Great Falls tribune., 1921-02-20

because he had no idea Of twas that
| in addition to the mountainous mass of
work demanding Miss Pickford's at
tention there was also impending her
since widely exploited trip to Nevada
for the purpose of dissolving the bonds
of matrimony which had held her legal
ly for IL years to man her own tes-
timony declares was actually her hus-
band for very brief part of this time.
But from him l learned enough to
convince me that to get the ''story" l
had crossed an ocean and continent
to get I must proceed with unusual
tact, and bring to bear all the influ-
ence could muster.
Wherefore, instead of approaching
Miss Pickford directly, / began opera
tions via her ubiquitous press agent, a
person of ample good nature whose
unenviable lot it is to receive all and
sundry who come seeking interviews
with the worlds sweetheart. AS good
luck would have it Miss Pickford's
publicity expert is an old time jour
nalist with whom I have had an &C
quaintance covering many years. At
the outset. therefore, it was estab-
Iished that my mission was deserving
of Miss Pickford's consideratio1-thus
falling into the category of one-in-a-
hundred For this is about the ratio
OF all the countless thousands who
visit the Pickford studio in the course
of a year-from mere curiosity seek
ers to fly-by-night promoters with
sure-fire schemes which require only
Miss Pickford's financial support to
become world d-beatcrs-the average is
one in hundred who really have
reasonable excuse for expecting to be
received by her.
Has No Studio OF Her Own.
To speak of the Pickford studio is
in sense misleading because Miss
pickford has no studio of her own.
She is part of the newest idea in film
dom-her organization one OF dozen
complete units renting space in big
enclosure equipped with the last word
in motion picture facilities and pre-
sided over by an Englishman, Robert
Brunton, himself one Of the most pic
turesque figures in the screen world.
Brunton for many years was scene
painter at one of the Los Angeles the
aters in which '.stock' held the boards.
When Los Angeles began to attract
motion picture producers from New
York and plants began to be erected
all about the outskirts of the town,
Rrunton turned his back on the the
ater and dived into the production end
of pictures-becoming technical direc-
tor at Triangle, now defunct but at
that time the most flourishing of all
the film concerns-with Griffith and
Ince and all the other biggest produc-
ers of the day combined in its man
agement. But inaspuch as obtained
q large part Of my information from
Miss Pickford herself let me tell the
rest of the story in her own words.
THE one awful thing" she ex-
planned, "about big picture companies,
such as Triangle was, is the tremend-
Gus overhead expense. Not only is |
the original investment very large
the money represented by the pur-
chase Of the land and the building OF !
the stages and the rest of it-but then |
come the operating expenses One big
producing organization today has a
weekly payroll Of almost $500, ,OOO-
S26, coo, 900 a year paid out in wages!
This frightful overhead compe]s quan-
tity production Of pictures-and al
most every concern thus far has come
! cropper by reason of this necessity.
For the expense goes on whether pic-
,ures are being made or not. Direct
,rs and stars and most Of the principal
lctors-not to mention the hundreds
# men and women in the technical de-
)artmentS-are all engaged BY the
popular every day-Mr. Brunton con- |.
.eived the idea which finally he has
in putting into effect.
"As one of Mr.. Bruntons tenants /
I'M in a position to say that the idea
s immense-not only from his sview-
,oint but mine. The Brunton studios
over acres-how many / haven't the
east idea, but there is room enough
nd to spare for any possible picture
purposes. In the matter Of stages and
echnical equipment there is nothing /
now Of in the motion picture world
hat can equal this plant. GENERALLY
ON Is to 20 Independent producers !