Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

672 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIX, No. 14. 'The Reason Why" Gorgeous in Settings Exact Replica of St. George's Chapel in London Used in Filming Heroine's Marriage to Scion of Blue Blood CLARA KIMBALL YOUNG'S production of "The Reason Why" for Select Pictures is marked throughout by a gorgeousness of scenic and sartorial iiaavestituture which make it especially -noteworthy. It is fitting, therefore, that ithe wedding scene of the story, in which Miss Young as Zara marries Lord Tancre, a scion of the bluest blood in Britain, should be staged in a set whose lavishness stands out in even this production. In Miss Young's studio there was -erected an exact replica of St. George's Chapel in Hanover Square, London, in• ternationally famous as Hymen's rendezvous for Mayfair, the scene of the : smartest weddings of England's proudest nobility. Elinor Glyn, the author of the novel, r'The Reason Why," is herself a member of the Mayfair set, and has been a guest at many of the elaborate functions held at St. George's. Her description of -it embodies, therefore, the very spirit as -well as the physical characteristics of the -chapel. Not trusting her own memory of the chapel, Miss Young insisted on a faithful adherence to this word-picture, as well as to numerous authentic photographs. Several friends of Miss Young, who have recently seen the original St. 'George's in London, visited the studio and remarked on the fidelity of the replica, and were even more taken with the spirit pervading the action. It was for "The Reason Why" that Lucile, world-renowned dressmaker, created nineteen masterpieces to be worn by the beautiful star, giving an added personal attention to them because she is Mrs. Glyn's sister. Miss Young's leading man is Milton B. Sills. Other members of her cast are Florence B. Billings, Frank Losee, John Sunderland, Kate Lester and little Eldean Stewart. The direction was in the hands of Robert G. Vignola. "The Reason Why" is the star's latest production. Miss Young in Los Angeles Clara Kimball Young wore her Easter bonnet in Los Angeles, having picked up bag and baggage and hied herself westward with her entire company. Miss Young will make her next two pictures at Hollywood; the first, "The Claw," from the well-known novel by Cynthia Stockley, and the second, "The Savage Woman," by Francois Curel. Miss Young has leased for her temporary home a magnificent estate. The estate comprises twenty-four acres of cultivated lands, with sunken gardens, fountains, flower beds and swimming pools, and the house contains forty rooms and a conservatory with five hundred birds. Motion Painting Used in New Metro Film Invention of Ferdinand Earle Lends Great Charm to Second Production of Mme. Nazimova M Clara Kimball Young as she appears in "The Reason Why," a forthcoming production for Select. ME. NAZIMOVA'S second screen play to be presented by Metro Pictures Corporation will be dignified by the most artistic treatment known to the film world, Metro announced. The aid of motion painting, the discovery of Ferdinand Earle, has been invoked. Mr. Earle, who has studied long with such artists as Whistler and Bouguereau, is an artist-pioneer who believes that the same results can be attained on the screen that are obtained in the sister arts by Edmond Dulac, Bakst and Urban. Maxwell Karger, himself an artist and always interested in new art-forms, has given Mr. Earle an opportunity to develop his ideas at the Metro studio and the new Nazimova picture will profit as a result. As a sort of pictorial interlude, Mr. Earle will show the development of a celebrated resort of wealth and fashion from earliest times. Its splendid tropical solitude, before the arrival of man, is first pictured. The scene changes as if by magic throughout the succeeding stages of evolution, giving full value to the natural beauties of the place, up to the fulfillment of its destiny as a gardenspot of earth. Nazimova herself figures in the closing views. Art-titles have also been made by Mr. Earle for the entire production, paintings in harmony with the accompanying scenes having been made for the purpose. Mr. Earle has been obliged to turn inventor at various times since he began his researches in the new art. Among other things he has invented a dual exposure camera, which takes two separate exposures simultaneously on one film. Technical details are many in connection with the work, but to those who view the finished result on the screen the final effect is the principal thing. The effect is whatever the artist wants it to be, cither exterior or interior, and it changes as rapidly and as often as he wants it to. The whole process sounds like magic, and the effect is indeed like magic, for the artist is able to give the appearance of stars shooting in space, of Father Time unveiling the varying seasons in succession, or of order coming out of chaos in a representation of the world's beginning. These have the actual appearance of reality, but are nothing more nor less than an unusual and extremely clever use of paintings. The artist has been obliged to experiment with different pigments, oils and surfaces in order to obtain something that will photograph in the way he wishes. The intricacy of the process protects him, because he might explain practically every detail of the proceeding and still run no risk of having his work duplicated. Jewel Carmen during a tense moment in her new Fox picture, "The Bride of Fear."