Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1927)

Hollywood Moves to the Holy Land 47 of them are artists, some musicians, some writers, as well as actors. So that all are serious of purpose. Even little bits in the film are played byexperienced actors. As the sun went down — quickly, in the California fashion — and a chill descended, the picturesque biblical figures betook themselves to the little boats or, if they chose to walk, strode majestically, their long garments trailing in the breezes, along the hill road which led round to the camp on the isthmus. The principals in the picture all lived at the beautiful old Banning home, built when that family owned the island. It is perched on a shelf on the side of a hill, with a sweep of orchard and shrubbery land before it. At the foot of the hill, in tents, dwelt the rest of the cast and the technical staff. With Julia Faye and others, I dined with Mr. De Mille on his yacht. He was a delightful host. His soul was so full of this picture he was making that he lifted you up with his ideals, yet did not forget to be charmed as well as charming. After dinner came the recreation hour in a big hall provided especially for the purpose by Mr. De Mille. "No time for dissipation !" smiled Edna May Cooper. "You see, we work hard all day, then carr} countless pitchers of hot water — as many as we can coax out of the commissary department — to our tents to wash the make-up off our faces and bodies, which takes about an hour, then have dinner, then the recreation hour, then take a look at the rushes for the day, and finally fall into bed about ten thirty or eleven o'clock — good and ready to do it, too !" The recreation hour was especially interesting. With what really worth-while people De Mille had surrounded himself ! Every one in that company, even those merely playing atmosphere, could furnish something clever in the way of entertainment. Hedwig Reicher, well known on the stage as actress and director, was one notable member. She gave a splendid reading from Ibsen. Then Dick Saunders, who is a composer, played a selection or two' of his own. Edna May Cooper and Mitchell Lyson then danced the Charleston ! After that we went to see the rushes, most impressive of which, to me, was that in which Judas tried to heal the little idiot boy and failed. Ernest Torrence, as Peter, massive, rugged, towering in dramatic power, strong but naive, human and impulsive, laughed at the dismayed Judas — a great, roaring, human laugh. You could almost hear him, as you watched the screen. Everybody went to those rushes, from the prop men to De Mille himself. Everybody felt that this was his picture, and a wonderful spirit prevailed. Ernest Torrence makes a virile, rugged, very human Peter. PbotobyThomaa Photo by Mortensen The Madonna — Dorothy Gumming — prepares to carry a blind child to the Master. Julia Faye gave a birthday party that evening, at the Banning home. Mr. De Mille and his pretty daughter Katherine came from the yacht — Mr. De Mille in a white tuxedo. The orchestra that had been playing for the picture came to play for the dancing. Most of the members of the cast were present, including H. B. Warner, Joseph Schildkraut, Edna May Cooper, Jacqueline Logan, Helen Gilmore, Viola Louie. Dorothy Cumming, Patricia Palmer, Emily Barry, Ernest Torrence. Sam de Grasse, James Neill, Joseph Striker, Kenneth Thomson, and Hedwig Reicher. And, of course, there were Jeanie MacPherson, Peverell Marley, Mitchell Lyson, Mason Litson, Ann Bauchans, Theodore Kosloff, and others of the writing and technical staff. Off in a quiet corner, I came upon James Neill, sitting before a big open fire. We chatted, and he told me how De Mille's father, Henry C. De Mille, had once played the Christ. "It was way back in 1885,". he said, "when a Jewish producer. Salmi Morse, put a play concerning the life of Christ on' the stage in New York. The elder De Mille, then a college professor, appeared, Continued on page 108