Picture Show (Nov 1919-Apr 1920)

8 HER DOUBLE LIFE ^fZ'tt™ us yqur sister was pals with George Battersby. I'll wire liim to join us. What's his address ? " Bethia supplied the address, while Harry hesitated rosy -cheeked. "I — I feel sure he isn't at liberty,". Harry said. " He told me he had to go to Sheffield on a contract." " Oh, he can send somebody else." said Delia. '' What do you bet he comes on the next train I " Harry shook her head. She knew George and his creed of " Business first." u And a good thing too ! " she reflected. "It would be very awkward if he were to see mo here— after the excuses I made when I earns away— and as for my appointment with tho cinema man Oh, dear, whatever would George say to that ? " However, tho appointment with the cinema man was enough to fill Harry's mind ; she sat on the sands trying to think what ever she had done that made them want her — plain littlo person that she was — on the film. She felt afraid at the thought of her familiar features on the screen. She 6crutinised them in a pocketglass on the sly, decided that her eyebrows, which she had always thought too heavy, wero perhaps a good shape when she didn't frown ; even if her nose was too saucy, and her mouth too wide, and her teeth too big and strong) though they did very well to eat apples, and had so far cracked nuts with impunity. And the Towers party frolicked in the gently retreating waves in gay raiment of amazing designs, chiefly remarkable for being very tight in the body, short in the legs, and desperately low in the neck ; and finished, which looked very odd to simple Harry, with buskined hose, floating chiffon scarves, and amazing headdresses. The mode of the moment was ' dazzle," and the Towers party were very " dazzle " indeed. How athletic George Battersby would have despised those lazy couples, she thought, basking like porpoises on the sands, between going in for a few splashing, squealing frolics in the shallow water ! Later on the " porpoises " gathered round a sumptuous spread on the sands, waited on by two Swiss menservants, who picked their way dexterously among the limbs of the recumbent bathers. The food was delicious, as Harry reflected rather sadly, if Bethia and she had only been having a picnic to themselves. " The luxury is all right ; it's the company I should draw the line at," she murmured to her sister, finding themselves together by chance, the after-lunch bask having set in. " I don't care for butterfly men." " Then you're beastly ungrateful," responded Bethia. " You couldn't get into society like his on your own. You're likely to feel like a fish out of water. However, you mado quite a clever hit in trotting out George Battersby. Now Delia's mad to have him here, and you are to stay as a bait. So that's all to the good." "" I'd no idea he knew Delia Eawley ! " " That's the joke. She doesn't know Ih'iii ; but she worships him — keeps his picture on her dressing-table, and all that. And — and she means to know him." " But how can she ask him — if she doesn't know him ? " " Oh, trust Delia to find a way ! " " Well, he certainly won't come. He'd hale this kind of thing. At Cliff End last summer he swam half a mile every day— all weathers, too. He'd despise this crowd." " Well, have you thought of anything yet ? " asked Bethia despairingly. " It would be easy enough if George came, wouldn't it '! " " You talk as if there were nobody in the world but George," mT\d Harry. " I'll try for you, but I've not much hope of anything like the amount you want." " " Then my name's Mud," said Bethia. With the Cinema People. AS Harry crept out of the house on ' tho following morning, she told herself that surely the cinema man would not expect her. It was a grey morning with a fine mist driving from tho sea ; she had chosen to wear a brown knitted jersey and tweed skirt, with a ecarlet muffler knotted under her pointed chin. " There'll be nobody to meet me ;' it's too wet," she told herself. But there was the motor-boat standing off from the rocks, with a small figure in oilskins in the stern, and a tall man waiting on the rocks. " You're punctual," he greeted her. " That's all to the good. Punctuality is the first virtue in a cinema actor. Say, I'm Lambert — Ted Lambert, second in command. I was here with the boss yesterday. You wouldn't look at me hardly ; but I may say, 1 saw you first, and it was my idea to nobble you for that part. You see, it's my piece, and I w^nt you to take the lead enormously. You'll make it." " But why me, more than any other girl ? " " Just this ; not that you're a prize beauty, or anything like that, but just that you look as if you meant it more than any girl I ever saw. Now, you're going across to our hotel, if you don't mind, to have a bit of breakfast, to meet .Mrs. Hellows and the rest of the crowd, and talk business. "Here's Daisy, too. No leaving that kid behind. She's been talking about you ever since yesterday morning. '-' " I'd love to come— if you'll promise to bring me back," laughed Harry. She had felt so awkward and shy with those men at the Towers — but she wanted to go on the water with this friendly young fellow with the laughing blue eyes and untidy fair hair half hiding a deep scar on his forehead. Little Daisy cleverly brought the boat alongside, and Lambert took charge, while the child t brew oilskinned arms round her neck and hugged her. " Little nuisances — kids," commented Lambert, a trifle enviously. Harry enjoyed that little sail in the rain ; the exhilarating motion, the spray on her cheeks, the queer sensation of being among friends, and going to a certain welcome. Mr. Hellows was waiting on tho landing stage of, the Imperial Hotel. He shook hands warmly and led her into the big dining-room, where a large company were making a merry noise over breakfast. A lively, friendly, happy