Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-03-11
FILM MAN TELLS
OF INFANT
DAYS OF PICTURES
II1HEN the photoplay was one reel in

WHEN the photoplay was one reel in
w length; when Jeanie Macpherson
was star; when Mack Sennett was
comedian and the Gish sisters were
making their screen debut; when Cecil
Is. DcMillc was still directing stage
actors and stage plays and y. W. Grit
iith's directorial mantle was still shiny
/ new--that was ten years ago in the
history Of the photoplay.
And yet there are captious critics
who say the motion picture has not rro L.
crossed. The celebration Of the tenth an.
niversary of feature pictures by 10000
theatres throughout the country throws
INTO high relief the observations Of Lee
1ougherty: film editor of the Lasky
studio, who can point 20 twenty six
years of seryice---pcrhaps the record
IN the brief history Of tho screen. II
there is any doubt ms 70 the progrcs.
made by the. young art. listen I, what
'hls veteran of veterans has 10 say
The first motion pictures werc 'rir
lures that moved'-nnd nothing more.
The first ono l ever saw was called
the Kaleidoscope and we used II as
an intermission entertainment at the
Boston Museum. where I was stage
manager in the summer Of 1896.
believe the 'Eidoloscope' was on the
t,rst american made protector. Flicker
ing all over the screen, it yet served
to project pictures of 4 bicycle parade
on Fifth avenue. a short scene of q
bulliight and a few glimpses Of n man
saving wood.
That marked my introduction to the
motion picture. We've been on friendly
terms ever since. -. Motion pictures ron
, tinued TO be news 'dailies' and scenics
until 1903. when the first attempt to
inject n story into the picture was
made by the Melies brothers. CASTOR
viously made trick pictures. This
venture was a fairyland thing with a
crude story.
,.HMIE MADE such things as the pic.
w torial life Of n policeman or n
+ fireman; Joe jefferson at his home and
similar subjects. But it was not un
, Ill an English company produced THE
Preacher with the first chase ever re-
corded that we awoke to the story pos
sibllities. This film won enormous pop
ularity.
As far as I know. 'Hiawatha' was
the first American made motion picture
that claimed TO have a story. Really.
it was little more than succession
of scenes connected by labels. There
was no drama of any sort. Shortly
after that we made The Pioneers IN
the Adirondacks. It had a thin Indian
, story-but story. nevertheless.
AT this time the old BiOgraph Com
pany had studio on top of q business
building on lower Broadway. New York.
We used TO build our sets of painted
canvas on Il turntable SO that we could
follow the sun around with the set. OF
course, sunlight was the only kind OF
illumination. For n time the film Used
was about the size of the present day
! pocket camera film md the camera was
portable dark room. which not only
held the lens and film, but the camera .
man as well. He used to crawl inside
and the camera was put in place BY
four strong men who carried it from
place to place.
The first. comedy was made about
this time. 1t was called Personal
and consisted almost entirely of chas,
scenes. The public went wild about i
and it played for seven weeks at Keith!
Union Square Theatre.
For the next three or four year
comedies and dramas which cOnsiste,
of an excuse for chase were produced
to the exclusion Of every thing else.
was not until 1905 that picture with
out chase was made. The story wa
written by Frank Woods, now chic
at the Lasky Studio. d. W. Grititl
directed it. Of course, it was only on
reel in length; that was the stundar,
size. But this picture was quiet dram
without chase. 1t was called 'Aftc
Many Years and the producers wer
not optimistic about its success. Bu
it did succeed and thereby marked th
beginning Of new era.
stTNHE first attempt to make two
i reel picture was a film version Q
'Enoch Arden with Wilfred Lucas i
the title role. Another company ha
made The Life Of Moses in five reel
before this but it was released serally
.Enoch Arden was released as q singl
unit. That was in 1911, only e!eve
"The first genuine feature film eve
made was Famous Players productio
of Queen Elizabeth in which Sara
) Bernhardt starred. That came yea
! after 'Enoch Arden and marked Il
real birth Of the photopluy. Mn,
Bernhardt is to visit the United State
in few months, believe, to join
the tenth anniversary celebration of th
: event.
'"That was only a decade ago. I
the Intervening years the photoplay ia
progressed as far as the stage pla
Q progressed in 800 years. 1t dcvelope
. an original dramatic form and the his
,r;op;r art to convey its idens
e has called to its cOlors the followers ,
I the literary talent and the best actol
/ of the world. And it has only besu
! to achieve the greatness that is in stol
4 for it,"
Dougherty, in addition to his recol
q service, has the unique distinction
0 having been the first scenario edito
a He it was who selected the stories f,
Y the early one-reelers. paying the MAJ
nificent sum Of five dollars per ide,
Eventually. this sum reached thirt,
q five dollars for a one-feel plot ai
\ seventy dollars for 4 two-reclcr. Tha
y too, was only ten years ago. Tod
y the producer spends thousands of do
" lars for his story alone and he 6,
cures the services of the leading tigur
- in the contemporary world Of lette
d to supply him.
HAVE YOU HEARD THIS ONEc
" About the man and his wife ON the Pu
u man. They went 70 sleep In Jacksonvil