Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1926)

Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section Second Sight [ CONTINUED FROM PACE 76 ] Which she vehemently denies. I suppose if I had said it was because she had such pretty curly hair (which she lias) or such lovely big brown eyes (ditto) everything would have been all right. But, though she was one of America's successful playwrights, and has been editorial director of a huge producing company, like First Xational, and with Sam Rork is now producing pictures herself, Marion Fairfax is so essentially feminine that she objects violently to being told that she has a logical mind. There is another solid foundation, also, for her uncanny judgment. During the earlyyears of pictures she and William de Mille and Hector Turnbull (now head of the Lasky scenario department) spent several years in the scenario department at Lasky's, given full rein by Jesse L. Lasky to develop a technique of screen writing. All three were successful playwrights, and Mr. Lasky wanted them to discover the basic necessities of writing screen plays. They didn't entirely succeed, but such scenario technique as we have is very largely based upon those early efforts. 'An odd fact, by the way, is that practically every one of our great women scenario writers — and there is no question that women are supreme in that branch — has started out to act. Frances Marion played heavies with Mary Pickford before she began to write scenarios and she and Mary formed that partnership which gave to the world the greatest Pickford features and made both Mary Pickford and Frances Marion. Jeanie McPherson started as an extra in pictures. June Mathis was a musical comedy ingenue and stage leading lady. Jane Murfin went to New York to act, and there she and Jane Cowl wrote "Lilac Time" and "Smilin' Through,'' before Jane became one of our best scenarists. Bess Meredyth, who gets much credit for "Ben Hur" and all for "The Sea Beast," was a favorite screen comedienne ten years ago. MARION FAIRFAX, born in Richmond, Va., educated in Chicago, ran away from college in Boston to go on the stage. While she was playing the ingenue in " The Gay Parisians " she met Tully Marshall, who was in the same company, and at the end of the season they were married and have been ever since. They are one of those couples who make you believe in marriage. Soon after this, Miss Fairfax wrote her first play, "The Builders," and it was a huge success. She also played the ingenue role, and, because she was so young and inexperienced that she feared it might affect the success of the play, she tried to keep the authorship a secret. (Personally I think it was because somebody might think she was a blue stocking.) Anyway, it leaked out and in spite of it the play was a huge success and Miss Fairfax came into a glare of publicity and prominence. Her other most successful plays were "The Chaperon," "The Talker" and "Mrs. Boltay's Daughter." When she dropped into a movie theater and saw Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" her heart was instantly won to pictures, and she came west to join the Lasky scenario department. Among the big screen successes that she has written and in some cases supervised were "The Chorus Lady," "The Black List," with Blanche Sweet and Tommy Meighan; "The Valley of the Giants" and "The Roaring Road" series for Wally Reid, "River's End," "Dinty," "A Lady of Quality," "Flaming Youth" and "The Lost World." Now she and Sam Rork are producing pictures. The present one is "The Desert Healer." It ought to be good. PAT-Three-large perfectly matched lre^chet.lueearPph?rei>?T8,Kt. white $42-50 post prepaid on 10 bays free Tr.al. Then ROYALDIAMOND aWATCH G ADDRESS DErt ESQ 170 BROADWAY, NY. yourself to Beauty! D ETAIN that glowing loveliness. Radiate the color of RETAIN that glowing I youth in spite of waves and PERT Main ROUGE-it's wa A touch or two of PERT m. times. Through hours of swirr nor streak. PERT Moist (crear at rhe touch of cleansing cream or soap. Light Orange (changes to pink on skint for white skin Dark Orange for medium skin. Rose for olive complexion. PERT Waterproof Lipstick to match. Rouge or lipstick. 75c each, U. S. or Canada. From your dealer or direct Radii cerproof and woi ;mingHrUwilirm n) ROUGE var By using 't tub oft. ness at all ther fade only by ; C\ffor t F°r P"fect coloring send 1 2c for a sample of \SjJCT. pERT Molsl ROUGE. Another 1 2c brings a sample of PERT Powdet — Waterproof. ROSS CO., 241-H West 17th St., New York 9ert PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE.