When the movies were young (1925)

214 When the Movies were Young studio atmosphere without causing a ripple. For quite a long time they merely extra-ed in and out of the pictures. Especially Dorothy — Mr. Griffith paid her no attention whatever, and she cried because he wouldn't, but he wouldn't, so she just kept on crying and trailed along. But she let out an awful howl when Gertie Bambrick was put on a guaranty and she wasn't. Their introduction to Biograph had happened the very same day. Lillian didn't mind so much, as she was still full of stage ambitions. When the company left for California, Lillian went back to the stage as a fairy in 'The Good Little Devil" with Mary Pickford. Dorothy paid her own fare to the coast. That was how popular she was just then. It was going to be a "big time" for Gertie Bambrick and Dorothy Gish in Los Angeles, away from home and mothers. They ducked to the Angelus Hotel to be by themselves, and not to be bothered by elders and fuss-budgets. They had an idol they would emulate, and wanted to be alone where they could practice. The idol was Mabel Normand. Could they be like Mabel Normand, well, then they would be satisfied with life. So bright, so merry, so pretty; oh, could they just become like Mabel! Perhaps cigarettes would help. They bought a box. And at a grocery store, they bought — shush — a bottle of gin. Almost they would have swallowed poison if it would have helped them to realize their youthful ambition. But their light had led them only as far as gin, and this they swallowed as a before-dinner cocktail, a whole teaspoonful which they drank right out of the teaspoon. Yes, Mabel Normand was the most wonderful girl in the world, the most beautiful, and the best sport. Others have thought of Mabel Normand as these two youngsters