Picture-Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1927)

74 What the "Mc" in McAvoy Means May, of the McAvoy clan, has a strong whiff of Scotch in her ancestry and proves it by driving shrewd bargains for her professional services, to the amazement of those who believe her to be just a sweet little thing. By Katherine Lipke BEWARE of the wide-eyed little girls. They suggest so much that they are not. They look helpless and afraid — but the majority of them are more than adequately capable of taking care of themselves. All of which brings the subject up to May McAvoy. For years we have been exclaiming over her sweet, dainty appeal, her "sheltered" charm. And all the time May has been developing into one of the canniest business women in the film industry. The "Mc" in her name is not without its meaning, as many a producer can testify. May's wide, deep eyes have helped drive many a hard and clever bargain — for May. At present she is one of the highest-paid free-lance actresses on the screen. A fair average of the big productions of the past few years have named her in the cast. Companies with contract players of their own have billed May's name above the rest. While other pretty and charming gilds of the leading-lady genus have been dallying around the outskirts, with only occasional good pictures to their credit and a few hundreds on their weekly salary checks, May has been getting an amazing number of coveted plums, with her salary running up into the thousands. The answer to all this lies in May McAvoy herself — not in the god of good luck, nor the fairy of fortune. In 1923 she was a contract player with Famous Players-Lasky, earning a nominal sum, playing in program pictures. The name of May McAvoy meant little or nothing in the picture world, except to those who remembered "Sentimental Tommy." So the tiny picture actress with the wide, appealing eyes .purchased her contract from the studio. She was wise enough not to break it, with a subsequent law suit. She bought it instead. Then followed six months when May didn't work. She wouldn't take just any sort of role in any sort of production. She refused to accept as low a salary as she had been paid at Lasky's. In other words, she "sat tight" and waited. "It was the hardest' period in my whole life," says May. "I was afraid that I would never work again. I began to think that I had been wrong in getting released from my contract. I wondered if any one would remember who May McAvoy was. It was dreadful. You see, I wanted to start out on my own and pick my own pictures and my own salary. And then no one seemed to want me." When the spell finally broke the result was very flattering, for she was engaged by Famous Players at" twice the amount she had earned there under contract, to plav Glenn Hunter's lead in "West of the Water Tower." Even then May didn't lose sight of the whiff of Scotch in her ancestry. She not only received her own financial figure, but she started a plan which has been rigidly followed since — that of stipulating in her various contracts that she be featured in all publicity before other players in the picture. In this way. being a free-lance player hasn't been detrimental to her. Usually a free lancer suffers because all the contract players are given the good "breaks" in publicity and also, in many cases, in the listing over the theaters. Another rule which Ma} has followed is to increase her price after appearing in a large production. Since the release of "Lady Windermere's Fan" and "Ben-Hur," producers and directors have found that it is much more expensive than before to engage May McAvoy for a role. She reasons — and well — that her publicity value -goes up after each big picture. Though the role of Esther in "Ben-Hur" was submerged by the dynamic conflict between Novarro and Bushman, May feels that this picture greatly increased her box-office value. Apparently this system of free lancing is very fruitful. May McAvoy seldom seems to miss out. and certainly she has increased in popularity with her fans, and also in desirability with directors. She has made her service worth bidding for. In the three years since she left Lasky's, she has played leading roles in twelve productions, a fair number of which have been conspicuous films. Among them have been "The Enchanted Cottage," "Three Women," "Tarnish," "Ben-Hur," "Lady Windermere's Fan," "The Road to Glory," "The Savage," "The Passionate Quest," and "The Fire Brigade." Recently May refused to play in a picture because she wasn't guaranteed the number of weeks' work that seemed right to her. The studio official assured her that the May McAvoy' s motto is, "I have picture would to take care of myself," and she probably take lives up to it by making iron longer than the bound stipulations for producers time she specified to follow. Continued on page 109