Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-11-10
FUN IN UNIFORM
CHAPLIN SHOWS IT {

\ OMEDY situations and humor-

X OMEDY situations and humor-
Gus incidents in Shoulder
~ Arms" the second million-dol-
ar Chaplin production, to be shown
1t the Rialto theater all this week,
were the most difficult to develop
and produce OF any that the famous
screen comedian has ever attempted
in any of his pictures. According
to his own explanation, he felt that
he was literally "treading on thin
ice all the time" In a statement to
the First National Exhibitors cir
siit, distributors of his productions,
he said;
Military lie abounds with posi-
l'ii;ies for humor. But to picturize
cnv Of them without actually ridi-
culing traditions, method and pur-
pose proved more than task. |
did not want to get effects which
would reflect in the slightest degree
upon the service, and still it was
recessarv to create action that would
involve the ordinary daily events of
doughboy's life. and make them
appear really Imaginable.
ITO do this | decided that one
central character--a typical boob
rccruit-could provide the situations
by his own stupidity and difficulty in
mastering the principles of soldier
ing. and properly draw into the
mix-ups representatives of every
rank and branch of the service. This
idea. carried out in Shoulder Arms,
brought the proper result, providing
a-score of novel situations with
out detracting in the least from the
dignity of soldering"
Sessue Hayakawa, who is consid-
cradle of a linguist, is teaching
French to several OF the members
of his company. The class he is
conducting, which developed into
quite size, started while he was
producing "The Temple of Dusk"
for the Haworth Pictures corpora
ton. His first pupils we're Jane No
yak, Sylvia Bremen and Lewis Will
loughby. l...
Hayakawa is the master of six
languages. In the University of
Toxic he studied Russian and Eng
lish, and when he came to this coun-
try to attend the Chicago univer-
sity he took up French, Spanish
and Italian, to prepare himself for
the diplomatic service Of his country.
Although he was lured from his
early ambitions by the stage he still
retains a keen interest in the study
of languages.
He is taking as much delight in
the teaching of French as his pupils
are in learning it. Some of them are
attempting to carry on their CONVEX
sations in French when they are at
work about the studio. Miss Novak,
who is in correspondence with sew
eral French soldiers, is already en-
deavoring to write her letters in
French.
Hayakawa has just organized his
own company, Haworth Pictures
corpration, which releases through
Mutual Hayakawa's latest play, in
whichShe will be shown at the Muse
this week in "The Temple of Dusk"
an unusual and strong story. writ
ten by Frances Marion.
A riot of splendor that outrivals
the time of the real Cleopatra is the
feature of the William Fox Theda
Bara superpictwe, Cleopatra" in
which Theda Bara, screen star, plays
the role of the Siren of the Nile. ~
In addition to the decorative crea-
tons embracing the various periods
in which Cleopatra reigned, there
have been used more than 10000
people to add color and life to the
photodrama. These periods en-
brace the Roman and Egyptian, CIV
ing the director an opportunity to
picturize the various barbaric types
prevalent in those times. l..
In the interior tent scene more
than $4,000 worth of decorations
were used to give it the barbaric
appearance of splendor accredited
to the time of the great Siren of the
Nile. There were used alone. in
this wonderful set, two rugs valued
at $4,000. In addition, the various
tapestries, silks and furniture
amounted to more than $4,000.
"The Woman the Germans Shot,"
a big special feature, based On the
death OF Edith Cavell at the hands
Of the Germans, is to be sent to
Omaha nc one Of IL Erst releases