Moving Picture World (Aug 1919)

664 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD August 2, 1919 Manager Walker Wonders Why Producers Feature Dual Roles we were presented to his pastry, but that is merely a side line with him — doughnuts are Banty's real mission in life. Banty does all the work on his doughnuts personally, story, continuity, direction, hot grease, hole, everything; and when they are done they are as tender as a hero's heart and as seductive as a vampire's glance. The day after the Mix location I went out to the Metro camp and saw three films on the fire at once. Viola Dana was making "Please Get Married," with John Ince as director, Antrim Short as lead, Margaret Campbell and Harry Todd in the father and mother parts, and Ralph Bell, Emmett King and Thomas Ricketts in support. Director Harry Franklin was putting Hale Hamilton through a scene of "The Four Flusher," with Ruth Stonehouse, Harry Holden, Effie Conley as a Spanish girl, Frederick Malatesta, Louis Fitzroy and young Robert Badger as assistant interpreters of the action. Nothing Limited About Bert. Bert Lytell was deep in the throes of "Lombardi, Ltd," and from the looks of things he's going to put the piece over on the screen just about as big as it went on the stage. He's got Jack Conway for a director, Alice Lake for a leading lady, Juanita Hansen, Anna May, Vera Lewis, Joseph Kilgour, Jean Mendoza and George MacDonald as support, the cutest little mustache you ever saw, and Maxwell Karger lending his personal supervision. I've heard a lot about this personal supervision stuff, and I have often wondered how one man could lend anything more than the most perfunctory attention to two or three films all in course of production at the same time. Here's how Karger manages it. Usually a director rehearses a scene two, three, or a dozen times, then takes it. Then he rehearses another scene and takes that. By this method it sometimes requires two or three hours to shoot two or three scenes, with an actual shooting time of only a few minutes for each. The Metro method is to rehearse as many scenes as can be done in a morning or an afternoon, get them letter perfect, and then Karger comes along and watches the final rehearsing and the shooting, which takes only a very short time. The players all like the new plan. A Wandering Make Up. May Allison, who was working in "Fair and Warmer," under Director Henry Otto, was enthusiastic. "Here we are," she said, "working away on a number of scenes on a hot day. We get all tired out, but it will never show in the finished picture because this is only rehearsal. We'll get a number of scenes all ready to shoot and then go home, get a good night's rest and come back in the morning fresh as daisies, ready for the final taking. And the best part of it is that we can rehearse without make-up. Makeup has an aggravating habit of moving around on the face in warm weather. On many occasions, under the old system, I have found the make-up that I put on my forehead in the beginning had maved down to my chin long before wewere through." HR. WALKER, manager of the Royal and Classic theatres in • Dartmouth, N. S., and the Princess in Imperoyal, N. S., makes the following timely criticism of the habit producers are at present indulging in of casting their stars in dual roles: Why are so many stars playing a dual role? is the question Mr. Walker asks. This, he points out, is advertised as a wonderful feat, but whom does it interest?— perhaps the stars and directors, but certainly not one in a thousand picture fans. It only gives the impression that there are not enough players in the company to take the parts — something after the fashion of the oldtime traveling shows when three or four players would have to take a dozen parts because there were not enough in the company to put on the play properly. A Blow at Realism. Very few, if any, theatre patrons care a cent whether Pearl Prunella or Sapphire Whoosis can carry two or three roles. It does not interest them in the least, but rather tends to decrease their interest in the story. Patrons of the silent drama like to get as much reality out of the pictures as possible. They like to think of it as something that really could happen, and one person, particularly the star, playing two parts takes the realism out of the play for most people. Surely the star can show off his or her accomplishments to advantage in a single part rather than in a dual role. Showmen Could Tell Them. I keep in close touch with my patrons, and think that I am in a position to judge from their comments. If producers, directors and stars themselves would condescend to consult the exhibitor near at hand regarding their plays, Two Chance-Takers — Tom Mix and Tony. Tom's about to ride through a waterfall and take a fall out of some Pullman robbers for a Fox feature. they would certainly learn much to their advantage. The exhibitor does not know it all by any means, but he certainly has learned by experience the likes and dislikes of moving picture patrons. After all, it is the wishes of the public that makes the picture industry. The "Gripping" Scene. Then again, my patrons have often asked me about these long drawn-out scenes where some person is supposed to be driven crazy through grief or fear. Their expressions and actions always arouse an outburst of laughter from the younger people, who look upon it as a bit of comedy introduced for their amusement. This kind of acting may indicate that the star is a wonderfully accomplished person who can truthfully portray the actions of a crazy person, but to whom does insanity make any sort of appeal, I wonder? Hodkinson Announces Six New Exchange Managers FB. WARREN, vice president of the W. W. Hodkinson Corporation, announces the appointment of the following new managers : Chicago — Sidney J. Goldman, for a year the manager of the Chicago Goldwyn office and more lately division manager for Jewel productions, has become th» Hodkinson manager, succeeding E. C Fielder, who has gone with another company. New York — Marx Nathan has been promoted to the managership of the metropolitan exchange, succeeding Geo. F. Lenchan, who joined another company. Cleveland— J. J. Mooney, of Cleveland, is made the Hodkinson manager succeeding Carlos E. Moore, who goes elsewhere. Mr. Mooney is a brother of Paul C. Mooney, long time division manager in the central states and Pacific Coast for Fox Film Corporation. Omaha— R. H. Allan has taken over the Hodkinson management, succeeding A. J. Huesman. Mr. Allen was brought into the Hodkinson organization from the Pacific Coast. Albany — H. E. Thompson has been made the Hodkinson manager, succeeding H R. Wimsatt. Oklahoma City— J. C. DeWalt has been appointed Hodkinson manager at this point. Melville Shauer Back from Europe. The motion picture industry is welcoming home another of its representatives with the A. E. F. in France in the person of Lieutenant Melville A. Shauer, formerly assistant studio manager of the New York studio of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, and the son of Emil E. Shauer, assistant treasurer of the corporation. Lieutenant Shauer served for more than a year as a member of the intelligence section of the 309th Infantry of the Seventyeighth division. After a brief rest he will return to the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation