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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1917)
4 TODAY'S FILM FEATURES. Columbia Louise Glaum. "Idola tors." Majestic "The Honor System." Sunset Alice Brady, "Bought and Paid For." Liberty "The "Whip." Peoples Douglas Fairbanks, "Down to Earth." Star "The Argonauts." Circle Clara Kimball Young, "The Test." AND yet another Portland glrX i on her way to film fame. The latest la Loretta Wilson, pretty, petite and blond very blond who, bulwarked by a letter or two And two weeks' experience in the Baker Stock Company, invaded Los Angeles last February. She has just returned a full-fledged comedienne, well on her way to stardom under the fcanner of the L-KO Company. Miss Wilson Is the very personifica tion of enthusiasm when motion pic tures are under discussion. She has visions of her name in big type, first as a featured comedy player, and then In the more serious realm of the drama, to which she aspires. "I'm just crazy about It. I wouldn't give it up for anything," Is the way this pretty lass raves about the new world which has claimed her. Hence her stay in Portland she is visiting her sister. Miss Lenore Wilson will be of only a few weeks' duration. Then she will return to her berth with L-KO, where are made 60 many of those slapstick comedies. The girls, from a dozen to fifteen of them In the four or five companies, don't spend their time dodging pies or falling downstairs; their work constats largely of looking pretty and flirting the lat ter confined as much as possible to the camera-glare. Because of the limitations of com edy, particularly that brand known as slapstick. Miss Wilson, who is ambi tious, naturally has her eyes glued on the drama. However, she Is intelli gent enough to realize that she is Saining experience and that at 18, or a trifle under, there is plenty of time tor histrionic development. The Portland girl spent two weeks with a light opera company when first she Invaded the Southland. The mill ionalre backer of the troupe .tired of his job as "angel" and the company disbanded. However, she soon caught on at Universal City, where she spent several weeks as "extra" at i a day. Attracting the attention of Director Swickard. Miss Wilson Was given a berth with the Louise Lovely-Jack MUl hall company, making "The Sirens of the Sea" at Santa Barbara, and for two months she was a sea nymph, or "sea simp," as she says the girls styled themselves. From there she Joined the L-Ko Company, Manager Jacobs adding her to his bevy of blond beauties. Her parts have been growing of late and ere long she expects to become a "lead." With that goal achieved the struggle for further recognition will be on. Namei of Players Changed. After a long period of careful study. lacked by years of observation, Albert E. Smith, president of the Greater Vita graph Company, has decided that names have a psychology all their own, and he has proceeded to apply this theory to several of the players now engaged on vitagrapn contracts. Mr. Smith believes that no matter what the talent or beauty of a woman etar, a hard or unpronounceable name will militate against her success and chances of popularity with motion pic ture fans. He believes that euphonious names not only have a trade value but they also give a player his or her lust deserts in the minds of the motion pic ture patrons. "Citing the case -of Charlie Chaplin," aid Mr. Smith, "it is a splendid name, easy to remember, easy to spell and as sists the audience to associate the name with the player, thus giving the player distinction. "Recently I have added to the list of Yitagraph players several people of ex ceptional talent, and I have great hopes for their future as artists and Vita graph stars. Three girls, beautiful and talented, are among them. They are Miss Miriam Fouche (pronounced Foo Shay), Miss Alice Rodier (pronounced Ro-de-ay), and Miss Agnes Eyre (pro nounced Ire). Now these are all beau tiful names. If properly pronounced, but not frequently would they be pro nounced properly. The fans would make their own pronunciations, and perhaps 10 fans would have 10 differ ent pronunciations for each of these names. "Now, to make It easy for the fans, and make it fair to the girls, I have, with their consent and in agreement with them, decided to change their names as follows: Miriam Fouche will be Miriam Miles, Alice-Rodier will be Alice Terrvt and Agnes Eyre will be Agnese Ayres. These names, you see, are easy of pronunciation, and when a fan appre ciates the work of these girls, he or she will have no difficulty In remem bering their names. In that way these girls will build up followlngs that mean much to their future in pictures or stage life. These young women' are all young, and changing their