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

Stories Any Newspaper Will Accept and Use Treating Mary Pick ford Rough Hard Movie Task So Declares David Torrence Who Plays the Villain in New Production of “Tess of the Storm Country,” and Has to Beat Famous Photoplay Star The man who is called upon to mete out unlimited abuse to Mary Pickford invariably has the most dif¬ ficult job in motion pictures. Many screen villains, who have appeared in her past productions will assure you of this and David Torrence, who created situations replete with con¬ flict in Miss Pickford's latest cinema effort, a new production of “Tess of the Storm Country,” a United Artists’ release coming to The. .. Theatre next.. arises to impress it with all the em¬ phasis in his power. “I’ve done most everything re¬ quired of an actor in following his profession of making believe all kinds of things, but what taxed my endurance and rather tender heart most of all was to be so terribly mean to Mary Pickford while she was portraying the character of the lovable Tess,” Mr. Torrence says. “Honestly, it hurt me to have to mis¬ treat her the way I was obliged to do in this picture, because of all the women I’ve ever met she deserves the least harshness.” However, art is art and it is often, heartless, even ruthless, in what it exacts. Mr. Torrence was chosen to play the part of Elias Graves, a hard- fisted, hard-hearted, old tyrant who hates most venomously those not in his good graces. Miss Pickford, as Tess, happens to be out of his good graces the most of anyone in the story Grace Miller White has writ¬ ten in such masterly style. The piece-de-resistance is that Tess and other fisher folk have squatted on Graves’ land on a lake shore ad¬ jacent to his own palatial residence and his outlook has been greatly marred by the unsightly, tumble-down village the squatters have built against his wishes and also against the spirit of the law. In the subse¬ quent controversy, Tess, being a very courageous little heroine, takes the leadership among her people in fighting back and there are fierce re¬ criminations in which Graves does all he can to make the girl suffer to the limit. Mr. Torrence says there were times during the filming of this story when he was almost overwhelmed by the impulse to protest the instruc¬ tion of John S. Robertson, the di¬ rector, who spurred him on with all his might to more dastardly efforts. “After all the brutal bluffing, rough man-handling and angry ex¬ coriations I had to heap onto Tess, I was actually jubilant when Miss Pickford in a climax, pounced onto my back and gave me a drubbing which actually hurt as a. result of the earnestness with which she went after me,” Mr. Torrence continues. “For once in my life I felt that I deserved a sound beating and some¬ how, though it was all in make-be¬ lieve, I’m glad I got what was com¬ ing to me.” In one of the scenes Torrence was required to catch Miss Pickford in the act of taking a bottle of milk from his ice-box. The possession of this milk meant prolonging the life of a tiny baby and he knew it. But, just the same, in his intense hatred for the girl, he took it away from her and hurled her bodily out of his home. “That was a tough task,” he commented afterward. In another scene, he had to up¬ braid her unmercifully, box her ears cruelly, while she wept bitterly. “That was even tougher,” he ob¬ served as he watched Miss Pickford wipe away real tears. Then in a subsequent scene when he caused to be destroyed her fish¬ ing nets, her means of making a livelihood, he says he felt like he was actually denying the very right to live to the prime favorite of millions of photoplay fans. "Just say for me that treating Mary Pickford mean is about the most unpleasant job in filmdom, be¬ cause she is naturally so sweet of disposition that it really hurts a fel¬ low’s conscience to harm her even as a matter of acting,” he concludes. It is said that David Torrence’s performance in “Tess of the Storm Country” is just about the last word in screen villainy. It is also pre¬ dicted that Mr. Torrence has insured himself a very high place in the fore ranks of photoplayers as a direct re¬ sult of his dramatic artistry in sup¬ port. of Miss Pickford. He has. a record of distinguished stage service back of him, his most notable achievements being * in . support of Maude Adams in such plays as “Peter Pan” and “The Little Minis¬ ter,” and with Jane Cowl in “Smilin’ Through.” CARRIED FILM STAR IN GRAND MARCH As an example of what a predomi¬ nating personage Mary Pickford is, Forrest Robinson, playing the part of her father in her new “Tess of the Storm Country.” a United Artists release booked for next .. at the . Theatre, recalls a notable public function the “Queen of the Screen” attended in Boston a few years ago. She was selected to lead the grand march, escorted by Governor Walsh of Massachusetts, who was such a big man physically that he obscured the view of little Miss Pickford to many of