Camera! (April 1919-April 1920)

CAMERA I 383.30 "The Digest of ihe Motion Picture InJustrX)" Page Three PRODUCTION NOTES AROUND HOLLYWOOD Week Beginning March 30 TALMADGE TO MAKE PICTURES EAST Constance Talmadge and all that portion of the Talmadge family still remaining in the west will flit to the east in a few days to begin work on Miss Constance's first picture with First National. Anita Loos and John Emerson have signed with the Talmadge sisters to write continuity and sub-titles and will accompany the party east. The first picturt selected for Miss Constance is Jane Cowl's stage success "Information Please." Miss Natalie Talmadge will pplay the part of the younger sister. The New York studio will be devoted solely to the Talmadge activities, with Miss Norma working on one floor and Constance on the other. Elsa Lopez, formerly with Griffith, is at the head of the research department. SIEGMANN RETURNING TODAY Word from San Francisco has it that Lieutenant Siegmann is to arrive from San Francisco some time today, having been discharged day before yesterday at the Presidio. Eddie Peil starts Monday with the Jesse D. Hampton company as a Chinese heavy with H. B. Warner. He was loaned through the courtesy of D. W. Griffith. Joe Frantz is to direct the next William Desmond picture, to start in ten days or two weeks. Desmond is back from New York and is whipping the sifory into shape for production. Elmer Clifton finished the current Dorothy Gish feature Saturday and will start the next picture in the course of another week. Mr. and Mrs. A. H. T. Bahnzaf arrived from New York this week and are stopping at the Alexandria. Mr. Bahnzaf is D. W. Griffith's legal adviser. Jack Lloyd returned Friday night from a trip east. Anita Loos, Mrs. Loos, John Emerson and a party of three made a complete investigation of the social and business activities of Santa Ana this week, having come to a stop in that city when the rear end of the car refused to come further without repairs. They were on their way back from a short visit to San Diego. They leave the latter part of this week for New York where they will take over the continuity and sub-title departments for the Talmadge sisters. John T. Rankin, for several months with Goldwyn, and recently recovered from a long illness with influenza, is now with Sol Lesser writing publicity for the "Yankee Doodle in Berlin" road show. Doc Howe, formerly manager of the Temple theatre in Santa Ana and for several months with the All Star people, will have charge of the show on the road. Clune's Broadway Theatre will chang^e bills on Monday hereafter. The present feature, Dorothy Gish in "Boots," will remain on the calendar for eight days instead of seven. NEW LASKY STUDIO The Famous Players-Lasky Corporation will soon break ground in Long Island City for a studio and laboratory. The studio will be erected on the block bounded by Graham, Pierce, Seventh and Sixth Avenues and will include two large stages, one glasscovered, the other open. The laboratory will be across the street on the Pierce and Sixth Avenue corner. Tlie plans for the plant were drawn under the direction of Frank Meyer and Ralph Kohn has charge of executing them. The Plaza Theatre announces the intallation of an apparatus by which suitable pictures are tinted as they are thrown on the screen. It is claimed for the tinting that it not only enhances the beauty of the picture but relieves eye strain. JOHNSONS RETURN TO SOUTH SEAS Mr. and Mrs. Martin Johnson, whose notable "Cannibals of the South Sea Islands" has created a sen sation in travelogues, are on their way back to the South §ea to get more cannibal pictures. They expect to remain away about three years. In addition to full equipment for making pictures, they are taking with them prints of the pictures made on their first trip, a projection machine and a portable screen. They hope to entertain the savages with moving pictures of themselves and by this means explain their mission among them. Mr. Johnson is also taking cameras especially fitted for microscopic longdistance and under-sea work. The films will be developed and printed in South Sea ports and shipped from time to time to the Robertson Cole Company in New York for distribution. A NEW INDUSTRY IN CANADA The business men of Calgary and Edmonton have formed a company known as Canadian Photoplays Liimited, for the purpose of co-operating with the Shipman-Curwood company in financing and exploiting the filmed stories by James Oliver