Tess of the Storm Country (United Artists) (1922)

More General Advance Publicity Stories POVERTY VS. RICHES IN PICKFORD PICTURE Happiness in Squalid Hu} While Despair Stalks Through^al- ace of Wealth Mary Pickford’s highly diverting re-creation of “Tess of the Storm • Country,” the first production of which she brought to the screen eight years ago, and the new pro¬ duction of which is coming to the . Theatre next . under a United Artists release, of¬ fers a most interesting contrast in the lights and shades of life as symbolized by dramatic feeling vis¬ ualized before realistic settings of We two widely different classes, squalid and luxurious. Miss Pickford, as the heroine, Tess, in this picture is an impov¬ erished resident of a lowly fisher¬ men’s village and her cabin is the last word in crude, humble appoint¬ ments. No carpets grace the floor and all the furniture is of the tum¬ ble-down variety. The one stove is so dilapidated it won’t even hold smoke, and energetic efforts are nec¬ essary to keep the fire from falling out of it. Comforts in. this squalid abode are scarce and it is to the credit of the art director that he succeeded in producing such convinc¬ ing effects of poverty. As the story of “Tess of the Storm Country” goes there is a home of almost unlimited opulence in close proximity to this hut—on a hill just above it. In this veritable palace lives the man who owns the land upon which Tess’s cabin stands against his wishes. The most strik¬ ing room in this latter place of wealthy habitation is a grand parlor and in the arranging of this “set” the art director has once more achieved something worthy of note. This is truly one of the most beau¬ tiful interiors which has been shown GREAT INTEREST IN NEW PICKFORD FILM Marked Enthusiasm Over “Tess of the Storm Country” at the ..Theatre Seldom has there been shown such a marked interest in a forthcoming photoplay as that evinced by local theatre-goers since the first an¬ nouncement of the coming of Mary Pickford in her own and a new ver¬ sion of “Tess of the Storm Country,” a united Artists release which will be the attraction at -the .. Theatre beginning . It is perhaps the combination of a fav¬ orite star in a favorite play which makes this screen event so notable, but it is also certain the fact that Miss Pickford has greatly elaborated on her triumphant histrionic efforts of eight years ago has had a marked effect in intensifying the public in¬ terest. It is well known that this cele¬ brated star has gone to a great ex¬ on the potion picture screen for some time. The rug which covers this floor actually cost $7,000 and the cut- glass chandelier which is suspended in the middle of the room cost quite a few hundred real dollars. The broad stairs which lead from this “set” are distinctly unique in design and it was a costly proposition to build them for the' reason that they are both original and practical. They are so constructed that the incline is so slight one does not realize there is much ascent. The landing, which is halfway up, is a novelty inasmuch as it is quite large enough to be classed as a small room and serves as a semi-balcony. Miss Pickford conceived and per¬ sonally drew the plans for these stairs and hence they could be ap¬ propriately christened Mary Pickford stairs. So far as any of the experts on the staff of the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios are concerned, no other stair¬ case was ever like this one. It is certain few film producers have ever spent as much time and money on a single feature of a “set” as this star has on this. . The various other “sets” of the rich man’s home are equally attrac¬ tive. It would seem that no gloom or sadness could come to those for¬ tunate enough to dwell in the midst of all these handsome surroundings, but, as might be expected, the daugh¬ ter of the master of this household gets into deep trouble and her brother has his troubles due to the opposition of his sire to his love for the humble Tess. • Therefore, it is fitting to declare the shadows of life are cast, in this case, where the lights would be ex¬ pected. In impressive contrast, the joy-infusing lights radiate from the humble center of the cabin in which Tess resides. She emerges from the squalor encompassing her to spread sunshine in the form of real help¬ fulness to those much better situ¬ ated and the spirit of this pure drama evolved in this screen classic is ac¬ centuated by the carefully arranged contrasts in the settings atop the hill and at the bottom of it. pense in reproducing “Tess of the Storm Country” because of her am¬ bition to improve upon it to such an extent as to insure its popularity in posterity. Critics throughout the country agree she has succeeded in her purpose and it is freely predicted this great film drama will live as long as there is such a thing as a motion picture screen. It is said Miss Pickford reaches the zenith of her dramatic powers in her interpretation of the character of. this sympathy-winning and ad¬ mirable heroine and many authorities proclaim it truly marvellous as an example of her incomparable ability to make people laugh one minute and cry the next. Miss Pickford’s wonderful ability to run the gaunt¬ let of human emotions with so much natural realism is the secret of her unprecedented . success as an expo¬ nent of. the cinema art. In this epochal photoplay she is surrounded by a supporting cast of exceptional brilliance. Lloyd Hughes in the leading male role, which was originally created by the late Harold Lockwood, and Gloria Hope as Teola Graves are especially good while David Torrence, Forrest Robinson, Danny Hoy, Jean Hersholt, Gus Saville and Madame de Bodamere all give excellent performances. REAL DILAPIDATION IN SCREEN VILLAGE Actual Old Shacks in Mary Pick¬ ford’s “Tess of the Storm Country” When Mary