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EVENING LEDGER-PHILADELPHIA, SATURDAY, JUNE 1917
8
NEXT WEEK : "EVEN AS YOU AND I," STANLEY; "'WOLF' LOWRY!ARCADIALOTHER MOVIgj
ll'UlNUi 15 ItliqUlKKU
HOW THE CAMEO-CUTTER
WHERE " 'WOLF' LOWRY" WORKS
FOR "V0DE" SKETCH
CAME TO BE PARAMOUNT
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-A 'Modern Allegory Dealing
Reel Feature on Movie
iv rrugi
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LLEOOnY la rather a stale method of
rajfXo. putting across a thought. Possibly
P If that (g why g so much favored by pro-
V 1 ducers of motion pictures. Mince the en
suing dlaqulaltlon deals with theaa gentle
men, perhaps the reader will leniently oxer
look the triteness of the allegorical method
t employed So
There was once upon a time a goldsmith
and Jeweler whose skill had made him
. famous In a small way He was not as ex
' pert as fate had Intended him to be, but ha
i hacked away at rough sorts of Intngllo and
bas-reliefs lie was an artist, though In the
making
As his craftsmanship grew with the iea.tr
he became ambitious, not only for the gold
that was paid him for his products, but for
the gold with which he dallied artistically
Like Herod, he wanted to "think In gold
and dream In sliver. Imagine In marble and
tn bronze conceit e " He grew violently dls-
Contented with the trifling beauties he had
created, and his one hope was for some-
' thing tremendous So he gave tip his gold-
smithy and began adorning the walls of
great bul'dlngs Finally the passion for
enormity tn physical sensation got the bet
ter of him He constructed a temple to the
God Size, Kvery one was surprised when
the edifice collapsed one day and crushed
out the artificer's life
There was one man who wasnt stir
' prised. He was a cutter of cameos who
had little use for the great effects of his
1 art. And eventually ho was recognized as
the successor of tho megalomaniac
Exaggerated as that allegory miy
sound, doesn't It somewhat fit the case of
i modern American cinematography? Arent
! our best directors, bulwarked by the raplt.il
behind them and goaded by nmbltlon In
I danger of being smashed b the very largc
j ness of their alms? Isn t a return to sn,n
' lty and smaller sizes of features the order
of the day?
The growth of the situation that has made
the flve-reeler the norm of photoplay en
tertalnment Is curious almost meaningless
Meaningless, becauso It Is preposterous tn
Imagine that (000 feet of one story Is n
proper norm liut. to get back to our cel
luloid muttons
Movies In the United States were orig
inally a matter of 1000 feet, one reel That
means that dramas were comprised In this
restricted space "Comedies," In reality
, farces of the wildest sort, got S00 feet
apiece. The best example of how this
worked, perhaps, can bo culled from that
. now crumbled hall of photoplay fame, the
Blocraph studio, at the time when IX-ivld
TVark Griffith was the director of dramas
THE FAN'S PRAYER
FROM Bushman's amethyst ring and from Theda Bara'a comedy; from the
studied nonchalance of the Do Mille Brothers; from Rolfe subtitles nnd
from pacifists; from Christy Cabanno's hopeless mustache; from Anita
Stewart in a bathino; suit and from Mary Thurman in garb of any other kind;
from Petrova's icicle emotions; from Frank Powell problem plays; from J. P.
McGowan's interiors; from World plots; from the professional sorrows of
Alice Brady; from Marguerite Clark in long skirts; from all fat boys except
Roscoe; from "Enlighten Thy Daughter," and from "Tho Black Stork"; from
Henry Walthall's drammers and from "The Eternal Sin"; from most two
reelers; from tho ruinations of Virginia Pearson; from press agents who
bleed tho dictionary to interview a pretty baby; from sissy chats with
lovely men; from Crane Wilbur's photographs; from "Patria," and from the
acting of Irene Castle; from "The Secret Kingdom," and from "The Great
Secret''; from the plays of June Caprice; from advico by actresses; from
reminiscences; from Universal society; from all censors; from mush finishes
and from saints; from time-fuse repentances; from the gun-in-the-drawer
and from proper-moment deaths; from church weddings; from the rewards
of virtue and from the wages of sin; from village streets; from Russia in
Fort Lee and from Broadway in Santa Barbara; from "Poor Butterfly" in
the orchestra and from smooth dimes at the window; from foreign photog
raphy; from these solemn interviews with Mack Sennett; from clabs nnd
from college boys; from all men servants, and from all maids except the
cuties; from close-ups of Carl Laemmle; from Douglas Fairbanks being will
fully funny; from movie ministers; from tho opinions of stars and from
most reissues, and from Mr. Arbucklc's brown derby from all these evils,
kind Providence, deliver us! From July Photoplay Maga7ine.
