Moving Picture World (Dec 1920)

December 4, 1920 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 583 George Beban Gives Extemporaneous Act, Delighting Hotel Astor Diners ONE MAN IN A MILLION” is to be released soon after the first of the year — probably. Again — probably — it will be a First National picture. And yet again, to bring the matter of probabilities nearer home, you’ll probably see it. In fact, you’d be sure to see it if you happened to hear George Beban talk about it beforehand. It is his picture, its story is a child of his brain, and its filming is the result of his direction. Besides, he takes the leading part. So, under the circumstances, it bears the mark of George Behan’s individuality. And if he has marked the screen portrayal as indelibly with his enthusiastic personality as he put into a vivid description of it over a luncheon table in the Hotel Astor recently, he undoubtedly has made it a masterpiece of realism. Gives T emperament Full Sway For Mr. Beban, losing himself to his surroundings, giving his temperamental personality full sway, bubbling with the exciting incidents of his delineation, gave an emphatic demonstration that not only carried away his interviewer on the crest of his enthusiasm, but centered the attention of the noonday lunching Hotel Astor guests upon his vivid acting. He actually growled like a bear. He arose half-way from his chair and clawed, bruin-like, at the portieres, giving an imitation for all the world like a bear mauling the bars of his cage. Then he accompanied a voluble linguistic flow — a praiseworthy imitation of an itinerant Italian organ grinder — with the gesticulations of an excitable Latin. He thumped vehemently on the table. The pleasing tingle of ice in thin glasses reverberated with the whack. His audience and listeners at surrounding tables stared. Some smiled. Staid servitors looked on stolidly. Some one whispered sibilantly, ‘‘That’s George Beban — he’s great, isn’t he?” and just about this time Mr. Beban, with another resounding thump, upset the silver coffee urn, spilling the hot contents into his lap. A Vivid Portrayal ' Solicitously, Harrv Wilson, his personal representative, inquired as to the damage done. But Mr. Beban hardly paused in his By T. S. da PONTE narrative. Daubing at the coffee stains with his napkin and remarking, “Oh, it’s nothing, Harry; nothing at all,” he went on: “It’s not a spectacular picture. But it’s a vivid portrayal of life. And it hasn’t the usual hackneyed love theme. Oh, yes, of course, there’s a love story in it,” he said in answer to a look of surprised incredulity, “but it’s a love story that is ‘different.’ And there’s nothing at all improbable about this picture of mine. In fact, it’s very simple, and its simplicity is one of its chief charms. “There is nothing of the usual ‘triangle’ either, and the drama of sex takes up no part of this film. It tells a story that young girls can view unblushingly, and has an appeal that will reach all classes — children as well as grown-ups. “There are animals in it — dogs, and a parrot— oh, a wonderful bird! The children will be crazy about him.” The Plot a Secret Whereupon Mr. Beban paused long enough to give an imitation of a parrot, with a sidewise look from his black eyes that a parrot, himself, would find hard to improve on if bent on imitating one of his feathered brethren. But the real plot of the story is, of course, what you are anxious to know about, and that is just what George Beban is keeping under his hat. He, however, said this much : that it centers around a man who starts in a menial capacity in a quick lunch place, and after that he — well, things happen to him and to “her.” (For there is, of course, a “her” in the film — in fact, two “hers” who are played by Helene Jerome Eddy and Irene Rich.) They, together with little George Beban, Jr., in conjunction with the star, have the biggest parts. But the parrot also comes much into prominence. An Unusual Ending It all leads up to an unusual ending, which takes the spectators, as it were, into the confidences and into the very lives of the players, making them part and parcel of the drama, and giving them an opportunity to judge what they themselves would do if they were face to face with the same conditions as are portrayed on the screen. Mr. Beban is a believer in “better and cleaner” pictures. His former efforts hav.e all been along those lines, and in “One Man in a Million” he has adhered to those tenets. He said also that in his opinion the time has come when the motion picture industry must become more intimately identified with the people who support it. There must, in short, be more of the “personal contact stuff.” Therefore Mr. Beban has forsaken his Los Angeles studio for about five months to devote his time to making “personal appearances” at theatres in all parts of the country, acquainting the people with the sort of character which his coming production will feature, and when it finally is released he also will make “personal appearances” along with the film. Paramount-Holmes Shows Life “ Around About Manila” While there have been two ParamountHolmes Travel Pictures on Manila, there has been no picturing the many interesting things to be found in and around this capital city of the Philippines. Therefore, as a final number of the series, Mr. Holmes is releasing a little tour titled “Around About Manila”; visiting Cavite, where Dewey fought and won his famous battle; Fort McKinley, where the soldiers of today are trained; Antipole, the pilgrimage town with the famous figure of “Our Lady of Happy Voyages.” Among the interesting street scenes, strange to Occidental eyes, are the horse and ox-drawn vehicles and funnny little street cars.. General Aguinaldo, the idol of the Filipinos, is shown inspecting the troops at Fort McKinley. Excellent photography. A travel picture, of everyday life. Educator Praises Fox Picture Carl V. Salser, director of the Kansas State Normal School at Emporia, and an ardent motion picture enthusiast, who supervises the selection of screen entertainment for the students at that institution, in a letter to William Fox regarding the Farnum special production, “If I Were King,” takes occasion to offer highest praise of the film. SCENES FROM “ ONE MAN IN A MILLION,” STARRING GEORGE BEBAN AND BEING HANDLED BY SOL LESSER The star may be seen in these views frolicking with Helene Jerome Eddy