Paramount Press Books (1918)

SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE For Use of Exhibitors in Their House Organs or of Editors Who Hi Desire Original Story on Maurice Tourneur or on “Sporting Life” • A PARAMOUNTARTCRAFT SPECIAL PICTURE Maurice Tourneur, Famous Motion Picture Director, Has Given Many Superb Masterpieces to the Screen His First Offering as an Independent Producer is “Sporting Life,” a Fine Picturization of a Famous Drury Lane Melodrama — Has had Many Successes Maurice tourneur, who recently launched his own motion picture producing company, the first offering of which is a magnificent picturization of “Sporting Life” a famous old Drury Lane melodrama which was all the rage twenty years ago, is widely known for his ambitious screen offerings. This is his twenty-eighth American production, many of these now ranking as famous screen classics. Mr. Tourneur was identified with the Eclair and other French motion picture concerns for many years prior to his appearance in this country on May 1, 1914. He served as director for the World Film Company for a brief period and later joined the Paramount and Artcraft producing forces. In his forty-six months in the United States, Mr. Tourneur averaged one production for every six weeks, a record made by no other director in the field of the silent drama. Mr. Tourneur produced “The Whip,” based upon a celebrated old English melodrama, and he is also responsible for “The Blue Bird,” a superb picturization for Artcraft of Maurice Maeterlinck’s famous allegorical masterpiece. He directed many of Elsie Ferguson’s picture successes, and “The Poor Little Rich Girl,” one of Mary Pickford’s most celebrated picture stories. He also made Clara Kimball Young’s adaptation of “Trilby” and he was the discoverer of Vivian Martin, one of the best known of Paramount stars. Mr. Tourneur was a painter, an actor, and a musician of repute before he finally took up the art of making pictures as his life’s work. He believes that the star system is a fallacy and that a group of carefully picked screen players, each of high ability, is likely to please film fans most and tend to elevate the art. For this reason, he says, he picked for the cast of “Sporting Life,” players of ability, each cut out for a distinct character type, the result being a charming performance from the standpoint of art. That Mr. Tourneur’s judgment was sound, was demonstrated when “Sporting Life” was presented at the Rivoli theatre, New York, on September 15, 1918. It scored one of the biggest successes of the screen year. The newspaper comments of the New York critics were unanmous that Mr. Tourneur has launched himself as a producer with an unquestioned hit. “Few motion picture directors equal, and fewer surpass, Maurice Tourneur in the art of making scenes for the screen,” said the New York Times. “By this work he stands out prominently, even among the small group of exceptional men who appreciate the peculiar powers of the camera and know how to employ them in the production of a photoplay. Once more, and in some ways more than ever, he has revealed his creative genius in ‘Sporting Life,’ the featured film at the Rivoli Theatre this week. Mr. Tourneur has not faltered before any of the big, comprehensive scenes, such as those of the prizefight and the Derby race, while in the little incidents also he has done not only the obvious and expected, but the surprising. “The spectators were drawn into the excitement of the play’s episodes, applauding and exclaiming at the succession of climaxes, as people do only when they are thrilled by a sense of participation in what they see or hear. It is a remarkable picture.” “Sporting Life” will be presented for the first time in this city at the theatre next That it will prove a superior drawing card is undoubted and already much interest in the production is evident among the clientele of that playhouse. 3