New Britain Herald Newspaper, May 15, 1922, Page 5

11077 by Louis Joserh Vance BEGIN HERE TODAY To forget the bitter troubles of her domestic lide. LUCINDA BRUCE, Fifth Avenue so~ clety matron, accepts an {nvita- tion to visit the film studio of the famous screen star, ALMA DALEY. The visit is suggested by HARRY LONTAINE, who hopes to form a motion picture cdmpany In California. He is the hushand of Lucinda's school girl chum., FANNY LONTAINE. On the trip to the studios on Fifth Avenue, Lu- cinda muses over her break with her husband, BELLAMY, Wealth, youth, beauty, had failed to bring happiness to thelr Fitth Avenue home after five years of married life. Bel- lamy's heavy drinking and pro- miscuous flirtations had destroyed her early love for him. And now RICHARD DAUBENEY, her old sweetheart, had returned to New York. She tried to forget her per- sonal affairs watching King Laugh- lin, the director, and Tommy Shannon, leading man, rehearse a scene, GO ON WITH THE STORY “Oh, Tommy Shannon!" said Mr. Lane equably—“Tommy's all right, he knows what he's doing. All you got to do is let Tommy Shannon alone and he'll ring the gong every shot."” “But if that's the case, why did Mr. Laughlin take so much trouble to show him—?" “Well, you see, it's this way,” Mr. Lane explained: “King's all right, and Tommy's all right, but if Tommy don’t see a scene the way King shows him, and King Starts to bawl him out, why, Tommy’'ll just walk off the lot, And then where are you? You can't finish your picture Without your lead- ing man, can you? And there's may- be a hundred thousand dollars in- vested in this proposition already. One of the first things a director's got to learn in this game is how to handle actors.” “I see,”” said Lucinda thoughtfully. “The way to handle an actor is to let him have his own way."” “You got the idea,” Mr. Lane ap- proved without a smile. “But suppose,” she persisted— “suppose the leading man insists on doing something that doesn't suit the part he's supposed to play?" “That's easy. «+ What's your tinuity writer for?' “I don't know, Mr. Lane. You gee, I don’t even know what a continuity writer is."” “Why, he's the bird dopes out the continuity the director works from— you know, the scenes in a picture— the way they come out on the screen: Scene One, Scene Two, and all like that. Well, you get your continuity writer, of course, and have him make the change.” “You mean you change the story to please the actor?” “Sure: it's the only thing to do when you got maybe a hundred and fifty or two hundred thousand dol- lars hung up in a picture.” “But doesn't that frequently spoit the story?"” “‘Oh, what%s a story?” Mr. Lane arguéd reasonably. “Pcople don't go to see a story when they take in an Alma Daley picture. They go he- cause they know they get their money's worth when they see a Ben Culp production that's taken from some big Broadway success and costs a hundred and fifty or maybe two hundred thousand dollars. But prin: cip'ly, of course, they ‘go to sce Alma Daley, because she's the most pop'lar actress on the screen, and makes more money than Mary Pickford.” There was a sudden deluging of the set with waves of artificial light of a weird violet tint, falling from great metal troughs overhead and beating in horizontally from the metal stands or screens, which were now seen to be banks of incandescent tubes burning with a blinding glare. Nor was this all: shafts and floods of light of normal hue were likewise trained upon the scene from a dozen different points, until the . blended rays lent almost lifelike coloring to con- EGLECTED Readaches sad Colds are 8 cme aguimet beakth sod famidy wel- fore. Den'tbe slave to winter complaints. Dea’t make yourself wseless and endanger athers by allowing Colds to rus their course. Alvays have Hil's Cascars Bromide Quinine Tablets handy. For Colds, Hoad- aches and La Grippe they are best by test —quickest to act and end Colds in 24 howrs, La Grippe in 3 days. Sale, depend- able. Mo bad alter effects. No “head weises” Comvemient snd pleasast to take. Al,flnnahn-.n_(:ma “SMILIN’ THRU” Ina KINNEY SHOE the faces &f the actors, whose make- up had theretofore seemed ghastly and unnatural to uninitiated eyes, “Camera!" The command came from Laughlin. Lucinda could just muffled clicking. Coached hy Mr. Laughlin, who danced nervously upon the side lines, the scene was enacted, “Now, Tommy, come on—slowly-— hold the door—look around, make sure the room s empty—hold ft— now shut the door—up to the table— don't forget where to put your hat— ‘sright, splendid! Now you look at the other door—Ilisten—show me that you don't hear anything—good! Open the drawer—easy now, remem- ber you're trying not to make a noise —look for the papers—show me you can't find them. My God! where can they be! That's it. Now you hear a noise off-—(Ready, Al )——shut the drawer—start to pick up your hat-—— too late! Come on Alma—-come on! You don’t see him, you look out of the window and sigh—let's see you sigh, Alma—beautiful! beautiful! Now, Tommy, you move—she sees you see him, Alma. Slowly—hold it— wonderful! Now call to him, Alma— Egbert! Egbert! The little man's voice cracked with the heart-rending pathos he infused into that cry; he continued to dance and bark directions at star and lead- ing man till the door closed behind Miss Daley's frantic exit. “Good! Now we'll shoot the close- ups.' The camera was brought forward and trained at short range on the spot where Miss Daley had fallen; King hear a SHE SET HER ARMS AKIMRBO, HER EYES WERE QUICK WITH BALEFUL LIGHTNINGS. several stands of banked lights like- wise were advanced and adjusted. The actress lay ip a broken heap with her fgce buried on her arms, the camera once more began to click and Mr. King Laughlin squatting by its side, prepared to pull the young woman through the scene by sheer force of his inspired art. But now the passion which before had kept him hopping and scream- ing had passed into a subdued and plaintive phase; Mr. Laughlin was suffering for and with the heroine whose woes were to be projected be- fore the eyes and into the hearts of half the world. He did not actually cry, but his features were knotted with the anguish that wrung his heart, and his voice was thick with sobs. “Now, dear, you're coming to you just lift your head and look up, dazed. You don't realize what's hap- pened yet, you hardly know where you are. Where am I, my God! where am I? That's it—beautiful. Now it begins to come to you. He has cast you off——0 my God! he has deserted you. Fine— 1ldn't be better—you're great, dear, simply great. Now go on begin to cry, let the big tears well up from your broken heart and trickle down your cheeks. Fine! Cry harder, dear—you must cry harder, this scene will go all flooey if you can't cry any harder than that. Think what he was to you—and now he has left you—who knows?