THE SUNDAY OREGONIAX. PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 3, 1917.
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TODAY'S FILM FEATURES.
Sunaet Spssus Hayakawa ant
Fannie Ward. "The Cheat."
Liberty Georse M. Cohan, "Sev
en Keys to Baldpate."
Columbia Enid Be n. n ett,
"They're Off." .
Peoples Douglas " Fairbanks
"Down to Earth."
Star Charlotte Walker. - "Mary
Lawson's Secret."
Majestic Bryant Washburn.
"Skinner's Baby."
Circle Marjorie Rambeau. "The
Debt."
THE motion pictures are slowly
creeping into the legitimate drama.
Last year their only- representa
tive on the stage was In "Johnny Get
Your Gun," one scene of which showed
a moving picture studio. Already this
season two plays depend either In part
or entirely on the motion picture busi
ness. "The Lassoo" has a last act set
In the scenario department of a movie
studio and the hero turns scenariolst
Just in time to save himself from total
eclipse. "Business Before Pleasure"
has, of course, the entire moving pic
ture business as a backbone of enter
tainment. It is whispered that Adolph Zukor,
president of Famous Players-Lasky
Corporation, had a bit to do with the
correct photoplay atmosphere found in
the play. He not only suggested some
f the lines, but fixed up the taking
of the film exhibited in the play and
put in some of the film titles. Mr.
Zukor is rewarded by having his name
mentioned in the play as the most
prominent motion picture magnate in
the country. Further reciprocity may
he seen in the lobby and on the theater
walla of the Eltinge, where all the
Paramount stars are exhibited in pos
ters to lend atmosphere to the play.
Mary Pickford. Bill Hart, Douglas
Fairbanks, David Griffith, Marguerite
Clark, Pauline Frederick, Billie Burke,
Lina Cavalier! and all the other Para
mount and Artcraft notables are there.
The theater, by the way, is named for
another Paramount star, the latest ad
dition to the ranks of the silent drama,
Julian Eltinge.
One Way te Pick Plays.
Let photo-playwrights tear their hair
ever this but this is the way one
moving-picture magnate judges their
product:
William Fox, head (and shoulders)
of the various cinema enterprises that
bear his name, is a mighty busy man.
He has a private barber shop in his
office. Every afternoon his start bar
ter arrives, and Mr. Fox retires to
the barber chair. While the tonsor
thus plies his Job, a young woman en
ters, and the plot begins; she brings
the plot with her, and she begins it.
Jack Lait, who writes the story in the
American Magazine for September, has
Been it and knows it to be true.
Seated in a far corner of the room,
she begins to read scenarios in a
metallic unemotional voice.
"I wouldn't let an actor or a director
read me a story on a bet," says Mr.
Fox. "Those fellows can make any
thing sound good."
- While the lady with the zinc throat
reads on, Mr. Fox lies in the chair un
der the soothing touch of razor, brush
or vibrator, his eyes closed, half dozing.
Is'ot until he has gone to bed, many
hours later, does he turn back to those
scenarios. Here is how he accepts
Ecenarios:
"The ones I can remember when I
net in -bed are the ones I want. I
know that those which registered on
my half-sleeping brain hours before,
and still stand there in relief, are the
ones that will register on the brain of
the audience. Those are the ones that
stuck with me. Those are the ones
I want."
' William Fox Is only 38 years old, but
tias established himself around the
world with offices in every civilized
land, and attained, an AAAI rating in
Uradstreet's.
George BI. Likes "Flickers.
At last George M. Cohan has been
cornered. No avenue of escape was
open for Uncle Sam's pet nephew last
week when the interviewer, after mak
ing sure of this fact, approached the
famous Yankee Doodle comedian,
author, actor and producer of the the
atrical world who is scoring another
nrilliant success in his second motion
picture effort, "Seven Keys to Bald
pate." Even the red "exit" lights were
many feet "away. On manjr occasions
jince George M. made his screen debut
in "Broadway Jones he has success
fully dodged interviewers and, strange
as it may seem, his efforts in behalf
of personal publicity are nil.
On being cornered, however, Mr.
Cohan proved the most congenial of
all democratic celebrities, . of which
there are only too few, and soon forgot
the fact that he was being interviewed
as a result of his enthusiasm over his
newest field of conquest.
