Close Up (Oct 1920 - Sep 1923)

'^_!lllllllllllllllllll!l!lllllllllllllllllllll|l||||||||||lllllllllll|||llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltlllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ONALIT ?lllllllllllllllllll|]|||llllllltlilllll]llllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllll[lllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!l Tom Killian, widely known newspaper man and in 1920 publicity director for Major General Leonard Wood in his race for the presidency, has been retained by Director Fred Caldwell under a five-year contract to do the publicity for Miss Muriel Reynolds, new star in embryo, under Fred Caldwell’s direction. * * * Although Evelyn Brent has never appeared on the stage, her first few screen appearances were made with such stage favorites as Tom Wise, Mme. Petrova, Edmund Breese and Lionel Barrymore. Just at the present time, Miss Brent is portraying one of the leading roles in “Held to Answer,” Metro’s all-star picturization of the story by Peter Clark MacFarlane. * * The highest hilltop in Hollywood! Edward Martindel has it. He is building a house on top of it and when the place is complete Ed. is going to sit and look out of his window for hours, he says. When the air is clear, he can see Catalina and any of the beach cities within a radius of fifty miles. h * * More than 800 torches, 1200 assorted mob weapons such as pitchforks, scythes, sickles and pikes, and 850 swords were manufactured at the Metro studio for use in depicting the storming of the Tuilleries for Rex Ingram’s production of “Scaramouche.” History tells us that so many people wanted to’ participate in the French Revolution that there were not nearly enough guns to go around. * * * In the garden that separates the stages from the administration buildings of the Grand Studios in Hollywood is a beautiful spot with spreading green sward and flowers galore. A gentleman from somewhere back East came by the other day and saw it, likewise a set house erected at the end for one of the comedies. He offered to buy the house and grounds and was with difficulty convinced that it was for picture purposes only. “I’ll be hanged if I can tell the difference,” he grumbled. “They ought to put a sign on these sets so strangers would know.” * * * Joe Rock, comedy star at the Grand studio, makes a sensational swing at the end of a rope across the intervening space between two large office buildings in his new picture directed by Grover Jones. According to comedy rules, it is no straining of the long arm of coincidence that he swings through a window and into the very office where the villain is just negotiating to foreclose a mortgage on the old home and is able to pay over the money and save the day. That, however, is neither here nor there — the swing is a really remarkable piece of work, but Joe is a former instructor in athletics, an acrobat of genuine ability and enormously strong. And it’s a great thrill — this scene. * * * Little Miss Sunshine is the appellation given Duane Thompson, leading woman for Sid Smith. She is a natural-born optimist and is always interested in anything that will make her laugh. So comedies seemed to be the most attractive field. She is an expert classical dancer as well. * * * An enterprising producer once changed Duane Thompson’s name to Violet Joy before she knew it. But she disliked the name excessively and dropped it as soon as possible. Now she is Duane Thompson aagin and leading woman for Sid Smith. * * * James Wood Morrison is the official new “program name” of Jimmy/ Morrison, well remembered featured player of the old Vitagraph company in the days of Anita Stewart, Corinne Griffith and Harry Morey. Mr. Morrison has grown, physically and histrionically, and is now enacting a leading role in “Held to Answer,” the new Metro all-star special. * * * House Peters preached a real sermon and his “congregation” of several hundred persons sang real hymns to the strains of music produced by a real organ in “Held to Answer,” which Harold Shaw is directing for Metro. In this picture Mr. Peters appears as a minister of the gospel. * * * De Garcia Fuerberg, who appears as Maximilien Robespierre, “the little lawyer from Arras,” in Rex Ingram’s “Scaramouche,” has mastered in German and Spanish the principal roles of all Shakespeare’s plays and all of those of continental authors whose pens have produced classics. Now, together with his motion picture work, he devotes two hours daily to perfecting his English. 15 BIG THRILL IN JACKIE’S PICTURE The handbook of successful photodramatic writing must surely include the following instruction in capital, black-faced letters: After you’ve established adventure, romance, colorful background and drama, add ONE BIG THRILL — and then you’ve got the film masterpiece. The name of Jackie Coogan has been synonymous with big, successful productions since he first came to the screen, but “Long Live the King,” which he is now making at Metro, is promised to surpass all of his preceding films. The Crown Prince of Lavonia, played by Jackie, has been kidnapped by the revolutionary Committee of Ten and imprisoned in the cellar of the' inn. After a stirring melee in which Lieutenant Nikky (Alan Forrest) and some other loyalists try to rescue him, they are ejected and the situation looks very black for the princeling. But he manages to slip out to the roof of the inn, four stories above the ground, and from this vantage point he sees the faithful Nikky riding around the plaza on which the inn is located. The prince catches the eye of his aide-de-camp and jumps from the room into Nikky’s arms. The impact naturally sets the horse into a gallop — just in time, for the revolutionists have just emerged onto the roof — and, even so, a shower of bullets flies after the escaping pair. Here is an escape worthy of the serials in their palmiest days; added to the other incidents in this romantic tale by Mary Roberts Rinehart, which was adapted by Eve Unsell and C. Gardner Sullivan, it will surely furnish a big thrill to the beholder. Director Victor Schertzinger and Jack Coogan, senior, who is supervising his son’s production, spent many hours working out ways and means to insure the safety of the starlet as he made his leap, without resorting to the usual “double.” Their ingenuity finally solved the problem and when this thrilling jump is flashed on the screen, it will be Jackie himself — but safeguarded beyond any possible hurt. Experts play golf and call it a game. Others play it and call it exercise. This was Johnny Walker’s idea.