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Will the Stars Behave?
53
all right, but it was over the long-distance telephone from New York. Mr. Schenck fairly burned up the wire as he told Vivian and Rosetta to "go back on that set, and get to work, and take orders from the director, or I'll be out there on the first train and things will pop when I arrive ! What do you mean, anyway? Think the picture is backed by the mint?"
That was not the exact language, but it was what he meant. And the stars returned to complete their picture.
"Temperament," exclaimed their friends.
"Temperament, nothing!" said others. "Temper!"
It was neither, but difference of opinion, honestly expressed. The Duncans had made a big success of "Topsy and Eva" on the stage and knew what would get over. The director had made many successful pictures and knew what would not get over. And they did not agree.
Not many persons realize the tremendous strain stars are under 'when absorbed in production. Few outsiders know the driving effort behind their work — effort which taxes their strength, puts their nerves on edge, and sometimes causes hysteria.
When little Betty Bronson, one of the '■ most placid and gentle actresses, was making "A Kiss for Cinderella" two years ago, she worked continuously from nine o'clock one morning till two the next. At midnight she was so tired she swayed on her feet. At one o'clock she was able to stand, but that was about all.
"We must finish this," said Herbert Brenon, the director. "Steady, now !"
At two o'clock Betty stopped dead still, stared through glassy eyes and suddenly emitted a .scream which was heard from one end Betty of the studio to the
Though Jetta Goudal denies that she is temperamental, she has liad many differences with licr
employers.
other. This was followed by another and another as she ran from the set screaming, to topple on the couch in her dressing room, in hysteria. It took hours to quiet her and she was incapacitated for work next day.
Virtually the same thing happened with Esther Ralston more recently, during the making of "Ten Modern Commandments." She had done one scene seventeen times and still it was not satisfactory to the director. Weary, on the verge of tears, nerves at the breaking point, she suddenly turned to her director like a raging tigress. Her voice, loud with recrimination, rent the air. She staggered to the door, fell, then crawled on her hands and knees to 'her dressing room. There she lapsed into unconsciousness, and thus members of the company found her.
"I eventually bad a good cry," Miss Ralston said, "and felt better. Tears are the safety valve to a girl's pent-up emotion in a studio just the same as elsewhere."
These were not cases of temperament, but of physical exhaustion and nerves. [Cont'd on page 94]
Bronson's most startling outburst n'as caused by nervous exhaustion.