The Washington herald., 1922-10-14
The Beautiful
And Damned
Confined from Yesterday.
By r. Scot FitsgeraId

Couttuhru Ifo~ St@oob. .-s-.
Sure. Fifty thousand. But it's
the best kinda adyertising there
is"
They drifted out OF earshot and
almost immediately Bioeckman ap-
peared-Bloeckman a dark suave
gentleman. gracefully engaged In
the middle forties. who greeted her
with courteous warmth and told her
she had not changed a bit in three
years. He led the way into a great
hall. as large as an armory and
broken intermittently' with busy
sets and binding rows Of unfamiliar
light. Each piece OF scenery was
marked in large white letters Gas
ton Mears Company" Mack Dodge
Company" or simply Films Par
Excellence"
Ever been in a studio beforeT'
Never have"
She liked it, There was no heavy
eioseness Of grease-paint. no scent
OF soiied and tawdry costumes which
years before had revolted her be-
hiua the scenes Of a musical COM
edy This work was done in the
clean mornings: the appurtenances
seemed rich and gorgeous and new.
On a set that was joyous with Man
chu hangings a perfect Chinaman
was going through a scene accord
inE 10 meCaphone directions as the
great glittering machine ground
out its ancient moral tale for the
edification of the national mind.
A red-headed man approached
them and spoke with familiar def
erence to Bloeckman, who an
swered:
Hello. Debris. Want you to meet
Mrs. Patch Mrs Patch
wants to go into pictures. as l ex-
planned to you. All right.
now. where do we go7"
Mr.. Debris-the great Percy B.
Debris thought Gloria-showed
them to a set which represented the
interior Of an office Some chairs
We're drawn up around the camera.
which stood in front of it, and the
three OF them sat down.
Ever been in a studio before?"
asked Mr.. Debris. giving her
glance that was surely the quintes-
sence Of keenness NO? Well, I'll
captain FNdCllE "Htl KOln6 "
happen. We're going to take what
we call a test in order to see how
your features photograph and
whether you've got natural stage
presence and how you respond to
nervous over It,. I'll just have the
camera-man take a few hundred
feet in an episode I've got marked
t. h. Ill
pretty much what we want to from
that"
He produced a typewritten con-
tinuitv and explained to her the
episode she was to enact. II de-
veloped that one Barbara VAIN
wright had been secretly married to
the junior partner of the firm whose
office was there represented. En-
tering the deserted office one day
by accident she was naturally in
terested in seeing where her hus-
band worked. The telephone rans
and after some hesitation sne
answered 1t. She learned that her
husband had been struck by an
automobile and instantly killed. She
was overcome. At first she was un-
able to realize the truth. but finally
she succeeded in comprehendins It.,
and went into a dead faint on the
floor.
Vow that's all we want" con-
cluded Mr.. Debris. I'm going to
stand here and tell you approximate
~ what to do. and you're to act
as though l wasn't here. and just
20 on do 1t your own way You
needn't be afraid we're going to
Judge this ton. Seyere1y We sfY,opru
want to get general idea of your
screen personality"
Il see"
You'll find makeup in the room
in back Of the set. Go light on IL.
Very little red"
Il see. repeated Gloria, nodding.
She touched her lips nervously with
the tip of her tongue.
The Test.
As she came into the set through