party it was over which kindly Mrs. Hellows presided, and she welcomed Harry in a way that went straight to tiie girl's heart. They wero mostly young men and girls, with a sprinkling of elders just as jolly as the juniors, and all enjoying a hearty breakfast like people in the pink of condition. _ All the looks levelled at the newcomer were, if curious, friendly and welcoming. And that, FROM office boy to screen' star, that is the proud record of " Bobbie " Harron. When Harron left school, he got his first engagement as an office boy in a motion picture studio ; and he must have been born under an especially ' lucky star, because that studio belonged to the most famous of all producers — D. W. Griffith. In addition to running errands, he assisted in painting scenery, helping with the, properties, and he appeared in photo-plays as an " extra." His Early Plays. HIS first prominent part was. that of the* youngster in " Bobbie's Kodak." Other very early plays he appeared in wero "Bobbie the Coward," made when he was fourteen years old ; ' Kentucky Feud," " Enoch Arden," and " Sands o' Dee," the picture in which Mae Marsh played her first important role. Robert Harron, who was one of the first regular picture men, has many interesting reminiscences of filmland's brightest stars. He remembers Mary Pickford as a shy little girl, always accompanied to the studio by her mother. The Freckle-Faced Girl. BLANCHE SWEET, the little blonde, who always had a great desire to play emotional parts ; Mae Marsh, the little, freckle-faced wisp of a girl who sat on a stump of tree and squinted at the sun, and was discovered by Griffith ; Lillian and Dorothy Gish, the two Southern girls who attracted Griffith's attention on the occasion of their visit to tho studio to see Mary Pickford ; Henry Walthall and his " temperament " : and of Griffith him Thc Pitt are Show, Xovember l»t, 1919. you will admit, is not the usual atmosphere ot ' an hotel breakfast-room towards a stranger. " All our' crowd," Mr. Hellows introduced the lot with a comprehensive gesture. " We may be a bit rough and ready, bat we're genuine. Anq we get the best we can out of life. There'* a boy that lost an arm at Mons : there's anotherthat went through the whole thing from start to finish, and was in despair because thera didn't seem to be a billet for him when the war was over. Three of our girls are war widows— they don't wear their hearts on their sleeves, either. Good sports, every one, and," he added, " I hope you're going to be one of us." Harry enjoyed her breakfast, and in the course of it was introduced to several friendly young people whose names were already familiar to -her eyes, from tho posters. There was " Dickie Baird," whoso alert, perky face was a household word ; there was duinty, drooping Lisa Snow, whose almost pathetic appearance masked a fund of endless humour and sparkle. And little Daisy brought up one by one all the attractive, wide-awake, jolly cinema youngsters, who looked at her at first with childish doubt, , and then pronounced her " all right." And Harry liked them all immensely. They got round a fire of driftwood in the hotel lounge, Hellows and his wife, Ted Lambert and Harry, to talk business. It was an immensely satisfactory talk ; for when Harry was replaced on her rock by Lambert an hour later, she had in her pocket fifty pounds in Treasury notes. This was a preliminary fee, outside her proper pay, which was to be fixed when she started work. And she was to get some dresses and other things ready, and join the company in a few days' time at a summer camp not a hundred miles from London, where the scene of the new play was laid. Harry's heart beat high ; she was tremendously proud and happy. • It was such a lot of money, and Bethia would be so pleased. Thero was only one difficulty. How was she to carry out her engagement and still keep it a secret from her people, and above all from George ? If Bethia knew, she would certainly let it out. However, thero was plenty of time to think about that, and for the present, there was that delightful, amazing fifty pounds that would clear away all the clouds from her dear Bethia's horizon. (Another splendid instalment next week.) self, who worked into the small hours of the morning perfecting new ideas. Still in the Limelight. IT is an interesting fact that nearly all the old " Biograph " company have retained the ' public favour and are still very much in the. limelight, although many more recent stars ' have " gone under." Robert Harron was born in New York City on April 12th, 1894. He is still a real " boy," ! and his friends say he will never " quite grow up." He simply refuses to be serious unless his , director insists on it. Harron is largely self-educated, and he possesses a really extraordinary knowledge of literature. A little look about the studio will reve; 1 any number of Bobby's pets. He takes particular interest in caring for them. One of his. especial friends is " Cuddles," a large, faithful ' looking animal that he rescued when it was a puppy from some schoolboys who were treating it cruelly. The dog has never forgotten Bobby's kind action. In his spare time Bobby plays the violin. Not long ago he had an expensive Strad stohn from a hotel in which he was dining. This caused him great grief,, for he was particularly fond of the instrument He is a firm believer in athletics, and is an intrepid boxer and is very fond of dancing. Although he has played in a very large number of photo-plays, ho will be especially remembered for his fine work in Griffith's three super-pr.oductions, " Tho Birth of a Nation," "' Intolerance," and " Hearts of the World." ROBERT HARRON. From Office Boy to Screen Star — A Proud Record. Splendid New Competition Now Being Prepared For Our Readers. Watch "The Picture Show " For Full Particulars.