"I like the movies; I think they're
great!" exclaimed Georgle with a
characteristic twitch of his mouth. "I
learned a lot of Interesting things from
my first Artcraft picture, 'Broadway
Jones," and in "Seven Keys to Baldpate'
I think I am a regular film actor. I
would like to produce a picture myself
JUbL in U1UC1 lu imnuio liio Ulfe, crowns
in the outdoor scenes. That must be
great!
"Don't make the mistake of judging
motion pictures in the same light as
theatricals. Pictures represent another
' Business entirety. And remember that
the screen director has the whole world
to draw on for scenery. If he wants
to take an ocean scene he can go right
down to the Atlantic or Pacific and get
the real thing while the stage producer
has to have the water painted on a
drop.
"To make good In motion pictures,"
Mr. Cohan continued, "you don't have
to be equipped with stage experience.
' In fact, you have more chance if you've
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never been on the stage, Because If
you have been a "legit" actor you have
to unlearn practically all you know
about acting except how to make up
and even that's different. You have to
register. Gestures with the hands and
arms mean very little; it is almost all
in registering emotions on the face.
The strong studio lights are very
hard on the eyes," said Mr. Cohan as
one of his stage managers approached
and waited for an audience with his
"chief." "The screen actor has to be
as careful of his eyes as Paderewski
of his fingers. Before going to work
in the rooming it is best to cover the
eyes with a film of castor oil for pro
tection. Practically every motion pic
ture actor has to bathe his eyes morn
ing, noon and night.
"Another curious thing about the
regular picture actor is that he can ex
press and sort of feeling without say
ing a word. At first I spoke the words
to correspond to what I was register
ing, but the others just mumbled.
However," concluded the new screen
star with a smile .as he noddedo his
assistant, "I, too, can now "register'
without even making a sound, so natu
rally feel that I am now a full-fledged
silent-actor."
Mountain Named After "Dong."
Celebrities have had institutions and
even trees named after them, but
Douglas Fairbanks Is perhaps the first
to have a mountain peak bear his
name.
It was during the production of
mountain scenes in California recently
for "Down to Earth," the new Fair-banks-Artcraft
picture, that the popu
lar actor was approached by D. G. Des
mond, United States Government of
ficial, who after 10 minutes of elo
quence concluded by saying that it was
his pleasure to announce that one of
the most picturesque mountain peaks
had been named in his honor In Yo
semite Valley. The energetic Douglas
thanked the official for the honor and
proved his appreciation by doing a
hand-stand on a dizzy precipice of the
mountain.
Douglas Fairbanks Peak, according
to the Government representative, is
perhaps the most popular objective
point in the whole region. On the
way to this point one passes Vernal and
Nevada Falls, returning down the short
zig-zag road past Agaspiz Column- and
Sentinel Rock. There is a comfortable
hotel on the summit and many take the
stago here for the Big Trees, breaking
the full trip from Sentinel Hotel on the
valley floor. The projecting rocks
which mark Douglas Fairbanks Peak
are but a- few yards from the hotel
Upon returning from his trip "to the
mountain top Fairbanks announced his
intention of building a cabin on his
new lofty land where he will spend his
time between the production of pic
tures. Storm Scene Thrills.
Jupiter Pluvlus was outjupitered at
the Thanhouser studio in a miniature
rendition of a storm conducted by Di
rector John B. O'Brien under the aus
pices of Lloyd Lonergan. author of
"Mary Lawson's Secret," in which Char
lotte Walker is star.
A ship had to be sunk in Long Island
Sound in a. terrific gale. To work out
the details of the sinking it was decid
ed to experiment with & miniature
ship, having dolls on the deck. A large
tank-was filled with water and dirt
piled up at one side to represent the
Connecticut hills. The -usual overhead
perioraiea "rain tank. 'and an aero
plane propeller created the driving
tempest and" made enormous six-inch
waves. .
An unusual lightning effect wa ob
tained by making tree-like slits in half
a dozen places on a black backing with
a separate light back of each tree-like
slit. This was an invention of Mr.
O'Brien and his camera man, II. B
Harris.
The storm was made and taken at
night, and the next day it Well, old
J. Pluvlus was Just naturally so insult
ed about it that he sent a northeaster
that blew down the Thanhouser storm
apparatus and then buried the debris
under & 12-inch snowfall
Enid Rides (or Red Cross.
Never was a jockey prouder of vic
tory, and few received greater rearard
than Enid Bennett, the little Triangle
star, when she rammed home to a scald
ing finish as the winner in the sensa
tional race shown in "They're Off."