—perhaps for- ev-er! Your heart is breaking, dear, it's breaking, and nobody cares. Can't you cry harder? Listen to the music and . . Good God! how d'you ex- pect anybody to cry to music like that?" The last was a shriek of utter ex- asperation; and bounding to his feet the little man darted furiously at the musicians, stopping in front of the trio and ,beginning to beat time with an imaginary baton. “Follow me, please-—get this, the way I feel it. So—slowly-——draw it out-—hold it—get a little heart-break into it!" And strangely enough he did man- age to infuse a little of his fine fer- vor into the three. Throughout, on the floor before the camera, undar that cruel glare of lights, Alma Daley strained her face EW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, MONDAY, MAY 15, 1922, toward the lens and cried as if heart must surely break, real tears streaming down her face—hut cried with fine judgment, never forgetting that woman must be lovely even In woe, ? While Lucinda“watched, a strange volce waluted her, her In Lane's place sat a stout man of | nance of Semitic type, shrewd nance of Semitic type, chrewd hard but gdod-natured, “How d'you do?" he sald genlally. “This is Mrs. Druce, ain't it? Culp's my name, Ben Culp,” X Of a sudden Miss Daley missed her mentor's volce, and in the middle of a sob ceased to cry precisely as she might have shut off a tap, In a moment of uncertainty, still confronting the clicking camera, still bathed in that withering blaze, she cast about blankly for her runagate director. Then discovering that he had, just like a man! deserted her in her time of trouble to follow a band, outraged womanhood asserted {tself, The flery creature who sprang to her feet with flashing eyes and scorn- ful mouth was hardly to be identified with the forlorn little thing who, anly a few seconds since, had been grovel- ing and weeping on the floor. As one who finds the gesources of her mother tongue inadcquate, Miss and and tous stare the back of King Laugh- lin, who, all ignorant of the doom I hovering over his devoted head, kept on swaying airily to and fro, smiling his ecstatic smile and measuring the music with fluent hands. One of the Daley feet began to tap out the devil's tattoo, she set her arms akimbo, her eyes were quick with baleful lightnings, her pretty lips an ominous line; an ensemble that only too clearly foretold: At any minute, now! With a smothered grunt, Mr. Culp heaved out of his chair and lumber- ed over to his wife, interposing his bulk between her and the wuncon- scious object of her indignation. Whatever Culp said, it proved‘effec- tual; for nothing worse came of Miss Daley's wrath, at least publicly, than a shrewish retort inaudible to bhy- standers, a toss of her head, and a sudden, stormy flight from the scene. “That's the sort of thing you're up against all a time in the fillum busi- ness, d'y'see,” sighed Mr. Culp with a rueful grin. “A lot of kids, that's what we got to make pitchers with. And audiences all a time kickin’ be- cause we don’t make 'em better . . lot of kids!" Lontaine presented him to each of his guests; and thus reminded of the first purpose of their visit, which he seemed to have forgotten altogether, Mr. Culp delayed long enough to call a worried young man with the eye- shade, Mr. Willing, and charged with supervision of the proposed tests. (Continued in Our Next Issue.) 10 HAVE EXHIBIT City Mission to Display Work Done Year—South Church Sunday School Co-operates. During the Past An exhibition of all the work of the City Mission and the Italian Sunday school of the South Congregational church for the past year will be held at the Y. W. C. A. gymnasium Wed- nesday night of next week The ex- hibit will include work from the Methodist, lLafayette (Baptist) and Burritt Mission sewing schools, the Ttalian Sunday school of the South Congregational church, the Junior Achievement club of the Burritt Mis- sion and the Center Congregational church and the Fresh Air Camp Miss Carolina E. Bartlett,)who will have charge of the exhibit, will show stereopticon slides, of the Iresh Aid camp and will tell the story of the camp for the benefit of the children. New York policemen wear bullet proof jackets. 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Can an Ordinary floof covering withstand such punishment without being battered and torn?—of course not! Yet when the test is over and the dirt washed off, these pieces of Cott-a-Lap you’ve been walking on will be just as bright and pretty as the day they were put down. That’s the kind of floor covering you want in your home, particularly in your kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, halls, porches and nursery Buy All Your Needs NOW—AL the Special Demonstration Price 49 ¢ Yard Floor Coverings—Draperies and Housewares—3rd Floor DELBERT K. PERRY Announces the Removal of His Architectural Offices To His Recently Completed Building at Seventeen Court Street May Twelfth Nineteen Hundred Twenty-Two Institute of Architects. Member American POLLY AND HER PALS HAS Pa GEEN MY MILL IWERS BILL VT 2 L WMAT MAKES YoU SO POSITIVE? — HE wouLD GING HAD (FbSlTNE_ \ | HoN ROLLY! ) bl )