THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND," JT7NE 25, 1923
5
ZIEGFELD FOLLIES OPENS
16TH SEASON IN NEW YORK
Burlesques Make Hit With Gotham Rounders, Who Are Able to
Recognize Bits of Plays Seen Last Winter.
, Wf JlAf ' v
Jjt Tec' J-joh-i-. "
BY ELIZABETH LONERGAN.
NEW YORK, June 24. (Special.)
"Summer is here at last! Not
because. June Is more than
half way through or that the ther
mometer has an uncanny way of
registering high, but because the
Ziegfeld Follies has come once more!
From coast to coast the Follies are
known, but onJy the traveler to New
York has a chance to see the real
thing. Even nearby cities, which
have runs Immediately following the
engagement at the New Amsterdam,
often do not have the entire original
(guaranteed 14-carat real!) company
Intact.
This'ls the 16th edition, and long
tiefore this the poor dramatic critics
wore out the old adjectives of praise
k and coined new! ones, so that very
little In the way of original criti
cism remains for the 1922 vintage.
There is a lot more burlesque than
usual this year, which makesthe
how extra attractive to the rounder
who is familiar with the majority of
the New York successes.
Some enterprising manager should
Set up a series of burlesques of the
failures of the year they were so
many and have been forgotton so
long that it would be rare sport
arranging such a bill.
And the majority of the audience
following the way of every other
one would clap and remark "what
a fine "take-off" the burlesque was!
Such Is life at the show when imi
tations are given. Ring Lardner pro
vided two amusing skits, one a
take-off on "Rip Van Winkle," with
old Rip waking up to' find the
country not only dry, but Jewish as
well, for the last election has made
Franklin Simon president, Bennie
. Leonard vice-president, and even
the Knights of Columbus are talk
ing Yiddish.
. The other scene is a funny bur
lesque of baseball! with Ring Lard-
ner's favorite character, "Al," In the
oast.
Among the players and their
name Is legion are Gallagher and
Shean, GUda Gay (in a hula dance
that may give the show a lot of
advertising), Mary Lewis, Mary Ea
ton and Evelyn Law. Brandon Tynan
makes his debut In the Follies in a
number of clever bits, and Lulu
Connell has little to show what a
clever comedienne she is. And of
course Will Rogers has a lot of new
tricks with his lariat and some new
stories of current happenings of the
day.
An excellent troupe of English
lassies does some fine numbers, and
there are many attractive settings.
ine last is one of the most original
In years and will always bring the
curtain down with big applause. It
has a scene at the old stage door
. with the chorus coming down the
winding stairs from the dressing
NEW FILM VAMPIRE WEARS
EXQUISITE, COSTLY APPAREL
William Fox Pays Enormous Price for Gown Worn by Miss Estelle
Taylor in "Fool There Was."
HE price William Fox paid for
the "vampire" gowns worn in
"A Fool There Was" by Miss
Estelle Taylor was by no means one
of the minor items of 'cost in this
super-special production. Just com
pleted at the William Fox west
coast studios, under the direction of
Emmett J. Flynn.
When from a large group of con
testants, all well-known screen and
stage celebrites and each of whom
made screen "tests," Estelle Taylor
was finally chosen to play the
vampire in this big William Fox
. all-star feature, the selection was
made because she fitted the part in
every particular hair, eyes, com
plexion, ability, poise and, last but
not least, her trim, slender, willowy
figure-a figure perfect and made
more alluring with the exquisite
gowning given her by Mr. Fox in
recognition of - the important role
she was to essay.
After the anxious days of consid
ering who was to play the part were
over and Miss Taylor finally chosen,
the next important . question was
that of the gowns," and who was
to make them; for, as every woman
knows, power over "man" lies 90
per cent in appearance and ap
pearance is 90 per cent "gowns."
In order to be a succesful "vam-
J
i
E-4 yC"' f
rooms above and tne principals as
sembled on the "Rolls-Royce curb."
v Two of the big song hits are
"Rambler Rose" and an unusually
catchy radio number which is made
extra attractive by the clever set
used In connection with it.
And, as told before, th,e show
"opened cold," with no Atlantic City
premiere, but a long-drawn-out re
hearsal at the New Amsterdam,
which makes it surprising that any
one could do anything at all. But
they got away with it so well that
Atlantic City will probably be
crossed off the books for all future
times. -..
Time was when the negro player
had little or no chance; now every
thing seems to be coming his way.
