Motion Picture Classic (1923, 1924, 1926)

Picture, Picture — Who Stole the Picture? inlintti Despite the wonderful work "t Belle Bennett and (fanald Col man in "Stella Dallas," seventeen-year-old Loil Moran, ,m uttei newcomer to the American icreen, ven nearl) stole the show Vnd Jean Hersholi took .1 verj small part, that ■'! Ed Mutm, and made it something which will long be remembered. Some Who Worry the Stars 1 \ S.m.iI Celebrity," .1 Mai St Claii ' picture starring Adolphe Menjou, that famous old comedian, Chestei Conklin, comes close to stealing the picture in a part that is more pathetic than it ii funny. And speaking of Menjou, who doesn't recall the manner in which he sprang from obscurit) to stardom by ng "A Woman of Paris," Charlie Chaplm's directorial masterpiece right from under Edna Purviance's nose? I. Warren Kerrigan and Lois W ilson Were lulled as the stellar lights of "The Covered Wagon." but an "actor who was comparatively unknown at the time, simply "wrapped up the picture and walked away with it." He was Ernest Torrence, and the role was that of Hill Jackson, the trapper. It won Torrence fame and fortune. He is one of the most beloved actors on the screen today and one of the beat paid. Another recent sensational case of picture-stealing was that of George Bancroft in "The Pony Express." Despite competition from such veterans as Wallace Beery, Betty Compson. Ernest Torrence, and Ricardo Cortez, Bancroft, playing the character role of Jack Slade, the had man of Julesburg, made the outstanding iml ression in the picture. From obscurity it raised him to the role of a big featured player, and won him a contract with Paramount which means many thousands of dollars a year to him. And it might be remarked that there aren't two tougher hombres to buck up against in this picture-stealing business than Wallace Beery and Ernest Torrence ! Xoah Beery is no slouch, either. He walked away with honors in Pola Negri's starring vehicle. "The Crown of Lies," which also included Robert Ames in its cast, and reports are that he has simplywrapped up "Beau Geste." Paramount 's stupendous story of the Foreign Legion in Algeria, and taken it home with him His competition included Ronald Colman. Neil Hamilton. Ralph Forbes. Norman Trevor, George Rigas, and others. Determined to find out the exact manner in which pictures are stolen, I went to one of the i/eteranest of veterans, Wallace Beery & ^F=°" ^7 How Wally Does It '""The secret lies in making your performance outstanding," said Wally with a reminiscent chuckle. "You have to be a character, and you have to ring true. Your audience must feel that it knows you. intimately. You must produce a positive reaction. If you are a skunk, you must be a thorogoing one, with a stripe down your back — the kind of person one hates whole-heartedly. Yet they must understand why they hate you. Such a villain for example, was Roy D'Arcy in Chester Conklin almost stole "A Social Celebrity," and did steal "A Woman of the World" away from Pola Negri 'The Merry Widow.' If you are a bum. a happy-go-lucky character like Rhode Island Red in 'The Pony Express,' you must be a bum in every movement — not a gentleman masquerading in dilapidated clothes. "As to the tricks of the trade, there are many of them. One couldn't begin to enumerate them. One of the easiest is the old-fashioned upstage trick. The natural impulse of the inexperienced actor, whether on the stage or screen, is to get as far forward toward the audience as possible. The veteran will simply 'upstage' such a person. "That is, if the two are in conversation, the veteran will stop a couple of steps behind the eager newcomer. Then when the newcomer has to talk to the old-timer, he will have to turn around to do it — and his back will be to the audience or the camera. You cant do very much acting with your back. "The way to take a scene is to do moving about, 01 naturally watch him Ii -■ on in tl an .11 tnr in the ba< kgTOUl hil hand up and down, yan <->r will be attracted t" the motion In manner when he ii allowed to . with it an 00* 111 attention t"r himself when othi wouldn't be noticed any more thai i'ii the wall " l he principal thing ii a bit of I nets, In other words, motion combii with humamtess. If you can be human, if you can do some chari l of acting which your audience in-' ly n imething he ha at home, at the club or at the sewing circle, he will be attracted to it and remember it, no matter what el* going on in the scene. The Champion Picture Thieves ''(")"• ,ncre are a thousand tricks .>f the trade. My buddy, Raymond Hatton, who, I might say, is one of the smartest picture-stealers in the business, has a bright trick of his own in all still pi graphs. He always places himself at the extreme right of the group that is about to be photographed. When the picture is taken, the position is reversed, that is, in the printed photograph he is at the extreme left. "The names in the caption under a printed photograph always read 'from left to right.' and hence the first name is always 'RAYMOND HATTON' That's not very dumb, of the little shrimp — not much!" And Wally gave a great chuckle. Beery and Hatton are known as the greatest catch-as-catch-can picture-stealing team in the business. They are perfectly willing to take their chance with all comers — or with each other. In "Behind the Front," the rivalry', if genial, was very keen, and these two veterans employed every gag in the business to take the various scenes away from each other. They even tried upstaging each other. For instance, just as the cameras would start grinding, Hatton would step back a step, to try to force Beery to turn around. Not to be outdone. Beery would link his arm thru Hatton's, and pull him forward. To put a stop to these antics, Charles Boyle, first cameraman on the picture, resorted to the practice of having a Tsquare nailed to the floor — where it didn't show — for the closeups. Then he made both Beery and Hatton toe the mark, one on each side of the T-square o Raymond Hatton is one of the champion picture thieves. With Wallace Beery he stole "Behind the Front" something that will attract the eye. Motion of any sort is the thing that attracts the eye the quickest. If six people are standing up in a room and one person is Razzing Ricardo \E of their stunts, which they laugh hardest about, occurred when they were playing in "In the Name of Love." Ricardo Cortez was the hero of the story, and naturally was the one most featured in the foreground. Beery and Hatton determined to get his goat. During a number of scenes they were supposed to be talking in the background. Hence as soon as the cameras started grinding. Beery would lean over to Hatton and say in a loud whisper : "Now this guy Cortez, buzz . . . buzz . . . buzz " and his voice would trail (Continued on page 85) 65