Picturegoer (1923)

AUGUST 1923 ROMEO DESERTS JULIET (Contiiiiicil from l^aiic 11). the town where my stage career was to bejjin." From then onwards Ivan RIosjoukiiie continued his voyaj^c through stageland with considerable success, and soon afterwards made his debut on the screen appearing in short original scenarios and stories derived from the works of Dostoievsky, Tolstoi, Pouchkine and others. Owing to grave political events in Russia at the time, not many of his films were seen in Europe and it is only since his arrival in Paris two or three years ago that he has become well-known as a screen artiste. One of his first films was L'Angoissantc Avcnturc, and this was followed by Enfant du Carnaz-al, Justice d'Abord, and Tcmpctcs all of w'hich met with an enthusiastic reception at the hands of ardent picturcgoer^s. His first really big picture, how •ever, is La Maison du Mystcrc sold to Stoll for release in England shortly. It is by far the best EVench producyon seen for three years. Ivan Mosjoukine is one of those producers who is only Tiappy when he can put plenty of realism into a picture, and this is greatly apparent in The House of Mystery. In one of the episodes convicts are escaping in a runaway train and warders on horseback are pursuing' them through the rough country, firing as they go. It is a most thrilling scene. The train was careering madly along" when Mosjoukine suddenly noticed a small bridge built rather low over the line, and if the little party of actors had not thrown themselves face downwards on the roofs of the waggons on which they were standing, they would have been killed instantaneously. The train was going at a terrible speed down the incline and they had no time to remove the cameras, indeed they forgot all about them and the apparatus' was flung a hundred yards from the line. Iiicrediliic as it may seem they were not tlamaged ami the negative was intact, but it would have been a diifercnt story if the members of the company had remained standing ! Again in the same film Mosjoukine and his fellow '" convicts " were climbing hand over hand across a rope stretched between two cliffs with a drop of a thousand feet beneath them. Suddenly there was a tearing sound and the rope broke neatly in two and the artistes remained suspended in mid-air with death as their ^n^o if they let go. One of them took the chance and he had nearly every bone in his body broken, but he lives to tell the tale. In one of the scenes Mosjoukine Pict\jKe5 and Pic t\j^e Over has a terrific fight with his enemy Corradin (Charles Vanel) and, although it lasted ten minutes on the screen it took three weeks to take. At the end of each day Mosjoukine used to return to his dressing rooms supported by two artistes, dead with fatigue, his body covered with bruises, his nose streaming and his eyes blackened. Vanel, however, was in no better plight, and this happy life was continued for very nearly a month. It is one of the 63 nearly a montn. it is one oi tne^ finest bjts of realism seen for j^ A scene froii: " .\J y Friend, the Devil," released this ntoiitii. a long time, but again goes to i)rove that the life of the kinema star is not quite a garden of roses. During their fight a heavy bookcase filled with massive volumes had to fall on the two men battling for their ]i\es (in the film, of course, but very nearly in earnest!), and the producer and stage hands offered to stoj) the cameras and lay the bookcase gently on the two men grappling on the floor. Rut Mosjoukine and X'anel would not have it. and the bookcase \\as left to crash on them with all its might. After this, the fight is continued on the balcony of the house in which it takes place and Mosjoukine is thrown down a cliff with no nets to save him if he fell too far. He just managed tf) catch hold of a bush, but if he had missed .... '\t this moment we were interrupted by the raucous cries of an assistant producer searching for Mosjoukine, requiring him to pose with Juliette for some " stills." " Romeo, Romeo, Romeo ! ROMEO, DEAR!" The shouts filled the theatre and Mosjoukine leaning over the front of the box bade the man to be silent. Mosjoukine is an artiste who will not be hurried in any way and in the studios his word is law. It was at Montreuil that I was introduced to Kenelm Foss, the well known British artiste and producer, who takes the part of Lord Mewil m Kean. It is he who has adapted Alexandre Dumas' story and the story of the life of Edmund Kean for the screen ,and he is now engaged in cutting the film. I also met charming and pretty Mary Odette who has a most interesting role, that of Anna Danby, tragic and sentimental but one that suits her vivacious temperament. She spoke English, .so did Kenelm Foss. Then I met the well-known Danish artiste. Otto Dctfelsen (the Prince of Wales). I forget what language he spoke. 1 next had the pleasure of meeting M. Deneubourg the actor. He converses in . . . French. I was introduced to Madame Lissenko (Mrs. Ivan . Mosjoukine) the Countess of Koefeld in Kean, herself a nost accomplished artiste who has scored a triumph in /.r Brasicr Ardent. She spoke to me both in English and French. Then 1 met Nicholas Kolline, a talented Russian artiste, who plays the part of Soloman, Edmiuid Kean's prompter in the film. He said he was pleased to meet me and he said it in Russian. Ivan Mosjoukine thinks stage trainTiig is valuable tOr kinema work. " In my o])inioii," he t(jld me, " There is so very little difference between stage and kinema acting, and this difference is only a matter of techniciue, the knowledge of which is speedily gained. 1 am convinced, nothwithstanding, that those who fail on the stage will also fail before the moving picture camera." I had the good fortune, while at Montreuil, to witness one of the funniest scenes in Kean being filmed. Kean is being visited by his creditors, and hiding in a room on the second floor of his house he is struck by the amusing notion of dressing up Soloman to resemble a tiger and thus scare away the creditors. Soloman, the Tiger, thi-n leaps down the stairs and clears the hall and front door in no time, while Kean, hidden behind a marble pillar his face wreathed in smiles, watches the side-splitting effect of his trick. I left the Montreuil studio with a feeling that Mosjoukine is another Rex Ingram. With very little he has done much and he has many worlds to conquer. Besides he has a most devoted staff and company. Several of his technicians cf)mprise the biggest names in Russia before the re\()lution. He pointed out to me among his electricians, two Princes, an Army general and a Cavalry officer who l)elonged to the Czar retinue. Kea)t is a cosmopolitan i)roduction with a vengeanci'.