Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1916)

The Lasky Studio 29 Geraldine Farrar and "Mesha," her pet goat, enjoying a sun bath between scenes. And that led to "They had to rub common dirt over the walls in places to look as if the Arabs of the desert had leaned against them for some hundreds of years another story : Some black rats were needed for a scene to be taken the next day. "They cannot be found," said the harassed property man. "We don't know that word 'can't' around here. Have those rats on hand by.' ten to-morrow morning," said the director. "Say, get at that scene quick if you want these rats in it," yelled the property man — at ten the next morning. "They are licking themselves white again." He had gone to an animal store in Los Angeles and bought all the white rats in the place and painted them with lampblack. During that trip about the yard of many wonders, I learned that the Lasky Company releases practically three five eatures a month. Some of the biggest scenes ever put on b y them have been the Plaza d e Toros, in "Carrae n," of Representatives for scene in "The Woman," street scenes in "The the House Washington New York Cheat." They figure their productions cost on the average about twenty-five thousand dollars, exclusive of the star's salary. The costliest scene ever taken to date was the blowing up of a dam holding back an immense volume of water, and the flooding of a town at its base. Several months were required to prepare this scene, and at a cost of more than fifteen thousand dollars. It was used in the Yaleska-Suratt production of "The Immigrant." The breaking of the dam and the outpouring waters ran about twenty feet of film, or twenty seconds of actual time. The inundated city was probably seen for ten seconds. The Lasky Company is considered to have one of the best-equipped and