The Photo-Play Journal (Jul 1919-Feb 1921)

Record Details:

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October, 1920 29 had been left just outside of the set sat a number of the actors, made-up and ready. The Bug took a seat among them. "Did you write this story?" Harry Gribbon, who was playing the feature part, asked. "No. Frank Conklin wrote it." The Bug replied with a tired look. He knew what was coming if he said "yes." "I'd like to find out something of what it's about — nobody seems to know except Al and you can't get near him long enough to find out the title." "You'll find out what it's about soon enough" the Bug replied. "Besides, if we told you all about it now you wouldn't enjoy it at all when you take your friends down to the theatre to see it." "Can the satire," Gribbon said, and then, "Say, did you hear about Gus Leonard? He bought a bus yesterday and ran it all the way home on the starting motor." A general laugh greeted this. "I'll bet he was afraid all the time he'd get pinched for speeding," somebody chimed in. Half an hour passed and suddenly everyone was aroused from his lethargy by sound of Al Christie's brisk walk. He came to the center of the set and clapped his hands. Immediately everyone was on his feet and attentive. "We'll start with a long shot, Nagy," the boss announced. "Girls have you got your dance ready? All right let me see it." The music started and the girls made their entrance on the little stage doing a chorus step. The scene was a big stag party in the home of a tremendously wealthy clubman and everything was supposed to go off like it would in a regular cabaret, only more so. To an outsider the action would have seemed to be perfect but Christie's keen eye saw a hundred things that had to be remedied and for a while he was a perfect volcano of rapidfire instructions. Eventually he was pleased, however, but before the take he sent some of the girls to their dressing rooms to tidy up their make-ups. He saw the Bug sitting by and looking a bit glum and went over to him. "Well, John, where do you go after you leave the undertaking parlor?" "I didn't say anything about an undertaking parlor," the Bug said sourly. "We open up in a cleaning and dyeing shop. Fay is the clerk and in comes Charlie Christie bustled up with a quick, jerky step that resembled his brother's. "Say, Al, just got a telegram from Ruth Allen and she says they want umpty thousand for "Going Up." I think we ought to ■" and they were off on a long and 'earnest discussion of prices and showman angles that ended when everything was ready for the taking of the scene. The Bug sat around for a while and then catching sight of Scott Darling, the scenario editor, he dragged him off across the street and bought him a Coca Cola and poured out his tale of woe. "What do you suppose Al is doing— kidding me?" he began, "I've been trying to tell him a corking good story all morning and everytime I get started he walks away from me. It's discouraging, y'know. I get down here at eight o'clock all full of pep, ready to go to work on the continuity, if the story is O. K. and here it is ten o'clock and I haven't had ten words with him." "Why don't you put it on paper and hand it to him?" Scott interrupted. "Gee, we never did that over at Sennett's," the Bug complained, "It's real labor for me when it comes to pounding a typewriter. I use the pick and choose system and I'd be here until midnight. It would only take me fifteen minutes if I could get his attention to tell it to him." "Well maybe you can get hold of him at lunch time." Scott replied and they started back to the studio. Long before they reached the stage they heard Al's voice. Evidently the work was not progressing favorably, for he was raising the devil about something. Just as they came onto the set he threw his brand new straw hat on the floor and jumped on it. "There goes another five-dollar straw" Scott said. "You had better not try to see him until after he is entirely through with this set. He's got another bunch of extras to work with and they always get his goat. The Bug watched the scene for a while and soon saw the wisdom of the editor's remark. The boss had worked himself up to a certain pitch where it was unsafe for anybody, regardless of who he was, to interrupt him. He decided to wait and catch him at the noon hour after he had had time to cool down a bit. But at lunch time Scott Sidney grabbed him and began to cry into his soup about the trouble he was having with his five-reel meller drammer. The result was that they hurried back from Frank's to spend the rest of the noon-hour in the projecting room, and when they came out Al was saying "I don't give a continental dang — take it all over again !" "But Al, for the love uv Mike !" Scott protested. But the Bug had heard enough. He groaned inwardly and went up to his cubbyhole of an office to smoke Fatimas and see if he could think of a way to strengthen his story. He knew it would be impossible to get his boss's ear until after five o'clock now. At half past five Christie quit work and went to his office. He was immediately besieged by Porter, the Vice-President, Harry Edwards, manager of production, and a few others whose business must come up before a mere story. At last they were all gone and Christie had just settled back in his chair when the Bug poked his head in the door and grinned. Al looked at him with a humorous twinkle in his eye and said: "Have you written any more scenes in the undertaking parlor, Bug?" he asked. "Now, seriously, Mr. Christie," the Bug replied, "I realize that a cleaning and dyeing establishment is a very uninteresting background but I just simply open the story there. I want Fay to borrow a dress that some woman has left to be cleaned to go to the firemen's ball and when she gets there she meets the woman that owns the dress and the woman recognizes it and "Go ahead," said Mr. Christie, as the Bug hesitated in a vain attempt to ascertain the boss's reaction to his latest wonder-story. But not a sign from Mr. Christie ! "Then I've got an unique fight with a different kind of chase in it. That's where you have a chance to bring in the Filmfollies Beauties. You see — : — The Bug saw that his auditor was gazing at the ceiling and counting on his fingers as though trying to recall some date. He stopped and waited for some sign from the boss. "One, two, three — " Christie mused, "no, by golly we haven't used that plot for three years and last time it was a male lead." The Bug's heart sank but the boss rambled on. "Yes sir, I remember now — it made a good two reeler. Get Stevie to give you a copy of "A Suit for Suitors" and see if you can put something new and novel in it. Yessir, m'boy, it ought to make a good story for Fay with a fresh mind on it and a female lead — always was good — I've used it four times."