Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1921 - Feb 1922)

A Girl's Adventures in Movieland 67 beth Peterson, who was there, took pity on me and took me up with her. It seemed awfully nice to be with some one I knew — I had met her when she was Pearl White's press agent, so she knew about how excited I get over meeting one of my favorites. We went to the Biltmore Hotel where the luncheon was to be held, and when we went in from the crowded street to the elegant and quiet coolness of the lobby I just held my breath. There were lots of people hurrying about and bell boys looking for people, but it didn't seem a bit bustly or noisy. People sat around on the most beautiful chairs as though they were quite used to them at home, and I was the only person who seemed a bit interested in stopping to stare at everything. Over the buzz of voices a low orchestra could be heard. I guess there must have been a dining room somewhere near there, but I didn't see it though I did peek in all the doors we passed. Everywhere there were just lots of palms like a big wedding, and magnificently upholstered dark-colored chairs and lounges where people sat and talked. A man in a uniform stunning enough to be leading man in a movie about royalty directed us to a private dining room where he said Mary Miles Minter's luncheon was to be held. He didn't seem to be at all surprised or impressed because we were going there. I couldn't help wondering what would impress a man who worked' in an elegant place like that where great celebrities from all over the world come and go every day. At the end of a thick-carpeted corridor we went into a room furnished with luxurious lounges and chairs, where several groups of men and women were standing about chatting. I felt awfully shy about going in among them, for I knew that all the rest were brilliant writers, but an awfully nice girl came out to the door to meet us and was so cordial that I felt much less strange. She introduced us around to everybody, but I was so busy glancing about and trying to locate Mary Miles Minter that I hardly noticed any one else. And when I met her she fairly took my breath away, she looked so pretty in the extremely short dark taffeta dress that she wore with a bunch of sweet peas at her waist. She seemed so animated — she fairly sparkled with life and freshness which you wouldn't expect in a young person whose entire life had been spent in the atmosphere of tlje theater. I thought she would be much more blase, and wearylike. ]\Iiss iMinter is beautiful — she looks exactly like her movie self, even to her height and build. I can't understand that, for most players look somewhat different off screen than on, thinner and smaller usually. Her complexion is exquisite, and her wide, grayish-blue eyes and pearly-white teeth make her exceptionally lovely. She was talking about her grandmother when we met her. She spoke of her as being "Such a dear !" Then she went on to tell how young and full of pep her grandmother is. You could see she just worshiped her. While we were talking, Emma-Lindsay Squier entered ! You know, I was awfully anxious to see what she and some of the other writers whose stories I had read were like. I thought they ought to look a little m is 7* I felt like me my stopping every one to tell them that Mary Miles Minter had given flowers and that she had actually worn them for a while, too. different from regular people, wear mannish costumes and horn-rimmed spectacles,, but none of them at this luncheon seemed like that. They were mostly all young girls dressed in the latest fashion, and the men didn't look at all like reporters or long-haired writers. You can surmise from Miss Squier's interviews that she is lively and pleasant, and you know from the pictures of her with stars she interviews that she is yovmg and pretty. \\^hen I asked her if it weren't wonderful to live out in Hollywood right in the midst of the movie people — she laughed. I suppose that living among them