The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

Alay 9, 1914 THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW II Los Angeles Notes of Interest in the Realm of Photoplay By RICHARD WILLIS Unless negotiations fall through, the Edwin August Feature Film Co. will be in possession of several acres of very desirable land near Pasa- dena in a few days, in which case a model studio will be erected on the site. Edwin August is at this time producing The Hoosier Schoolmas- ter, in which are scenes taken in and around the Sells Circus, which he has the exclusive right to film. The play is in three reels and August is featured and supported by an espe- cially strong cast. * * * Fred Mace is off for New York on a hurry trip and a business one. Fie received his usual cordial and sincere send-oft' at the Wednesday night Photoplayers" Club dinner, at which Dick Willis was the toastmaster. Fred hates to j leave the West and the club, which is the product of his brain anyhow, but he says he will soon be back. I Jn the meantime work will proceed I as usual at the Boyle Heights stu- dios. * * * Billy Garwood is in his t icment; he loves his work and Sid- ney Ayres, his director, is of the same mind, and the result is a se- ries of good pictures already. Gar- wood was interviewed the other day and he says he would rather be hung; it's like getting the third de- '-^ree he says. Modest Billy. * * * ' irace Cunard says that being fea- lured in a series such as Lucille Love is not a bed of roses, physical- I}' or financially. She has been de- luged by requests of photographs and still pictures by newspapers and xhibitors all over the country. They >vant them for added lobby display and for exhibitors' advertisements in the papers. Grace says she will have to patronize the cafeterias until Lu- cille Love is finished. * * * Alkali- I'niversal Ike Ed. Carney has left the Universal for good, it is said, lait it is good to learn that the popu- lar little actress, Louise Glaum, will continue under the direction of 1 larry Edwards, who has turned out ■>o many excellent comedies. In the absence of any fixed "star," Miss < ilaum will be seen to much better advantage, for which everyone will 1)C glad. * * * It is astonishing how much time Carlyle Blackwell spends igning letters and photographs I very day when he has finished work; he has a pile of them to pen his signature to. There was a time .vhen he personally wrote all his i\vn letters, but that has long since rone by; he has his work cut out to dictate them now, for he has i)lenty else to do. A few items after a liasty perusal of some of Carlyle idackwcll's recent letters: "Are ou married? Oh! say you are not." 1 could love you without half try- ing." "Are you engaged and what is she like?" "I am twelve years old, will you wait for me to grow up and'marry me?" "I'll bet y(ju an get mad with those sna{)py black yes of yours." * * * Holjart Bos- Aorth is producing three Jack Lon- i\im films at one time. This was made necessary to get the snow cenes for each whilst at Truckee. Myrtle Stedman, for .so long with Scligs, is an ideal Joy in Smoke Bel- lew, which she plays opposite Jack Conway. She is also the Dede in Burning Daylight and the girl in The Odyssy of the North. She is essentially a girl of the "open," and is an ideal exponent of London hero- ines, as is exemplified in her part of Saxon in The Valley of the Moon. * * * In A Woman's Wit, being- produced by Charles Giblin at the Universal, Edna Maison dons an Eastern riding habit for the first time. She has been addressed as "Hello, my little man," around the studio, and she says that riding in trousers is a real treat. Edna has a cajMtal acting part in this photoplay. :|: * PauHnc Busli and the other members of Allan Dwan's Universal Co. are wearing sackcloth and ashes this week, for Allan has gone to join the Famous Players in the East and his old actors and actresses are genuinely attached to him. Miss Bush will continue with the big "U," but will take a needed holiday be- fore resuming work. She has been steadily at it for a long time now. * * * Francis Ford, of the "Gold Seal" brand, possesses a picture of M. Melies attired as an old monk, a part he acted in the famous Alamo photoplay. Mr. Ford made him up and received the photo as a memen- to. On the back of it is written "A token of friendship to Frank Ford, the clever impersonator of Sam Houston and Navarro, assistant di- rector and stage manager, who by his acting and settings, highly artis- tic, contriI)uted to the success of the Alamo picture. Gaston Melies. March, 1911." Francis Ford prizes this picture very highly. * * * Two l)ig Western features produced by Milton H. Fahrney for the Albu- querque Company have been run off and are big tributes both to the di- rector and the writer of them, clever Alexandra Phillips Fahrney. The Daughter of the Tribe and The Toll of the Warpath are both features worthy of the name, and are up to the Fahrney standard in every way. Wilfred Lucas has accepted the inevitable. He is going around with his arm bound up. Some time ago he evidently broke a bone in his shoulder and was too busy to rest up. He suft'ered tortures and has at last done the sensible thing. He is one of those open-air, hardy fellows who fight laying off'. It will take some time to knit and in the mean- time he is directing Cleo Madison and company with one free arm and somewhat compressed lips. * * * J. P. McCiowan of the Kaleni Company this week invaded Marshall Nielan's (|uarters at East Hollywood to take some special scenes. Nielan took his company out for the day on shore lo- cations, as he says he knows Mc- Gowan's reputation for stirring situ- ations and thought he had better re- move his people a safe distance. Helen Holmes, McCiowan's leading woman, says she likes the many ad- ventures she has to go through, and she thrives on all the excitement. * * Burton King of the Usona is putting on a second company, which will be directed by Ed. 13rady, who, by the