The part provided the Triangle etar
was to win the race, and she did, al
though she had- to present a punishing
finish. Her riding was good, almost
professional, but her artist friends
jested with her, flouting her victory,
deriding her success.
They dared and defied her to ride
again. Finally they began wagering,
whoever won to give the winnings to
the Red Cross. Enid Bennett accepted
the challenge. - The horses were given
a two-hour rest.
Then the test came again, this time
in deadly earnest. The professional
was assured he would receive a $250
bonus if he won. Miss Bennett was
riding for charity. She was astride a
heady brute, almost too heavy for her
arms. ,
And she rode him with abandon and
consummate skill. It was a bat and
spur finish, Enid Bennett high on the
shoulders, lifting her horse at every
stride. She won the race, and with it
a large sum for charity.
New Pearl White Serial.
The great demand throughout the
country for a Pearl White serial photo
play has caused Pathe to release "The
Fatal Ring," the serial in which Pearl
White is starred. It starts at the Pan
tages Theater a week from tomorrow.
In "The Fatal Ring" Pearl White.
who plays the leading part of Pearl
Standish, is supported by th greatest
cast she ever had in any 'serial. War
ner Oland, who played the part of Baron
Huroki in "Patria," is the villain of
this serial. Ruby Hoffman is a woman
of mystery, a. priestess whose followers
do her bidding. -Henry Gsell and Earle
Fox are supporting members of the
cast.
Pearl White, the heroine of "The
Fatal Ring," is a blase society girl who
has eo much money and so many things
at her disposal that she finds life a
bore. When tshe is involved in the re
covery of a certain violet diamond,
sought by a strange religious sect, who
have no compunction in killing those
who oppose their efforts to recover the
diamond, she finds life so thrilling and
of so much interest that she i3 kept
busy night and day avoiding the perils
and pitfalls prepared for her. Her
father bought the diamond from an Ori
ental priest who stole it. Pearl is held
responsible for its loss, as her father is
dead, and is driven to her best efforts
to recover the diamond.
Her fate is wrapped up with the fate
of Nicholas Knox, a follower of the
strange sect, played by Earle Fox, and
with that of Tom Carlton, a reporter,
played by Henry Gsell.
Miss White has three record-break
ing serials to her credit, "The Perils of
Pauline," "The Exploits of Elaine" and
The Iron Claw," while her last offering
was Pearl of the Army.
Mary Has Special Guards.
If there is anyone who uoes not be
lieve that Mary Pickford is a person
of great importance and worthy of a
great deal of attention and considera
tion, all they have to do is to ask Mayor
James Rolph and the police department
of San Francisco. Miss Pickford and her
company, under the direction of Mar
shall Neilan, visited the Bay City to
film scenes recently. The company ar
rived in the evening and went directly
to their hotels and in the morning when
the star approached her automobile to
go on location she found it surrounded
by a cavalcade of 15 mounted police
men under the command of a police
lieutenant. At first "Americas Sweet
heart" thought she had committed some
crime -which she had forgotten, but the
detachment of police gave a salute and
the lieutenant informed her that Mayor
Rolph had heard of her arrival in the
city to do some work and provided the
police for her protection during her
stay in the city.
Wherever Miss Pickford goes to film
scenes she is immediately recognized
and surrounded by huge crowds which
quite frequently interfere with the
work of tne players. Mayor Itolph, re
membering the sensation Miss Pickford
had caused when she appeared in San
Francisco to assist in the sale of Lib
erty bonds, placed the police depart
ment at her disposal.
To see "America's Sweetheart" riding
up the boulevard in her automobile sur
rounded on all sides by the mounted
police created the impression among
people that royalty was in town.
"The Metro Pictures Corporation
wants stories for Madame Nazimova,
for Ethel Barrymore, for Emily Stev
ens, for Francis X. Bushman and Bev
erly Bayae and foe Eoimy. Wenlen. For
Jennie Wsrf
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Madame Nazimova the stories should
have modern emotion roles; for Miss
Barrymore the drama of the drawing
room: for Miss Stevens the keen, men
tal, neurotic American young woman
of today: for Mr. Bushman and Miss
Bayne, the great outdoors; for Miss
Wehlen the ingenue melodrama thai
permits "of swift action well dresssed.
