Sparrows (United Artists) (1926)

Live Stories^ Wj£h Real Newspaper^ Interest GEN. DAWES FOUND PEACE ONMOVIE LOT Vice-President Liked Confusion Of Noise And Action In Mary Pickford Production Work. Gen. Dawes, Vice-President, likes pep and action and something 1 doing all the time. That’s why he was perfectly at home on the Mary Pickford lot one day while the famous star was making “Sparrows” the United Artists Corporation release which comes to ... Gen. Dawes, accompanied by Mrs. Dawes and their daughter, was on a tour of the west. They were guests of Miss Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks at their studio. The General Walked past a lot of “Pirates” who were whooping things up on the “Spanish Main,” and into the swamp were Miss Pickford was working on “Sparrows”. Here in a jungle of stagnant water and moss-covered trees, with din and confusion and shouting on all sides, the General sank into a canvas chair and declared it the most peaceful spot he had seen on his entire trip. DIPLOMAT NEEDED TO PICKFILM BABY Great Difficulty Choosing Pretty Infant For Role In Mary Pickford’s “Sparrows.” Since the beginning of time, every mother has thought her baby the prettiest in the world. This was brought home forcibly to Emile de Ruelle, of the Mary Pickford studio, during the making of “Spar¬ rows”, Mary’s new picture coming to t he . A pretty baby was needed for the picture and a call went out. In came the babies, and after looking at about 200 they all .looked alike to de Ruelle. However, each mother insisted that HER baby was the prettiest and most clever. There were fat and thin babies, those with hair and without, babies with teeth and babies with none. “I would rather cast forty pictures with grown ups than- pick out one baby,” said de Ruelle, throwing up his hands. So a committee of impartial bachel¬ ors was called in and they chose Mary Louise Miller, who played the little kidnapped child. Mary justified their judgment. She is not only beautiful but a superb actor for her nineteen months. There are scenes when she almost “steals the picture.” SHORTS Mary Pickford spent many days in a swamp, immersed in cold water up to her waist and carrying children almost as heavy as herself while “Sparrows,” her newest picture, was being made. She won the everlasting respect of every man on the set by her gameness. Nine children who played with Mary Pickford in “Sparrows,” her newest picture, were put on salary weeks be¬ fore the picture started so they could play about the studio and get accus¬ tomed to their new surroundings—and incidentally toughen their feet, for .none of them wear shoes in the picture. MARY PICKFORD CUTS NEW MOVIE TRAILS That’s Why Her “Sparrows,” Full Of Comedy And Action, Is Different. Friday night is “fight night” in Hol¬ lywood, when Movielamd turns out to see the boxing matches. Standing in front of the Legion Stadium one night not long ago were five men prominent in pictures. One was a producer. An¬ other a director. A third a scenario writer and two were actors. All wore the same cut suits, the same yellow shoes, the same soft hat with fancy band. They typified Movieland. Many more, dressed in similar fashion, were passing into the big pavilion. The similarity of clothing is a sign¬ post of Hollywood. It extends into the studio management and to a large ex¬ tent into the pictures produced—this similarity or uniformness. The producers are constantly fighting to get away from it. Mary Pickford is one of them. Miss Pickford never tries to do what is in vogue at the time^ She never does a certain type of story because it seems “the thing” to do. Mary Pickford picks her screen vehicles as carefully as a jnan picks his first automobile. First the story must be clean and wholesome, entertaining and suited to her talents. It must be interesting to old and young alike, li it fills these requirements and is what is known as good “screen material” she is very likely to accept it. And it is not at all necessary that this type of story may seem in style at the present. “Sparrows,” Miss Pickford’s great epic of the Southern swamps, which comes to- . is a story to¬ tally different from any of her pre¬ vious vehicles. Yet it combines laughs and tears, thrills and suspense, and it iis m'igbty fine entertainment. It deal's with the adventures of a little band of children on a baby farm. Miss Pickford, of course, is the leader of the band and the thrilling experi¬ ences they meet make up a story that holds interest to the end. Comedy is a predominating feature, too, and Miss Pickford never appeared to better advantage than as the self- sacrificing “Mama Mollie” of “Spar¬ rows.” ALMOST A “ZOO”IN MARY PICKFORD FILM “Sparrows,” Shows All Kinds Of Menagerie Inhabitants— Unusual Scenic Beauty. The Mary Pickford lot was teem¬ ing with animal life during the making of “Sparrows,” Miss Pickford’s newest United Artists Corporation release, which comes to._ The story is laid in the swamps of the south. Alligators play an impor¬ tant role in the picture. Farm horses, cows, pigs and chickens were housed on the" boggy “f'arm” on which the pic¬ ture was made. Dogs, birds, turtles, tadpoles, fish and other animals are aides to “atmoshpere” of the picture. Hundreds of wild birds swarmed in the trees overhead, and the typical buz¬ zards of the south were unconscious actors in the drama. From a scenic standpoint alone “Sparrows” is said to be one of the finest pictures yet