Paramount Press Books (1918)

SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE To Be Used by Exhibitors in Their House Organs or by Editors Who Desire Original Stories on Enrico Caruso or “My Cousin.” An Artcraft Picture To Lunch With Enrico Caruso, World-Famed Tenor, Is Not an Everyday Adventure to be Easily Forgotten You Never Saw Eggs Cooked as He Orders Them, Nor Chickens Nor Potatoes Prepared by His Recipe, Nor Have You Ever Smelled such Odorous Cheese — Star Loves Fruit and Plenty of It TO be invited to lunch with Signor Enrico Caruso is not an everyday adventure, and not one to be forgotten easily. You will be pleased because you would rather hear him talk and watch his fac’al expressions than to eat a long ponderous luncheon. While you are listening to the great tenor the waiter appears with two cocktails. Caruso lifts his and drinks to your health. Perhaps you ask him if he is not afraid of ruining his voice, and then he laughs at you. You never saw eggs cooked the way he has ordered them for a first course. You never heard of a salad made this way and out of these things. You never knew there was still another way to cook a chicken, and you aren’t sure that you are eating potatoes, although they look very much like the common garden variety dressed up in a new style. But corn on the cob ! Caruso does not eat it in public. He says it is a delectable fruit which should be consumed only in one’s boudoir, or bath tub. Caruso is a connoisseur of wines and cheeses. He will introduce to you strange odorous cheeses that vou never knew existed, and if you are not well acquainted with wines you will believe that 'che amber liquid he ordered is as harmless as tonic — until later. He eats fruit, and then more fruit. When he has eaten all the fruit he wishes, he drinks black coffee and brandy. Again you ask him if he is not fearful of ruining his voice. He says : “Bah ! Have I not told you that I never pet it? It is a strong voice — look — povind !” And he insists that you strike his chest with all the force you can muster and he laughs at your efforts to make an impression. “The moving picture work gives me a hunger,” he explains when his new occupation is mentioned to him. At the Famous Player studio, where Mr. Caruso was engaged in the making of his first picture, “My Cousin,” the property men and scene shifters all knew his habit of eating fruit between scenes, and Mr. Caruso was never at a loss for someone to run out and buy a new supply. A restaurant scene in the new Caruso picture, “My Cousin,” which will be shown at the Theatre next , shows the great tenor in the act of eating spaghetti in the natural Italian fa.shion. “It was more like play than work,” he laughed. “The whole picture was a unique pleasure for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it.” Mr. Caruso is now engaged in the making of the second picture for the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, and this may be the last, before the opening of the opera season. After signing his contract with the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation the noted tenor made a tour of the Famous Players-Lasky offices and was surprised at the immensity of the business institution handling the sales and production of Paramount and Artcraft pictures. Accompanied by Adolph Zukor, President of the Company, and Mr. Lasky, Mr. Caruso was then taken to the studios in New York and New Jersey where he viewed the activities of Marguerite Clark, Elsie Ferguson, Billie Burke, John Barrymore and other stars of the company. It was pointed out that Mr. Caruso’s final decision to accept a motion picture contract was largely prompted by a patriotic motive. His usual summer engagements in Europe seemed cut out of the question because of war conditions there and rather than spend these months in idleness the celebrated star of the opera expressed particular pleasure at the opportunity of being busily engaged in artistic endeavor, and incidentally turning over to the Government a large sum of money in the way of income and film taxes as a result of his activities before the motion picture camera. Although the terms of the contract are not available it is understood that the amount of money involved in the agreement is tremendous. Mr. Caruso will appear in at least two pictures during the season, which were produced conjointly at the New York or the Fort Lee studio of the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. 3