Close Up (Oct 1920 - Sep 1923)

S' 7 Trailing Motion Picture Stars JOINS HAYS ORGANIZATION Announcement was made yesterday by Sol Lesser, president of Principal Pictures Corporation, that his company had joined the Hays organization, the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. An application for membership in the Hays ranks was made by Mr. Lesser after extended conferences with Mr. Hays in New York recently, and Mr. Lesser was yesterday advised by wire that the board of directors has passed favorably on his application. “We are glad to have you with us,” says Mr. Hays in his wire, “and the. effort for better and still better pictures which you advocate is indeed a stimulant to all of us, I know your splendid organization is doing its utmost to contribute to this slogan.” Principal Pictures Corporation has an extensive program mapped out for the coming season, with a list of plays, stories and already completed pictures that w.ll rank among the best of the season's output. Among the stars associated with Principal Pictures are Bert Lytell, Kenneth Harlan, Guy Bates Post, Bryant Washburn, Florence Vidor, Blanche Sweet, Eileen Percy, Mildred Davis, Mitchell Lewis, Doris Kenyon, Edmund Breese, Tyrone Power, Harrison Ford, Maryon Aye, Helen Lynch, V .ctor Potal, Otis Harlan, Myrtle Stedman, Alice Lake, Gaston Glass, Cleo Madison, Grace Darmond, Effie Shannon, Tully Marshall, Robert McKim, Louise Fazenda and others equally popular. Adjoining properties to Principal Pictures Corporation studios in Hollywood have been annexed and within a few weeks three companies will be at work in this one plant, with other units working at the Hollywood studios and the Ince plant. Henry Sharp, cinematographer, who is responsible for the fine photographic work in a number of recent big Ince productions, has been signed under a long term contract by Thomas H. Ince. Sharp’s latest work is in “Soul of the Beast,” the Ince screen novelty featuring Oscar, the elephant, with Madge Bellamy. * * * Claude McElhany remarks that a bank teller certainly leads a canary’s life. You know, always in a cage. PROCEED WITH THE PLAY Why doesn’t Richard Walton Tully, dramatic genius that he is, assemble the cast now working on his screen production of du Maurier’s “Trilby,” for a stage production of the same play? This is a question that has arisen among his friends recently. Practically every member of the cast now working on “Trilby,” which is a forthcoming First National release, has had an enviable stage career, Andree Lafayette, who is the “Trilby” of this cast, has had stage experience; Arthur Edmund Carewe is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Art, in New York, and appeared in such stage successes as “The Mummy and the Humming Bird,” “Men and Women,” etc; Wilfred Lucas is a former opera singer, played Marcus Venetius in “Quo Vadia” foi a two year run, besides appearing in other big stage roductions, including “The Chorus Lady,” and “The Heir to the Hoorah,” which he produced. Lucas plays “the Laird” in “Trilby.” Francis McDonald, the Gecko of Tully’s production, is a former stock player, with eight years before the footlights. Rose Dione, another “Trilby” player, formerly starred in her own company in Paris, and Maurice Canon, who is the “Zouzou” of “Trilby,” has been a Parisian stage favorite for years, his most recent starring appearance having been in the Revue De Marigny. Creighton Hale's ability as a stage performer is well known. He but recently played the leading role in “Just Suppose” at the Mason Opera House in Los Angeles, and has a long list of successes to his credit. Other members of the cast could also qualify. “Held tc Answer," a gripping story of today by Peter Clarke MacFarlane. will be the second of the new series of Metro’s all-star specials. Stroock’s Genuine CAMELS-HAIR OVER-COATS $65 Piccadilly Model 548-550 South Broadway National Shirt Shops —AND SO GECKO EXITS Francis McDonald, who is interpreting the role of Gecko, the downtrodden musician, in Richard Walton Tully’s production of “Trilby,” a forthcoming F.rst National attraction, has decided that there is some peculiar affinity between himself and doorways, in this particular picture. “It may be just an odd coincidence,” he laughed yesterday, • “but this bird, Gecko, must have been a mighty active little chap. I’m always either coming out of, or going into some doorway. It doesn’t seem that Gecko was ever permanently put in any one place, or if so, that he ever stayed put.” Frank gave the “Trilby” company a good laugh the other morning by appearing on the set, dragging a huge door behind him, and explaining that he now had a portable set.