Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1920)

82 The Filming of "Way Down East" after time, to give everything its proper relative value and emphasis in perfecting the effect, the feeling, which Griffith had in mind, and toward which he was patiently striving. He was like a composer who, having written a piece of music, was going over the score, indicating the accents, the tempo, the mood of expression. "I want this scene to he played smoothly — smoothly — smoothly," he said to Barthelmess and Miss Gish, as they were working over a tiny bit of action. And I felt that I was beginning to understand, better than I ever had before, how, through his shadow pictures, he is able so skillfully to play upon the emotions, the feelings, of an audience. Luncheon followed the rehearsal. It was a leisurely sort of "family affair," quite in keeping with the general atmosphere of the studio. I should like to visit the Griffith studio often, just to join the company at luncheon. I sat" at a small table with Mr. Griffith's personal aid and listened to a recital of incidents and figures concerning the filming of "Way Down East," which would be almost unbelievable were they not backed up by the knowledge of Griffith's former undertakings. "This picture," said my host, "is Mr. Griffith's first personal production for the United Artists, and, of course, we hope to see it mark another step in the development of motion pictures, as so many of Mr. Griffith's pictures have done in the past — though, of course, the proof of the puddding is in the eating," he added hastily, as he laid down his fork, and solemnly knocked on the underside of the table. "But if effort counts for anything " He paused for a moment. "No one not intimately connected with this production can really appreciate the effort that is being expended on it ; yet, perhaps I can give you a tabloid impression of the mere hugeness of the undertaking. "Already more time has elapsed since we began in January than was spent on any Griffith production since 'Hearts of the World,' and even more time than on that one if you eliminate the months spent on the Continued from pa»e 30 battlefields of France. Yet the picture is by no means near completion. It will not be finished before midsummer." lie paused, while I gulped that impressive statement down with a swallow of coffee. "Our vouchers show," he went on, "that scouts traveled six thousand miles in the mere preliminary work of obtaining photographs of New England life. Pictures of every sort were taken, including photographs of about four hundred New England homes. "Eve no idea of how many scenes will appear in the completed production, but for the interior scenes alone forty-four different sets will be used. There were three, you may recall, in the stage version. "Up to date two hundred and ten reels of film have been exposed, and the greatest number of times that any one scene has been taken is only thirty-one." He said this as though it were a mere commonplace to photograph one scene thirty-one times. "But none of the really important close-ups have been taken yet," he added. "Those always require much more patient effort in order to get a perfect result." "And the cost?" I inquired feebly. "Oh, six hundred and fifty thousand dollars, according to the present budget," he replied, as though that were the least important item. Luncheon finished, we returned to the studio. But the alterations on the dining-room set were not nearly completed, so, after watching Dorothy Gish work in another part of the studio for a while, I came back and chatted with Lillian, who is as etherial and appealing in person as she is in shadow. "I hope," she said, "that the snow scenes will be worth the suffering they cost us. I don't think I ever experienced anything as severe as what we went through. Some days it was so cold that the cameras froze, and we had to stop work. We were out in blizzards for hours until, some nights, it was hours and hours before I felt really warm, though I was home early in the evening." She was interrupted by another call for the company to assemble. The workmen had finished the alterations. But the call did not include the camera men. The scenes which had been worked over so painstakingly in the rehearsal room now were to be rehearsed again — a dress rehearsal, as it were. And, as a bus was just leaving for the station, I thought it best to start back for New York. I shall be interested in seeing "Way Down East," interested in seeing what the reviewers say about it, and even more interested in seeing whether or not it will take its place as another of the Griffith milestones along the march of progress of the motion picture. For in predicting that it will be a monumental work, I do not mean to prophesy that it will ma'rk a distinct step in picture making as did "The Birth of a Nation" and "Broken Blossoms." That remains to be seen. But it must be obvious to any one who has read this account, that as an example of the present phase of frenzied scrambling and high bidding for popular plays and novels, to be turned into lavishly produced and sensationally exploited pictures, this production of "Way Down East" must tower above most, if not all similar endeavors, at least as a huge undertaking. A strange undertaking, in a way, too ; strange that such an attempt should be made to make a monumental thing out of this simple, homely play ; it seems almost as incongruous as though some one were to try to develop "The Old Oaken Bucket" into a grand opera. But there is something splendidly audacious about these big undertakings of Griffith, about every one of them. He is a very canny combination of showman and artist combined. He knows pretty well what type of thing will catch and hold the public interest at any given time, and I have a shrewd idea that he had his hand on the pulse of the moviegoing public when he chose this vehicle for the first of his new series, and decided to "go the limit" on it. So, without having seen a foot of the finished film, I shall venture one more prophecy — that "Way Down East" in its revival on the screen will repeat the wonderful record which it made on the stage, two decades ago.