way, has been out of pictures for two weeks owing to a poisoned neck. Mr. King has just completed a beautiful production, entitled The Man Who Might Have Been. * * * It is hard to know whether to call Bess Meredyth an actress or photo- playwright these days. She is giv- ing a bright performance in The Magnets, with Jack Dillon opposite, and has two big feature stories be- ing produced by other Universal companies. She is good at both, which is good for her pocketbook. Adele Lane of Seligs is making a brief holiday and is visiting friends at the seashore. She has worked very hard for years now and the lay- off comes gratefully. She is filling in her time learning how to swim and says the waves look like moun- tains to her and that the water tastes awfully salt. The New Candle Theatre is the name that has been given the impos- ing and beautiful new playhouse at 226 West 42nd Street, close to Broadway, New York City, and its doors were thrown open to the public May 3rd. The formal opening was preceded by a "Press Night," when representatives of the various news- papers of the metropolis, dis- tinguished figures in public life and persons eminent in the realm of mo- tion photography were guests of the management. George Kleine, who is one of the lessees and owners of this latest addition to the myriad New York theatres, has made arrangement for the presentation of his master- pieces in animated photogravure at the new Candler Theatre during the summer and early fall. Pantomim- ists will be then displaced by actors of the speaking stage. Antony and Cleopatra, a photo drama delineating on the screen the world's most fa- mous love story, which rivals in spec- tacular grandeur, dramatic power, human interest and photographic beauty its marvelous predecessors, Quo Vadis, The Last Days of Pom- peii, For Napoleon and France and Between Savage and Tiger, has been selected as the attraction that will vie with the beautiful interior of the the- atre in offering a delectable treat to photo drama devotees. This new theatre is perfectly and magnificently appointed, both as to stage and audi- torium comforts. It is unique for the reason that its audiences will be accommodated on a lower floor and balcony only, the usual gallery having been eliminated. Associated with Mr. Kleine in the ownership of the new Candler Theatre are Sam H. Harris, of Cohan & Harris, and Sol Bloom. They have expended $750,- 000. in the building, this amount in- cluding the purchase of the ground site, which was formerly occupied by a public library. The new playhouse lias a seating capacity of 1200, the auditorium being 85 feet in width, with a depth of 100 feet, the lower floor containing 625 .seats, roomy and comfortable. The balcony, seating 575, is of cantilever type, thus elim- inating the annoyance of pillar ob- struction on the main floor. Tlic stage is one of the most perfectly a])- pointed in America, having a tlepth of 33 feet, with a width of 88 feet, the ily floors being equipped with the counterweight system for the expe- ditious handling of the largest scenic productions. The proscenium open- ing is 21x40 feet. A $40,000 pipe organ is another expenditure noted in the equipment of this perfect play- house. It will furnish but part of the instrumental music, as an orches- tra of soloists under the direction of an eminent director will be engaged to give completeness to the effect. CANNES, April 29.—A decided touch of realism was given a re- hearsal of a cinematograph scene here today, as the result of wdiich five operators received serious in- juries. The scene was intended to depict the blowing up of a motor- boat. A quantity of ga.soline and powder became ignited and the five men were hurled into the air. They sank below the surface of the water, but were rescued. Chico Up Against Censors CHICO, May 5.—The W. C. T. U. board of censorship for Chico's mov- ing picture and vaudeville theatres probably will be appointed soon. It is now up to each local branch of the county W. C. T. U. to appoint the board, according to members of the organization. The Chico Feder- ated W. C. T. U. probably will hold a meeting in the next few days to act on the proposition. The mem- bers of the Chico organization are anxious to see a board appointed in each city in Butte County. How the board is to pass on the pictures and vaudeville has not been said. It is expected that each day the members will visit the show houses before the regular performances and if they are satisafctory, will go away, but if not, will stand in front of the theatres with signs reading that the pictures have been condemned. Hilliard s Hopes "After falling downstairs and por- traying the agonies of delirium trem- ens for something over a thousand times in the Kiplingesque drama," says Robert Hilliard, "it is rather a relief to personate a level-headed, clear-brained .Xmerican in The Ar- gyle Case, who is not given to emo- tional or physical excesses. But do not imagine for the moment that De- tective Asche Kayton is an easy part. He is not removed from the field of dramatic action for more than ten consecutive minutes during the en- tire play. The part is longer than Hamlet, even if it does not permit of .so much hair splitting in the matter of readings. I fall into the mood of Kayton from the moment I enter the darkened chamber where old John Argyle's body was found, and 1 ex- ])erience for the next two hours and a half all the tense mental strain that is im])osed by an actual battle of wits between an investigator and his sus- pects. The part recjuires closer con- centration than any other I have as- sumed. Tile play of actual conditions is the ])lay of the hour, but before I retire 1 want to be able to create a great character as vital and vivid as the Sir (Jiles Overreach of E. L. I )avenport, the Ivan of Mansfield, or the Louis XI of William E. Sheri- dan—well beloved by San Francisco playgocr.s—which was greater than Irving's. I guess I'm the one actor in the world who doesn't want to play Shylock."