When the movies were young (1925)

244 When the Movies were Young tune was phenomenal. Not only had a kind Providence richly endowed him, but he worked very hard, as genius usually does. Even back in those days, Mr. Chaplin often began his day making excursions with the milkman. From the cold gray morning hours of three and four until seven, the two would ramble through the poor districts, and while the milkman would be depositing his bottle of milk, Mr. Chaplin would hobnob with drunks and derelicts, and in the later hours, talk with the little children of the slums, drawing out a story here, getting a new character there, and making the tragic humorous when finally the story was given life on the screen. The story of 'The Kid" as Mr. Chaplin and Jackie Coogan told it, was nearer the truth than any audience ever guessed. The ups and downs of the movie world ! Mack Sennett all dressed up and grouching on a leather settee in the hotel lobby, waiting for his prey! He would not be handed dry, old sandwiches all his days. He was out for steak, red and juicy. He got there and has stayed put. Henry Lehrman patting his inflated chest ! He got there, but stayed put the littlest while. Charlie Chaplin, who topped them all, working while others slept, out on excursions with the milkman! Tommy Meighan of the genial smile and Irish redbloodedness. He got a chance, and the ladies liked him. Nice personality, and good actor, even so. Not alone in the movies is it easier to get there than to stay there. Chance sometimes enters into the first, but to stay there means ears attuned, feet on the ground, and heaps and heaps of hard work.