Camera - April 14, 1923 to February 16, 1924 (April 1923-February 1924)

ESTABLISHED 1918 — A FILM MAGAZINE AND A FILM NEWSPAPER IN ONE Entered as second class matter, August 11, 1918, at the postofflce at Los Angeles, Cal., under act of March 3, 1879. 3. W. (DOC) LAWSON Publisher and Manager DELBERT E. DAVENPORT_ _ _ _ Editor JOHN CORNYN _ —Advertising Manager FRED W. FOX _ Advertising Copy GENE WOOLWAY Studio Representative Marbridge Building NEW YORK CITY H. H. CONGER C O M P A N Y: National Advertising Representatives First Nat'l Bank Building CHICAGO Holbrook Building SAN FRANCISCO Price 10 cents per copy, $3.50 per year in Los Angeles County. Outside Zone, $4.00 per year. Canada, $4.50, Foreign, $5.00. Issued on Saturday afternoon of each week at 6318 Hollywood Boulevard, in Los Angeles, California. Phone 439-869 Address All Communications to Camera! Vol. VI. SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1923 No. 17 As Eventful Time Passes On All honor to the late President Warren G. Harding. In his passing, all mankind has lost a loyal friend and the world is deprived of a great leader. He was particularly partial to the cause of photoplay uplift and was one of the most consistent of movie fans. He had expressed happy anticipations of visiting the motion picture studios of Los Angeles and Hollywood and had indicated a desire to be of service to the industry. The Grim Reaper intervened on the very eve of his intended visit here and just as the whole nation became a heavy loser thereby, the film world became a heavy loser. Verily, as long as the annals of man are preserved, the name of Warren Harding will always shine forth in the brilliance of countless good qualities and utterly devoid of elements reprehensible. He was a great, good man. Everlasting peace is his lot, now. Forever shall his memory be cherished. The word "star" is a futile one in its application to cinema folks. Most all recognized photoplayers are called "stars" nowadays. And how much better it is to be recognized as simply an artist ! Mary Miles Minter is determined to press her suit for a million dollars against her mother, despite the latter's illness, which the famous screen star declares to be feigned, insofar as seriousness is concerned. It looks like a merry old family feud, just like the merry old Kentuckians used to stage, and it does not screen well. However, if what Mary says in an interview this week is true, she deserves her full share of sympathy, for she declares she did not fare so well as a meal-ticket, and when the meal-ticket does get the worst of it, same is more deserving of pity than censure. Meanwhile, if the mother is critically ill and there is no pretending, there's justification for some sympathizing in the other direction. By all means, and above all, it is to be hoped a basis of compromise can be found and that a happy family reunion will result with the cleverly charming Mary replenished with incentive to return to the screen she has graced so successfully. The cloud of tragedy descended upon and enveloped several film folk this week, notably Gloria Swanson, who is seriously ill in New York, and Mabel Normand, now in a hospital suffering from serious injuries sustained in a fall from a horse. It is only one more proof that life in Filmland is the same as in any other sphere of human endeavor, despite all the defamers have said and written. Good luck to President Coolidge ! May he succeed in performing great services for his country. His is a trying ordeal and to him all should deal the utmost co-operation. Whenever a slight lull comes in picture production, you'll generally find Douglas Fairbanks in the role of Salvation, spending a cool million .or so and depleting the ranks of the unemployed thereby. He saved hundreds from actual poverty when he made "Robin Hood," and he is more than duplicating the good turn now in the filming of "I he Thief of Bagdad." Congratulations are always due the enterprising Doug. We sincerely hope there is some improvement in the dope situation, but we can still observe sickening evidences of the continued prosperity of many implicated in the vicious drug traffic. Hang a few higher-ups and impose life sentences on a few common dope peddlers, and there will undoubtedly be a greater degree of improvement. Severe punishment is the only one remedy, of course, but let us have that one! Fewer but more expensive pictures is in prospect for the coming fall and winter production here. Quality has superseded quantity in the mental workings of most producers and it is a promising change. They still "grind out" two-reel comedies in factory style and get away with it more or less, but they cannot make features pay on that basis any more, because the public refusal is too overwhelming. Liquor is becoming so plentiful that drunkenness is decreasing. It is natural logic that if human beings can have all they want of a thing, their craving becomes less insistent, so far as booze is concerned. In the old "wet" days there was not half as much intoxication as there is in these prohibition days. Of all the legislation most needed for the conservation of morale in America, it is a modification of the Eighteenth Amendment. Why deny so obvious a fact? Why permit boot-legging as such a Midas-like occupation, when it is so easy to obliterate the whole bane by simply legalizing light wines and beer?