The New York herald., 1921-11-27
Building Palaces
for Films Easier
Than Country Town
Difficult Problem of Getting
Old Atmosphere for Get Rich
Quick Wallingford.

Building palaces and castles for mo-
ton pictures isn't half so difficult as
building settings that show the ravages
of time, wind and weather, says Joseph
Urban. designer of stage investiture,
painter and decorator Urban created
the fanciful settings for "Enchantment."
which was recently shown at the Rivol,
but that work was not half so difficult
as creating the humble settings for the
town of Battlesburg, Iowa, the locale Of
Get Rich Quick Wallingford," the Cos
mopoiitan production which Hugo
Riesenfeld will present at the Rivoli and
Rialto the week of December 4.
A palace has rich hanging, fresh
paint, gilt, marble staircases and carv-
ings that come direct from the hands
of artists and shine in all their glory
But it is a problem to create out of
fresh materials such thing as an old
wooden stairway supposedly worn by
the feet OF many thousands during may
be half a century, or the indefinite
sidewalk of small town, or the polish
on the wall of country hotel where
loungers have rested weary shoulders
for many years. Making new scenes
out OF new materials is almost child's
play compared with making old things
In Get Rich Quick Wallingford"
which Frank Borzage directed for Cos
mopolitan Productions, the entire action
Is laid IN a sleepy town In Iowa, where
conservatism, thrift and complacency
were the principal notices. Men sat
about leisurely and discussed their
thousands Of dollars. A crealSy buggy,
drawn by a shaggy, sleepy horse. meets
the occasional train. All interest centres
In the village square, where an ancient
war relic, cannon, is fenced in with
a spiked railing. Here are the town
bank, the grocery, the land develop
ment office-in short, the Main Street
of Battlesburg. This main artery of
a sleepy village was constructed in the
Cosmopolitan studio in a space no deeper
than SO feet. q little more than the
usual plot of a suburban home. Within
this little space. giving touch Of in
timacy and old fashioned LONELINESS,
are enacted the entire public activities
Of the town.
According to persons who have seen
Get Rich Quick Wallingford'' in the
studio, there is a delightful sense of
dustiness about the scene. Sand has
been carried into the old fashioned hotel, |
finely powdered soil has blown across
the hotel steps and wide veranda.
Human hands have given polish to
the baustrade rail and fine country soil
has seeped into the spaces between the
rungs. 1t isn't the dust Of a place un-
touched by broom or duster, but of warm
winds blowing in from farms upon
little central settlement.
Into such a setting step WdHingford
and his pal. an ad ance agent, Bldckie
Duic. The contratE between the two
young men. who think they are crooks,
and the sleepy town is the stronger for
the dusty setting; tlteir breezinees is
promise that the old t\wn and its ancient
hotel and buggy arS to- develop into
something more active. The two men
with the elaborate vocabularies make
wonderful promise, and. being cornered
by the prominent citizens of the town,
evolve the covered carpet tack" that Is
to revolutionize the whole atmosphere Of
parlors of the nation.
The story is well known by thousands
who saw George M. Cohan's play on
Broadway. The tack, which was to be
a subterfuge, became a real success, and
the two crooks became honest captains
of industry almost against their inclina- |
ton. And then came the real boom to
the town-trolley cars. fine hotel--a
whole city sprang up in the place where
dusty town had stood before. In the clos
ing scenes there appears before the two
youths and their sweethearts a panorama |
and electric lights tell of the towns
activities. A light goes out and Wal
Hngford tells Bldckie There's little Ed
die Lamb going TO bed" Far below run
the little trolleys, contradicting the old
tradition that Battlesburg goes to bed at
sundown.
Even the panorama Is constructed IN
the studio under Mr.. Urban's careful
hand and eye. 1t is thriving city that
one sees--a large Industrial centre with
factories and homes and parks-though |
In reality every bit Of 1t was constructed
in miniature and photographed at the
proper distance to produce the effect Of
reality.
Sam Hardy plays Wdlrinoford and Nor
man Kerry appears as Ddac. Miss Doris
Kenyon Is the stenographer who recon-
ciled Wdllinoford to his success. Others
in the cast are Edgar Nelson, w. T.
Hays, Horace James. Jerry Sinclair. John
woodford, Miss Billie Dove, Miss Diana
Allen, Mrs. Charles Willard. William
Robyns Patterson Dial, Mac M. Barnes
Eugene Keith, Theodore Westman, Jr,
William Carr, Benny One and A. J. Nc
Gulre. Luther Reed adapted Cohan's
play to the screen.