"THE NEGLECTED WIFE,"
PATHE'S LATEST SERIAL
Fourth Installment of Mabel Herbert Urner's Stories,
Featuring Ruth Roland, in
Fiction Form
CHAPTER IV "Beyond Recall"
tho Path serial of the tame name, based on the notelt of
Mabel Herbert Vrner.)
Covvriahtt 1917, by Mabel Herbert Vrner,
By JOSEPH DUNN
(Kovelized from
THE CHARACTERS
The Man Horace Kennedy
The Wife Mary Kennedy
"The Woman Alone" Margaret Warner
"Don't try to tell me now Just rest "
Kennedy was holding both her hands with
reassuring strength
'No, I want you to know. I shouldn't
have phoned you' I fought against It as
long as I could "
Then suddenly, hiding her face against
the cushioned back of the cab, Margaret
burst Into tears, a reaction from the pro
longed strain.
It was a large apartment house before
which they Anally drew up. In the mar,bled
hall, the elevator swung them to the ninth
floor, where Kennedy ushered her Into a
luxurious six-room suite
He had first taken her to his home, where
over a reviving tea tray he had told her of
this apartment left tn his charge by an
absent client Margaret had hoped for a
simple, inexpensive refuge, but now she
shrank from this seeming extravagance
"Tou make it very difficult, Margaret,"
rlth- a note of reproach at her shrinking re.
NOON
A v tr
j - 'tccr rZ'uri'tn A-.
NOtBHByiHT L-4 1-4-tftaaal 1
With the Place of the Five
urns
and Mack Sennett, the farce Impresario.
Olograph released twice a week, one of the
films being a Griffith drama and the other
a double play from Bennett's hands
Then Griffith decided he couldn't do Jus
tice to Tenn son's "Knoch Arden" In the
conwntlonal limited space So "Enoch" was
released In two parts llut so timorous
were the picture people then that part one
came out Monday and part two the follow
ing Thursday The urge toward expansion
grew gradually until In "Judith of Ilethulla '
Griffith found that he could nil five or six
reels with Interesting dramatic material
From that to the ten reels of 'The Ilirth
of a Nation" wasn't such a long step as It
might seem
"The Birth," like many another blessing
has carried with It a curse Grimth. being
a man of extraordinary gifts, has escaped
that curee Hut It has fallen on other pro
ducers Its liveliest and most pertinent ex
ample Is In the calm modern acceptanco of
the five-reel "program" feature This means,
not that scripts ore carefully considered
directed, cut and assembled In the form best
suited to their merits but that a certain
number of GOOO foot features he to be
turned out to supplv the theatres that book
on a ' program ' basis The upshot Is that
a scenario In which a wife's devotion to
her erring brother Is mistaken by her hus
band for nn Intrigue gets as much footoge
as some really noel and thrilling lompttca
tlon of events Half the time the footage
tall Is made to wag the photoplay dog
The plain stale of affairs may be summed
up In tho declaration that there simply
aren't enough good stories to go around
That Is whv the old one-reelers were so sure
of their public They lasted twentv minutes
Often there was tho swift, sadden stab of
surprise llut even when the plots were
weak there was a glimpse of some beaut)
now nnd then And It must be repeated,
they lasted twenty minutes, NOT nn hour
and more
Iteadjustments are hound to come In this
profession or art If you are willing to give
It that mme Whv not give comedy a
chance' Why not three reels of feature
nnd two good comedies' ('omedv Is the
best bet toda, onyhow Look nt Fairbanks
Look at Chaplin Ken "Little Mary"
throws uwav her busltln now and then for
genial roughhouse
