Screenland (Oct 1923-Mar 1924)

Says Frederick James Smith Mary's Ten Commandments -x\ iTP" ARY PICKFORD has just laid down ten commandments for screen aspirants. Here are the J V II commandments: i. Know some other vocation to fall back upon. 2. Have money enough to last a year. 3. See if you have talent. 4. Gain some stage experience. 5. Get professional experience if possible. 6. Bring as many photographs as possible. 7. Bring a large and diversified wardrobe. 8. Try to get a screen test. 9. Be sincere and ambitious. 10. Success in the motion pictures can only be gained in the same manner as in other business. It is very easy for a star, surrounded by all the things that go with success, to make commandments for those who seek celluloid fame. Suppose the favorites of today had read these commandments when they were starting! They would have given up without an effort. Even a celebrity named Mary Pickford wouldn't be know-n to every land of the globe today had she taken them seriously. No, we suspect that big success comes only to those who disregard everything — and throw their all into the adventure. Out Goes Hooch in Pennsylvania IF newspaper reports are true, all instances of the drinking of liquors are to be cut completely by the Pennsylvania censors in future. Be the period of Louis XIV or of Henry VIII, when prohibition would have been considered a madman's fancy, the hooch will go. As well re-edit the Bible to eliminate all references of polygamy, then well within the ancient laws. We do not know by what process of reasoning this state of mind is arrived at — but why consider reasoning and censors in the same breath? Speaking of censors reminds us that the Pennsylvania censors made twenty-five cuts in Anna Christie, and that a number of the drinking scenes were trimmed out of this screenplay by the New York censors. Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris meanwhile was barred in Ohio. The Great Film Exodus SPEAKING of the rush to do Shakespeare reminds us of the stampede to do screenplays in Europe, Africa and Cuba. Directors simply won't stay at home any more. Time was when an expedition to California or Florida was considered long and expensive. Back in 191 2 — only twelve years ago — just six working companies had migrated to California, and two of them expired after their arrival. Now the movie expeditions in all parts of the old earth can hardly be counted. Some of them have gone for authenticity of background, some for the sheer wanderlust and some to suit the whims of the directors. But they're all in quest of the same thing — a screen hit. What Causes the Big Film Overhead? Since the Famous Players-Lasky studios closed down, with the avowed intention of trimming the salaries of players, a great deal has been written pro and con. Strangely one of the clearest defences of the actor came from Sam Rork, a producer, when explained costs in detail: "Suppose a picture costs $300,000 to produce," he said. "Of this, 25 per cent, or $75,000, goes for actors' salaries; $15,000 to $25,000 to the director; 15 per cent, or $45,000, to the laboratory work, which means negative work and film printing; while the greatest total of all, 50 per cent, or $150,000, goes into the cost of sets, construction, material, labor, properties, electrical equipment, transportation, location costs and wardrobe. "Of this $150,000, no less than 75 per cent, or $112,000, goes out for labor, which is the largest individual item of expense. This labor includes carpenters, painters, plasterers, bricklayers, electricians, property men, technical staff, set dressers and stage hands. It takes from six to eight weeks to make a production of this sort, and the head cutter on such a job would get $3,000; the cameraman and assistants $3,000, technical staff $1,500 and property man $1,000. "When it is considered that to this must be added the cost of the screen lights to the story, which may range anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000, and from $500 to $15,000 for the preparation of the continuity, it is easy to see that the players' salaries, though exorbitant, are not such a tremendous item in the making of a feature. "Some producers in the last couple of years have gotten the idea that a production, regardless of the requirements of the story, must have rich sets. They feel than the public demands this. Of course, they are wrong. I imagine that in the near future you will see these gaudy, high priced backgrounds done away with to a large extent." The real fault, Mr. Rork points out, lies in the costly backgrounds built by the directors. Add to this the high cost of distributing and selling the films, with cut-thioat competition between rival companies, and you have the present mad status of screenplay production in a nutshell. Slow Motioning Sporting Events ECENTLY a motion picture concern slow-motioned the match race between Zev and In Memoriam. This ended almost in a dead heat, but the judges felt that Zev had won and named that colt the winner. But the film, upon being developed and printed, revealed that In Memoriam had seemingly won by a nose. Naturally, the judges did not reverse their decision but the incident offers food for thought. Almost the same interest was aroused by the slow motion films of the Dempsey-Firpo fight. How had Firpo knocked the American champion through the ropes? Did Dempsey return to a corner after knocking Firpo down or was an unfair advantage taken? The film answered these questions for all time. How long will it be before the slow motion camera is used in all sporting events as the court of last resort in a close and important decision? 17