El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-07
A Type Of The
Western PIainSman
Edgar Jones, The Lubin Star,
Embodies The Spirit of
the ArgOnauts of '49

Mareuerite Clayton Remains Loyal to
the Pictures-Arming the Men Who
VIII Appear in Fenimore Cooper's
'sspv''-Creating Atmosphere" for
"The Ganesters of New York"
# may be because he was born in
the Middle West and spent his young
manhood there that Edgar Jones, of the
Lubin Company, brings to the screen
today that buoyant breeziness which is
usually associated with Westerners only.
Certain it is that his wholesome, virile,
masculinity breathes the spirit of the
great out-of-doors. This same quality,
as well as his stalwart, muscular frame,
forceful countenance and intrepid horse
manship, have frequently brought forth
the inquiry if he was not at one time
a model for Frederic Remington's ideal
plainsmen. 1t has been said, too, that
Edgar Jones might have been the protO-
type of one Of Bret Harte's bold heroes
of California in the early SOS, or one
Of those picturesque gamblers Of the
Mississippi steamboats, when the West
was in the making.
The quick recognition accorded Mr.
Jones BY the picture public is a happy
indication Of its appreciation Of the
genuine Western man, although it has
been said that the counterfeit cowboy
of the movies was good enough because
most people did not know the differ
ence-
Like most prominent picture players,
Mr.. Jones is q graduate of the stage,
having first appeared in Lubin films
less than two years ago, after a few
seasons in the companies Of Kyrle Bel
lew and Viola Allen, with some stock
engagements and several special pro
auctions between.
From the outset Mr.. Jones attracted
attention. he had not appeared three
times on the stage before his earnesmess
and the perfection Of his type-he was
cowboy in a revival of Arizona
brought him an offer Of something bet
fer. Thus it has been all along; he has
been recognized for his untiring efforts
to improve himself, his zeal in working
toward perfection in whatever part he
had to play, and his commanding mag
made favorites by the public and have
netism-
Few players entering the field prac-
ticsIIv unknown have been so speedily
been so rapidly advanced by their man
agement as has Mr.. Jones. 1t was
lust that consciousness, that ability to
Al
well as acting-nOt forgetting his COM
mercial Talue-that induced the Lubin
Company to promote Mr.. Jones to the
responsibility of directing the photo
plays in which he plays the leading
part.
Most of the young Rctor-directOr' pic
lures have been made at BetzwOOd, the
vast Lubin estate on the SchuyLkill
river, where he has had resources at
his command for filming Of Out-of-door
stories such as no other director III
the East has had at his disposal.
Like some other players in the mute
drama, Mr.. Jones has become imbued
with an absolute disregard for his own
safety and, at times, his very life it
self.
Probably for the first time in the his
tory Of the photoplay a genuine army
cOurtmartial, made up entirely of .. S.
Army officers was enacted recently at
Galveston, Texas, for Romano Field
ing, who is now wintering at the beau
tiful resort, and viii be seen in a forth
coming feature release. Thirteen of
the principal commanding officers sta
toned at Fort Crockett the military
base, enacted the full routine of mill
tary trial. The only civilian player ap-
pearing in the scene is arrested by
soldiers and taken to their superior
officers, who played their parts in the
trial with all the dignity and severity
Of military discipline while all save the
thirteen were ignorant Of the camera s
steady click-click. It was but another
demonstration Of the pains Romaine
Fielding, ''realist" who thinks nothing
Of blowing up a whole street or hiring
a feet of aeroplanes to put over"
point, viii go for the attainment of
realism in his plays.
There was recently published a story
30 the effect that the Western Essanay's
clever little leading lady, Marguerite
Clayton, was anxious to forsake the
pictures in order to play a part in musi-
cal comedy. The story evidently origi-
mated IN the fertile brain of some press
agent. be made it appear that Miss
Clayton, whose undOubted claim to popu-
lauty and fame is based upon her ap-
pearance opposite G. NJ Anderson in
the ''BrOncho Billy stories, as well as
her wonderful ability as a screen &C
tress, desired to change all that for
part in Mr.. Anderson's other enterprise,
the successful Gaiety Theatre, in San
Francisco. Miss Clayton says she is
grateful for the publicity, but wants her
many friends and admirers in the pic
ture houses to know that she has neither
the intention nor the desire to forsake
her present work.
Frank Ormston, technical director at
the Universal Pacific Coast Studios, has
returned from the East, where he went
TO secure certain rare properties to be
used in the three-reel adaptation of
James FenimOre COoper's novel, ''The
Spy"
As a result Of a prolonged search
through museums and antique shops of
Chicago, Boston and New York. Mr.
Ormston secured three hundred flint
lock rifles of the type used during the
Revolutionary War. He found it i'm
possible to secure a sufficient number
of powder horns to match the rifles and,
as q result q ur1ro bnr of tho oorr-bor-s a