names at this stage of their careers is vastly better than trying to change the name of a star who has been on the billboards for many years." Many Changes Due) . According to advices from Los An geles, some startling announcements are expected any day. These involve players and organizations. Three of the greatest stars of the industry will soon change their affili ations, according to a Los Angeles prophet. He also predicts the decline of the star system, with those huge salaries collected by the players, writing on this subject as follows: "It will be the policy of the Trianrle unit in the future to specialise on the production. This has already been an nounced. However, the kick in the an nouncement is that in the future all Triangle publicity will make stars, di rectors and ordinary players' a minor consideration and feature the etory. Which means, if carried out universal ly, that the star system will gradually decline and with it the large salaries. This move of the Triangle is the first definite step taken for the accomplish ment oi wbat has long been a predic tion." Real Fox Hunt Filmed. Those people who never had the pleasure of participating in a fox hunt as it is staged by the society folk will have a splendid opportunity of seeing just what such a hunt is like when they see "The Whip." In this produc tion one of the big scenes shows a fox hunt in full cry The manner in which the horses take the fences and streams, the way in which the dogs dash after their quarry and the beauty of the hunting costumes worn by the hunters add much to the intense Interest of the picture. This hunt, by the way, is an actual one. Maurice Tourneur, who directed "The Whip," decided that the only way to secure the desired realism in this part of the production was by taking the real thing, instead of staging a special hunt for the occasion. So per mission was secured to film the annual event of one of the most famous hunt clubs In the country, and the result is a vivid and vital part of this feature. Scenes Not Exaggerated. To persons unfamiliar with the his tory of San Francisco and the early day gold camps, the sight of heaps of gold dust so carelessly displayed in the various scenes of "The Argonauts," the 10-reel picture epic of the days of '49 may be a bit puzzling. Such scenes however, are not in the least exagger ated, for in the years which immedi ately followed the great discovery gold dust was a medium of circulation and was everywhere in evidence. So much so was this true that the sight of quantities of nuggets and dust ex cited no comment whatever. The circulation of both "dust" and coin was very great. The smaller THE SUNDAY ' r-v- r ! V r coins were held In sublime Indifference. Copper coins were absolutely unknown. Fifty cents was the smallest fee for any service, no matter how trifling, and no article, no matter how insig nificant, was offered for sale at lens than 25 cents. Thirty dollars a week, or $8 a day was the price of good board and lodging, while the most or dinary was 20 a week. A curiosity of today is the old Cali fornia "slug" or $50 goldpiece, an oc tagonal disc nearly as large as the palm of one's hand. In the days which "The Argonauts" pictures, however, these were so common that ordinary laborers and bootblacks had them In plenty. Trials of Giant Many. To be the exact height of the Roman Emperor Maxlminlus, who measured feet, may be-jome distinction, but it certainly has its discomforts. James G. Tarver, the Texas giant, who ap pears In "Jack and the Beanstalk," the William Fox fairy film of 1817, will vouch for this. Tarver travels In a d luxe box car. The "side-door Pullman," as he calls his perambulating apartment, has all the conveniences of a modern Harlem flat. One end of the car is fitted up as his sleeping quarters. Tarver com plained bitterly when a bed 10 feet long was constructed for him. "It s" entirely too short, he insisted. I can't stretch myself." The big Texan is musically inclined and it is ttie regret of his life that he cannot get a piano built long the same huge lines as himself. In Order that he might get his knees under the In strument when he played, it was neces sary to set the piano up on blocks two feet high. The top of the piano stool he uses would make a beautifully fit ting end for a hogshead. Traver's shirts are made by a man who ordinarily turns out tents and awnings. Jim has never worn a pair of gloves for the reason that he can't get any to fit. The giant Is no food crank. He knows nothing of Fletcherizlng, of food calories or of eat-and-grow-thin the ories. All he demands is food in quan tities sufficient for his size. - Jim Is working with the Government to conserve food for the duration of the war. He has reduced his orders until now his breakfast