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would be interested. But what could you pay him, or someone of his stature?"
I answered without hesitation. "Twice as much as he makes on the stage. Whatever his weekly salary, I'll double it for the time the film is in production."
Frohman nodded as though impressed. "The medium is so different, and the players would worry about that. They depend on their voices which on the screen would be useless. Would you provide stage directors whom they trust?"
"No," I answered. "Because the stage director would be lost at the beginning as much as the actors. I want either D. W. Griffith or Edwin S. Porter, the best of the screen directors. Knowing the camera technique, they will help the players adjust to it."
Much more was said, of course, but the above gives an idea of the trend of the conversation. Frohman made no commitments. But I have always placed that night as one of the most important in the history of motion pictures. Thereafter Frohman was a powerful advocate of the movies in the theatrical world. He traveled extensively in it as well as in society. Everywhere he went he lent his prestige and eloquence to the films.
It was said that Daniel Frohman joined me, as he subsequently did, because he was strapped for money. That was not the case. He simply became convinced of the bright future of motion pictures and had the courage of his convictions.
My next move was to talk with D. W. Griffith. In years past I had visited the Biograph studios in a brown