Motion Picture News (Apr - Jun 1914)

THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS 67 WHERE $1,000,000 MYSTERIES ARE MADE Some Interesting Sidelights on the Thanhouser Plant at New Rochelle Revealed During a Personally Conducted Tour of the Buildings with President KiteA $200,000 "Prop" for the tig Serial THIS is not a page from a mc tion picture Baedeker, nor is it a prospectus of the Thanhouser Film Corporation's establishment. It is merely a little journey to the home of 'The Million-Dollar Mystery," and a stroll through the grounds with C. J. Hite, the head of the Thanhouser company, with pauses here and there to take in some little known, but interesting features of the "works." Nobody needs to be told that the Thanhouser 'hacienda' is forty-five minutes from Broadway in the town of New Rochelle, which was discovered by George M. Cohan, who announced the fact in a musical comedy. A short walk down Main street brings one to a distinctive group of concrete buildings, the home of Thanhouser films, and a step further down Thanhouser lane^ took him to the offices of C. J. Hite, president of the Thanhouser Film Corporation. Mr. Hite was busy signing a stack of checks and outside his door a swarm of players chattered in pleasant anticipation of receiving the checks. C. J. HITE. PRESIDENT OF THANHOUSER, AND THE DUKE OF MANCHESTER, WHO RECENTLY PLAYED IN A SCENE FOR THE FORTHCOMING THANHOUSER SERIAL, •THE $1,000,000 MYSTERY" HAROLD MacGRATH, WHO WROTE IT, AND LLOYD LONERGRAN, WHO MADE A SCENARIO OF THE STORY, DISCUSSING THE PLOT OF "THE $1,000,000 MYSTERY" AT NEW ROCHELLE MR. HITE is decidedly a busy man. While he signed checks his directors, one after another, came in to report the progress of their work; and once in a while a player edged in to obtain official consideration of his woes or his dreams, as the case happened to be. With hardly a glance upward from his desk, Mr. Hite disposed of the plaints and complaints and it was noticeable from the way the visitors walked on air as they left his magnificently furnished office that Air. Hite believes in the motto: "Always leave them smiling when you say good-bye." Then Roy McCardell, author of the "Mr. and Mrs. Jarr" series in The New York "World," and father of a large and growing family of photoplays, walked in with his wife and a party of "studio tourists." It was Saturday afternoon and Mr. Hite felt free to escort the party through his plant. A visit first was paid to Thanhouser Lane, where some interior sets of "The Million-Dollar Mystery" are in position. With pardonable pride Mr. Hite pointed to rare tapestries, statuary of classic design, a Tudor staircase which was recently taken intact from a country house in England, and a library lined with shelves filled with real books and not the customary array of faked bindings. Mr. Hite then led the way to the new fireproof, concrete and hollow tile property room, where in a few weeks all scenery and properties not in actual use will be stored. Luncheon time was about over, but Mr. Hite took his guests to the dining-room, where Thanhouser employees may obtain well-cooked food for half the price they would have to pay elsewhere. The next person the party met after leaving the dainty waitresses of the lunch-room, was Al. J. Jennings, ex-bandit, two-handed gunman, survivor of six years in a Federal prison for robbing the mail, and finally pardoned and restored to citizenship by President Roosevelt. The life of Al lenn'ngs as written by himself and Will Irwin in "The Saturday Evening