The Washington herald., 1917-09-24

this autumn. Rebecca wears a cheese
cloth party dress, because she cannot
afford any other kind, and l have a
real cheesecloth dress, just like Re-
becca's.
Every day. as I played my part, 1
saw how careful the director was
about every detail; appropriate furnj-
ture, scenery, even the right kind of
country buttons on Rebecca's clothes.
have always observed this exactness
in carrying out details in plays. Di-
rectors of good plays never try to fool
the people. That is why plays cost
50 much and afford the pleasure they
co. because they are sincere.
1t made me think. People always
recognize and respond to truth. And
when l thought how beautiful an
audience was in this respect, 1t made
me feel that one must live ones
truest self. and act ones truest self
In pictures, because ii isn't the make.
believe character that holds the audi
ence, it is the real person who plays
the part.
Then felt glad that my mother had
brought me up to be sincere and
thorough in my work. A movie actress
needs these qualities to win success,
and i think that is why people write
SO kindly about my plays. l just live
in the character l am portraying, and
I'm sure that THE Poor Little Rich
Girl never felt an emotion that /
did not experience, and recently I've
been living in "Rebecca" until just
feel as though 1 am Rebecca.
When 1 began to think about how
moving picture cameras depicteI
with CT rfIinO
curacy, the idea came to me that our
characters are thrown upon the screen
of time with just that same un-
deviating exactitude. Every trait and
foIble is clearly revealed.
While the scene shifters made
ready for another picture Of Rebecca.
one day, 1 rested my chin in my hand
and thought this thing out.
Yes, 1 said to myself, there must
never be any shams or make-believes
in our daily lives IL we want to make
a perfect character film. We want TO
speak every word from our hearts,
end throw a cheerful light on thN
picture with the beams of Kindness,
| and let every act be such that, If the
| play of our life were thrown upon
an earth screen, we would not shrink
from gazing at 1t ourselves, nor from
inviting our friends to see 1t.
What are you so serious about,
| Mary?" the director asked, coming
| over to me. "Is Rebecca tired OF
waiting for her farm?"
| I'm just thinking" I told him.
about our lives being like movie
play, with our characters thrown
upon the screen of eternity. Just as
| they are, and with nothing to hide
| their imperfections. 1t seems to me
one has to be very careful to act in
the lines II one would show up well
| on that screen"
That's true he said. What a
| little moralizer you are, Mary! We
would all be better and the world hap
pier for our. lives II every time we
| witness a movie play We would make
| new resolves to play our part in life
/ so that our characters will show up
well on the screen"
/ feel as though would like to
| give my reader friends this messag ge
| that the staging of a movie play
| brought to me: make-believes and
| shams show up In the picture and
! spoil It. and II we want to make a
| good film in this world or the next.
we must be real, we must be sincere,
| and we must be surrounded with
brightness. A dark-clad figure does
| not screen well in picture, nor a
/ dark character in real life.