Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1916)

The Stmv of David Wark Griffith si and The Law." coming, and Griffith would likely have remained a moder ately su< cessful actoi n ith !iis ambition limited to the reading of pleasant reviews of his acting, and possibly an offer from 1 >avid Belasco or Charles Frohman. li was that $5.00 a daj which acted as Fortune's spur and whip, in her rid ing his soul in the race of existence. Those old-time scena rios were ridiculous af lairs : still you may have occasionally noticed some ridiculous scenarios for the big re tiers of today : true though, then all pictures were absurd, and Griffith kii"\v it. Relentlessly he pursued his fate ; it was evident that to accomplish anything it was necessary to direct : anyone c o u 1 d write a scenario, anyone '. literally in those days) could act in a picture ; but the man who directed a picture in its making could do what others had not done ; he could put beauty, creative faculty, impressiveness into the film. So this sensitised human plate, from whose mind was to come the positive art of the photoplay, bothered the people at the studio until he was grudgingly given authority to direct a picture. This was those "Adventures of Dollv" of which (iriftith now speaks slightingly. At the time Dolly was produced the Biograph was putting out fifteen copies, but Dolly at once jumped this to twentyeight. And those champion hammer-throwers about the studio began to rub their chins, and find other reasons than Griffith for the sudden increase. Even at that he was given scant regard ; he wanted of course the best camera man. but G. W. Bitzer was then the chief The punch scene in Griffith's first photoplaw" The. Adventures of Dolly. " The late Arthur Johnson is the hero and Linda Arvidson, the woman. Two other scenes from " The Adventures of Dolly" all of which were taken from the film which is still in possession of the Biograph company.