The New York herald., 1921-02-27
Screen Shadows
Bx. FRANK yREELANp.

.
are said to have been confided for
safe keeping to the Famous Players
Lasky Corporation. notable among
them being "Sumurun." which play
goers here will remember for the man
ner in which several years ago II
made the orchestral runway an in
tegral part OF the Arabian Nights.
This news discloses that Reinhardt,
who made the picture as well as staged
the original production, has been busy
putting several pictures on rollers in
Berlin since the war. though the fact
has been kept almost as secret as
though 1t were an international treaty.
Forty more pictures are expected to
work their way across the ocean in
the near future. and 1t looks as though
Germany, in spite OF being crippled
by the war and In spite Of several
ridiculous ventures In the municipal
propagation Of films, were reviving
her cinema industry with solar
plexus wallop, while the business here
is still houndering and wondering
what hit it.
The announcement that David Wark
Gr1fith is preparing to throw Faust"
on the screen brings to light the fact
that plans had been laid also to give
1t throw by Arthur Hopkins. now
giving Macbeth" the air on the speak
ing stage. Griflth's production has
caused Hopkins to mutter "Foiled!"
and exit with a few hearty Shakes
pearian curses only to be found in the
original text.
Hopkins had long been planning to
muff!e Gounod's masterpiece with the
Maxim silencer of the movies He
even had his hackers lined up-all he
needed was studio space in which to
exercise little thought--and public.
The way was to be paved for this pro-
duction by couple Of pictures of the
ordinary stock in trade type-good.
but not SO intellectual that they hurt.
That was to take the blight of the
'highbrow" stigma off the Hopkins
products and get the movie public
licking their lips for more-for an
elaborate film production must have
big public, no matter how small a
circle is required to support stage
venture that could be carried away in
cart, but isn't always SO carried
away.
After these two preliminary bouts was
to come Faust" and everything would
be over except the problem of chasing
the audiences when they very probably
might want to stay all day and see the
picture three times. Hopkins had been
associated with the Goldwyn company
in the early days when that firm had
its mind all made UP to let a little
more art IL not little more light into
the movies. But the stage producer
aspired to dabble in celluloid inde-
pendently and handle the povies so that
even a little college professor could un-
derstand them.
However. his hackers are said to have
been hit by tidal wave in Wall Street,
and on top Of that Griffith takes
Faust in charge and puts II under
lock and key in his studio.
Marshall Neilan, having pulled so far
ahead on his production schedule that
he can afford to stop and notice the rest
of the world, Is going to Florida to d.
rect John Barrymore In his next picture.
an independent venture backed by Jo-
seph Godsol, who, though prominently
identified with Goldwyn, Is apparently
starting this as his own party. In this
way Neilan is not only keeping his
mind in circulation for about seven
weeks but also picking up enough loose
nickels to make $4,000 Also he Is
managing to produce about $I,000,000
worth of agitation In his own private
clan of assistants.
His staff had confidently expected to
pass the rest of their days in peace in
Los Angeles with nothing but a possible
earthquake to disturb them. Petp Smith.
Nelan's publicity expounder. had even
gone so far as to assume on his slim
and handsome shoulders five year lease
of a house in the City OF the (hlm)
Angels and prepared to wear out the
family Morris chair there. But now the
clan Neilan is afraid the boss once hav-
ing been vamped by Florida, will want
to stay there for good and make pictures
under the azure sky with the oranges
dropping on his head They're more
upset than IL that earthquake had hit
them. And they're trying TO insinuate
by every means possible to Nelan that
there's some kind of hoodoo or statute
of limitations preventing a producer
from making more than one picture
there.
Ida Rubinstein. noted American dam
Ger. now living in Paris, has achieved
more distinction, besides being about
the only woman who turned a cold shoul-
der to Gabrielle d'Annunzio's charms-a
little more gently. of course. than Italy
did recently. She La about to enter the
movies In America with. as one might
coy. both feet. Miss Rubinstein. who
possesses dramatic as well as terpsicho-
rean skill, has taken the unique method
OF having a test reel Of about 800 feet
roade In Paris and sent here to Landy
and TurnbuI so that she can make n
bid for film fame from producers with
cut going to tho trouble of coming over
herself sending her celluloid ambassa-
dor instead.
This Is probably the first instance or
an international arrangement for an en-
gagement by such proxy, and so far
nothing has been said about including
such imports in the revised tariff sched-
uies. Native photoplny producers can
now have samples OF foreign artistry
cubmitted to them at n cost of about
f125--not to mention the cables and
.etters sent TO catch the foreign tenn
peraments when they're Off guard and
susceptible to the camera
News that "Ben Hur'' has been as
good as withdrawn from the movie bar
gain counter because OF some technical
question regarding the clear legal title
- tbn Acfra rf Gan ouy Wallace tn tho