In every case it is drama, and not com
edy, that is desired." ,
So spoke Maxwell Karger, general
manager of the Metro Pictures Corpo
ration, in his studios last week. For
almost three years Mr. Karger pro-,
duced an average of 40 Metro features
annually in the Rolfe and Columbia
studios. He now- is charged with the
production of Metro special produc
Earle Williams, Vltagraph's star, has
been double-crossed by Fate. ,
He doesn't get a vacation this year.
Just when he should be stepping on
the self-starter of his big motor and
pointing for a secluded trout stream,
as he had planned, he has to stick
around the Brooklyn studio in makeup.
About seven weeks ago he was taken
ill and spent most of the period in oed,
doing his best to beat off blood poison,
and only recently returned to the stu
dio. Worn by his long light against
tetanus and tired anyway, by an unin
terrupted season of work, he suggested
to Albert E. Smith, president of Vita
graph, that he needed a vacation.
"But you've been away seven weeks,"
said Mr. Smith.
"But not on a vacation," replied Will
iams. "Lying in bed. with a sore foot,
is not exactly my idea of a good time."
"Well, let's finish up that picture you
were working in before you were taken
ill, and maybe a vacation will turn up,"
said Mr. Smith.
So Williams resumed his role and
had worked one day when two of the
girls in the cast were taken UL
At the end of a week Mr. Smith met
him and said:
"Well, there's the vacation. Earle;
I told you it would turn up."
"Fine!" replied Williams. "It's JuJt
like taking a transcontinental trip in
a captive balloon."
Elsie Ferguson, the popular stage
star, who has just made her motion
ptcture debut in a screen version of
Robert Hichens" well-known novel.
"Barbary Sheep," finished her charac
terization in this play last week. Con
ceded to he the most elaborate film pro
duction ever staged in Fort Lee, New
Jersey's famous motion picture produc
ing center, this offering is expected to
create a sensation wherever it is
shpwn.
For the big Algerian street scenes,
in which 2000 persons took part, a com
plete village was built and on the last
day of the production of the film sev
eral thousand "fans" gathered on the
streets and nearby rooftops to watch
the unusual proceedings. Staged under
the able direction of Maurice Tourneur,
this photoplay, it is predicted, will
prove the greatest vehicle ever afford
ed Miss Ferguson. The book from
which the film was adapted proved
Robert Hichens" greatest seller since
"The Garden of Allah." The supporting
cast includes Pedro de Cordoba, Lums
den Hare, Macy Harlam, Alex Shannon,
Maude Ford and many other talented
screen artists.
"SKINJTER'S BABY" IS GOOD IT UN
Clean, Wholesome Fun ' Found in
Picture-Running at Slajestlc.
"Skinner's Baby." which opened an
engagement at the Majestic Theater
yesterday to hilarious crowds, is as
good, if not better, than "Skinner's
Dress Suit" and other stories of the
Henry Irving Dodge series. It is ab
solutely clean,- wholesome comedy
drama of the best type, and as such
will please any audience.
The keynote of "Skinner's Baby." as
was so apparent in "Skinner's Dress
Suit," is the naturalness of the, acting,
depicting every-day occurrences. Bry
ant Washburn, as Skinner, and Hazel
Daly, as Honey, "act natural." They
never lose sight of the fact that they
are enacting very human parts.
Instead of a dress suit it is a baby
that IlUa to overflowing: Uiexcup of
Joy from which Skinr and wife,
Honey, drink. A feature of the play
is the surprise climax, a decidedly un
expected twist of affairs.
Here's the story in brief: Skinner
realizes that there is something lack
ing in his home. The head book
keeper at the office announces one
morning that he is the proud father
of a bouncing boy. This announce
ment sets Skinner to ttfinking. Soon
afterwards. Honey, his wife, confides
her great secret. It is to be a' boy.
Great preparations are to be made for
the arrival. He is to be named William
Skinner, Jr.. and he is to be President
some day in short, he is to be the
most wonderful man. Skinner is at
the office when he is notified that he
had "better come home." He rushes
out and. after a series of misfortunes,
(Concluded on Pawe 5. Column 1.)
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COMMENCING TODAY FOUR DAYS ONLY
SESSUE HAYAKAWA
AND
FANNIE WARD
IN
The Photoplay Sensation
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Acknowledged the greatest picture ever made'
by Paramount. The first photoplay to be chosen
for stage adaptation. Dramatic story of a woman
who played with fire. . j
Comedy
T' COOL AND COSY. I ' '
iiwM Washlna-ton St. at Broadway
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