Screenland (Apr–Sept 1923)

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S CREENLAND 100 ft A Pretty Young Girl wanted to get ahead in the Movies-Continued from fage 21 the story, but Keokuk would never stand for this film, however artistic So the official declared. And nobody dared to protest. The "yes chorus struck up their aeans, and the edict went out Bella Donna was to be a perfect lady a little flirtatious maybe, but good at heart and more to be pitied than SC°Youdsaw the result. The denatured Bella Donna scored one of the most complete flops of the year and Pola Negri's professional reputation suffered a body blow. And the irony of the situation is that censors in certain states have barred poor emasculated Bella Donna, and the Ku Klux Klan m a Southern city declared the picture unfit to be shown publicly." The Fate of the Hunchback And everybody else on the lot, too. Thp YeS Blight Tales went out of her fiery temper her 1 I1C X £, arrogance, her tongue that cut like a two-edged sword. But perhaps it was not temper, but temperament. A musician who worked on her set for two months created a sensation by declaring that he liked Pola. And Pola herself says that the unfortunate first impression was caused by misunderstanding. "I understand Americans now," says Pola "The next picture I work in, I shall throw my arms about the electrician's neck and say, 'Oh, what beautiful lights you make!'" E If The Hunchback of Notre Dame proves the flop that the wise ones of Hollywood predict it to be the yes men" may be blamed for it In the first place, Carl Laemmle was "yessed into filming it, against his better Judgment Then Wallace Worsley was not the man to direct it. Worsley, in the opinion of many, is a man of vaccilatmg wi 1. For this picture, the director should have been a man who would have evolved a powerful theme and then have carried it, against hell and foul weather But Worsley wavered in his directing at times. There are fine bits in the picture but the story gets nowhere. And the "yessers" in his company gave him no constructive aid. There are many directors who wont take suggestions, even if some subordinate with an artistic conscience should venture to offer some. King Baggott is considered one such. The other day the writer watched Mr. Baggott directing little Baby Peggy, a fine little actress under proper direction. "Emote," Baggott called and the child walked onto the set with a fixed grin on her little face and with her head held too high. She is much too small to know camera values, being only four years old. . ' "Too much smile," a supporting actor suggested in an undertone. ' "Her head's so high you can only see her chin," remarked a prop man. "A pretty job for the cutter, an electrician whispered. _ But nobody dared to advise the king -and another hundred feet of expensive film was wasted. Charge it to the yes blight. Costly Shake-ups "Yes men" cost money. Carl Laemmle, whose heart is as big as his rambling studio lot, is said to have received a_ letter from one of his nephews m Lau pheim, Germany, telling of said nephew's intention of coming to the Promised Land. "What shall I do with him? asks Mr. Laemmle. , . "Do with him? Why not make him General Manager?" Arid as was the case after the departure of the boy wonder, Irving Thalberg, a third general manager is brought to power in the short space of two years. Nobody has the courage to tell the mogul that organization shake-ups have wrecked many a film corporation. And when Mr. Laemmle says, "I have made a wonderful change, eh?" the answer is always "Yes". 'Yessing" Von Stroheim u ^ ric von stroheim was, with one exception, probably the most "yessed man in pictures, during his rule at Universal City. Many people disliked him and everybody feared him yet the studio butcher and baker and candlestick maker "yessed" him. Why? Because Von Stroheim was well into Foolish Wives. A million and a halt was tied up in the picture that was to make an actor and break everybody else connected with it. If Von Stroheim should get his Austrian temper up and quit-blooie, Laemmle's million and a half Stroheim the director might quit and another man take his place. But if Stroheim the star should quit, who could take his place? The whole picture would have to be shot over \ And so hundreds of thousands of dollars drifted through Von Stroheim s fingers while he busily established himself before the American public His picture might have been acceptable to Continental tastes which enjoy drama with a gamey flavor; it was utterly abhorrent to American minds, even in the comparatively purged state m which it reached the public. If somebody had had the courage-and the authonty-to say "no" to his majesty the Austrian, Foolish Wives might have been a success instead of a financial flop, the memory of which brings bitter tears to Laemmle's eyes even now. Was It Temper or Temperament? Did George Fitzmaurice leave Lasky's because he had to "yes" Pola Negri ? We wonder. People who worked with Pola say that she had Fitzmaurice cowed the first week she worked with him. "A 'No' Man Wanted" Stars who are "yessed" by their directors sometimes suffer by it. Mary Pickford, who is queen on her own lot, knows this. In the past she has been directed by men who were afraid ot her She could always boss them. With deliberate intent, Mary picked for her most pretentious picture a man whom she could not boss, Ernst Lubitsch. Mary Pickford is a wise little woman. Lubitsch "yesses" nobody, unless he believes an affirmative is right. On the other hand, he does not like to be "yessed" consistently. Two heads are better than one, he thinks, and asks for constructive criticism from competent critics. Oh for more directors who will take a "no" when it is coming to them ! And oh, for one who will dare to say no when a "no" is needed'. In Jazzmania, director Robert Leonard might have told his wife that though her dancing is attractive, one step is overdone if continued for several hundred feet of film. Also he might have informed Mae Murray that she should not divide sympathy by having three leading men where only one was logical. Was it because she likes plenty of attractive men and no women for background for her dainty self? Ur because she cannily divided footage among the three men, Robert Leonard, Rod La Roque and Edward Burns. There's safety in numbers, perhaps she thinks. Too Much Snow w HY didn't somebody tell Harry Beaumont that the snowflakes that fell in Main Street were so large that they must have been custom-made from Heaven? Did nobody dare? Why didn't at least one of Cecil B. DeMille's thirty-five assistants tell him that Adam's Rib was farcical? lhat