The blue book of the screen (1923)

REALISM Around the corner in an alley (as told in the story) there existed the junk yard and hovel of the old Jewish junk dealer. Perhaps the house they located was not the one Norris knew, but it might well have been in its faithful adherence to the author's description. The entire building at the corner of Laguna and Hayes street was leased. Permission was secured to make minor changes in the other structures of the neighborhood. Then his staff started on the herculean task of making over the interior of the building to fit the demands of the story. They remodeled rooms; they changed store fronts; they built of second-hand lumber the tumble-down shanty of the junk dealer, and collected a tremendous amount of real junk to stock the yard with. At every point Norris' descriptions were the rules by which they worked. Meanwhile another staff unit inspected the Big Dipper mine as it stands today almost unchanged by time, and arranged for permission to film the necessary scenes there. Still another scouting party visited Keeler, the little mountain town to which "McTeague" flees before he turns into Death Valley and his tragic end. When the artists and artisans had finished, Mr. von Stroheim had at his disposal the complete background for his story. The living quarters of every character in the story really existed, ready for occupancy and capable of being lived in. The lunchroom, the bird store and the corner saloon of Norris' tale were already in operation and required little alteration to fit them for their picture uses. The theatre of the story was used m '/ Weird and unreal, this location was chosen for the buried treasure graveyard— the dream of a crazed mind. 352