It took nine tailors (1948)

108 IT TOOK NINE TAILORS The next person to tell me about the part in A Woman of Paris was Eddie Sutherland, Chaplin's assistant director. He told me he had suggested my name to Charlie and had shown him a reel of a recent picture in which I appeared. Chaplin was interested but still undecided. Then, a few days later Eddie telephoned and asked if I could drive to the studio with him and talk to Chaplin. I assured him that I could leave in ten minutes. On the way Sutherland explained that he thought I had a good chance to get the part, because Chaplin hated to interview actors but had decided to talk to me. He usually hid in Sutherland's office and had Eddie "walk 'em by" outside so that he could get a look at the actors without having to talk to them. Chaplin did this because he was shy and sensitive; he hated to refuse an actor a job once he had talked to him. But Sutherland also warned me that his boss might balk at my salary, which was $500 a week; that was more than he had ever paid to anyone. However, when I was introduced to the little comedian, salary was never mentioned, and in ten minutes I had been hired for the part of Pierre Revel. The contract I signed called for me to start work on or about December 15, 1922. In the picture business this customarily means three days before or three days later, but when December 18 arrived, shooting had not yet started. I waited another week, then went to Alf Reeves, who was Charlie's business manager, and asked for my first week's salary. "Sutherland hasn't turned in your name," he informed me. So I went looking for Eddie and finally found him. "Where's my pay check?" I asked. "You haven't started work yet." "That's not my fault," I told him. "I'm ready to work and I have a contract to work." "If you upset Charlie by insisting on getting paid, he may just pay your six weeks' guarantee and let you go."