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

C neral Camera! News Section Page 1 1 DECLAIMS LONG-REEL FILMS the large number of ten and ve-reel pictures nowbeing uned on the market an answer to ic demand of a new fad on the of the producers? the opinion of John M. Stahl, doctor of "The Wanters," "Why 'Ui Leave Home" and other Louis B| layer's offerings through First Nional, it is a craze that is goto lead a few to wealth and m iy to straitened circumstances. There are very few stories," H> Stahl, "which require more tf i a half dozen reels to tell with 0 permitting the picture-goers dices to sleep instead of watchir the screen. Most long pictures di; in spots because it is rarely p ible to fill more than six reels ni logically swift action which h. a real bearing on the plot." few historical pictures will ■li d a dozen reels, not because of :mrest in action but interest in a litecture, costuming and ancient 'M r and customs. Hence I believe tl the much-talked-of slogan IraBfer and bigger pictures' is of 1 je when 'bigger' is interpreted notlier colorful and highly ronntic role is being essayed by Matiesen, eminent character a>r, who is now playing the leadheavy, Du Clos, the Apache, i h Viola Dana in "Revelation" ch George D. Baker is directat the Metro studio. This is same picture which Madame frtimova made seven years ago m it is declared to be Miss ma's most ambitious cinema efj\ to date. wther portrayels of Matiesen 's 'n ude Philippe de Vilmori in Rex l\ram's "Scaramouche" and Lord reys in Constance Talmadge's he Dangerous Maid." as better quality instead of quantity." "Few stars, producers or directors are fitted for twelve-reel productions but there are a few whose names and merit will guarantee the financial success of these monster productions. Others would do well to stick by the five or six reel feature productions whose success demand constant study and hard work. "A huge picture without real dramatic merit is a great hazard from a box office standpoint and the failure of a few such productions cannot but have an ill effect on the entire industry." Mickey McBan is one proud kid these days! He is on location at Sonora, California, with the "Buck" Jones com '•any from the Fox studios, directed by William Wellman, and has been presented with a complete western outfit by the star. It consists of chaps, boots, spurs, guirt, bandana, beaded vest, cuffs, and Stetson. To top it all they have a Shetland pony for him there and he is being taught to ride by one of the cowboys. One of his stunts is lariat throwing and Mickey is an expert in this, a penally' when it comes to lassoing a chicken. He will return to Hollywood some tune within the next three weeks in iitmpany with his mother who is in Sonora with him. KNOWS WHY MEN LEAVE "I can tell you why men leave home," announced A. P. Younger, known in the haunts of the screen literati as Bill. A. P. is one of the few men in Hollywood who never has left home. He has just written an original story, based on Avery Hopwood's play "Why Men Leave Home," for John M. Stahl, and has gathered a lot of interesting data on the subject from the unhappily married. That's one's of the reasons for Bill's success. He chooses subjects which provide an unlimited scope for research. "A man does not pack his GladStone and make a dignified exit when his wife, in a fit of whimsy, throws the kitchen stove at him," insists Bill. "In the first place, that's one of those big vital affairs in life that must be faced — if her aim is good. In the second place, he's probably unconscious and can't run. "It's the little things that make the big scandals — that drives the T. B. M. to figuring how much ali TRY TO HOOK MONG Iscause he is a motion picture Hture player and maintains an ■Ee in a Hollywood bank buildi| for the administration of his flsonal affairs, Williom V. Mong, ■In to be seen in John M. Stahl's "Thy Men Leave Home," is daily ;dtred wonderous opportunities H immediate wealth. inn average daily mail received aMong's office comprises six or sjen letters from oil syndicates Ffsenting "gilt-edge" proposiItis; a variety of missives beg ging assistance for inventors who offer fabulous returns for an investment of a few paltry thousands; two score or more invitations to invest in real estate and a scattering of personal and "fan' letters. And than every once in a while there is a missive that tells of a lost mine or buried treasure to be gotten for the price of a little expedition into some faraway place and if Mong will finance the adventure he will be rewarded with millions of dollars in gold and jewelry. SCRIPT FOLK JOIN HANDS )espite the usual tradition that lj playwright and the scenario iter are anathema to one anothWinifred Dunn is successfully fjlaborating with J. Hartley Man s on the script of "Happiness." I is will be Laurette Taylor's secii Metro picture, and Miss Dunn writing the continuity, in her polion as scenario editor