With several companies playing
"Shuttle Along" and the original in
its second year in New York, things
have begun to look up for the negro
actor. Recently another musical
show opened at one of the smaller
theaters. ,
.In a way, the success of Charles
Gilpin in "The Emperor Jones" Is
responsible for the vogue of hi:
colored brothers and sisters. "The
Emperor Jones is touring just now,
Dut triipin may appear in a new
play next fall. v
.Business-Jseiore Pleasure was
one of the. cleverest of "Potash and
Perlmutter" adventures. That is, if
anyone is familiar with the motion
picture business he can recognize a
lot of things that will amuse him
greatly, and that he can connect
with the genuine article. Automobile
experts, however, declare that
"Partners Again" is the best thing
that Goodman and Glass have done,
and the way the theater is sold out
far ahead makes this seem probable,
demand, whtch has been the basis
pire" it was very necesary to have
the most beautiful and original
gowns procurable. .After consider-
i"g designs from costumers and
moaistes in Paris and New Ynrir
"Kristan's" of Los Angeles was de
cided upon as offering the choicest
models for the dresses to be worn
by and to aid the vampire of "A
Fool There Was" in attracting and
holding, through physical charm
alone, the millionaire she had elect
ed to captivate.
In all, 129 designs were offered,
sketched in water colors, and from
this list were, selected the costumes
Miss Taylor wears in "A Fool There
Was." So it is that In addition to
the dramatic charm of "A Fool
There Was," women in the audience
will be afforded. an opportunity to
revel in a fashion show through the
medium of the wonderful gowns
displayed by Miss Taylor.
-;.
What's in a name? "Lots," an
swers Clarence H. Geldect, president
of thi Mission Film corporation. The
working title of his initial picture,
in which Richard Wayne and Cath
erine Murphy have the leading
parts, was "Carry on the Race."
"Sounds like a racing picture," said
Mr. Geldert, "we'll have to. change
it." "Carry On" was suggested, but
that was precluded by the fact that I
it had already been used for a war
picture. "Science or God?" reigned
as a title for several weeks, but It
has now been discarded, though It's
suecessor is still unchosen. How
ever, many prominent film folk
who have seen the picture pro
nounce it a rare bit of screen
beauty, regardless of the title un
der which the film is finally re
leased. .
...
All the literary lights of the mo
tion picture colony are uniting to
give a farewell dinner to Clayton
Hamilton.
Mr. Hamilton, distinguished critic
and playwright, will complete this
month a two-year term of service
as associate editor at the Goldwyn
studios. He will take a vacation in
Honolulu and after that will davote
himself to writing.-
. Phyllis Haver is following in the
footsteps of many of her famous
sisters who have shaken the water
(?) from their bathing costumes and
jumped successfully into more seri
ous drama. The fair Phyllis, it was
recently announced, is to play a
dramatic role In Goldwyn's produc
tion of "The Christian."
Among the others who have suc
cessfully made the transition are
ARTISTS OF RISER- STUDIO
INJURED IN SHOOTING FILM
Edward J. Taylor, Leading Man, and Lloyd Jones, Assistant Camera
Man Have Narrow Escapes Photographing Logging Operations.
, FTER J spending two weeks
y taking moving pictures of
l logging operations in the
Big creek camp of the Crossett
Timber company in the fir forests
of "the Nehalem mountains, a com
pany of cameramen, directors and
artists of Kiser Studios, Inc., have
returned to Portland. They ar,e all
thankful they are able to relate the
thrilling experiences of their trip,
and two of their number are for
tunate that they are alive.
'Lloyd Jones, - assistant camera
man, was struck by a steel cable
used as a line in logging operations,
and put out of Eervice. He suffered
two broken ribs and minor Injuries.
Hjs companions, witnessing the ac
cident, believed the line had cut him
in two. until they, arrived at his
side and picked him up unconscious.
Edward J. Taylor, leading man,
barely escaped death . by being
crushed beneath a mammoth log.
He was rescued with great diffi
culty by Jack Fenton, chief camera
man. Taylor sustained many bruises
and the loss -f several square
inches of cuticle from various por
tions of his body.
Bach day during their stay in
camp photographing the logging
operations the ,party was in con
WOMAN'S PHYSICAL BEAUTY
RAISES HAVOC IN PICTURE
,j
'Manager Lacy . Books Photo-Dramatization of Anna Katherine
Green's J'smouf Novel "The Mayor's Wife," for Majestic.
