The Moving Picture Weekly (1916-1917)

-THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY -21 New Faces at Universal City EDITH JOHNSON IS NEW LEAD FOR McRAE. ^^HAT'S one's gain is another's loss. Marie Walcamp, one of the most daring young women who ever defied death in front of a camera, is going to do if in front of Jaccard's camera now for a twenty weeks' serial. By the law of subtraction we deduce that she can no longer do it for Henry McRae and his Bison Company. Therefore McRae had to get busy and get someone to take her place. After a thorough search, Mr. McRae signed Edith Johnson for this important position. In our photograph Edith looks very intrepid, and also very beautiful. Harry Carey, her leading man, should need no other inspiration to assist him in rescuing Edith as often as Director McRae imperils her life. Their first production will be a fivereeler entitled, "Behind the Lines," which is a Mexican war drama. JOHN STEPPLING AGAIN A UNIVERSALITE. JOHN STEPPLING, director and actor, has rejoined the Universal City forces and will direct "Smiling" Billy Mason in slap-bang comedies. Steppling has been associated with the Universal, Essanay, Famous Players and American companies, and directed and acted in the "Billy Van Deusen" comedy series, which he put on for the American Company, the series running for more than a year. He was also prominent in the Nestor Company. Director Steppling and Comedian Mason worked together at the Essanay Company in Chicago. In the company which has been collected to support Mason will be found Peggy Custer, who will play leads opposite Mason; Countess Du Cello, Mrs. Ashton and Fred Gamble. The first film is a comedy written by L. V. Waters, called "Betty's Bandit." "CURLEY" STECKER IN CHARGE OF ZOO. ^URING the absence of Rex de Rosselli, who is playing the lead in a series of mountain pictures being filmed by Director George Cochrane, "Curley" Stecker has been put in charge of Universal City Zoo. Stecker worked for seven years with wild animals before he came to Universal City. A. W. RICE IN BEAR VALLEY. DIRECTOR A. W. RICE, of the Universal Company, left for Bear Valley this week, where he will remain for several weeks with his company, headed by Jane Bernoudy, George Pearce and James F. Farley. Among the stories he will film is a two-reeler entitled, "The Circuit Rider," by Earl R. Hewitt, of the Universal City scenario staff. It is a story of the Tennessee mountains. Hewitt has also written two onereelers which are to be filmed by Director Rice during his stay in Bear Valley. One of these is entitled "The Girl of Black Mountain." ANOTHER UNIVERSAL BABY. Edith Johnson, the new Bison leading woman, directed by Henry McRae. THERE'S a new baby at Universal City this week — a Shetland pony. Wallace Kerrigan, superintendent of the Universal ranch, found the youngster in the corral, and as it had a white mark on its neck in the shape of a champagne glass, he christened the little animal "Champagne." Molly Malone, new leading lady at Universal City. PETITE MOLLY MALONE BECOMES A UNIVERSALITE. jy|OLLY MALONE, a dainty miss of nineteen, has just been made leading lady of George Cochrane's Universal Company. Miss Malone's first engagement was when she was seventeen, with the Western Vitagraph, with which she played leads. She next accepted an engagement with the Lubin Company, and later went to the Lasky Feature Plays Company. Previous to entering the pictures Miss Malone traveled extensively in America and Mexico, and took a trip around the world, spending a year in South Africa with relatives. Miss Malone is a real out-door girl and loves to hunt, fish, swim and row a boat. She revels in the pictures, the scenes of which take her to the mountains or the seashore. "At the studios I always feel like a bird in a cage," she said a few days ago at Universal City before leaving for the northern California mountains with the Cochrane Company. "I joy in the great outdoors under the blue skies and the vast, crowning mountains around me. The cities have no attraction whatever for me, and I want to get as far away as I possibly can from 'the maddening throng's ignoble strife.' "