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

More Special Exclusive Mary Pickford Stories Mary Pickford Describes Beauty on the Screen Famous and Beautiful Film Star and Producer Gives Personal Views For Benefit of Young Women Who Aspire to Become Actresses WEEKS IN WOODS FOR MARY PICKFORD Spent Many Days in Remaking Her “Tess of the Storm Country” For the benefit of those thou¬ sands of young girls throughout the United States who have aspirations t)o become screen stars, Mary Pick¬ ford, “Queen of the Screen,” has consented to give her views as to beauty requirements on the part of candidates for film honors. Miss Pickford, whose new production of “Tess of the Storm Country,” that famous screen classic in which she won one of her earlier picture triumphs, is coming next. ti^the . Theatre under a AJnited Artists Corporation release, made the following statement: BEAUTY APPLIED TO THE SCREEN (Dictated by Mary Pickford) There is little one can say about beauty—little, I mean, that has not been said before. It is skin deep, or it is a quality'of the soul, depend¬ ing entirely on the viewpoint of the individual. Therefore we will not argue the matter. Instead we will take for the theme of this story, “Beauty as it applies to the Screen.” . Oft have I been asked the. ques¬ tion, “Need one be beautiful to suc¬ ceed in pictures?” Almost every girl who contemplates the screen as a career makes this query, either of herself or of some person whom she thinks qualified to give advice. I know it has been asked of me count¬ less times. And my reply is always, “Yes and no.” A baffling answer, you say? On the surface it would seem just that. But let us analyze: To me beauty is as the individual sees it. What one person declares beautiful fre¬ quently has no appeal whatever to another. Therefore, it seems quite illogical to fix a set definition for beauty. While it is quite true that kindred spirits will define a thing as PUSS PICKFORD WINS * ROTARIAN APPLAUSE Five Thousand Cheer Her as She Greets Them in the Costume of “Tess” On the occasion of the thirteenth international convention of Rotarians held at Los Angeles, the Pickford- Fairbanks studios were thrown open to them and as a consequence thou¬ sands of the members of this great organization swarmed to this favored spot of Filmland. Mary Pickford was in the midst of the task of re-filming “Tess of the Storm Coun¬ try,” her great triumph of eight years ago and which is coming to the. Theater next.under a United Artists release. Due to the necessity of sticking close to her work on the enclosed stage, Miss Pickford in¬ tended to leave most of the enter¬ taining of the guests to her husband, ^Douglas Fairbanks. She had a good reason for this—she was living the life of Tess, the waif of a lowly beautiful, the degree to which it is beautiful in the mind of each varies, depending on the individual concept. So after all, beauty is an individual concept. I think I can illustrate my point best by taking a beautiful sun¬ set as an example. Several personals may look at a sunset and declare it beautiful, but were it possible to measure the vibrations set up within the soul of each, we would discover a wide divergence in the figures on the scorecard. Which serves to prove that beauty is not a constant quality. For that reason I say “yes and no” when I am asked if beauty is a prime ingredient for the recipe that makes screen success. There are many who judge beauty by surface indications—by what they see only. That sort of beauty, while some¬ times a great aid, is, nevertheless, not absolutely necessary for success in the films. Beauty of face alone, with no depth of feeling to re-en¬ force it, will not serve to push one to the top. In fact, one can get along entirely without good looks providing the features possess that elusive photographic quality so in¬ dispensable to the screen aspirant. Beauty that radiates from the per¬ sonality is absolutely necessary. No one can depict character without it. It is the elusive thing, the element that none can define. It stirs emo¬ tions, rouses sympathies, calls forth tears. For want of a better name, we call it genius, and it does not necessarily go with a pretty face. Therefore, I say “Yes,” if you ask about beauty of character; and I say “No”I if you mean only beauty of form and face, which makes my answer “Yes and No,” concerning the needi of beauty as applied to pictures. A fishermen’s village and not only was she attired in rags, but her ankles and feet were bare. Modesty forbade her parading before strangers in such a make-up. However, when something like five thousand visitors had succeeded in getting inside the grounds there was started a very decided clamor for Miss Pickford. This clamor soon developed into a collective demand, good-natured, but none the less in¬ sistent, and when it became apparent there would be no let-up in it, Mr. Fairbanks ordered a recess in his own work and 'disappeared. Upon confronting. Miss Pickford on her “set” and enlightening her as to the state of affairs precipitated by the numerous Rotarians, she de¬ murred. He laughingly insisted that she accompany him for at least one “bow.” She begged for enough time to change costume, but he dissuaded her from this idea with a lot of fast talking. Thus it came to pass that in less than five minutes he had “America’s Sweetheart,” rigged out as the hum¬ ble Tess, in the presence of the guests, and, leading her by the