for this •uanization. The first draft of the script was jipared in the East, whence Miss jinn has recently returned after lee weeks of conferences with |iss Taylor and Mr. Manners, lio, incidentally, is Miss Taylor's husband in private life. While in the East, Miss Dunn also held several conferences with Metro's New York scenario department regarding the adaptations of the other plays and stories which will be filmed at Metro's Hollywood Studios. "Uncle Joe" Hazelton, who appears in support of Carlton King in his first feature production for the United Producers and Distributors, was a page boy in Ford's Theater the night Abraham Lincoln was assasinated. mony he can afford and dividing it by half. Just let the lady of the house systematically forget to put clean towels on the rack and watch her husband's dust as he hot foots it to his lawyers. "Or let her begin reading the newspaper over his shoulder just as he is discovering that his pet stock has fallen 10 points. These are the domestic tragedies that make Greek drama seem as cheery as Pollyanna on a particularly glad day," concludes Bill with the gesture of the man who knows. At any rate, these are some of the reasons that promise to make Stahl's production of "Why Men Leave Home" an amusing analysis of the matrimonial complex. GETS MADRID SHAWL Carmel Myers, featured in "The Slave of Desire" is the recipient of the first Christmas gift to arrive in II ollywood. A Spaniard with a penchant for doing both his Christmas shopping and shipping early, and evidently an ardent admirer of Carmel, sent her a pretty shawl from Madrid. SCANS NEWSPAPERS RELIGIOUSLY Few people really digest the contents of daily newspapers as does Cieorge Melford. The motion picture producer reads every section carefully and makes notes of interesting events. Quite often he gets ideas from these notes which become integral parts of his photoplays. A peep into his notebook of this week's news reveals: Funniest story: Man, about to be tried for violation of the Wrighl Act, is freed when evidence, a jug of homebrew, explodes. Saddest: Priest in San Francisco holds up traffic while he prays over dying youth run down by street car. Finest: Divorced wife, given custody of child, sees former husband's heart breaking because of separation from baby. She agrees to let him have their child half the time. BOASTS GREAT STAGE ANCESTRY The movie actor with the oldest theatrical lineage has been found. He is Conway Tearle, popular stage and screen player. While at first blush, this might tend to start something among actors who can trace their theatrical ancestors back for many years, it appears that Mr. Tearle's claim will stand unprotested when it is found that his mother's family, the Conwavs, have been actors since 1712. Thus for over two hundred years the ancestors of Tearle have entertained audiences. It is safe to say however, that more people have seen Conway Tearle, through the vast circulation of the screen, than have seen all his ancestors combined. Mr. Tearle's grandfather, William Augustus Conway, was the greatest Shakesnearean actor of his day — in 1850. Conway Tearle was five when he made his debut on the stage in "Damon and Pythias." With the exception of the two years he spent as a professional boxer in England, he has been an actor ever since. Contrary to the popular belief, Mr. Tearle is a born American and not an Englishman, fie is a product of "Little old New York" and moved to England with his parents at an early age. He received his education in England while engaged as an actor and received his lessons much along the lines now practiced by movie kiddies— between scenes. SCANS HISTORY'S PAGES With a modesty that is raciall> characteristic, despite the exaggerated sketches with which we are all familiar, American motion picture producers have, it seems, filmed the history of practically every other country before our own. Now, however, we are reading of a number of projected pictures that will be based on various interesting highlights of American history. We have had "The Covered Wagon," (iriffith is now making what promises to be an epic of the Revolution, and Barthelmess is filming a Nathan Hale story. Two large producing firms in Hollywood have offered Wanda Hawley the principal female role in their forthcoming picturization of episodes from our own history. Both stories are laid just before and during the Revolutionary era, and as a consequence, Miss Hawley is collecting a bibliography of Americans and studying with great earnestness and zeal. Like all of us who have occasion to go back to it after we get out of school, she is finding a wealth of romance and drama with which our own history is embellished, but with which few of us are acquainted, in the glamour of knowledge of the French Revolution, the Cromwellian uprising and other incidents of European history, whose chief attraction is that their locale is three thousand miles distant.