list reads: SIX grapefruit, nine oranges or two boxes of berries, three pounds of bacon and a dainty little omelet of 18 eggB; a toasted loaf of bread, a half-pound of butter and two quarts of black coffee. "I eat a light luncheon in warm weather," Tarver explained about his midday meal. "A gallon of soup, five or six sea bass, four pounds of lamb chops, a couple of cans of peas, plenty of potatoes and iced tea. My evening meal. I must admit, is a trifle heavier. "I have been told, however, that I am- a very light eater for a giant." Mary Recites Poem. At the Artcraft studio Mary Pick- ford's name is now "America's Great est Elocutionist." owing to the fact that at the recent benefit given for the French Emergency Hospital fund, Miss Pickford stepped right out on the stage of a local theater and recited Eugene Field's poem, "Seein Things at Night." It was originally planned that Miss Pickford should appear at the benefit to referee a boxing match between Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fair banks. At the last moment it was de cided that she could do even more. Consequently at 7 o'clock in the even ing of the performance she decided to give a recitation and appear in one of the costumes she wears in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm." her forthcoming production. Frances Marlon, who pre pares her stories for the screen, scoured the public libraries and finally found a book of Field's verses. On her way to the theater in her automobile Miss Pickford studied the lines, and then for a half hour. In her dressing-room. Just as she was about to go on the stage she decided she was going to have stage fright and forget the whole thing, so a prompter, book in hand, stood in the wings, but was not called on for his services. Miss Pickford re cited the poem and then was compelled to make three or four bows and a speech. Sessue Takes Count. Margaret Loo mis, who plays oppo site Sessue Hayakawa and who was the pretty Japanese girl in Mr. Haya- kawa's "Hashimura Togo" went through an intense emotional scene at the Lasky studio an afternoon or two ago. Just how emotional, neither real ized until an hour or two later, when Mr. Hayakawa, shopping furniture for his new Hollywood .bungalow with his wife, Tsuru Aoki, collapsed suddenly OEEGOXIATT, PO XITX AXD, , ; i 5 .it -.i In a downtown1 department-store, as the result of Miss Loomls' "emotion." While his wife and other interested persons were trying to discover the cause of the Hayakawa illness with an enlightening pain came the remem brance of a scene with Miss Loomls in which she, wailing over the supposedly dead body of her lover (Mr. Haya kawa), brought an emotional fist down upon the region of the Hayakawa stomach. Mr. Hayakawa waved aside those who would treat him for the heat, a chill or a headache and started tor that safe destination, home. "Doug" Wants Stories. Contrary to the usual discouraging remarks offered the amateur scenario writer, Douglas Fairbanks, the popular Artcraft actor-producer, through his director, John Emerson, announces that he is in crying need for material for stories and that he is particularly de sirous of securing ideas from ama teurs. "We must have absolutely original ideas," said Mr. Emerson at the Art craft office in New York last week. "We are willing to buy ideas, not nec essarily scripts, but just ideas for sto ries. In this connection I might say that the product of the rank amateur scenariolst' has proved to be the beet material for Douglas Fairbanks. Wild and Woolly.' for instance, was the idea of an amateur, as were those for other Falrbanks-Artcraft pictures. Mr. Fair banks wishes to encourage the efforts of amateurs, and is looking to them for ideas for his future screen vehicles. Miss Anita Loos and her staff of writ ers are working night and day on forthcoming Fairbanks offerings, but the Increased demand for these pictured compels us to work much further ahead than we ever dreamed of." Julian a Film Booster. As a reform measure. Julian Eltlnge. who was in Portland taking pictures recently, thinks there Is nothing like motion-picture work. The famous por trayer of feminine types, now with the Lasky company, has climbed to the dizziest and chilliest Seat on the water wagon. Also he looks upon food almost as a thing of the past. "And I've rcduoed." explained El tinge proudly. "In fact, I'm reduced right down to my last chin. You know my chins are my meter, as it were, on which I gauge my avoirdupois. "This outdoor life i great. Why, I don't even have to wear a corset any more. "Do I miss my audiences? T do not: that is, I do, but I like missing it. I don't register in women's clothes ex actly as I thought I did; In fact, they tell me the picture impression is en tirely different from