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

I Weekly WakeEm-U p— CAMERA'S News Section P. A. MUST HAVE DOZED camera; "Trilby" Scores Big in New j York The hard-boiled critics of the New York dailies were apparently swept off their feet at the opening of Richard Walton Tully's latest screen drama, "Trilby," which opened at the Strand Sunday. Not only do they laud Mr. Tully to the skies for producing so thoroughly worth-while a play in such a delightful and commendable manner, but they hail Andree Lafayette as the find of the season, and call Arthur Edmund Carew's interpretation of the role of Svengali, a masterpiece. The Times says in part : "This photoplay is wonderfully good. Mr. Tully is a man who is eager to give the public sensible and wholesome pictures. It is far ahead of most productions presented on Broadway." The Tribune : "Lafayette delights us. She is fascinating, beautifully unusual and clever, and has a magnetic personality." The News: "You*lI enjoy it enough to see it again." The World : "Trilby is one of those films we wouldn't want to say we had missed." The American : "Tully is to be congratulated upon the execution of the production — an unusual i presentation." The Mail : "It is a moving picture drama at its best. The people and incidents all appear real. Lafayette is to be congratulated for her interpretation. Carew, as Svengali, was finished, artistic and sincere." WILLIAM FOX HAS NEW CASTING DIRECTOR HERE. James Ryan, for many years casting director in the New York studios of the Fox Film Corporation, has arrived in Los Angeles, i and henceforth will cast all pictures made at the William Fox West Coast Studios, Hollywood. The new casting director has a wide acquaintance among film folk and has to his credit the selection of players in such great screen successes as "Over the Hill." "If Winter Comes," "The Silent Command," and all of the big Fox "specials" shot in the East and in Europe. The new executive is thoroughly grounded in the art of picture making, having commenced his studio career as a "grip," climbing then by successive stages to assistant director, director, and finally casting director. Mr. Ryan is a civil engineer by profession, and as such commanded a company for two years in France during the great world war. Walter McGrail, who plays one of the featured roles in "The Bad Man," Edwin Carewe's First Na tional production, is known as the p:.""good bad man" of the screen "Boy! page a press-agent." Didja ever before in all of your life hear a real, honest-to-goodness, motion picture actress, who after experiencing a perfectly good robbery, failed to publish it? This is, however, what has actually happened. A number of weeks ago Miss Charlotte Du Puis left her home on North Wilton Place, Hollywood, for the Metro studios, and returning in the late afternoon, found the house in a topsy-turvy condition, dresser drawers upturned, carpets rolled back and valuables missing totaling nearly $5,000, among which were included evening dresses, silken lingerie, a diamond ring, seal coat and a Kolinsky fur cape, of which the latter alone was valued at $1,000. Officers Niece and Page of the Hollywood police station are on the trail of the robbers and report that arrests are due at any moment. Miss Du Puis, who literally rolled into fame, when in her first part with Charles Brabin, in "Six Days," at the Goldwyn studio she was called upon to dramatically hurl herself down a long flight or steps, has received a more than at "Extra" Gets a Promotion Early She played all the leading male roles at school, but — sfie couldn't wear trousers. Rosalind Byrne, who came on the set of First National's "Flaming Youth," in which Colleen Moore has the leading role, in the capacity of an "extra," made such good progress the first day of her film experience that a small part is being developed for her benefit. Eighteen years old and just out of the Immaculate Heart Convent, Rosalind shows remarkable ability as a picture actress. Director John Francis Dillon predicts that she will ultimately become one of the best known artists of the screen. Miss Byrne is a tall brunette, with dark green eyes, suggestive of the Orient. Her hair is jet black and bobbed with a Dutch cut that makes her one of the most distinguished types of the many young girls who appear in Warner Fabian's frank and daring story. "I always wanted to be an actress," says the charming youiiR woman. "In school I played all the leading male roles in our amateur theatricals — but the sisters made me wear skirts, except one time when I appeared as Pan In a pageant. If there had been a possibility of Pan wearing skirts, I suppose I would have worn them in that play." tractive offer to be featured in a new production which is to be staged in a local Hollywood studio by Eastern capital. Bennett Plans a Busy Film Year In his newly formed production organization, in which he will produce two series of big features, Chester Bennett will act as director general of the organization, and personally direct the pictures in which Jane Novak will be starred. In addition to directing the Jane Novak pictures, Bennett will supervise a series of six western productions starring Eddie Hearn. Negotiations are pending for securing one of the best known directors of westerns for Hearn, and his name will be announced within the next few days. He will work under the direct supervision of Bennett. Within a short time Chester will also begin supervising a third series of features, starring a famous light comedian, whose name for the present is being withheld. Bennett is now negotiating for a number of well known books and plays to serve as vehicles for Miss Novak and Hearn. Hawthorne's immortal "Scarlet Letter" may be Miss Novak's next starring vehicle. Mary Beth Mil ford, who plays the leading feminine role in "Fighting Blood," was formerly a member of Irving Berlin's world famous Music Box Review in New York. Miss Milford has just recently received an offer to return to the New York sta^e and play the featured role in one of the touring companies in ' Sally." Page Eleven Aileen Will Play Lady in "3 Weeks" Aileen Pringle, popular screen beauty, will play "The Lady" in "Three Weeks," the Elinor Glyn novel to be filmed by the Goldwyn studios, Abraham Lehr, vice-president of the company, announced this week. Miss Pringle, who has been appearing on the screen for less than two years, gets her first leading role in the famous love story, and will play opposite Conrad Nagel, who has been chosen for the part of Paul, the blonde English hero with whom hundreds of thousands of readers are familiar. Alan Crosland, who made "Enemies of Women" and other film successes, recently arrived from New York especially to direct the feature, and expects to begin filming the story within the next two weeks. Miss Pringle's early training and environment before joining the film colony have fitted her remarkably well for the role of the mysterious queen, Goldwyn officials believe. Miss Pringle has been declared the exact type for the role by no less an authority than Mme. Glyn herself, who is now at the Goldwyn studios to assist in the production of her novel. A member of one of the wealthiest and most aristocratic families in California, Miss Pringle received her education in exclusive private schools in San Francisco, London and Paris. She lived in Europe for several years, and lived in most of the places where the romantic adventures of Paul and The Lady occurred. She is the wife of Sir Charles Pringle, son of a former English governor of Jamaica, and one of the largest landholders in the world. Other pictures in which Miss Pringle has appeared are : "In The Palace of the King," "Souls for Sale," "The Tiger's Claw," and others. ENGLISH STAR BUYS "FOOLS FOR LUCK" Ruby Miller, the famous star of the English stage and screen, who has just completed the leading role in "Alimony," has purchased the screen rights to an original story by Theodore Spangler, "Fools For Luck." The story deals with the adventures of a young girl captive on a pirate ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Her captors, two of the most notorious pirates of their, time, are in love with her. One is young and handsome, the other is a brute with no sense of respect for the female of the species. The development of the story, during which the pirates drg for buried treasure, is one of the most dramatic of costume stories. Miss Miller will film the story upon her return to Europe, as she desires the production to be filmed in its exact location, the Spanish Main.