Curwood. Under existing contracts four feature pictures per year will be produced and marketed through the medium of the most prominent and firmly established film exchanges in the markets of the world. Bert Lytell has started on another comedy called "The Lion's Den," by Frederick Grin Bartlett. George D. Baker wrote the entire script for "The Lion's Den" and is also directing. AL CHRISTIE STUDIO Four comedies are under way at the Christie studio this week. Al E. Christie is directing Fay Tincher, Patricia Palmer, Eddie Barry, Harry Depp, Marjorie Payne, Ward Caulfield and others in a two-reel special. Scott Sidney is directing a comedy in which Dorothy DeVore, Earl Rodney and Roscoe Karns are featured. Jay Belasco has taken up directorial work, putting on a picture featuring Ethel Lynne and himself. The fourth company is directed by Wm. Beaudine. Frohman Amusement company has moved over to the Astra studios at Glendale. Lewis Stone, under the direction of I.,loyd Ingraham, is starting a picture of the northern woods. Richard A. Rowland, president of Metro, says: "The program system is due for a fade-out. We will drop the one-release-a-week plan entirely. During the year we will produce perhaps thirty-six or forty pictures, and we intend to sell each one separately. Of course the exhibitor demands to know what he will get. We can tell him that — so many Lytells, so many Danas, so many Allisons, and so on, during the next year. But the price will not be set until the picture is finished and we have seen what it is really worth." Ora Carew has completed her initial own company production, and her director, Walter Wright, is now trimming the film. TWO CAMERAS TAKE "DESERT GOLD" Abraham Scholtz and A. L. Todd Photographed Zane Grey Novel "Desert Gold" will beO filmed throughout by two cameras. The cameramen, Abraham Scholtz and A. L. Todd, report from their location on the (Colorado desert that atmospheric conditions have been ideal. FINISH WITH BIG SCENES Director T. Hayes Hunter says that, in making a screen production, it is wisest to "shoot" the big, vital and especially the dangerous scenes, last. Hunter is directing "Desert Gold," Zane Grey's novel which is being filmed by the author's own company. Those who will take part in the big final scene are B. K. Lincoln, Russell Simpson, Arthur Morrison, W. Lawson Butt and Margery Wilson. In the book and the picture, which exactly follows the original, this is not the final scene of the book, but one of the chief climaxes. UNIVERSAL NOTES By Ham Beall Mary MacLaren is vacationing in Southern California after completing "Prairie Gold," under Tod Browning's direction. Thurston Hall, Miss MacLaren's leading man, is also enjoying a brief respite from his ardent screen duties as love-maker extraordinary. Monroe Salisbury and his company are on location at Idylwild in the San Jacinto mountains. Director Rupert Julian is shooting the scenes from a script prepared by Bernard McConville. Francelia Billington is the feminine lead in "The Pinnacle," the snow picture which Eric Von Stroheim is producing. Sam DeGrasse and Von Stroheim, who also wrote the story, have the principal male parts. "And the Elephant Still Pursued Her," the second of the William S. Campbell animal comedies, starring Joe the monk, Caesar the lion and Charley the elephant, is now in the cutting and titling stage. Director Campbell is collaborating with Editor in Chief Frank Lawrence in reducing the film to prOoper footage, while Harry Burns, Campbell's assistant, is supervising the preparation of the subtitles. "Out Wyoming Way," starring Pete Morrison and Helen Gibson, is completed and Director Jack Ford is awaiting the return of his feature western star, Harry Carey. Carey is expected soon and "A Man of Peace" has been bought from Jackson Gregory as his next vehicle. During Carey's absence touring the country making personal appearances at leading theatres, Ford has been busy directing two-reel westerns starring Morrison and Miss Gibson. Eddie Polo is enjoying a brief vacation after finishing "Buck Lawson Rides Alone," the fourth of a series of two-reel western dramas de luxe being produced under the direction of Jacques Jaccard. James J. Corbett is working on the ninth episode of "The Midnight Man," which James W. Horne is directing. Kathleen O'Connor is "Gentleman Jim's" leading woman. Eddie Lyons and Lee Moran are working on a new one-reel comedy, "Get the Money," from the pen of Clyde Bruckman, former Saturday Evening Post