The Natchitoches enterprise., 1917-07-05
Theda Bara Screening Cleoputra.

worship. | was thinking only
the other day of the typical Amer
leans in Martin Chuzzelwit and
the receptions tended lions and
| how we welcomed the celebrities
that continue to pour into Los
AngelcS. II does seem to me that
the greatest number of famous
artists, authors, musicians and
actors have their summer homes
here. We have welcomed hordes
of them since ! arrived.
Well, to go back to the celebri-
ties, Schuman- Heinck pro Jed most
ordinary looking until she heard
band and raised her glorious voice
in The Star Spangled Banner and
bought the rest of the town flock
ing to the band stand. Her second
son who is movie actor vOlun-
teered some weeks ago, tho he is
just married, but they are all pure
American patriots alright with the
; Younger ones all at military
schools. Well we welcomed all
the others too; Pershing, Prince
Paul Tubelski, who can't lecture
but has the most fascinating
sculpture on exhibition [ ever saw,
80 little statues of children, many
of them wonderful. Then there
was Geraldine Ferrar whom l
wrote you of fascinating as can be,
Mary Pickford, Douglas Fair
banks, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, DR..
Frank Crane, Nat Goodwin, Ruth
St. Denis, Barney Oldfeld, Nine,
Montessore, Charlie Van Loan. all
of these and others | can't remem-
ber who all have homes here.
Therefore it was surprise to me,
when everybody got SO excited
over Theda Bara coming. She
has been working in New York for
Fox, but they have such a big
plant here, and were going to put
on the most elaborate feature eyer
filmed. Cleopatra, so Miss Bara
larriEed last week, OF course she.
is the champion vampire of the
film world and probably nearly as
highly paid as the others put to-
gether. But it seemed like ter
rible lot of excitement over her.
All the papers published long il.
Illustrative accounts of her arrival
so Kenneth and | thought we
would go over to the Fox Studio
and see if Theda was as charming
as they all said.
We took car over, and soon found
the place, off Sunset boulevard, two
big squares on opposite sides of the
street surrounded by wall at least ten
feet high. Motors were sailing by, and
people! never saw such bunch.
Kenneth and sidled up to big gate,
where people were thronging in, each
showing the tyrant at the entrance a
magic card. He was counting them in
a grumbling tone, and when he said
Eight hundred seven" we were
caught up by the throng and swept up.
"Where's your card?' he growled, and
| said 81 haven't one. ''He swooped
me in, but to one side, and fenced me
into narrow corner with the turnstyle
would lose your heads if they weren't
fastened on. che said more in sorrow
than in anger" wait here till git this
herd thru and I'll look you up. "Well,
| didn't want to be looked up, but did
want to know what was up SO stayed,
and when there, was a lulb he turned |
to me and said, Don't you remember
your number, or the kid's?' I'VE
didn't t have any, 81 said, what are
they for''? He eyed me suspiciously, |
but looked as harmless as possible
and he seemed glad to have sympathe- |
tic ears to unburden his tried soul to.
Its that Theda Bara, he said, every |
thing in Los Angeles wants to be in her |
picture. Why half the girls we've had |
are high school girls, and they all think |
the honor of being in this here, Theda's |
picture is glory in itself. Some of EN- |
don't even want pay, all they want is |
chance to shine in this here big thing. |
They nearly swamped US since we
started this picture. And the boss sent |
out notices to the employment agency |
that we'd need two hundred fifty women |
and about nine hundred men today,
they're doing these big secenes first /
and just look! We got em in awarms,
why, some of those poor simps were
Tined up when ] came here, and that /
Was before seven. He looked at me |
keesly, then said, you Wanta try it2 !
"Heafens, no, II said hastily, II
never had any experience. That don't
matter, he said, not one hundred
has had any.sN, Ali you got to do is to go
over there to the wardrobe mistress, |
git one of those robes; and a little |
grease paint if you, want it, tho how
you or anybody else will be seen in that
mob, don't know anG there you are.
They got about hundred kids, some in
the mob scene, some in the street scene,
some as pages, and that's a likely, look
ing. little feller. ] shouldn t wonder if
you could git him in permanent, he's
good type. BY this time the supes
were beginning to pour ilto the square
behind US, in long robes, many with
their hair unbound, some sandaIled, all
picking their way carefully over the
grass There was big fountain in
The center. and flowers. and the COL