The Moving picture world (January 1920-February 1920)

January 24, 1920 THE MOVING PICTURE WOPILD 567 Rubbernecking in Filmland Ho, HO, HUMl" These words, accompanied by expressive and expansive yawns, was about all I got when I tried to collect a little information about New Year's celebrations. But short and sweet as the words are, they express pretty well how Filmland is feeling, and so I will leave them as keynotes to the rich memory and imagination of others who assisted in bidding a farewell to 1919 and helped to spread a welcome door mat to 1920, and pass on to other things. It looks like a big year this year. There is not a producer on the Coast who has not declared his intention of making bigger and better pictures, and enough new studios are threatened to cover Hollywood three deep from Western avenue to Beverly Hills. The "Studio Publicists" has just been hatched from the egos of the West Coast press agents, and the object of the new organization is to strengthen the recognition of publicity as a molder of public opinion, to eliminate faking, to improve the quality of individual work, to remove the odium from the term, "press agent," and other things. A Bon Mot Committee. All of which seems very good. More power to their elbows — more ink to their mimeographs ! The Studio Publicists have appointed Emily Squires, Ted Taylor of Metro and Jimmy Tynan of Ince as a temporary executive committee. I hope the first execution they stage is to bump off the bird that sends out carbon sheets of his startling stories and marks them "important," "rush" and "exclusive." I hope they also appoint a committee to look after the matter of jpkes and witty sayings of the stars. It is extremely annoying and confusing to get the same "bon mot" from two or three stars the same week. The committee could go over the Ladies Home Journal, the Literary Digest and all of the publications that run joke and witty sayings columns and apportion so many gags to each studio. In this way the sad affair that occurred West Coast Pu hlicists Plan Bon Mot Distribution — How Sennett Girls Keep Scenic. By Giebler tliiiiiiiiritiitiliiiiiiiiiitiiiiniiiniiiiilflititlilliiiiitiniiiiiiniiiiiititiiiiitiiiiiiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiliilliliuiiuiini a few weeks ago, when four different press agents grabbed the venerable goldfish-goldfinch gag and put it in the mouths of their stars, would be avoided. Undulating Vegetables. The same sort of arrangement should also be made as to the age of jokes. Just because a press agent has no respect for old age, it is no sign that editors have not. I have visited the Mack Sennett studio many times, but I never realized what a whale of a place it was until I went down there again this week. Eph Ascher, who is personally representing Mack, took me to the top of the hill back of the studio and waved a lily-white hand athwart the scene to the west and said "Behold I" I looked and "beheld" twenty-seven acres covered with buildings, stages, offices, dressing rooms, carpenter shops, tanks, panarams and other comedy making paraphernalia. Then Eph turned and waved a hand in another direction, and there, spread out on the gentle slope of the undulating landscape, were rows upon rows of cauliflower, tomatoes, peas, beans, onions and other garden truck growing and thriving in the gentle and celebrated California sunshine. Garden Truck Did It. The vegetable has always held an Honored place in movie comedy, but the vegetables raised on the Sennett ranch are not used as weapons of offense and defence by the comedians; instead, they are used to wallop the H. C. L., a-nd — this is deep stuff, and given to the world for the first time — to keep the Sennett players up on their toes in a physical way. Have you noticed the beautiful faces and forms of the Sennett Bathing Girls? Sennett garden truck did it. Have you lamped the looks of Louise Fazenda (when she hasn't got her make-up on)? Sennett cauliflower, corn and cabbage. Did you ever notice that Marie Prevost was "some gal?" Punkin pies from Sennett punkins. Have you ever marveled at the marvelous complexion of Marvel Rea ; the bright eyes of Phillis Haver; the lines of Harriet Hammond; the grace of Katherine Maguire? Sennett garden "sass." Have you admired the deep chest and the robust limbs of Kala Pasha? Onions from the Sennett patch. Turpin Turns Temperamental. And that is not all. In addition to the garden, there is a chicken farm with 5,000 hens, roosters, pullets and cockerels to furnish eggs, friers, broilers and dumpling flavorers to the Sennett players and others connected with the plant. After looking at the rural part of the plant we went down on the stages and saw Mack Sennett directing a comedy, and he told me about his latest big effort, "Down on the Farm," and how handy his own farm was in shooting some of the outside stuff, and about Louise Fazenda's part in the picture, and how quickly she learned to operate a hand-power bean cultivator. I also saw Ben Turpin, who was complaining bitterly because the action of the piece he was working in required a house to fall on him; and Charlie Murray, who was between pictures, and Ford Sterling, who was doping out stuff with Dick Jones, and Billy Bevan, and Kala Pasha, and Mildred June, and Eva Thatcher, and wound up the visit l# paying my respects to Pepper, the cat. AI's Itinerary. Anther day I went out to see Al St. John, who is shooting a two-reel comedy for the Paramount program, just Three "Dififercnt" Shots of California's Sennett-Land. Says Giebler: "Maud Muller on a summer day, raked the meado w .sweet with hay. Louise Fazenda, comedy queen, plougrhed the young and toothsome bean." Center is the Sennett outfit seen from a hill; right are Al St. John and Betty Brown, in Paramount-St. John comedies.