Picture-Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1921)

Advertising Section 99 creations worn by Gloria Swanson, Wanda Hawley, and Bebe Daniels. Sophie Wachner, who heads the Goldwyn wardrobe department, not only costumes the women, but the men as well. She does everything from dressing ghosts and scarecrows to creating de-luxe vamp gowns or smart-tailored clothes. Under her is a corps of cutters and fitters who are constantly at work. To hold such a position, it is necessary to know the photographic value of. every material from silk to burlap. Miss Wachner can tell at a glance how colors will register. She knows that a light yellow turns into white on the screen, a dark yellow becomes a muddy black. An art department is with many studios a recent innovation. Formerly it was not considered necessary to have a separate department in which to study the photographic values of sets, furniture, and decorations. But to-day it is considered a necessity in the up-to-date studio, and usually a woman is in charge. Grace Lynch, head of the Goldwyn art department, goes through the script of every picture before it is commenced and makes a study of the period or character around which the story revolves. Then she sketches out the sets to the most minute detail, with an eye to the photographic value as well as to the beauty of the furnishings. Betty Huntington Brown, who according to report, is soon to be made art director of one of the big Eastern companies, has worked independently for some time making sets for several producers. She has, perhaps, the most through training of any woman in such a position, for after studving at the Art Students' League in New York, she took courses in both interior decoration and architecture. Mademosielle Natacha Rambova. formerly a Russian ballet dancer, has forsaken the footlights to assist Nazimova in the designing of sets and costumes for her forthcoming productions which will include "Camille" and "Aphrodite." She was formerly with Theodore Kosloff. both as dancer and designer of costumes, and is employing bizarre and futuristic ideas in obtaining the effects which are necessary for Nazimova's exotic personality. Another line of work about which one hears little, yet which in reality is a sort of power behind the throne iob is that of being secretary and business manager to the stars. Mrs. Maude Latham, the sister of May Allison, has handled the vast correspondence of the blond star ever since her entry into the motion-picture field. Mrs. Latham also super vises a corps of clerical workers in handling the voluminous fan mail, and is Miss Allison's business manager. In this connection, Peggy Hager is probably the best-known secretary in the movie world. She commenced as personal secretary to Nazimova and gradually took on the supervision of the correspondence and photo sending of half a dozen other stars. As a side line, she has accumulated a small fortune by arranging interviews with stars and various corporations with investment schemes. It is a tremendous responsibility, as she must make sure that the propositions are bona-fide ones, and that it would be really worth the star's while to grant the interview. Needless to say, a generous commission follows in the wake of successfully closed deals. Publicity, the much-abused, but important step-child of Mamma Movie, is never so happy and healthy as when taken in charge by a woman. Mabel Condon has perhaps made the greatest success in the publicity line. She combines the work with an employment exchange where she secures positions for actors and actresses, arranges contracts, places scenarios, and sells the screen rights of novels. It was she who started Bessie Love on her upward way to stardom. It was she who took Gloria Swanson to interview Cecil De Mille. For many years she has been Bill Russell's business manager, and she has handled publicity for William Duncan, Margarita Fischer, Carmel Myers, and Anita Stewart. There is one angle of the film industry which so far has been but little invaded by the feminist movement, the producing end of the game. Women as a rule have been content to let the men furnish and spend the money for pictures. Cathrine Curtis, is. so far as I know, the only woman who is actually using her own money to back a motion-picture company. Miss Curtis is the High Mogul behind the King Vidor productions. And so, as I said before, woman suffrage has invaded the silent drama. It is Ladies' Day, and no one with brains, perseverance, and originality is barred. By this I do not mean that the industry is putting in want ads for female help. It is not easy to break into any department, but it is possible. As with everv other worth-while business, it is necessary to begin at the bottom. But what these women have done, others can do and are doing. It is largely a matter of determination, and of Work — spelled with a capital "W." Keep Your Eye on Jim!" 'It's not alone what a man does during working hours, but outside of working hours— that determines his future. There are plenty of men who do a good job while they're at it, but who work with one eye on the clock and one ear cocked for the whistle. They long for that loaf at noon and for that evening hour in the bowling alley. They are good workers and they'll always be just that— ten years from now they are likely to be right where they are today. "But when you see a man putting in his noon hour learning more about his work, you see a man who won't stay down. His job today is just a stepping-stone to something better. He'll never be satisfied until he hits the top. And he'll get there, because he's the kind of man we want in this firm's responsible positions. You can always depend on a man like Jim. "Every important man in this plant won out in the same way. Our treasurer used to be a bookkeeper. The sales manager started in a branch office up state. The factory superintendent was at a lathe a few years ago. The chief designer rose from the bottom in the drafting room. The traffic manager was a clerk. "All these men won their advancements through spare time study with the International Correspondence Schools. Today they are earning four or five times— yes, some of them ten times as much money as when they came with us. "That's why I say that Jim there is one of our future executives. Keep your eye on him. Give him every chance— he'll make good !" Employers everywhere are looking for men who really want to get ahead. If you want to make more money, show your employer that you're trying to be worth more money. _ If you want more responsibility, show him you're willing to prepare yourself for it. For 29 years the International Correspondence Schools have been training men and women right in their own homes after supper, or whenever they had a little time to spare. More than two million have stepped up in just this way. More than 130,000 are studying now. Ten thousand are starting every month. Can you afford to let another priceless hour pass without making your start toward something better? Here is all we ask— without cost, without obligation, mark and mail this coupon. It's a little thing that takes but a moment, but it's the most important thing you can do today. Do It now! INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS BOX 4562-B SCRANTON, PA. Explain, without obligating me, how I can quallfyforthe position, or in the subject, before which I mark X. ELECTRICAL ENGINEER □ SALESMANSHIP □ ADVERTISING □ Window Trimmer □ Show Card and Sign Ptg. □ Railroad Positions □ILLUSTRATING □ Cartooning □ business management □ Private Secretary B Business Correspondent BOOKKEEPER □ Stenographer and T;rpl£t □ Cert. Pub. Accountant □ TRAFFIC MANAGER □ Railway Accountant □ Commercial Law □ GOOD ENGLISH □ Common School Subjects □ CIVIL SERVICE □ Railwav Mail Clerk □automobiles □ Mathematics □ Navigation 1 □Spanish □ AGRICULTURE I □Teacher □ Poultry Raising | _Bai.klng Electric Lighting and Kyi, _ Electric Wiring □ Telegraph Engineer B Telephone Work MECHANICAL ENGINEER □ Mechanical Draftsman □ Machine Shop Practice Toolmaker Gas Engine Operating _ CIVIL ENGINEER B Surveying and Mapping MINE FOREMAN or ENG'R STATIONARY ENGINEER Marine Engineer Ship Draftsman I ARCHITECT □ Contractor and Bnllder □ Architectural Draftsman □ Concrete Builder □ Structural Engineer □ PLUMBING AND HEATIKG — Sheet Metal Worker Textile Orerseeror Snpt, B CHEMIST Pharmacy Present Occupation Street and No Business .Address _ City. . State Canadians may send this coupon to International Correspondence Schools Canadian, Ltd., Montreal, Canad4