Camera (May 1922-April 1923)

CAMERA! Weekly Wake-'Em-Up— CAMERA !'S News Section Page Eleven THE RESULT OF LIVING NEXT DOOR TO A GENIUS HAMPTON RETURNS TO MAKE "THE SPOILERS" Jesse D. Hampton has announced his plans for the production of a series of Rex Beach stories. He has acquired the rights to all of the author's works and will picturize them on a vast scale. The first one to go into production is "The Spoilers," Beach's classic novel of the Klondike gold rush. It was learned that $130,000 was paid for the motion picture rights to "The Spoilers." This is the highest figure ever paid for any story with the exception of "Ben-Hur," "Way Down East" and "Turn to the Right." Lambert Hillyer, who directed all of William S. Hart's recent pictures, is holding the megaphone on "The Spoilers." He is especially fitted by training and nature for the handling of virile, outdoor drama. Among the pictures which he made with Hart are "Square Deal Sanderson," "Sand," "The Toll Gate," "The Testing Block," "The Cradle of Courage," "Travellin' On," and "White Oak." The scenario was written by Fred Myton, Elliott Clawson and Hope Loring. June Mathis, editorial director of the Goldwyn Studios, is consulting in the final preparations. Mr. Hampton has spent four months in preparation for the production. Twelve players of stellar prominence will be in the picture. Virginia Brown Faire was among the first players to be engaged. Rex Beach will personally assist in the picturization of his story. DOROTHY MANNERS WINS PROMOTION TO "LEAD" As a reward for striving diligently for eighteen months during which time she has given as much care to portrayals of "bits" and small parts as any star would give to big stellar roles, Dorothy Manners, proclaimed by many within the industry as "the most beautiful brunette on the screen," has been promoted to a position of leading lady in her own right by Charles A. Bird, general manager of the William Fox studio after she had made unusually favorable impressions in enacting important parts in two consecutive Shirley Mason pictures. Consequently, when Charles ("Buck") Jones starts his new seven-reel feature production next week, he will have Miss Manners as his new leading lady. The working title of this picture is "Snowdrift" and it will be filmed under the direction of Scott Dunlap. Miss Manners will play the part of an Indian girl, whose beauty intrigues the hero and causes complications which go to make up the plot of the story. Back in the days when both were several years younger than they are now, Thomas H. Ince and William Fairbanks were next-door neighbors in St. Louis. By the time Mr. Ince had decided what his life work should be, Mr. Fairbanks had gotten deeper into a quandary as to what occupation he would pur [ sue. When the latter was ap [ prised of the decision of the I former to embark upon a career | in the show business, he was skeptical of the outcome and therefore he evinced no inclination to emulate him. A couple years later, Mr. Fairbanks was still puzzling over where to start carving his niche in the hall of fame. At about this same time he was beginning to hear reports of the success being scored by his former neighbor, Mr. Ince, then working assiduously in motion pictures in New York. Within another year Mr. Fairbanks was forced to recognize what numerous critics had discovered, namely: that Mr. Inco displayed signs of being a real genius in the cinema field. Soon afterwards, the name of Ince became a household word and its owner became one of America's foremost producers. Then and only then did the full realization of having lived next door to a true genius dawn on Mr. Fairbanks with sufficient force to act as a potential factor in his own personal destiny. In due time he wrote his old friend a let+er. The upshot of this was, another recruit joined the growing army of pnotoplayers in the Southern California field, and, under the banner of Thomas H. Ince, this same William Fairbanks made his debut on the screen in the year of 1911. The big point is, if Mr. Fair THIS HARMLESS LITTLE STORY When Gloria Hope was enacting the character of Teola Graves in Mary Pickford's new "Tess of the Storm Country," she was duly interviewed by the inquisitive company press agent, and, among other things, she told him that prior to her leaving her home in Newark, New Jer.sey, to pay a visit to Los Angeles she had entertained some thought of preparing to become a school teacher, but that she never had gotten beyond the stage of merely thinking about it. In all good faith the press agent wrote a brief paragraph to this effect. Now since the release of this picture, various theatre press agents and photoplay editors have rearranged the story and added to it until at last they hav printed special feature stories relative to her having taught school apparently for "y'ars and y'ars" before she ever <ireamed of becoming a motion picture actress, and, just the other day came the climax to the whole queer hoax when a William Fairbanks banks had not known of the start of Mr. Ince so well — and had not lived next door to this genius of a new line of endeavor— he would have become most anything else excepting a motion picture actor. In fact, he had all but launched himself in the mercantile line when he gained the inspiration to ask his old friend for a chance to get in on the ground floor of the film business. Now William Fairbanks is one of the leading interpreters of stellar western characters of the screen. One of his most notable triumphs was scored in "The Sheriff of Sun Dog" and he has just finished "The Law Rustlers." On March 1st, he will start filming his sixth version of a W. C. Tuttle Adventure Magazine story at the Ben Wilson Studios. And, it's all because he once lived next door to Thomas H. Ince. GREW INTO A BIG FALSEHOOD certain metropolitan paper gave prominence to a narrative in which it was .?tated positively that not only had Miss Hope been successful as a high school teacher, but that she had bright prospects of being promoted to a chair in the faculty of a prominent eastern university. As a matter of fact. Miss Hope was less than fifteen years of age when she migrated from Jersey .to California and she never had taught school. She would not have had time to prepare herself for this work because she was only around her sixteenth year when slie made her debut on the screen and she has been following tliis pursuit ever since. She has been in pictures about six years, which makes it perfectly plain that she is as yet exceedingly young — much younger now than the average school ma'am when she starts her pedagogic work. Thus do big trees continue to grow out of tiny acorns, but trees grow "ut of some reason while falsehoods just grow without rhyme or reason. FINDS PURSE AND GETS JOB IN ONE DAY Luck does run in groups! Actor Jack Carlyle is more convinced of this than ever since his latest experience with the whimsical fates. After bumping into most every kind of a setback that can beset a "betweenpictures era," Mr. Carlyle started on a leisurely stroll toward the Roberston-Cole studios one day early this week. After walking something like three blocks he picked up a purse containing a hundred dollars in currency. This did not cheer him up so much because he felt sure he would find the loser — his Scotch conscience forbade his keeping the money without making an effort to return it to whoever had been unfortunate enough to lose it. However, he continued his journey to the Robertson-Cole studios and had not been on the "lot" ten minutes when he collided head-on with an engagement, and, a good one, too. He was the very man they were looking for to play the character "lead" in "Daytime Wives," and he was given a contract at a most attractive salary. Satisfied with the day as a great one, Mr. Carlyle returned to his Hollywood apartment to proceed to find the owner of the hundred dollars he had found. A.s luck would have it, he found the man within a couple hours, and, as good luck would have it, the said man proved to be a close friend, and, as a reward, he insisted upon the honest finder retaining half of the hundred as a rewai'd. "It only goes to prove that it is never time to get discouraged, because you never know when the 'breaks' are going to start in your favor," Mr. Carlyle observes. "Daytime Wives" will be directed by Emile Chautard and will be the second R-C picture in which Mr. Carlyle has been cast tor an important role, the other one being "Wreckage," Robert Thornby's production soon to be released. And There Was Light R. Hosletter, secretary of the Electrical Illuminating Engineers Society, put on the lighting effects for the banquet and entertainment given by the American Historical Revue and Exposition for the Hollywood Business Men's Club last Tuesday. Harry D. Brown of the Exposition committee was master of ceremonies. Speeches were given by Dr. E. C. Moore, president of the University of California, Southern Branch, and Dr. Von Kleinsmid of Southern California. The program ended with several musical and dramatic numbers.