Motion Picture Magazine (Feb-Jul 1921)

I [ (preset The Forman of the Megaphone (Continued from page 72) ring vehicles which Mr. Forman was directing. But, as it was apparent that he had written many other things besides, we didn't like to ask his name. It was he who opened the door for us and said, "I'm not Mr. Forman. He is in the tub ! But come right in, and he wont be long now." So we talked about everything, principally about how very bad, bad pictures can be, and so, when Tommy Meighan came in, he took it for granted that we knew whom we were talking to, and only said, "Hello, everybody. Where's the medicine case? I'll fill it." And we all went on talking about how very bad, bad pictures can be. Now, of course, when you're not sure of your listener, you have to be careful what you say, for we never shall forget the time we said to an inoffensive yqung woman : "I Wanted to kill the ingenue in that picture." And she replied: "Yes; I thought my work was bad. It was the director's fault." So, whenever we took up a new picture for discussion, we would first say: "Did you write it?" For, even having the courage of one's convictions isn't the same as telling a man to his face that you, think his work is rotten. But we're quite sure that we shall like "The Quarry !" The nameless blond young man likes all of our favorite directors, such as David Griffith, Jerome Storm and George Loane Tucker, and, "as a man thinketh, so shall he write scenarios." Every time we dont see Tommy Meighan for a couple of months we forget how nice he is ; so, when he walked into Mr. Forman's apartment the other evening, we had a hundred things to talk about. We both started in simultaneously : "Do you remember that interview at the Astor?" and, "Oh, that night at the Ziegfeld Roof!" "Have you ever seen him since?" and "Did you get there on time?" So when Mr. Forman, pink and white and fair-haired and radiant in his dinner clothes, came into the room no one saw him, and he just had to break right in and say, "Here, I want to be interviewed !" So Tommy Meighan said : "You cant be interviewed now. You haven't time. We'll all have luncheon at the studio on Monday, and you can be interviewed then." But we were quite firm. "Never mind the story about 'the miracle cat' now. You go and sit down for ten minutes, and then we shall deliver your director into your hands intact, to do with as you will." We took one look at our victim and said : "It's a shame, you're not going to be a leading man any more. Why do you prefer directing?" "Well," he answered, "I can answer that question very easily. In the first place, I wasn't a leading man — or only on rare occasions at least. I was always playing second leads — the returned-soldierwho-finds his sweetheart married to-another-man sort of thing. And then, just as I was being cast for leads, I went away to war, and, I tell you, the war makes a lot of difference." "You played the lead in the last picture we saw you in. Cant remember the name of it, but you stole Irving Cumming's girl away from him and married her ; and then he returned from the war like Enoch Ardcn. Do you remember? Of course, you were the lead in that, because it is always the leading man who marries the heroine." "Yes, I played the hero in that ; but it isn't possible to be away for two years and then to take tilings up just where you left off. So it didn't look to me as tho I was ever going to get very far." 122 Afifi "But you were so clever on the screen," we murmured, determined to make this ex-movie herd regret his departure from the drama. He didn't seem a bit elated. "I never thought so," he answered. "I never liked what I did." And he meant it. "But, dont you miss seeing yourself in the pictures? Didn't you envy Jack Holt in 'The Sins of Rozanne'? And, wouldn't you rather have been making love to Ethel Clayton than directing her ?" "Well, a story like 'Sins of Rozanne' isn't easy to do, on account of the occult stuff; but I prefer to be the man behind the gun." "And wont you languish for the plaudits of the well-known public? You know a director never gets the credit he deserves when the picture is good." "No ; but he gets the blame when the picture is bad ! Art9 as for the other, I dont care two straws for it. I haven't a bit of vanity. I never was cut out for an actor, anyway.. I was born in Texas, and was raised to punch cattle. However, I do like directing. An actor is only so much putty in the hands of his director. He has no will of his own !" "What's that?" called out Tommy Meighan from the next room. "So, I'm only putty, am I?" "He wasn't talking of stars," we called back . . . "only of ordinary mortals. Keep quiet in there ; our allotted time is not yet up." And then to Mr. Forman we said : "And you preferred being the director to being the putty?" Omar Khayyam has said something very nice which would have been appropriate to the occasion, only we couldn't think