DANGER attends the' possession
of physical lure by woman.
This point is illustrated graph
ically vin "His Wife's Husband," a
photo dramatization of Anna Kath
erine Green's famous society novel,
"The Mayor's Wife," in which Betty
Blythe is starred and which will be
presented at the Majestic theater
soon. , .
- Miss Blythe 'plays the role , of
Olympia Brewster, a college-bred
girl of rare beauty and physical
perfection who marries, a man. to
escape from the drudgery of a servile
position only to find herself in a
more distasteful predicament, for
she learns that the man had been
captivated by her physical charms
but did not love her. This makes
her marriage utterly . unbearable to
the girl, and she immediately craves
her liberty. Feigning suicide by
drowning, she leave ihim even while
he is drinking with the guests nu
merous toasts to their happiness.
As she leaves she sees a woman fire
a shot through a lower window and,
seeing the apparently lifeless form
of her husband stretched on the
floor, she flees to an uncle's home
in another town. In a newspaper
she reads of her husband's death.
In time she is again alone, her
uncle's heiress, and marries a pros
perous young lawyer who, with her
at his side, progresses rapidly and
with whom, and a daughter, she is
supremely happy. Then clouds be
gin to gather when the household
is invaded by her husband's secre
tary, a man strongly resembling the
man who desired her, her first hus
band, and who turns her perturba
tion into dispassionate calm only
to whip the cross currents of her
life into a maelstrom which threat
ens to engulf her happiness. f
Betty Blythe Is peculiarly 'gifted
for the playing of this role. En
dowed by nature with an entrancing
beauty of form and feature, and
gifted with exceptional talent, she
is everything Anna Katherine Greene
could have visualized in writing her
story, giving life to the character
as possibly no other actress of the
screen could have done. She is sup
ported by a splendid cast, including
Huntley Gordon, Arthur Careweand
George Fawcett.
Kenneth Webb adapted the' story
vaudeville: actor visiting
in portland.
Bernie Dunn.
A visitor in Portland is Bernie
Dunn, who has arrived to spend a
short vacation with his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Concannon.
Mr. Concanno is an ex-councilman.
Mr. Dunn is at the family
home, at 804 Thurman street and
will vbe here until July, when he
' leaves to open at the Orpheum
Junior theater in St. Louis July 10.
He is a well-known vaudevillian,
and in the six years since he left
, Columbia university in Portland
, he has appeared with succession
the Keith and eastern Pantages
circuits, and two years ago was
on Loew time. ' He is a singer and
comedian and writes his own ina-
' teriai.
Gloria Swanson, Betty Compson,
Louise Fazenda, Mary Thurman,
Vera Stedman, Alice Lake and' oth
ers.
When congress begins ' to place
statues in the Hall of Fame to bath
ing beauties who have graduated to
serious drama it is safe to bet that
Phyllis will fill a nifty niche.
"
Mabel Normand has a dog.
It's hair was so and so.
And everywhere that Mabel went
That mut thought he must go.
It followed her to work one day.
Which fractured every rule
Of tones' idea of discipline
: "Keep off this set, you fool!"
They shouted, "Back, you ' Belgian
'-. pup!"
"Andle pronto quick!
"You'll spoil the scene you'll spill
the beans!
"You'll make F. Richard sick!"
They spoke in every language,
They called in every tongue,
But still he came with eyes aflame,
. This great big canine bum.
Until Mabel revealed his secret;
He was German to the core.
She yelled aloudr "Raus mit dem
Hund!" . . v ,
And from the scene he tore.'
stant danger; but President Kiser,
who headed the expedition, was de
termined to obtain some real close
up shots of every feature of the
industry and they succeeded far be
yond expectations. '
The scenes' photographed were of
every phase of tho logging industry
from' the time the topper scajes the
giant trees tz- top them until the
logs are dumped Into the Columbia
river, where they are made into
rafrs for towing to the lumber mills.
. There 1? a heart interest story
running throughout the picture,
which will be one of the two-reel
educational subjects being produced
by the local company for an inter
national distributor.
"We were given every opportunity
to obtain pictures of the real inside
of logging operations," said Presi
dent Kiser. "The officials of the
logging company gave us, the run
of the oamp, and when our picture is
given to the public, I am certain
it will prove a reaI sensation. If
we had stag;ed the scenes we photo
graphed ourselves, it would have
cost us $100,000. But the entire
logging operations cost us nothing.
