Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1922 - Mar 1923)

78 (Cxtjifaitors ^cralb December 30, 1922 Four scenes from "Manger to the Cross," a picture which is still in circulation, although produced eleven years ago. Vitagraph owns the feature. Film of Christ's Life Plays Since 1911 Yuletide Recalls Expedition Which Made Epochal Subject in the Holy Land A BAND of American pioneers in motion pictures, comprised of less than a dozen men and women, sailed from New York City for the Holy Land by way of London in 1911. They were ecmipped with a camera, a supply of film, a copy of Tissot's Illustrated Bible and prints of Herr Scheik's reconstructed architectural drawings of the ancient buildings of Palestine and Egypt. 'THE inspiration that sent this band to the mecca of Christianity developed in a fifteen minute conversation in the old Kalem plant in Twenty-third street. The result was the greatest picture that had been made in the history of the industry up to 1912, and which has lived longer than any picture ever produced. "From the Manger to the Cross" has been shown continuously from 1912, when the late John Wanamaker permitted the first invitation showing in the concert hall at his New York store, until today when it is being rented to exhibitors in every country in the world, and is being shown in every variety of moving picture theatre, church, school, monastery and convent. It is accepted as the universal picturization of the life of Christ. It cost $100,000 to make and it has grossed more than a million dollars. * * * The company of picture players under Sydney Olcott, director, did not go to the Holy Land to film the life of the Nazarene; that idea occurred to them after they had spent a winter in Egypt with Cairo as their headquarters. It is difficult to say now who is responsible for the idea, but Gene Gauntier wrote the continuity from which the picture was screened. William "Kalem" Wright, now manager of Vitagraph's studio in Flatbush, is the authority for this When the decision was made to film the life story of Christ, Olcott, one of the serious thinkers among the pioneers of picture directors, gathered his company about him and told the members the plans. He knew that it was the most daring undertaking that any picture producer had ever attempted, because prejudice against the showing of Christ Jesus on stage or on screen, ran high. He determined that this could be overcome by his company only if they assumed the characters assigned to them with reverence and if the scenes were authentic in every detail. The picture must stand the acid test of ecclesiastical criticism; if it did not, the enormous expense estimated for its making would be waste. » • » The important work was to find the exact location where biblical incidents had occurred. In Cairo the director found his first location, a house on the exact site, similar in architecture, according to Herr Scheik's drawings, to the house wherein Mary and Joseph and Christ, the babe, found refuge after fleeing from Bethlehem and Herod's murderous order. But after the locations were found there remained the permission of the Turkish officials, then governors of Palestine and Jerusalem, to be gained. This was accomplished by the payment of tributes to them in American gold. But it gave to the little company encouragement for they found the very spots wherein the recorded incidents of the life of the Nazarene occurred. The company did have to bui'd the Temple of Jerusalem where Christ, the boy, sat with the learned men, and they followed in every detail the drawings Scheik had reconstructed. It was an exact reproduction of the ancient building. Other locations they found intact, such as the tomb of Lazarus and the garden of Gethsemane. They visited the Sea of Galilee, taking with them hundreds of natives to be used as "extras" and who were carried the 240 miles round the trip on the backs of donkeys. Bandits infested the district and the governors, for pay, detailed a military escort. * * * The spot on the Via Delia Roso. where the miracle of St. Veronica occurred while Christ carried the cross to Calvary is marked by the Convent St. Veronica, and so deeply did the company impress the Mother Superior with the sincerity of the undertaking that she invited Gene Gauntier and other women of the cast into the convent and gave them refreshments. The marketing of the prints was of the gravest concern because the producers feared that the prejudice against showing an impersonation of the Christ on the stage would apply to films. The film was titled with the greatest care, each title being a verse from the New Testament The main title carried only the name of the picture without any extraneous matter that might detract from the solemnity of the showing. After the finished print was ready, several clergymen of both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches were invited to a private showing at the studio. No member of the producing firm sat with them; they waited until the ministers came out. The churchmen pronounced it wonderful. Mr. Wright then got in touch with John Wanamaker and arranged for the first public showing * » * It was an invitation affair and limited to ministers and Sunday School teachers. The concert hall was packed and from that moment, "From the Manger to the Cross" became an assured success for the producers who had risked $100,000 to make a picturization of the world's greatest story, and for the exhibitors. The owners of the negative, Vitagraph, who took over the publication of this feature when Kalem disbanded, have never sold a print. Every print has been leased, whether it has been for Peru or for China; and it has been shown in the farthermost parts of the world. Missionary societies have rented prints to be carried into strange countries to aid in their work of spreading the Gospel, and wherever there is a motion picture theatre, "From the Manger to the Cross" has been shown. In the company who accompanied Sydney Olcott were Gene Gauntier who played Mary, Mother of Christ; Alice Hollister who played Mary Magdalene; George Hollister, their son George, aged four, who played the child Jesus; Helen Lindroth who played Martha; Robert G. Vignola, now one of the famous directors of pictures; J. T. McGowan who became director and Jack Clark. Clark played Joseph and singularly enough he and Miss Gauntier who played Mary, were married in Jerusalem. Vignola was Judas and McGowan, Pontius Pilate. An English actor, R Henderson Bland, impersonated the Savior. George Hollister was the cameraman.