that which I make on -he stage. "I register a good deal better in men's clothes than in women's, and I'm mighty "glad of It, for I want to get away from the skirts. We are thinking of making one picture of the series in which I will not wear wom en's clothes at all. "The worst trouble I have in picture work 1st with my shaving. On the stage I always shaved just before going on tne stage at nignt. "Working In the pictures I shave In the morning and then go out on a lo cation and work several hours and the director tells me that my beard shows in the 'close-ups.' 1 guess I'll have to shave every few minutes while I am playing the female roles." MAJESTIC PICTURE IS TRIUMPH "The Honor System" Glorious Re vival of Old Melodrama. "The Honor System." one of William fox's most ambitious photoplay ef forts, which opened an engagement at the MajeBtle Theater yesterday. Is In many respects a wonderful production. It'a a glorious revival of the old melo drama of fierce emotional conflict and the great battles of human love and hate, with Its tragedies that sweep aside the trivialities of life and pres ent primitive passions and big human wrongs and rights. "The Honor System" Is pre-eminently a human story with a moulding of the spectacular, dramatic, pathetic and comic into a big 10-reeler that stands as a splendid monument to the tech nique of its director, R. A. Walsh. It has all the qualities and more than the thrilling contents of the old melo dramas. To see It is to understand the film fan and also to understand the decay- of the namby-pamby, dawdling drama which is too often seen on the screen. The average person likes to be thrilled, likes to laugh without reserve, and, if the theater is 'dark, is not ashamed to brush away a tear. "The Honor System" provides that sort of SEPTEMBER 9, 1917. " - . sLf of 3 f entertainment for him, although It must be confessed that, except in the introduction, the laughs have an hys terical quality Influenced by deeper emotions just played upon. The story of Joe Stanton, who is im prisoned for life, is used as the basis for a drama that in detail, in swift movement, and in all the familiar ele ments of melodrama are familiar to the theatergoers of a quarter of a century ago, though much more cleverly drawn and made infinitely more emotional by the new process o'f staging all out doors. It is a smashing melodrama, acted with feeling and accuracy by Milton Sills as the hero, Miriam Cooper as the heroine, Gladys Brockwell as the vam pire and Charles Clary as the villain In the background, with his satellites, George Walsh. J. A. Marcus, Arthur Mackley and other Fox players com plete the cast. LOUISE GLAUM IS VAMPIRING Wonderful Costumes Shown In Film at Columbia Today. "IdoUtors," a photoplay in which Louise Glaum goes back to her role of vampire, not a woman forced by circumstances to lead a wicked life to reform when opportunity offered, but a L4 Comedy ISO i . bJL. -Ssrtf y-jk ' " ' ' f' Broadway at Washington I ': :. - ',. - 10 A. M. to 11 P. M. - " . , IB,'." 2r -rz7 . ifB - krv M 2 -C- M,i, 5-1 16? to' cold, calculating, lustful creature, will be presented at the Columbia Theater today. A Keystone comedy, "His Foot hill Folly," and a Scenic, "Nippon's Natural Glories," are other subjects to be shown. Never before has Miss Glaum, known as the peacock siren of Triangle plays, worn such gorgeous clothes as those she affects in "Idolaters." Posed before an Image of the Sphinx In her Egyptian bedroom, a mirror held aloft in her hand and her long silken gown sweeping over a glass panel through which pours a golden light, she la the symbol of vanity. Another costume that win attract remark 'is a clinging creation of cloth of gold, straight of line and unadorned except for a cord around the waist. This gown 3 DAYS ONLY IV-r "--' 111 ; Another "Sure-Fire" Hit O J vri The sensational Broadhurst stage success picturized in a manner to make you forget the stage triumph WITH Alice Brady The telephone girl who marries money. omtsigux IL o v The millionaire who considers his wife a chattel. was worn by Miss Glaum at a recent picture ball, where she led the grand march. The Oriental motif, ever domi nant In her costumes, is evident in -a boudoir garment, consisting of harem trouserettes of chiffon. A panel of black velvet, against which a long string of pearls is outlined, hangs from the shoulders down the front of this cos tume. The star has the role of a vanity- stricken woman who uses no scruples In attaining success on the stage. Her love of luxury, indicated by the Egyp tlon "love nest" that she occupies, car ries her beyond sanity. Retribution of lronlo force Is visited upon her when. In a moment of rage, she kllla a sweet- (Conoluded on Pave 0. Colu-nn 1.) for You siimd. OF BHk-9 Scenic