produced. The at¬ mosphere of the swamp land lent itself to some remarkable photographic effects. NINE CHILD STARS IN MARY PICKFORD MOVIE Remarkable Juveniles Chosen From 500 And Everyone Made Good In “Sparrows.” Nine of the most remarkable child actors in pictures are seen in Mary Pickford’s “Sparrows,” the United Artists Corporation picture which comes to..... The young stars were chosen from almost 500 children, who responded to a call from Miss Pickford before the picture was started. They were chosen because of their wistful, sad faces, for all are supposed to be onphans or abandoned children on a baby farm. Everyone proved to be a real “troup¬ er”—a willing and capable worker be¬ fore the camera. They got great fun out of their work, and were faithful and attentive, responding willingly to direction at all times. Their wardrobe did not contain a single article of children’s wearing ap¬ parel.- The .clothes they wore in the picture were the cast-off clothing of grown-ups, gleaned from second-hand stores in Los Angeles. The children were outfitted by Tom McNamara, well known artist who draws children’s comics, and who aided in the direction o>f the picture. Baby Muriel McCormac, well known child star, is one of the group. Billy Butts is another. Monty O’Grady proved to be a “find” and will be heard from in the future. Others in the cast are Billy “Red” Jones, Jack Lavine, Mary McLane, Florence Rogan, Cam- milla Johnson, Seessel Anne Johnson, Sylvia Bernard and Mary Louise Mil¬ ler. The latter two are but babies. “VETERANS” IN MOVIES MEET FORFIRST TIME Mary Pickford And C. Gardner Sullivan Work Together In Former’s “Sparrows.” Back in the days when the first “store shows” were opened in (your city) and the Biograph Girl was becoming fam¬ ous, a young New York newspaperman saw an advertisement offering $50 for moving picture scenarios. He wrote a scenario one night, sold it the next day for the $50, and the newspaper world lost a good copy editor. The young man was C. Gardner Sul¬ livan, probably the most famous scen¬ ario writer today. Since that time the Biograph Girl has become the most famous woman in the world—Mary Pickford, of course. Both Miss Pickford and Mr. Sulli¬ van found fame in pictures, yet they never met until recently. Miss Pick¬ ford sent for Sullivan and commis¬ sioned him to write the scenario for “Sparrows” in which she comes to “I was pleased to meet Miss Pick¬ ford, and still more pleased to work with her,” Sullivan said. “She is be¬ yond doubt the most wonderful person in pictures, and I am sorry not to have been associated with her before. “In ‘Sparrows’ she has one of her greatest vehicles, one with the atmo¬ sphere of Dickens, and the opportunity for quaint humor and touching pathos that only Miss Pickford can give to the screen.” WHISTLING TABOO ON MARY PICKFORD “LOT” Just One Of The Pet Supersti¬ tions Of Famous Cinema Star Who Admits It Willingly. All the world is superstitious but few, indeed, are willing to admit it. Even Mary Pickford, whose latest pro¬ duction “Sparrows” a United Artists Corporation release is now at . has a pet little superstition of her own. She owns to a shrinking belief that it is unlucky to whistle on the set or in the dressing room—especially in the latter. Misis Pickford is singularly sensible and clear-headed, but she just doesn’t like whistling. Even the workmen observe the un¬ written rule and though gaiety and song are encouraged, the lilt of whistle was never heard on the Pickford-Fairbanks lot until Douglas Fairbanks started his new color picture, “The Black Pirate.” As the script called for a parrot, a gaudy bird was imported and now all day long, he whistles shrilly to the de¬ spair of the dogs, Robin, Rooney and Zorro, and also of the little star her¬ self whose blood shivers and runs a bit cold at the sound and who longed for the day when he could be and was banished. NO TRAINING ROUTINE FOR MARY PICKFORD “Work Keeps Me Thin,” And I Don’t Have To Diet,” Says Cinema Star. Mary Pickford’s picture work keeps her in training. The petite star whose newest United Artists Corporation re¬ lease “Sparrows” comes to the. has no need of setting the exercises, rolling on the floor or other means of keeping in trim. During the making of “Sparrows” Miss Pickford was at the studio from early morning until late at night each day. She worked harder than anyone on the set, while the picture was in production. In one sequence she ran up and down a ladder, in her bare feet, carrying a baby that weighed thirty pounds. Sev¬ eral hours of this provided enough ex¬ ercise for anyone in a single day. At another point in the story she boosted a boy that weighed eighty pounds up the ladder. In her escape across the swamp she carried the same baby that she trans¬ ported up and down the ladder, making her way through muck and mud, often knee deep, with this burden on her shoulders. “I have no difficulty in keeping thin,” Miss Pickford explained. “I do not have to diet nor take special exercises. A daily routine of work before the camera, followed by a steam bath, and I’m in no need of any special exercises. “But it’s fun, and I enjoy every minute of it.” Flanigan, the skinny horse that got so fat in “Little Annie Rooney” he worked himself out of a job, was put to work hauling a plow before Mary Pick¬ ford started her latest picture “Spar¬ rows.” Flanigan worked off the sur¬ plus flesh and was given a part as a skinny horse in “Sparrows.”