potatoes came first; the third was lamb, cabbage and potatoes. After three days of this fare Miss Nesbitt and McDermott climbed a hill back of the inn and beheld a large field of cabbage, another of potatoes and in a third a flock of sheep. And as they realized the hopelessness of their task they turned sadly away and prepared to leave for other parts. The last straw came after they had worried desperately through another meal, when the proprietor stolidly remarked, "I beg your pardon. I don't wish to be rude. But do you always eat so much?" Then they did leave. Another amusing incident occurred in London which, while quite nattering to McDermott, was at the same time a trifle disconcerting. The players were very anxious to finish up a film before leaving London, a scene which called for an old English garden. One of the big British film concerns had already extended the company many courtesies and it was now suggested that they use a garden to which this firm had exclusive access. Although they disliked to do so, time was very short and it seemed the only solution of their difficulty. So in they went and started to work. Soon the proprietor came out and asked what company they represented. A representative of the English firm spoke up, naming his own concern. The owner looked at McDermott, laughed, and said, "Oh no, you can't fool me. I know his face too well. However, I shall be glad to have the Edison players make use of my garden." AMERICAN TWO-REEL Players of the American Film Manufacturing Company under direction of Lorimer Johnston have finished a tworeel subject under the title "The Coming of the Padres," reproducing the founding of the Santa Barbara Mission by Padre Junipero Serre. The principal role will be played by Sydney Ayres. The production will not be an exclusively religious one, but will introduce much interest of early California life. POMPEII AND VESUVIUS ARE ONLY HIS "PROPS'