But I am certainly thankful that
we all got home without no more
serious mishaps than befell Jones
and Taylor."
and directed its production for Pyra
mid Pictures, Inc.'who are releasing
through the American Releasing
corporation. ,
.
Hal Roach, producer of Lloyd com
edies, has the right idea. He.saye:
"Make only comedies that I can
take my family to see clean whole
some pictures." That is right, and
Harold Lloyd will, do it, in fact he
always has. By the way, I spent
a delightful afternoon here the
other day and you'd be surprised at
the magnificent set he is using for
his new film. It looks like a De
M1Ue society production. Mildred
Davis is just as charming as ever,
and Harold is 'the same genteel boy.
This is one of the most homey stu
dios on the coast, and it's always
a pleasure to visit. ,
Norma Steps Aside to Help
Sister Connie.
Emotional Star Cheerfully Sac
rifices Noted Camera Man for
Younger Star's Film.
A SISTER'S sacrifice!
That could very well be the
title of this narrative. For it has
to do with Norma Talmadge and
the sacrifice she made so that her
sister, ConBtance, could have the
very best, photographically speak
ing. In the production of "East Is
West."
When it was decided that Norma
Talmadge was about to start work
on "The Voice From the Minaret,
the Robert Hichens story, which
Frank Lloyd will direct. It was be
lieved that Tony Gaudio, her
cameraman, who is now turning the
crank on the Constance Talmadge
picture, would De switched and an
other cinematpgrapher chosen to
take his placer
But when Norma heard of this
she' balked.
Although she realized that Gaudio
was one of the best cameramen
who had ever forked for her, she
refused to allow the switch, stat
ing that Gaudio's work to date, in
"East Is West" was excellent, and
that it wouldn't be fair to her sister
to consent to the change.
So Gaudio will, remain with Sidney
Franklin in the filming of this
oriental story, while Joseph M.
Schenck is combing the city for
high-powered man to handle the
camera when Norma Talmadge
starts work.
"Lover's Lane," written by Clyde
Fitch, and "The Old Folks at Home,"
by Justine Adams, have been pur
chased by the Warner brothers to
be converted into celluloid.
.
Richard Walton Tully has prac
tically completed the cast to sup
port Guy Bates Post in Tully's own
transcript of his famous stage play
"Omar, the Tentmaker." As in the
case of "The Masquerader" Just
completed and which marked the
double debut into the picture field
of both Tully and Post the cast
may in all truth be' -called an all-
star one.- Post, of course, will en
act the lovable Persian poet of
Rubaiyat fame, Omar Khayyam,
just as he did for a hundred and
thirty-one weks on the legitimate
stage.
.-.-"'"
AiaDorate preparations are now
being made at the Louis B. Mayer
studios for the filming of "Timber,
the first of the Reginald Barker
productions under the Mayer ban
ner. oeis, ranging in size from a
hallway to an entire building, are
now in course of construction, and
preparations are under way for the
transportation of the whole com
pany to the thickly-wooded districts
of the north for the exterior scenes.
Joseph Poland, who has written
some of the best scenarios screened
for coast production companies, is
now associated with William Fox.
Poland, who formerly was an east
ern writer, recently completed the
scripts for "The Hun Fanner" with
Tom Mix, and "The Splendid Out
cast," with John Gilbert.
CECIL B. DEMILLE WRITES ON
DIRECTOR'S WORK TODAY
Producer Draws Distinction Between Those That Stood Behind
' Megaphone and Those Now" Standing in Same Position.
! ' - :! 'A Ik.
N j
Cecil B. DeMllle, one of America's
present-day requirements of
BY CECIL B. DeMILLE.
t Written for The Oregoniaii.
THE value of the director in mak
ing motion pictures is being
questioned-those days. Not that
anyone believes that he is -not valu
able, but on the contrary, there is a
general feeling that the .directors
has not had his fair share of appre
ciation. Since I am a director and
haVe given the past . ten years of
my life exclusively to the produc
tion of pictures, I am inclined to
0
I
65
OocfO
LFOUODDS
4
mwmm
foremost directors, writes describing
men responsible for pictures.
agree with that view. But I' am
content to let others discuss it.
There is, however, one point in
the discussion that seems to me to
be generally misunderstood. And
that is the great change of method
in directorial work. Since the pub
lic first came to realize that there
was an actual man. represented to
them only by a name, which flashed
for a few seconds on the screen,
directly responsible for all that ap
peared before them, the important
role of director has changed com
pletely. The old-style director has been
n
4
replaced by a student of psychology
a man capable of photographing
ideas rather than mere gestures.