The mdfct hopeful announcement to the
trade In years Is Dnvld W Grimth s that
he Is going to do flo and six reelers for
Artcraft Grimth can make ten reels of
film fascinating If he Is willing to for
swear the staggering nnd the spectacular,
Its time for his rivals to quit temple con
struction nnd cut camoes For others besides
this wrllcr are beginning to yawn "A bns
length and boredom ' ' U D
luctance "If you'd only accept my help for
a few weeks without these protests"
When finally he left, there was a wistful
note In his quiet Voice "I want to see )ou
often )ou know that But I don't want
)ou to feel that I feel I hae any special
right here This Is your home as long as
you choose to stay '
The delicacy of this attitude Margaret
ncknowlndged by a grateful glance Poig
nantly sensitive to her anomalous position,
it was a slight soothing to her flayed pride
It was late that afternoon when Mary,
hating found the lonel less of the house
boat unbearable, reached their town house
I'nterlng the linen-swathed library, her
surprised glance fell on a tea tray Had
her husband brought any one here? Again
that ague, leaping Jealousy
Ah she crossed the room something
crunched under her foot A side comb ' A
light amber sldecomb, Implying light hair
"Some one hero for tea?" she asked the
maid, who now entered
"Mr Kennedy ma'am " confusedly,
gathering up the crumpled napkins
The service was plainly for two, but
HOUR: UNIVERSAL
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Ycii and I.'' 4t the Stanley nejet Monday, "kindly peirolU Ut "talent" to
tuocv ,nS' work lor. llltl rsat.
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This is Inccwiic, pictuicafjuc mpersUidio of the Kny-IJeo Triangle forces,
of vacs or woods when he
Mary hid not yet stooped to questioning her
secant
It was Into when Kenned) came homo to
dinner Ills surprise ut her lining come
back to town was eIdcnt, but his greeting
held the punctilious politeness that sho had
come to dread
The dinner nnd eenlng that she had so
longed for wero painfully constrained With
a sick despair, Mnr) realized that all their
old Intimacy and companionship was gone
Pleading fatigue from tho long drive
sho went up to her room early How un
availing had been her trip how futllo In r
efforts to get ne.ir him
The next morning nftcr a restless sleep
less night she came down to breakfast i
find he had nlrcad) left With stabbing
heartache, sho realized that ho had pro
feircd to breakfast nlonc
Going hack upstairs she turned Into his
room Her longing to be near hlui found
n pitiful expression In hnudllng his rlothis
Tho suit ho had worn )esterda ,.i on n
chair .Stalling to hang It up her glumt,i
fell on a faint, white blur on the cn.it
Holding It closer, she caught nn elusive
uerfumo The tea service In the Hbrarv I
tho sldecomb. nnd now this added proof
Sinking to tho floor. Mary dropped her
head ogilnBt a chair Tho vv retchednes'. of
this Inst discovery left her dared ond hope
less Who was she' Where was she" The
first stupef)lng shock now leaped tn a pas
sionate Jealousy, a fierce determination, to
know '
At any other time she would hivo scorned
the Impulse to which sho now )lelded
Feverishly she searrhed the pockets, finding
a plain white card on which was penciled
T I) 12 Wnter street
3rd door, 2nd floor I short rings"
I'or a moment she stood motionless, star
ing at the card That this was tho womin s
address sho felt convinced
Swept on 1 an Impulse she could not
combat, she dressed swiftly In n dirk suit
nnd heavv veil Hurrvlng down to the sun
bathed fctreet sho signaled a passing taxi
