The Moving Picture Weekly (1920-1921)

—THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY ■15 First Million Dollar Picture ''Foolish Wives' \ a UniversalJewel, Is Now N earing Completion at Universal City "pOOLISH WIVES," the Universal photodrama upon which Erich Von Stroheim is now working at Universal City will be the first picture ever made costing a million dollars or upon which a year's time has been spent. Various pictures have been described as "million dollar productions" but the nearest approach to the figure is known to approximate $500,000 and in that instance the producer-star attributed an enormous weekly salary to himself on the books of the concern. "In "Foolish Wives," however, the actual expenditure of a million dollars will be apparent on the screen. One of the most elaborate sets is a group of buildings put up at Universal City in exact reproduction of the famous Plaza at Monte Carlo. The set is 400 feet long and 280 feet wide. It includes, besides the buildings, two circular parks, hundreds of palms and semi-tropical plants, 5400 square feet of concrete sidewalks and many hundred square feet of oiled pavements the Mediterranean, von Stroheim caused the construction of other sets at Point Lobus, Monterey Bay, many miles from Universal City. There were built one large and two smaller sets, the former being the rear view of the Casino, rising on a cliff 100 feet above the Bay. Altogether, this set is 600 feet long. The Casino is 100 feet long, with a 74 foot tower. The set also includes a large band-stand, promenades, balustrades and terraced walks and promenades. The sets at Universal City also include an elaborate French villa, with its sunken gardens, terraces and quaint towers, a French village, and an artificial lake, 100 feet wide, made especially for this picture. Von Stroheim himself takes the leading role in "Foolish Wives," playing the part of Count Sergius Aprazin, an unscrupulous Russian nobleman and adventurer. Supporting him is an all star cast, including Rudolph Christians, Marguerite Armstrong, One of the buildings and the most Marguerite Armstrong, supporting Eric Maude George, Mae Busch, Cesare • • — — ^ Von Stroheim in "Foolish Wives" ta_i t:i..ii... — , n*^., imposmg, is the structure represent ing the Plaza side of the Casino, the notorious gambling place. This has been reproduced in exact size with its towers and statuary, and even with its circular flower bed near the main entrance. On one side of the Casino is the Hotel de Paris, also an imposing structure, with the Monte Carlo tramway line running in front of it. In the hotel scenes von Stroheim actually had the table linen and other napery embroidered with the real hotel's crest and initials. Gravina, Dale Fuller and Malveen Polo, the daughter of Eddie Polo, Universal's leading serial star. Christians died from pneumonia several weeks ago. It is said he had completed all his scenes necessary to the picture. RIVIERA AT IT'S BEST FAMOUS SUICIDE GARDENS Near the Hotel de Paris is the Cafe de Paris, with its long first floor and its big plate glass windows, 48 of them, each 12 feet in diameter. All the details of architecture and londscape gardening were supervised by Victor Andre, a sculptor of Nice, France. Even the Suicide Gardens, the iron fences, the fountains and lamp-posts have been accurately reproduced. To get the other side of the Casino, which overlooks "Foolish Wives," written by von Straheim himself, shows Monte Carlo among the rich set, the Russian Grand Dukes, princess and high class adventurer and adventuresses. It is said to paint the Riviera at its best and at its worst and to give an inside glimpse of the life of the world-famed resort. To provide the proper atmosphere in the scenes taken at the Monte Carlo Casino a stunt never before employed to any great extent in motion pictures, was successfully used. Real society people — scores of members of San Francisco's "400" acted as "extras" while von Stroheim "shot" the scenes necessary to the photoplay. Replica of Monte Carlo, built at Monterey, for "Foolish Wives."