Such a statement as that needs ex-
plaining to bring it out of the bog
of generalities.
The old-style director relied upon
his own abilities as an actor and
the imitative powers of his actors
and actresses. The making of pic
tures was an art to speak kindly
of it which was so new and so
different that only the director and
his camera man knew anything
about it. Actors, drawn from the
stage, found themselves bewildered
because they did not Know wtiai
they should do nor how they should
do it. ' , " ' .
It was up to the director, not only
to explain but to act out each part.
He went carefully into the details
of each second, and subsequently
demanded that each actor should
give an exact reproduction of his
performance. There were few actors
who knew enough about this new
technique to be trusted. The, fault
was not theirs, for it was not a
matter of Intelligence, but rather
of experience.
With such work were the di
rector's nights and days filled, I
think I need do no more than point
out the humorous possibilities of
a director, not noted for a 'sylph
like figure, instructing an ingenue
In the art of making love.
The modern director no longer
attempts to play each role. In these
days he is handling men(and women
who probably know as much, if not
more, than he knows about charac
terizations especially of the roles
for which they have been chosen.
To impose his ideas upon them
would be to make the picture as
stilted as most pictures were in
those days which now seem so
ancient.
It is this growing knowledge of
technique among actors that has
released the director from work
which produced, except in rare jn
stances, 'nothing better than second
hand acting before the camera. It
did, of course, produce screen tech
nique as we know it today; but
only after the actors, with an un
bounded instinct for acting, seized
upon the director's ideas, discarded
some of them and improved others.
The director of yesterday and I
was one of them, for I had to learn
sought to put the , maximum
amount of action into his pictures.
We still use action, for by the very
nature of motion pictures we must
have action; but we have learned
to use it as a means to an end,
rather than the end itself.
Behind the action, motivating' it
every minute, we must have a gen
uine theme, worked up by careful
characterization and incident. A
head-on collision of two trains is
a thrilling bit of action, but it is
by no means so thrilling as the
mere off-sjtage slamming of the
door in "A Doll's House", if it has
nothing real behind it.
We directors are working for hat
reality and I do not mean realism
without which any art becomes
plain piffle. This is the work of
the director of today.
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Picture Companies Twist
Summer Calendar.
Season Prolonged Profitably for
Hotelkeoper at Balboa Beach,
California.
riERE is a hotel-keeper at Bal
boa, Cal., who, thanks to an un
usual demand for "sea drammer,"
has trium phed. over nature by
stretching his summer season from
four to six months, i
Starting In April, two months be
fore the official entrance of ' hot
weather, a continuous string of pic
ture companies have kept his hotel
open and busy. Flrst.it was Jack
Holt in "The Man Unconquerable."
Then William Desmond made hi
appearance. Next was "Border
land," with Agnes Ayres.
The deser tod summer resort
reached the height of its remarkable
spring activity, however, wnen
George Fitzmaurice arrived for ma
rine scenes of "To nave ana iu
Hold," his latest production for
Paramount, in which Bert Lytell
and Betty Compson are featured.
Jamestown in 1620 was recreated
on the beach below the hotel, ana
a British 17th century man-of-war
lay in the offing. Later a beetling
pirate ship dropped anchor in the
same channel. And just around a
point of jagged rocks Bert Lytell,
Walter Long and Theodore Kosloff
drew swords in a thrilling duel.
Before the summer is over at least
six more Paramount companies will
take sea pictures at Balboa, and the
summer season may go well into
winter.
Producers Support Hays,
Says De Mille.
Paramount Products Meet Wltn
His Ideal, Declares the Noted
Director.
rp
HE motion picture industry to
a man is behind Will H. Hays
in his fight to maintain the high
moral and artistic standard of mo
tion pictures."
That is the declaration made by
Cecil B. DeMille, director-general of
Paramount Pictures, followinig Mr.
Hays' request that notices be posted
on the bulletin boards of all studios
outlining the standard that tie has
set for motion picture production.
"We are making (pictures today, as
many of us consistently have made
them in the past," Mr. DeMille point
ed out. "that are in complete accord
with Mr. Hays' Ideals. He is deter
mined to prove to the "world, that the
motion picture industry is capable of
producing picures without external
supervision, and we are bending
every effort to aid him in this
work."
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