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26
P h o t o P I a v Journal
LIKE so many others who have achieved success in the picture game, Director Chet Wither served his apJ prenticeship on the stage. While playing bits with stock companies on the coast he would occasionally lower himself by taking roles in film dramas. For in those days. Mr. Withey says, a legitimate player always looked down on the movies.
His first real movie affiliation was with the Selig Company, of Edendale, in 1919, as a scenario writer, this organization and the Bison company being the only two on the coast at that time.
"The Mack Sennett studios was my next stop as a scenario writer," Mr. Withey said, in telling of his experience, while seated at dinner in the Lotos Club, where he frequently
CHET'S CLIMB
dines when in New York, "and herein lies a little joke. As a boy, I had always wanted to play the role of a blackface comedian, and my chance came when I was invited to join the Roscoe Arbuckle parade — six of the scenario writers were honored in this waj — and I was the only one in the sextette who had the courage to refuse. As a result of this unwillingness, 1 was fired on Saturday night. Shortly after this, I became associated with the Triangle Fine Arts, where I wrote scenarios and was finally assigned to do some directorial work."
i Chet had found his sphere at last, and to the perfection of his work he devoted all his talents and ability. Besides the Fine Arts some of the older concerns with which he was associated in the earlier days were the American, Keystone, and RelianceMajestic. His initial effort as a director for Triangle was "The Devil's Needle," in which Norma Talmadge was starred. Among the other productions of this period which were directed by Mr. Withey were "The Old Folks at Home," "Mr. Goode — the Samaritan," "The Village Prodigal," and "Madame Bo-Peep." Under the Vitagraph banner comes "An Alabaster Box." Then followed his association with Artcraft. Probably his best known work under these auspices is "The Hun Within," a picture which won unusual success and advanced Witney's reputation more than ever. His work for Paramount includes "Maggie Pepper," "Little Comrade," and "The Teeth of the Tiger." More recently he directed Norma Talmadge in "The New Moon" and "She Loves and Lies." One of his best known pictures is "On the Quiet," in which John Barrymore was starred.
Chet Withey's rise to the ranks of one of our foremost directors was not a case of one projected into tame over night. He missed none of the rungs in his climb to the top of the ladder, and the results of his characteristic earnestness and persistent endeavors speak for themselves. The screen version of Edward Sheldon's "Romance," offered many difficult problems for the films — its picture adaptability was looked upon as a poor venture by. the majority of producers. Here was a story emphasizing unusual characterization and emotional situations in which dialogue rather than action predominated. The general consensus of opinion following its first showing at the Strand, was another splendid tribute to the genius of its director. Behind the success of Doris Keane in the leading role, is the ever-visible evidence of a director whose skillful guid( Continued on page 55)
June Terry, Basil Sydney and Mr. Withey
Mr. and Mrs. Chet