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

"The Digest of the Motion Picture Industry' Page Five Memories and Meditation ie other day we chanced to stroll past th Fine Arts Studio on Sunset Boulevard ar stopped for a few moments to gaze upon th scene of bustling activity attendant upon th rebuilding of this motion picture landin k. As we stood in the warm noonday su and idly observed the proceedings, memies of what used to be were wafted to us bat across the distant years. Fond reminisc ces of the many happy days spent here IW'ii this studio was in its first days ; thjghts of the many friends we had known tH. Meditation smiles laughter tears in our eyes a lumpy feeling inhir throats, ames that had been part of our daily ex id interpretation of a role of that unusual istence, names of people who have since gone farther along the trail to great achievement, of some who have trod the Eternal Path. Here it was that D. W. Griffith made his first big motion picture, here the big stars and directors of today were tutored by this master in the art of making fine cinema plays. And now, as then, he is still supreme, but three thousand miles from "home." Henry Walthall, forever famous as the "Little Colonel" Mae Marsh Miriam Cooper Robert Harron Richard Barthelmess Blanche Sweet Owen Moore Irene Hunt Wallace Reid James Kirkwood George Seig mann Josephine Crowell Spottis woode Aitken George Walsh Fay Tincher Mary 'Alden Ralph Lewis Fred Kelsey and last, but not least, Dorothy and Lillian Gish. Do you remember the phoney comedies Dorothy used to turn out here ? Things like "Boots," "I'll Get Him Yet" and those really nonsensical endeavors ? Nobody thought she'd ever be anything but a mugging artiste, doomed forever to comedy. Yet in recent years, "Orphans of the Storm" and "The Bright Shawl" have changed this opinion. She can act ; she gets her stuff across ! With Dorothy it was simply the idea of suddenly turning to something else, although she does frequently break out in one of her old-time farces like "The Country Flapper." As to Lillian, well it's just been a refining process there. She always did have a light and ethereal touch to her work, and while her acting in those first pictures was conceded to be above the general trend it could not, in any sense, compare with her portrayals in "Way Down East," "Orphans of the Storm" and "The White Sister." As for her work in "Broken Blossoms," there are those who contend that no other motion picture actress has ever come near such a splend type. The Gish girls have attained their success on the steady, slow-but-ABSOLUTELY SURE basis. Theirs was no overnight sensation. It was built by years of conscientious endeavor and the result is today they have an 'established value for all time to come. At the present time they are under contract to Inspiration Pictures of New York, the company featuring Richard Barthelmess. These three, Richard Barthelmess and Dorothy and Lillian Gish are examples of what those friends of yesteryear on the Fine Arts lot have attained. With the passing of the old studio and the coming of the new the Griffith memories pass and hide away in our hearts. The Universal Megaphone By WILL C. MURPHEY ting Baggot has completed the production o: 'Blackmail" at Universal City. "Blackmail" isln all-star production adapted from the Rita Vfiman play, "The Co-respondent." It is a st'y of newspaper life, divorce and love, juth Clifford, Niles Welsh, Charles Cleary, I /den Stevenson, Herbert Fortier, William £ Lawrence, Arthur Howard, Joseph North, E ily Fitzroy, Jane Starr, Carl Stockdale, 1-ry Kersch and John Merkyl played the p icipal roles in the picture. he respectable daily newspaper which depds on the good will of the subscribing publj and lives up to the best expectations, and tl scandal sheet that exists primarily for the Pjpose of "Blackmail," are contrasted in the y. Editorial policies and newspaper tradit:hs are presented in detail. William E. Lawrence, Buddy Messenger and Joseph Dowling. The other two Universal-Jewel features starring the pretty Peggy are "The Darling of New York" and "The Burglar's Kid," directed by King Baggot and William A. Seiter. Nat Ross has completed a new western picture at Universal City called "Gold Digger Jones." The featured players are Meriwyn Thayer and Bob Reeves, both of whom have played in many western pictures and chapter plays before. Ross is preparing another picture. The Right To Love," third of the big Baby gy Universal-Jewel specials, has been com chpleted by Jesse Robbins. .Kany beautiful sets were constructed at f iversal City for the backgrounds of the ion in Bernard McConville's story. Proed jointly by Universal Julius and Abe rn of the Century Film corporation, "The l;ht to Love" was staged elaborately, s n this feature Baby Peggy hart the support I such players as Robert Ellis, Eleanor Fair, nifred Bryson, James Corrigan, Anna Heridez, Ned Sparks, Eva Thatcher, Vic Potel, "It's hot weather these days !" Hoot Gibson's remark may seem at variance with the reports of the weather man and even with the reluctant details which the Los Angeles chamber of commerce may have been compelled to furnish for incoming train loads of tourists. But nevertheless, whatever the language of the thermometer, Gibson is right. For much of his work lately has been around the hot regions of fires. He is starring in a Universal Gibson special, directed by Edward Sedgwick, "Hook and Ladder," which recounts the thrilling hazards of a fireman's life. Mildred June, Philo McCullough, Edwards Davis and Frank Bcal have been playing in support. The latest scenario work of James O. Spearing, former New York newspaper critic, now associated with the Universal Pictures corporation, has been the preparation of "The Signal Tower" for screening. "The Signal Tower" is Wadsworth Camp's short story included in O'Brien's "Best Short Stories of 1921" and is to be a Universal-Jewel special. Clarence L. Brown will direct it. He_ has gained considerable distinction due to previews of "The Acquittal," an all-star filming of the Rita Weiman play in which Norman Kerry and Claire Windsor played the leads and which Brown directed. It has won exceptional comments. Virginia Valli will be starred in "The Signal Tower," which is a triangle story, and the other two in the triangle will be Rockliffe Fellowes and Wallace Beery. J. Farrell McDonald, James O. Barrows, Dot Farley and Frankie Darro have other principal roles. Harry A. Pollard is Hearing completion of the Universal-Jewel special he has been making at Universal City, Del Monte, and Balboa Beach. The story is "The Spice of Life," written by Byron Morgan with the original title "There He Goes." Reginald Denny of "The Leather Pushers" and "The Abysmal Brute" is the star. Opposite Denny in the picture is Laura La Plante, the winsome girl who went to Universal (Continued on Page 20)