Reel Life (1915-1916)

Big Increase in Mutual’s Producing Forces Corporation’s business assumes such proportions [that additional activities are needed to meet demand A STATEMENT issuing from the home office of the Mutual Film Corporation announces a large increase in the acting forces and in the production activities of the American, Thanhouser, Horsley, Gaumont and Signal and Vogue film companies, the picture output of which is released through Mutual exchanges. To supplement the companies already at work on Mutual Masterpictures, De Luxe Edition, the American Film Corporation has organized another company with Winnifred Greenwood and Franklin Ritchie at the head. Miss Greenwood has been associated with the American for several years, appearing for the greater part of the time as the leading woman with Edward Coxen in “Flying A” drama. Mr. Ritchie is one of the best known leading men of the picture profession, having been connected with Biograph and a number of Klaw and Erlanger productions. As a legitimate actor he is equally well known, having been under the Frohman management for four years and the Belasco management for two years. He left the Biograph company to become a leading man for the American Film Company. American Studios Busy On Two New Feature Releases Another Masterpicture, De Luxe Edition, company is at work at the American studios under Arthur Maude, the English actor-director in Revelation. Mr. Maude is supported by Constance Crawley. J. Edward Hungerford, whose stories in the Saturday Evening Post and other current magazines are very well known all over the country, is the author of the second embryo Masterpicture, De Luxe, in the process of development in the Santa Barbara studios. It is The Man From Manhattan, a story containing good comedy and stirring action. The picture is being directed by Jack Halloway. It will serve as a vehicle for Rhea Mitchell’s second Masterpicture appearance, her first one being Overalls. In support of Miss Mitchell will appear William Stowell, Jack Prescott, Warren Ellsworth, Perry Banks, Joe Taylor and Charles Wheelock. Director Donald Macdonald is busily engaged with a company headed by Helene Rosson, E. Forrest Taylor and Harry Von Meter in the mountains back of Santa Barbara, where he is producing April, a five-part story of mountain folk, written by Clifford Howard. Four Thanhouser Directors At Work In Jacksonville, Fla. There are four directors at work at the Jacksonville, Fla., studios of the Thanhouser company. The most recent addition to the players is Marion Swayne, the charming little ingenue who was last year the leading woman of the Gaumont company. Among the others are Valkyrien (the Baroness Dewitz), who is starred in The Valkyrien, and in the recent three-reel feature, The Cruise of Fate. Boyd Marshall, Thomas A. Curran and Bert Delaney are among the players of drama and Louise Emerald Bates, Riley Chamberlain and Walter Hiers are comedy artists who are in Jacksonville. The four directors are Ernest Warde, Eugene W. Moore, George Foster Platt, Mutual Masterpicture and three-reel feature directors and William A. Howard, a “Falstaff” comedy director of long experience in motion pictures. At the New Rochelle studio of the Thanhouser company Director Frederick Sullivan is producing Mister Shakespeare, Strolling Player, which will be full of the spirit of Merry Englande and the Bard of Avon. Florence LaBadie is appearing in this production. J. H. Gilmour, the well-known artist, who has recently been added to the Thanhouser forces ; Robert Whittier, who made his first appearance in Mutual releases in Betrayed; John Lehmberg, Frank E. McNish and George Mario are among the actors at the New Rochelle studios. “The Love Liar,” Latest of Crane Wilbur’s Vehicles Pearl Shepard, the pretty girl who was chosen for a picture career at the recent Screen Club ball; Doris Grey, the Boston girl, who found herself in the spotlight because she was the prettiest girl at the Boston exhibitor’s ball, and who has just completed the picture, What Doris Did; Florence LaBadie, Ethyl Cook, Kathryn Adams, Carey L. Hastings, Frances Keyes, Gladys Hulette and the Fairbanks twins constitute the New Rochelle studios apportionment of feminine stars. While there have been no big and permanent players added to the Horsley company’s list — Crane Wilbur, Margaret Gibson, George Ovey and William J. Clifford, — there have been a number of well-known screen artists engaged for the various productions. At present Crane Wilbur is working in a Masterpicture, De Luxe, written by himself, The Love Liar. Lucy Peyton, Nan Christy, Mae Gaston and Ella Golden have all been specially cast for this production, which is a spectacularly strong and stirring society drama. The picture is being produced under the direction of Robert B. Broadwell. Margaret Gibson and William Clifford have been cast for The Hidden Law, and will be supported by a number of exceptional players. Gertrude McCoy Newest Star To Join Gaumont Virginia Kirtley and Louis Durham, the famous ex-baseball player; Sherman Bainbridge, the popular actor recently seen with Universal; Marie James, formerly with Metro, and Walter Spencer are numbered among the players who will be seen from time to time in Mutual Masterpictures, De Luxe Edition, from the Horsley work shops. There has been a curious addition to the studios of thiscompany, by the way, out in Los Angeles. An emergency hospital has been added to the buildings and equipment. In the past performers playing in production with the Bostock animals have been seriously injured. The hospital is situated near the section where the animals are photographed and is equipped with all “first aid” apparatus. Gertrude McCoy, the widely known actress who has been a prominent Edison star for a number of years, is the most recent addition to the Gaumont company. Miss McCoy’s delightful work as a leading woman will be given first opportunity for expression in a picture directed by Edwin Middleton. When she left New York it was the intention of Director Richard Garrick to feature her in The Quality of Faith. Since her arrival at Jacksonville, however, he has changed his mind, and the new Gaumont {Continued on Page 19) REEL LIFE — Page Seventeen