the spec¬ tators. Before the grand march was well under way many voices started de¬ manding Miss Pickford. When it be¬ came apparent that she was the one the crowd was interested in to the exclusion of everyone else, Governor Walsh gently picked her up and held her out at arm’s length as he marched around the hall, thus af¬ fording everyone an ideal view of her. This satisfied the assemblage. “It was plain they didn’t want to see me and so I made sure they would see Miss Pickford,” the state’s chief executive remarked afterward. INTERNATIONAL CAST FOR MARY PICKFORD Five Nations Represented Among Players in Her New “Tess of the Storm Country” Insofar as birthplace is concerned, there are five different countries rep¬ resented in the cast portraying the various characters in Mary Pickford’s notable new screen production of “Tess of the Storm Country,” a United Artists Corporation release booked for next . at the . Theatre. Curiously enough, there are also five different states of one of those five countries —the United States—represented. Miss Pickford was born in Tor¬ onto, Canada, but has lived in the United States ever since she was five years old, devoting herself at first to the speaking stage and then entering pictures in which latter field she soon became the most luminous of all stars. David Torrence, who plays the part of Elias Graves in the new "Tess of the Storm Country,” was born in Glasgow, .Scotland, while Jean Her- sholt, in the role of Ben Letts, first saw the light of day in Copenhagen, Denmark.. Mme. de Bodamere, who was cast in the role of Mrs. Long¬ man, claims Paris as her birthplace The remaining five members of the cast were born in the United States, Lloyd Hughes, the leading man who in the new version has the part played in the original production by the late Harold Lockwood, was born in Bisbee, Arizona. His wife, known professionally as Gloria Hope, who enacts the pathetic character of Teola Graves, made her advent into the world at Pittsburgh, Pa. Forrest Robinson, playing Daddy Skinner, was born in Denver, Colo., while Danny Hoy, the 1922 Ezra Longman, is a New Yorker by birth, and Robert Russell is a native of Wash¬ ington, D. C. Thus it seems quite appropriate to term Miss. Pickford’s company for this production an in¬ ternational-interstate cast. MARY PICKFORD A SCREEN STAR MAKER 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 oposite Miss Pickford’s char¬ acterization of the heroine, Tessible Skinner, and it is said Miss Hope’s FAMOUS ARTIST FOR MARY PICKFORD DOLL Painter Turns Sculptor to Make Bust of Screen Artists for Life-like Toy Christian von Schneidau, painter of international renown, has become a sculptor, all because Mary Pick¬ ford decided to put a doll on the market. When Miss Pickford decided to go into the doll business as the result of an insistent demand on the part of countless children who worship at her shrine, a representative was dispatched to Europe to seek a sculp¬ tor of world-wide fame who could do a bust of Miss Pickford from which the Pickford dolls could be modelled. Although eight of the world’s greatest sculptors tried, none was able to register that elusive spirit which seems to have endowed Mary Pickford with that eternal youth which so plainly is noted in her new production of “Tess of the Storm Country,” a United Artists release coming next . to the . Theatre. Since Miss Pickford vowed that no doll should go out which was not of the very highest quality both as to con¬ struction and likeness of herself, it began to look as if the whole propo¬ sition would fall by the wayside. . Then came Christian von Schnei¬ dau, now residing in Los Angeles, who stands- in the front rank of contemporary painters. It has been said by critics that the boldness and virility of von Schneidau’s canvasses suggest the qualities of sculpture. Al¬ though he had done practically no modelling since leaving school, this artist decided to undertake the task, with the result that he has pro¬ duced a life-size bust of 1 the cele¬ brated screen star which is startling in its resemblance. It is estimated that a million dolls a year will be prduced from this likeness. Through an ingenious process of reduction a perfect re¬ semblance will be obtained in the doll’s head. opportunities for winning high honors are numerous. Both Mr. Hughes and Miss Hope have been featured players in several big successful 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 re¬ sult of the opportunity Miss Pickford gave him in “Hulda From Holland.” Marshall Neilan started the most im¬ portant phase of his career as lead¬ ing man to Miss Pickford in several of her earlier productions and she rec¬ ognized his greatest ability to be in the directorial line. Therefore, she pro¬ moted him to the director’s chair, where he successfully presided over the megaphone in the making of three of her pictures and this gave him the prestige which has eventuated itself in his becoming one of the foremost pro¬ ducers.