writer. With Josephine Hill, formerly of Gus Edwards' "School Days" vaudeville headliner, and Ann May as his leading women, Neal Burns has completed "One Lovely Night," under the direction of Al Santell. The final episodes are being shot by Director J. P. McGowan for Marie Walcamp's new serial, "The Red Glove." Ruby LaFayette, the little mother of "Mother of Mine," the Rupert .Julian production of many moons ago, has another "little mother" role with Eddie Polo in "Buck Lawson Rides Alone." The famous Ooasis bar at Universal {-ity, the "set" that was as the dramatic centrifugal force for countless western stories produced at the filmland capital, is being torn down while plans for a new section of the "Western Street" are being made. Carl Ijaemmle's dictum that Universal scenario writers must mark taboo all situations depending for dramatic effect on the alcoholic atmosphere of the saloon, in view of the impending dryness of the nation, ha.s caused the wreckers to pick on the Oasis for their victim. Walt Whitman, a character actor, is cast for the part of an ex-convict in "The Chatterbox," directed by Director Rollin Sturgeon. Herschal Mayall has been engaged for the part of Durant, the western bad man in "The Open Road," Monroe Salisbury's play. Jack Pickford began work Monday on his last picture under contract to the First National. Gloria Hope plays opposite, under the direction of Jack Dillon. Mary Pickford has bought "Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come" for Jack, paying .$10, 000 for same. John Fox, Jr., is the author. The Frazee Film Productions, Inc., have begun work at their studio, 5X21 Santa Monica boulevard, with an allstar cast, under the direction of Edwin Frazee. Victor Scheurich is the cameraman, and Fred Liltlejohn the assistant director. The company will produce one and two-reel comedies. Included in the cast are Harry O'Connor, Annette De Foe, Charley Thurston and Joe Murphy. Dustin Farnum started another picture Wednesday on the Brunton lot, under the direction of TThomas N. Heffron. He is supported by Irene Rich, Joseph Dawling, Herbert Standing and Claire DuBrey. Story and continuity were written by Tom Gerharty. Title "Harvest of Shame." Bill Duncan completed the fourteenth episode of "The Man of Might" last week. One of the most striking sets of recent date was the volcano built in Chatsworth Park for the episode. The scene was representative of Hawaii. The eruption of the historic Hawaiian volcano was accomplished by a great blasting of rock and red fire. Three hundred Mexicans in Hawaiian costumes added to the realism. In Other Cities' CINCINNATI. — "Common Clay" with Fannie Ward at the Walnut, and "The Girl Dodger" with Charle Ray, at the Starnd, are the leading pictures billed for the entire week. ST. LOUIS.— Anita Stewart in "A Midnight Romance" at the New Grand Central, and Shirley Mason in "The Rescuing Angel" are the leading bills for the week. SAN FRANCISCO.— Imperial, Margaret Clark in "Three Men and a Girl; California. Elsie Ferguson in "The Marriage Price; Tivoli, Dustin Farnum in "A Man in the Open" and May Allison in "Peggy Does her Darndest." PHILADELPHIA. — Stanley, Griffith's "The Girl Who Stayed at Home;" Palace, Bill Hart in "The Poppy Girl's Husband;" Arcadia, Eslie Ferguson in "The Marriage Price;" \'ictoria Wni. Farnum in "The Man Hunter;" Regent, Anna Q. Nillson in "Tlie Way of the Strong;" Strand, Billie Burke in "Good Gracious Annabelle." CHICAGO.— Bijou and Rose. Anita Stewart in "A Midnight Romance;" Randolph, "Cannibals of the South Seas;" Casino, Harry Carey in "A Fight for Love;" Castle, Chas. Ray in "The Sheriff's Son;" Ziegfield, George Beban in "Hearts of Men;" Boston', Wm. S. Hart in "The Poppy (Jirl's Husband;" Alcazar. Tom Mix in "Fighting for Gold;" Star, Valeska Suratt in "The Soul of Broadway;" Orpheum, Griffith's "The Girl Who Stayed at Home." OMAHA.— Rialto, Anita Stewart in "A Midnight Romance;" Sun, Peggy ll>land in "The Robellious Bride;" Strand. Constance Talnuulge in "I{oniance and Arabella;" Muse, Madge Kennedy in "A Daughter of Mine;" Brandeis, Prisciila Dean in "The Wicked Darling;" Pimpress, Hale Hamilton in "Johnny on the Spot." NEW YORK— Films for the week downtown aie: Rialto, Chas. Ray in "The Sheriff's Son;" Strand, Billie Burke in "Good Gracious Annab('11(>;'' Rivoli, Marguerite Clark In "Throe Men and a Girl;'' Broadway, Dean In "Raggedy Ann;" 81st Street, Peggy Hyland in "Persiiasiv< Peggy;" and Florence Reed in "Her Code of Honor."