hand, escorted her the full length of the “set” between two dense lines of cheering humanity. Marv Pickford, famous screen star, devoted five full weeks to almost unbelievable strenuosity in her re¬ filming of “Tess of the Storm Coun¬ try,” a United Artists release coming next . to the ... Theatre. This work was done in a complete fishermen’s village she had built on Chatsworth Lake, thirty miles from Los Angeles. The Chatsworth district is in the heart of real California “wilds,” where obtains a great deal of primi¬ tive life, and it was an ideal spot for an obscure village such as this story called for. The “set” Miss Pickford had constructed on the lake shore was unique inasmuch as all of the huts and cabins were practical throughout, the interior of each serv¬ ing as either a dressing-room or a storage place for equipment. Since this section was too far out-of-the-way to make it feasible to wire in electrical currents, a huge motor generator was installed to supply the “juice” for the many powerful lights used in num¬ erous night scenes. A fire engine was also on the job pumping from the lake an adequate water - supply for all needs. As several of the more vital situa¬ tions in the drama were such as to make it advisable to film them on the studio grounds, it was necessary to erect at the studio an accurate replica of Tess’s cabin with a section of the lake and on this “set” Miss Pickford did some of her most artis¬ tic work in re-creating the lovable character of Grace Miller White’s never-to-be-forgotten heroine. This elaborate new production of Miss Pickford’s great picture triumph of earlier years is called a photoplay masterpiece that will endure through posterity and it is Miss Pickford’s hope that it shall live as a source of joy for decades to come. MARY PICKFORD A SCREEN STAR MAKER Lloyd Hughes and Gloria Hope Near Heights in “Tess of the Storm Country” Few stars have given so many pos¬ sessors of histrionic talent so many opportunities to ascend to screen stardom as has Mary Pickford. The late Harold Lockwood became a star overnight as a result of serving as Miss Pickford’s leading man in the first filming of “Tess of the Storm Country” eight years ago, and, now in the new and elaborated 1922 ver¬ sion of this history-making picture, a United Artists release coming to the .. Theatre next.. Lloyd Hughes bids fair to emerge from the enacting of this same char¬ acter a full-fledged star in his own right. There is also a strong possibility of Gloria Hope, who is in this same cast, achieving a like stellar purpose. She is playing the important part of Teola Graves opposite Miss Pick- MARY PICKFORD IN NEW-OLD PHOTOPLAY Will Be Seen in Her Own 1922 Production of “Tess of the Storm Country” An artistic triumph of several years ago, “Tess of the Storm Coun¬ try” has been revived in a new pro¬ duction by Mary Pickford. It is the first instance in which a great star has rebuilt from the past a motion picture which won for her the fore¬ most place in the heart of the screen worshipping public. “Tess of the Storm Country,” in its new form—all old prints of the original production having been with¬ drawn from circulation—deals with the human drama arising in an hum¬ ble community of fishermen—squat¬ ters on the shore of a lake belonging to a wealthy and greedy owner. Stern efforts to evict the fisherfolk are centered on Tess, daughter of a mild old waterman. It is her winsome beauty and sweetness which inspire the son of the wealthy man to inter¬ cede for the squatters. There is a conflict between this young man and a villanious rough who persecutes the girl with unwel¬ come attentions. A heart touching sacrifice on the part of Tess saves the rich man’s daughter from dis¬ grace, and there is powerful situa¬ tion added by the fisher lass going through the agonies of having her father arrested and tried for murder. This most appealing story is from a best seller of a decade ago by Grace Miller White, and its happy conclusion is reached after tremen¬ dous suspense such as Mary Pickford alone can build up with her renowned gifts of mimicry. This new, 1922, production of “Tess of the Storm Country,” produced by Miss Pickford for United Artists’ release, has been booked as the fea¬ ture attraction for next. by the management of The.. Theatre. ford’s characterization of the heroine, Tessible Skinner, and it is said Miss Hope’s opportunities for winning high honors are numerous. Both Mr. Hughes and Miss Hope have been featured players in several big suc¬ cessful photoplays in the last year and each is due for a rise to the top rung of the cinema ladder. Among the dozens or more pres¬ ent-day luminaries of the silver sheet who owe their present status to Mary Pickford more than any .other single element is Wesley (Freckles) Barry, who got his first chance to show what he could do in “Daddy Long-Legs.” John Bowers earned his place in the front ranks as a result of the opportunity Miss Pick¬ ford gave him in “Hulda , From Holland.” Marshall Neilan started the most important phase of his career as leading man to Miss Pick¬ ford in several of her earlier produc¬ tions and she recognized his greatest ability to be in the directorial line. Therefore, she promoted him to the director’s chair, where he success¬ fully presided over the megaphone in the making of three of her pic¬ tures and this gave him the prestige which has eventuated itself in his becoming one of the foremost pro¬ ducers. •