The Moving picture world (January 1920-February 1920)

880 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD February 7, 1920 little chap is only seven, but he is wearing his father's shield in a worthy way, and he gives promise of some day being as good an actor as the True Boardman who died. I thought I had garnered all the dope possible for one afternoon, when I left the Barriscale set, and I was just going to call it a day and take advantage of H. H. Van Loan's offer of a fast ride back to Broadway, when I saw one of the best make-ups I have ever seen, coming out of the cafeteria. Money in Strong Makeup. It was a little, dried-up looking geezer with stringy whiskers, wearing a dingy dressing gown, with a hundred or so pins stuck in the lapels, and split up the back like a locust. Its fingers trembled with the palsy — its chin shook with age. "Hey, there," it piped in a whining \oice. I "heyed" and took a good long look before I could place the chap. It was William V. Mong, known for many years to the eastern legitimate circuits in "The Claybreaker," and known to the films as the creator of many parts, and particularly that fine bit of the dissolute doctor in "The Miracle Man." Billy Mong, if anybody wants my opinion, is one of the best character actors in the business. Billy told me he was supporting Jack Kerrigan, and as I had been trying to get a glimpse of Jack at work for weeks, I said "Lead me to him," and we went over on the other end of the big stage where I had just tried to find George Irving and Miss Hallor. And there in a neat little boxed-in set were Jack Kerrigan, Ernest Ward, his director, and Frank Geraghty, the assistant, and a bunch of actors making "One Week-End," a story of a chap who has been unjustly accused of crime and sent over the road — who escapes and gets into a week-end party and meets the heavy who was responsible for his trouble— makes him believe he is the son of a rich man the heavy is trying to trim, and from that goes on at a fast and furious pace that furnishes as much ac tion and excitement as two or three average plots. Might Write Movie History. Mr. Kerrigan's sister, Kathleen, is in the play, and she and Jack and Ernest Ward are making a sort of reunion party of it. Mr. Ward was with the Kerrigans when they were on the regular stage with Clay Clement in "Sam Houston," and this is the first time the three of them have been thrown together since. I had a long conversation with Jack, who was not in the action then being shot, and he told me a lot of things about the early days that will make mighty interesting reading when I write the complete history of the Movies in seventy-six volumes, as I intend to do some day. Fritzi Brunette is supporting Mr. Kerrigan in "One Week-End." Emmett King, who is an author as well as an actor, is in the cast with a good part. Lilie Leslie, of London and other Metropolitan stages, does a vamp role. Alfred Regnier, a mixture of French, Irish and American pep, depicts a college athlete. Frank Geraghty is doing double duty by assisting to direct the production and filling an important role at the same time. That's nothing for Frank, however. He's a versatile chap. In addition to being an assistant director and actor, he has five successful scenarios, two one-act plays and a popular song to his credit, and while putting all this over he has found time to play tolerably well on a saxophone. cast, including Rubye DeRemer, Edmund Breese, Mary Boland, Sugene Strong, W. T. Carleton and Armand Cortes. Announces Levering's First Picture. One of the surprises in picture circles the beginning of the year was the announcement that Joseph Levering, director of a score of screen successes, had started in "on his own" as a picture producer. The new producer chose as his first effort Robert Ames Bennet's magazine story, "His Temporary Wife," announced by W. W. Hodkinson Corporation for mid-February release, and to ensure its success Mr. Levering selected a strong "The Christian" Is Bought for Screen Presentation THE Goldwyn Pictures Corporation has purchased the picture rights to Hall Caine's "The Christian." The price paid for this masterpiece, which will be given a production in keeping with the importance of the work, is said to set a new record. Goldwyn plans to make the film version of Hall Caine's powerful drama one of the greatest photoplays ever screened. No story written in this generation possesses to a fuller degree all of the essentials for heart-stirring action, and every resource of Goldwyn's vast organization will be at the disposal of the director and players selected for the interpretation. The records of publishers and librarians in England and in this country show that "The Christian" for more than twenty years has been one of the most widely read books in the English language. Many editions numbering hundreds of thousands of copies have been printed and the book has been translated into a dozen languages. At the present time there is a steady sale for the novel here and in England, and it is in constant demand at the public libraries. Shortly after the story had become established as a literary sensation, it was made into a play which scored a phenomenal success in London and New York. "The Kentucky Colonel" To Be a Sumptuous Film HARRY M. RUBEY, president of the National Film Corporation, announces that "The Kentucky Colonel" is about one-third finished, and when marketed, about March 1, it wilt be the most sumptuous and costly feature ever attempted by the National. Although many of the exteriors and all the interiors were made in the mountains near Los Angeles, where the National built a city as called for in the novel, a number of scenes will be made in Kentucky, near Louisville, the "locale" of the story. The principals in the production, who will accompany Director William A. Seiter to Kentucky, are Joseph J. Dowling, Francis McDonald, Elinor Field, Lloyd Bacon, Jill Woodward, Fred Kohler, Thelma Salter and Gordon Griffiths. According to Mr. Rubey, "The Kentucky Colonel" will be sold outright. Press material and hints on exploitation are now being prepared. "Yaaah! YoU Will Steal My Raspberry Fizz Recipe, Will You?" The great awakening pictured n\ "Save Me, Sadie!" a Christie special. Drives Motorcycle Through Window. Noel Smith, who directs the Jimmy Aubrey comedies for Vitagraph, recently drove a motorcycle through a garage window because he couldn't find anyone else to do it the way he wanted it done. After he had been restored to consciousness the members of the company congratulated him on not having broken his neck. He only had some severe lacerations of the scalp and face, and a broken finger. He was back on his job after a few days.