The Washington times., 1916-01-24
Hero-in9 AS Steady
Job Has a Lot Of
DiScOn1fortS, Say
Screen Stars.

What does the handsome hero OF
the photoplay do when he is not
hero-inS?
Rests from the pains and misfor-
tunes of being hcrO!'
The answer is chorus. 1t comes
from Francis y. Bushman. William
Farnum, Henry Walthall, Harold
Lockwood, Carlyle Blackwell, Wal
lace Reid, and all the rest of them.
The only person in the world who
suffers more from being a hero is
the heroine and most of the trou-
bles of the hero are caused by res
cuing the heroine. OF course, it all
ends happily, but, the selected bunch
of heroes TO whom The Times photo
play editor has addressed the ques-
ton from time 10 time point out,
look at the tTouble-real active trou-
ble-thcy are compelled to get them
selves into, in order to make the
last two or three hundred feet of
film send the audience home in
happy frame of mind. And look at
the terrible things the villains do
to the heroes.
All of which points TO a difference
between the business of being a hero
on the stage and in motion pictures.
Quite lot of action in a stage play
can be faxed" because the show
must go. on every day and no man
ager will take chance Of injuring
an actor who has a big role in a
production. The contrary holds in
motion pictures. The hero is only
compelled to be the hero of any one
particular play but once, and direct
tors urge their heroes to get all the
realism possible into their work.
The sings and arrows of out
rageous hero-ing would form the
burden of the soliloquy of a modern
Hamlet. William Farnum points to
sundry scars on his person, souvenirs
of the famous fight he had with
Tom Santschi in the production of
The Spoilers"-the while Tom
Santchi is pointing to sundry scars
on his person that are mementos in
the same encounter But Farnum
considers the weeks he spent i'm cot
ton, wool and lint recovering from
his encounter with poison oak in
The Broken Law as even more
irksome.
Putting oneself deliberately in
front of the advancing fist of one
James ]. Jeffries, without permit
ting the extreme dcliberation of the
operation TO be apparent on the
screen, Francis Y. Bushman con-
stders one of the most uncomfortable
iiAOllitIAS VI Has Ndl tGls IlC ulu llllS III
Pennington Choice" Bushman
also wishes to remark that the fist
and his jaw met without anv de-
liberation at all, and that he felt
wobbly for a week afterward
Harold Lockwood's handsome fea-
lures illumine the screen of about
5000 theaters i'm Mutual Master
pieces every week. out on a "loca-
ton" in the making of the coming
American release. "The Sorry Scheme
OF Things" Lockwood had TO be
sunk into a quagmire and quick
sand by painful, thrilling inches
while the camera recorded the play
of his emotions. His ''lines" on this
occasion and Immediately afterward
would he unpleasant to the most
hardened ear.
Dick Neil, Of the Fox forces, had
the same sort OF an experience as
Lockwood i'm a quagmire in The
Broken Law" whore he played tho
heavy role opposite Farnum. only
in NeiI's case the mire was filled with
leeches which insisted On attach
ing themselves to him. But, of
course. not being a hero. he simply
got what was coming to him.
HeAry Walthall considers his
greatest task was that of digging
tho famous trench in his first motion
picture. He doesn't even remember