The New Movie Magazine (Jan-Jun 1931)

That Boy f Od rom essa BY JIM TULLY When the World War ended and Milly had recovered from his grief at not being shot to make the world safe for democracy and the panic of 1930, Milly left his other fellow patriots, Kaufman, Sternberg, and Ruggles and got a job with the nice sounding title of "assistant cutter." It paid twenty dollars a week, and he did most of his work with a broom — sweeping the cutting-room floor. Every Saturday he washed the windows in order that the cutters might look down upon the lot and see the directors meditating on the Fourth Dimension and the meaning of life and art-^ in motion pictures. After six months Milly went over to the Fox Studios at more money, and a better broom. Leaving there he joined Mack Sennett, named in his Irish youth Sinot, and pronounced by the whimsical and lovely Mabel Normand, that is no more — "Sin-not." THE sardonic Irishman sized Milly up and ordered a street sweeper for him. He went next to another Irishman, more suave than Sennett, less sardonic, and more easily swayed by his own impulses — Thomas Ince. With a powerful mind and as keen an apprehension as any man I have ever known, Milly learned swiftly from these two men — the fundamentals of films. His next job as chief cutter and writer under William Seiter, the able director-husband of Laura La Plante, held him for three years. With this rigid training as a background he began to look about for a chance to go on his own — as a director. Here, his shrewdness was again in evidence. He refused offers to become an assistant director. A halfdozen years of observation as cutter and gag man — ■ he waited. If he took a job as assistant he might be a detail man for years in an already over-crowded field. His ability and personality had impressed the Warner Brothers, then as daring as any producers in the business, but not in the strong position in which they are today. He directed two pictures for them, "Seven Sinners" and "The Caveman," in which Matt Moore played a leading role. A STRONG man, Milly had made enemies and friends in his climb upward. His most loyal friend was Matt Moore. This actor, a shrewd judge and analyzer of men, met Lewis Milestone was born in Odessa in 1895. His father was a manufacturer. Milestone was sent to Germany to study. The family forwarded money for him to come home for his first vacation — and he used it to buy a ticket to America. Milestone landed in New York with three dollars in his pocket. everybody in films socially. Always at the proper time, he would put in praise for Milly. His name at last came under the notice of the producer of "Two Arabian Knights." Milly was chosen to direct it. The story was barely in embryo at this time. It was utterly different from anything that had ever been done and, as in "All Quiet on the Western Front," the love interest was casual. It detailed the trials and tribulations of two vagabonds in the same gusty picturesque manner in which Cervantes handled Don Quixote and his befuddled follower. It was the finest work of its kind ever done on the screen, far richer with the flavor of life than all the synthetic offerings of Lubitsch and his imitators. The film made Milly and its chief actor, Louis Wolheim. It may here be said in passing that without Milly, Wolheim would not occupy the position in the film world he does today. The best work of Wolheim's career is in "Two Arabian Knights," "The Racket," and "All Quiet on the Western Front"— three Milestone pictures. AFTER Thomas Meighan seemingly had departed from the screen, an effort was made by his friends, among whom was Milly, to bring him back to public favor. Milly was given complete charge in selecting and directing a story in which he appeared. He chose "The Racket." It brought Meighan up again to being a highly successful box-office attraction. It is likely that had Milly's advice been followed, Meighan would have remained in the Big League of films instead of retiring to the bushes of his Great Neck estate. Gratified with Meighan's {Continued, on page 118) 43