Pickford got through instructing Frank B. Ormston, her art director, as to how she wanted the reproduction of the lowly fisher¬ men’s village built for her new 1922 photoplay version of “Tess of the Storm Country,” a United Artists’ Corporation release coming to The . Theatre next . he says he felt just as if he had been plunged into a combination house¬ wrecking and junk business. This feeling was inspired by Miss Pickford’s emphatic determination to attain actual realism by having a "set” in which real dilapidation should be unmistakable. . As de¬ scribed by Grace Miller White in her famous “best-seller” novel from which this photoplay was adapted, this center of the activities of the lovable Tess constituted a veritable last word in tumble-down shacjcs and shanties. The requirements of this produc¬ tion, so explicitly explained by the star, sent Mr. Ormston on a quest of old things in general which ex¬ tended over a period of five weeks and covered most of Southern Cali¬ fornia. In San Diego he found a queer old house, built forty-three years ago. He bought the whole thing, took it apart, crated and ship¬ ped it to Chatsworth Lake, the site selected for the village, where he put it together agaip and made it one of the dozen or more complete and practical huts in the “set.” Up near Santa Barbara he found a particularly old-fashioned door-step, which soon found its way onto the TROUBLE LOSES IN MARY PICKFORD FILM Heroine Vanquishes Obstacles in the New “Tess of the Storm Country” As Mary Pickford draws the char¬ acter of the heroine of her latest screen triumph, “Tess of the Storm Country,” her own new production of this famous film classic which will be seen, next . under a United Artists release at the .. ... Theatre, she is a most formidable, little foe to Demon Trouble. The battle she offers so courage¬ ously against all the onslaughts, of the elements of woe entering into the lives of those in whom she is interested so loyally constitutes an engrossing study in how victory may be achieved by occupants of the least advantageous hovel even though completely surrounded by every force calculated to crush contentment and happiness. When in the course. of stirringly dramatic events in this photoplay, the trusting daughter of a wealthy land-owner gets into deep trouble //trough a misguided love affair, Tess comes forward as the heroic personi¬ fication of the friend in need and lifts the cumbersome burdens of dire worry from the shoulders of the shores of Chatsworth. It was on one of the oldest ranches in America that he found the hut which served as the picture home of the Longmans, Ezra, the younger of whom, cuts such a wide swath in the story through his persistency in foisting his ill-advised love upon the heroine. The shack of Ben Letts, the villain, came from a real fishermen’s, village in Lower California, as did also Tess’s thoroughly dilapidated cabin. All the boats and fishing parapher¬ nalia came from various long aband¬ oned Pacific coast fishing points. Great care was exercised to pre¬ serve every mark of time on this large collection of antiquated mate¬ rial. Real money was spent to avoid the destruction of even a single cob¬ web. Old windows with cracked and partly broken panes were handled as if they were fine cut-glass. Days were devoted to the search for old broken-down furniture and stoves. More days were dedicated to the as¬ sembling of old-time fishing nets. When Mr. Ormston completed his task of erecting this motion picture fishing village a Los Angeles news¬ paper editor proclaimed it “the oldest looking bunch of dilapidation and the most remarkable example of realism” he had ever seen in all his years of identification with the motion picture industry. “Even the old board walk creaked as if it had endured about its last hundred years of usefulness,” he added. “And, the most amazing thing of all to me was that the shacks actually held together and did not fall down.” Yet every one of the several huts was practical and the interiors of all were used either as dressing-rooms or storage places for equipment. There was no make-believe about this "set.” It was real in. all the word implies and as it registers in “Tess of the Storm Country,” no one ever will mistake it for artificial “props” such as . are so commonly used in film plays. erring child of opulence. This is not accomplished without a self-sacrifice, which all but wrecks the prospective happiness of the sacrificing one, but without pausing to count the costs, she vanquishes trouble from the sphere of her superior in social standing. Simultaneously circumstantial, evi¬ dence has plunged Daddy Skinner, Tess’s beloved father, into the deep woe of being accused falsely of mur¬ der. Once more the little heroine of the fishermen wields all the mighty influence of the invincible warrior bold in her method of eradicating the worry wrinkles from her elder’s brow. Then, to top it all, one villainous fisherman persists in foisting his u.n- desired attentions upon the girl while she is being annoyed by . the ad¬ vances of the village half-wit. Thus trouble comes to her in a. double dose, going the limit, in testing her mettle. However, this Tess finds a way to foil fate itself in. this case and her two unwelcome suitors come to logical disappointments through the cleverness of the object of their ardor. Summarizing, it is patent the intention of Grace Miller White in creating such a lovable character as Tess was to offer a convincing demonstration of how the lowly might brighten the lives of the higher-ups and Miss Pickford in her artistic presentation of the traits of this admirable conqueror of Demon Troubl* has placed aer fame as the foremost exponent of the silent drama several inches higher. When you see Tess, you will see Trouble ort the run, and Tess accomplishes her victories in a walkl