The New York herald., 1921-04-12
500 Authors Dine
and See Themselves
in Motion Pictures
Comic Sketches Instead of
Speeches at Annual Dinner
at the Commodore.

Preparatory 10 its annual convention
to-day, at which new constitution is 10
be adopted changing 1t into the Au-
thors and Artists League OF America.
with five guilds within the organization,
the Authors League OF America held It's
annual dinner last night In the Hotel
Commodore. Speeches were taboo and
in lieu OF them the artists. theatrical
persons and j few Of the writers them
Eeives. all members Of the league. en-
tertained.
Marshalled by Geiett Burgess. chair
man OF the proceedings. Tony Sarg, John
Held. Jr.; Fred c. Cooper and Miss
Neysa McMein were placed on trial and
found guilty OF perjury. in that they had
sworn TO illustrate the story, the wnoie
story and nothing but the story" Rex
Beach. Ellis Parker Butler, Cosmo Ham
ilton and Miss Nina Wilcox, Putnam
thereupon took up the task OF construct
Ing stories around the pictures that the
illustrators had wrought In colored
chalk.
Rex Beach. seizing upan an Indian
guidish sketch by Miss McMein, depicted
the hero In the far north country OF
Westchester. three-quarters Of mile
from the nearest railroad. pursuing ferce
lepidopte-a which had hibernateG In his
dress su!t. A Sunday newspaper literary
supplement- was the most efficient wea-
gcr:. hc said. because il is so deacly.
The ,-ther of pigs Is Pigs'' decided
that the Cooper sketch represented that
famous query once asked of Dominic
Robertson after he addressed tie in
mates q. q = .nsane asylum on family life
in ,adia: WHY didn't your mother
throw got into the Ganges. toog' In
John Hed's sketch of a lady In bed
Cosrno Hamilton disccrned nothing
reminiscent o: his own Scandal bu;
he pointed 70 TIE window where he said
the man probably jumped out before the
spotlight was turned on the lady. Miss
Putnam. viewing Tony Sars's impress
sion OF a man making out his income
tax, advanced the theory that the checks
artists and writer's gct--somctlnaes-
from publishers should not be taxed as
income, but regarded as capital, to be
invested to produce income.
James Montgomery FlaSg and Miss
Pearl Doies Bell. writer and editor o.
the Womnn's Magazine, reversed the
usual procedure BY having Miss Bel
draw q picture and Mr.. Flagg tell its
story. The girl she drew. ne decided
was once Loda Nudge, queen OF the ash
cans, but better known now as Shesc
Gorgeous. queen Of the fillums.
Miss Elsie Ferguson read q letter from
George Bernard Shaw consisting os zoe
words denying the annual report that
he was to attend the dinner in person
Charlie Chaplin sent sirnilar letter. but
he also sent Jack Coogan. '"The Kid.
20 take his place. Frank Goodwin. Illus
traitor. and Dean Cornwall, blackfaced
and costuned up until they had to an
nounce who they were to everybody, end
then proceeded TO present whole mid
night frolic IN themselves. from walk
Ing tho slack wire 70 Juggling cigar
boxes.
Everybody who attended--and there
were nearly 500 writer's. playwrights
illustrators and the like, many with
ther wives--appeared In movie OF
them as they entered the grand ball
room door, and as finale 20 the enter
tainment they had the thrill Of seeing
themselves on n screen at one end OF
the room. The stunt" was arranged BY
Tom Geraghty of the Paramount
Lasky-F Famous Players Corporation.