of it then. We never can when we want it in a hurry. It's something about the potter's clay. "Yes, I was saying that there were many reasons why I'd rather be a director than be an actor. You know, the director gets more money than anybody unless it is the star, and we've got to think of that. And a star never expects to retain his following for more than six or eight years. The public is notoriously fickle. I expect to be directing when I'm an infirm old man, walking around with a stick." "Yes ; and, of course, you should begin to plan for the future. You must be all of twenty-five, aren't you?" "Oh, I never tell my age. I'll tell you where I was born, but not when." "Why, if we were your age, we should be shouting it from the housetops . . . 'We're only twenty-five ! . . . We're only twenty-five !' It's great to be young." "Yes, but not for a director. They think they cant trust you until your hair begins to turn grey." "Dont worry," we added. "Your's will begin to turn grey before you've directed many more pictures. Why, dont you know that if the star's work is stilted, or the continuity is bad, or the ingenue is 'too cute for words,' or the titles are bad, everybody says, 'Cherchez le directeur!' Oh, your hair will turn grey fast enough." "And I'll see to it that it does," called Tommy Meighan from the next room. "Haven't you finished with him yet?" "Yes. Just one thing more. In enumerating the advantages of being a director, you left out one thing. You know, when you're a star, you have to be careful what you eat so as to keep your waistline where it belongs. But when you're only a director, you can eat anything you like. "Which is a polite way of telling me that I'm getting fat. I know it; but whether it's because I'm a director, or vice versa, I'm not so sure." ike Answer Man (Continued from page 121) Post and Charles Murray, in Mack Sennett's next five-reel feature, "Love, Honor and Behave." Naomi Childers, in California. Thanks, write me again. Beula. — We all should be both teachers and pupils ; no one is so ignorant but he can teach, no one so learned but he can learn. Carol Holloway is playing in "A Good Bad Man." Lottie Pickford did not play in "The Trey of Hearts." You refer to Cleo Madison and George Larkin. William Boyd was Mr. Carpenter in "City of Masks." Dolly B. Good. — You here again? Eugene O'Brien is 37 ; Jack Pickford, 25 ; Constance Talmadge, 21 ; George Walsh, 29. You're welcome. Myrtle Stedman, and Lawson Butt, in "The Tiger's Coat." Lester Cuneo is playing in "Lone Hand Wilson."* Emily F. — Thanks, indeed, for the fudge. It was very fine, and you are quite a candy maker. As to your question, { think perhaps it is better for you to wait and live in your world of dreams than to join the noisy throng. George M. — Thanks for the clipping. You say Yonkers is next to the largest city in the U. S. Yes, geographically speaking. Ruth Stonehouse and Eileen Percy, in "The Land of Jazz." Agnes. — Why, the tomato was formerly called love-apple, was thought to be poisonous, and was grown for decorative purposes. Yes, I know, the other day a very handsome chap called here and told me that Rod LaRocque's name should be spelt just as I have spelt it. You can reach him at the Greenroom Club, New York City. Zim Zam Zum. — Thanks for your cards. They are much appreciated. Spectator. — Thank you for the picture of yourself in a bathing suit. You ought to join the Mack Sennett company. You have my sympathy. Sylvia Breamer is playing in "The Devil," with George Arliss. George Beban, in "One Man in a Million." Mary M. — Your questions in rhyme were interesting to read. About Moreno, I shall proceed. Married, he is not, you see ; in serials he will no longer be. Finis. Now, isn't that just too clever for anything? Lillis St. Clair. — One of the old Pansy Club members. Glad to hear from you again. Be sure to call on me when you come East. Peggy San Francisco. — They tell me Conrad Nagel is the father of a baby girl, Ruth, which was born on October 29th. E. K. Lincoln and Hazel Dawn are playing in "What Is Love?" I hope they know. Nobody else does. The Bible has been translated into 450 languages and dialects. Milwaukee. — Thanks kindly for the box of milk chocolates. Sweet of you. Sweets from the sweet to the sour. You want an interview with Cullen Landis soon. You ought to have it. Yes, they do say that there is a device on which a moving hand indicates the direction the car will turn, being designed for use on the rear of motorcars. Brown Eyes. — Why, it was General Zachary Taylor who led America's victorious troops in the war against Mexico, and he captured Palo Alto May 8th, 1846. Norman Trevor has been signed to make eight pictures for the new Ziegfeld Film Company. Florence Reed and Earle Foxe have also signed with this company. Just forget about that Chaplin question. Anyone. — Why, I started to work here in November, 1910, but I was with Mr.