and gave tho address, '12 Water street
A rapid drlvo across town, and they en
tered a squalid waterfront district The
cab drew up before an old-fashioned dilapi
dated brick houHo with broken shutters and
an unkept doorwa)
As she went up tho steps, Mary saw
with surprise that the front door was ajar
Pushing It open, she entered the dim shad
owy hallwav
Conquering a throbbing sense of feir
she started up the dark stairs. Twlco she
paused with nn alarming desire to turn
lack, but. her heart beating fast, sho forced
herself on
Tho second floor was gruesomely bluk
Tlmld'y Marv approached the third door
She was summoning her courage to touch
the button when she was startled by gruff
voices within
"They've put Mike away for two years
and If he hasn't talked yet he will' Whats
tho name of that law)er who got him to
plead guilty'"
'Kennedy." growled another voice
"Well, he promised him a Job after hed
done his piece. If he'd run straight Oh
Mike's squealed, all right We'd better beat
it or we'll have the cops hero any minute
Mary had heard enough Her absurd
mistake was clear Terrified, with held
breath, she ran down the tearsomely creak
ing stairs and out Into the security of the
sun-lit street
She had Btumbled on a band of crim
inals whom her husband Intended to pros
ecute Could she let him know what she
had overheard? Could she tell him without
confessing her Jealous suspicions' What
excuse could she give for being In such a
neighborhood'
Her mind In a whirl, she hurried on with
no thought of direction, soon finding her
self in a crowded tenement district with
Uttered fire-escapes, push carts and swarm
ing children
CITY
rTtyg Q. V )
Through another street nnd sho took a
cross-town car, whleh brought her to n
more familiar section
Her adventure had taken bnrel) nn hour
Ilv tho clock on her dressing table It was
Just eleven when she again stood before tho
mirror to remove her disguising vill
A letter with n special delivery stnmp
"IT KNOCKS YOUR EYE OUT!"
SVv a 9h dft, Hia xf laHauDaaaaaaaaalaH
I ,a$ u ' a A 1 HavlBaHLaLaVaaW
fiuch was the comment of nn employe at the William Fox studio, where
Valeska Suratt's new photoplay, "The Slave," at tho Palace next week,
was "shot." He referred to Vnl's spotty gown. True talk!
FOUND: ONE RIVAL
FOR "POLLYANNA"
It's Mignon Anderson, and She Is Cer
tainly the Optimistic Sunshine-Giver
Mlgnon Anderson, who recently signed a
contract to appear In film plays produced
nt Universal City and who Is In Lois
Weber's newest production, "Hven as You
and I." at the Stanley next week, Is taking
great delight In her new home In Southern
California Miss Anderaon had been living
In the East, where she began her film
career and she welcomes tho flowers and
the sunshine with great Joy Then, too,
she finds she can drive her car over the
roads of tho sunny southland on days
when she Is not working before the camera
She Is one of the best drivers In the
countr) co-workers say
"I think It Is perfectly wonderful," she
said, "to be able to go out In my own
garden and pick oranges from the trees
orVven grapefruit, not to speak of lemons
and then, too, how lovely It Is to find the
flowers blooming In the month of January !
I have always read of the wonders of the
orange groves, but never thought It would
be my good fortune to experience the
novelty of climbing Into the tree and eating
the delicious fruit while seatefl among the
branches It Is almost enchanting and all
Age should not prevent one from
starting a cheerful life. Douglas
Fairbanks,
on the California coast. "Bill" Hart, at
puts on n film drama there.
