Motion Picture Classic (Jul-Dec 1928)

SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONTH What We Hear From the Hollywood Press Agents Cr>niineDtary on the lamentable state of Terpsichore in the open c)iai'e regions of California, from the philosophic Sam Jacobson of Universal City: "With a dummy for dancing partner, Hoot Gibson, screen cowboy, carried off the first prize in a dancing contest at a masquerade ball while his company was on location at Bishop, California. The wooden effigy was dressed in feminine attire^ and Gibson's skilful maneuvering of his 'partner' on the side of the hall opposite the judges fooled them into awarding him the cup. " What We Artists Have to Put Up With "Norma Talmadge is breaking in a new pair of boots. They're real boots — rough leather, uncomfortable and not very dainty — and they hurt her feet. But, oh, how she enjoys rushing to a bootjack and changing to comfortable slippers the minute she gets away from the cameras." Zoological (lata showing the almost human emotional reactions of the Baby Star, genus United Artists, in its native habitat; from the studio's trained observers: "Among the Easter gifts sent to Lupe Velez was an Easter egg amazingly like the fiery little lady of 'The Gaucho.' A red rose and a mantilla of lace completed the illusion and caused Lupe to emit delighted cries of approval." Remarkable array of testimony marshaled by the United Artists publicity guild, demonstrating the versatile genius of his Eminence, D. W. Griffith, in such uncharted realms as catering: "D. W. Griffith serves ice cream and coffee to his players in 'The Battle of the Sexes' every evening at It is a custom he started while filming 'The Birth five of a Nation.' " — statistics — "It is highly conceivable, declares D. W. Griffith, that the price of flowers may have something to do with the high cost of motion pictures. During the four weeks of filming 'The Battle of the Sexes' an average of twentytwo dollars a day was expended for fresh flowers used in the scenes." — rodent psychology — "It needed something more realistic than a stuffed mouse on strings to make Phyllis Haver simulate the fright that the script of 'The Battles of the Sexes' called for, so D. W. Griffith brought the mice on the set. An extra one was provided to circumvent possible fatahties due to stray cats or mousy temperament. Mice are not bad actors, Griffith contends." — and, with it all, scorn of profiting by his talents — "Griffith could never have achieved his place in film history if his interest in it had been merely casual, or if it had been the interest of the self-seeker with a fortune in mind." State of mind produced by acting in the movies from the age of nine until practically unconscious, related by the Paramount Press Gang: "In her search for something to ward off the accident curse that seems to have followed her during the greater part of her career, Bebe Daniels is offering a prize. Under the terms of the search, letters describing the certain luck-bringers are asked. Then from these descriptions Miss Daniels will select ten charms that appeal to her most. She will theti send a personal letter to the owners, asking that they mail them to Hollywood. She will try them out on ten successive days. The one that brings her the most luck will win either a dress or a ring." Touching tribute to studio realism, from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer: "Jim Tully turned actor when he sat among the newspaper reporters in the court scene in 'The Bellamy Trial.' Seeing reporters he used to work with there, he just couldn't resist the temptation, he said." {Continued on page 71) 86