lay beside tho pln-cushlon Tho long en
velope was tpewrlttcn
Wonderlnglv sho toro It open It was
a newspipcr clipping on the mnrgln of
which was penciled tho stabbing nnoii)mous
message
'It might bo well to watch jour hus
band "
(To be continued next Saturday )
this, too so close to I'nlversal City, which,
let me tell )ou, is the most delightful place
In which I have ever worked"
From which one might Infer that Mlgnon
Is a double-distilled, d)ed-ln-the-wooI,
trlple-hammer optimist Itegards to Poll),
anna llebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, please
vv rite
George
Hc k. K- -aHUiaS&SatttT
the Arcadia next week, has his pick
JOE, THE BLACK CAT,
WON'T SAY SO LONG
Frisky Feline, Enamored
Letty, Just Stays on at
the Lyric
of
othlng Is too good for the black nt that
entered the stage door of tho Mrlc two
months ago when the scenerv nnd proper
ties of So Long I.ctty" arrived, for It Is
flrmlv believed b) thp btagehands that Old
Ulnik Joe as ho is called, is a real mascot
t nnv rate So Long Lcttv" made a hit the
opening night nnd there is not a sign of
waning Interest Whv not then give Old
lllack Joe a little credit'
At first the value of Old lllack Joe was
not thoroughly nppieclited and there was
a stogehand (now in disrepute) who would
persist In showing Joe tho vvav out Joe,
perforce, left the building, but as soon as he
saw his chance he was In again ' He
dldn t seem to enre whether ho Wis fed or
not he alvvajs was able to get a mouse or
so Miss Greenwood noticed Joe nnd would
bring him somo cream from the hotel, nnd
then other members of the cumpanj got
Into tho habit of providing tld-bltp such
ns tlsh heads catnip and liver Joe 'stuck,"
and the good luck he hid brought st.i)ed
with the compan) liver) body made a pet
of him and he would respond hv bringing
his mouse trophies for Inspection to any
member of the company who stemed to
llko mice
Hut last Monday night Old Hlack loe had
his own troubles Ho caught the nlcist
mouse )ou ever saw and there dldn t seem
to be any s)mpathetlc person behind the
scenes Of course It wns necessai) to have
tho mouse Inspected, and so Joe making
the shortest cut possible ran out upon the
stage Miss (Ireenwood, singing, was un
aware of the ints presence The audience
(aw Joe and the vvav he trotted to the
center of the stage made nn impression, for
he seemed to be doing something for which
he had been especlilly trained The audience
lonred as the cat got behind Miss (Ireen
wood's skirts Mio couliln t see blin, but
she knew ho was there Then, with a dish,
he was off He had dropped the moiiso and
the rodent scurryiug away, set the rat In
chase Off the stage he hurried The mouse
doubled on his tracks and disappeared Joe
ran again to the stago and tho amusing
part of the proceeding was that ho- arrived
just at the moment when Miss (Ireenwood
wns "taking a bow" for her song The
audience then had tho felicity of seeing Joe
apparently respond with Miss (Ireenwood
to tho ca 1, for he seemed to bow Just be
fore still in pursuit of the mouse, he dashed
again Into tho wings Joo hasn't )et been
told but he Is going with the company to
California this month
PHILADELPHIA BOY
"LANDS" IN MOVIES
Thiladelphlans have made good In pic
tures almost ns often as on the. legitimate
stage One of the former category Is
. "S?1 J "urn"- h I'In Egbert Atwell
In The Slave.' featuring Valeska Suratt
at tho Victoria next week
Mr Hums was born in this city twenty
one ears ago His education proceeded
in private and public schools He became
well known In musical nnd amateur llterarv
c re cs Juvenile leads have been his spe
cial y In he movies At present he Is
working with the (loldw)n forces in sun
port of Madge Kennedy In the film version
of Margaret Mayo's farce, "naby Mln.
... " 4""i in ine same
"Polly of the Circus "
author's
PEARLS OF. THE CHORUS ON PASTEBOARD
"" " ''Wliillltft Jl I III i .,.,!,. , . .?'lWBWalaLaWW
Player in the Two-a-Day De
scribes Essentials of Dra- !
matic Action
By CLAUDE GILLINGWATER
At Keith's In "The Frame -Up," net ev
The successful sketch must have sustain! 1
Internal silrnrlsAa nn,1 nVin.n n
climax IJy a good climax, I mean an tT
expected climax It must clear up Its prov'
lem nt tho finish and leave a good tsstil '
This applies to tho comedy sketch as win '
as to the serious playlet, and more tr
tlcularly to the latter The one big thins
In the serious sketch Is to hit the heart
Dig under the surface of the man nj
woman In the nudlenco nnd )ou will h
,uriii iuicuiiik meir nurrounuings and
wrapped up In tho plot and the situation!
of our play From thnt on It Is ean
silling. If vou sustnin your Interest XM,,
permit our Interest to stop, keep ym,
nudlenco In suspense nnd then surprise them
as well as please them at the finish
Manv a good dramatic sketch has provd
a falluro simply becauso the author had I
let the nuillenre In on tho secret befori
the piny was thoroughly started In this
rase tho nudlenco Is sitting back, knowlnj
what nil tho trouble 1b nbout, and what
tho end will be, nnd tho poor actor Is f0.
lug through a lot of Unnecessary work
telling the nudlenco something it alreadj
knows The suspense Is gone and yoo
hae lost your nudlenco from the start
Vaudeville hns renched n itnl point la
the presentation of playlets The old storr
that liughs nnd tho to-called comedy relief
fire necessary hns glen away to the more
human, the more nrtistlcall comlnclnr
methods Most of the surrounding bl.l u
along comedy lines, so why should the
drnmatlc actor and author cndeaor t
compete with the funny monologlst or
the clown dog'
YES, WILLIAM FARNUM
LEADS A DOUBLE LIFE
Actor in "American Methods," at
Imperial Next Week, Con
ducts Orchestra
Another accomplishment has been addM
to fho long list of things which Wllllta
Fnrnum cm do Tho Wllllnm I'ox star,
who will be seen nt the Imperial Hie first
two davs of next week In a new photo
drama, "American Methods " has proved
that he can direct a tvvolve-pleco orchestra
and, what is more, that ho can direct It
well When his last picture A Tale o
Two Cities," was running nt Millers Thet.
tre. In Los Angeles, Mr Farnum himself
led tho musicians on one night
Hie management of the theatre had madt
arrangements for n special orchestra to
assist in tho showing of 'A Tale of Two
Cities ' Mr Farnum was there the open
ing night Ilo was dissatisfied with the J
music At times when It should have been
forte It was pianissimo, and when it was
pianissimo it should have been fortissimo
All tin) tho stnr worried over the situation.
He took off a dav from work at the studio
to have a special conference with the leader
of the theatre Then he sat and listened'
while the picture was run through again.
The plavlng was htlll poorer than he wanted
Theio w.iB only one recourse and he took
that When the flist evening show began
Mr Tarnum crept noiselessly behind the
screen and into tho orchestra pit There hi
assumed the director place nnd baton an'
began the overture The regular conducte i
stood Just behind him nnd made menul
notes of the Fox star s work
Then, when tho plcturo was completed, ho
once more took his station and directed
at the next showing This time Mr Far
num saw that the tcoro was conducted In
accordance with tho changes he had made.'
William Fo, who was present, avowed that
tho pla)lng had been Improved 100 pef
cent
' Music hath charms ' said the poet
"It certainly hath ever) dlreitor at,,
tho Wllllnm I'ox Studios will agree
Foi, whether you know It or not It ll
true thit an orchestra pla)s at each of;
tho Fox plants while lrtually all of tho,
scenes are being fllmeJ !
Tho music Is there becauso thorough
going tests proved the efllclency of cadence.'
It was found that the pla)cn worked much
more easll) and that the tedium and con
stant strain were relieved greatlv b) the
presence of a small gioup of musicians
After the experiment on tho Introduction
of music Into the photopla) studio was over.
even before definite results were Known j
the members of AVIlllam Fox S large or
ganization voted almost without exception
for its continuance
Those who have not been In the silent
drama for any great time declare that the
soft tones of the two violins and the bis"
bass violin of which these orchestras gen-
erally consist he'n them Immensely la
avoiding that most grevlous fuult in be
ginners , staring nt the camera
The music played Is of the utmost
' democracy." chleflv because of the methodl
used In screening a picture Scenes laldM
in one room are taken consecutive!) b) tho
director, regardless of tho order In which
they appear In tho finished product This
makes It necessary to skip back and forth
In the scenario
Consequent!) In filming a script dra
matic values change more rapidly than tho
weather These shifts. In turn are re-;l
fleeted In the music which Is alwa)s ap--
proprlate to tho situation belne- enacted
A sample program of an orchestra's after-
noon at the studio would read like a muslcaU
melange It would be not In the least un-j
usual for Instance to have In succession,
bits from "La Boheme." "Ragging tho I
Scale." "The Maiden's Prnver " ' Aloha i
Waltx" and "I Vesprl Slclllanl
Kver) one realizes what an exceptional!
appeal music makes to the emotions becauso'
,. .. .. ... . .... . ..,- i. '
ii urns uerjiiy ii js mis appeal wnicn
obtained In producing a plctureplay at tho
William Fox studios
C,rT