The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-20

/ lduZ1eu- i u 1Cl even al att Co7-
-Ah, you forget I'VE seen yot
prove on the screen what you car
do. You don't know yourself. Mrs
Lee. You need only two things e
make you great. good director
and self-confidence."
Aren't you running a great risk
making such fiattering oyertures u
an untried, unknown amateur"
Don't worry about me. II | haf
| any hope of being able to persuade
you to try it on, I'D tell you to name
your own terms, and shoulder tht
| risk without a murmur.
/ Lontaine's earnestness was &c
real that one might no longer NEE
| his arguments with levity. The-t
was a strained look of anxiety in
| the blue eyes, restrained passion
of pleading in the ordinarily languid
accents.
Fanny, too, was apparently hang
ing between hope and fear =.
And the thought revived that had
once or twice presented itself, the
suspicion that all was not as well
as one might wish with the state
of the Lontaine fortunes, strength
ening the surmise that Lucinda S
decision meant more to them both
than Lcntaine had confessed.
Still one hesitated to believe i.
But you can't be serious! Do you
really want me to become a movie
actress under your management?
You can't think of anything |
wouldn't do to persuade you"
Why not, Mrs. Lee?" Summerlad
urged. 1T would be great fun for
you; and you can't fail, you can't
lose anything. If you only knew
how inferior most stars are to you
in every way :"
And if you should fail, Cindy,"
Fanny chimed in-'what does it
matter? Who would know? 1t
wouldn't be you, it would be In
cinda Lee"
NO" Lontaine insisted: I've got
a better screen name than that for
her. Not Lucinda: Linda Lee"
Come, Mrs. Lee: say you'll try
it on, if only for the lark of it
IF 1 should, Mr.. Summerlad, it
wouldn't be for fun"
so much the better"
Then you will?" Lontaine per
sisted DO say yes"
Let me think :"
And why not? Lucinda asked her
self. She was alone in the world,
lonely but for these good friends
who needed her help, or seemed to.
1t would be good fun, it would DE
interesting, it would satisfy need
OF which she had been disconnected
~ aware even in the days when she
had yet 10 dream of leaving Bel.
And-eyen as Fanny had argued
if she should fail and have to give
it up, who would care what had be-
come of Linda Lee?'
Very WELL" she said at length,
with an uncertain smile-"suppose
we try"
"To tomorrow mornings star
of the screen, Linda Lee!"
Thus Lynn Summerlad mildly
exalted, graceful and gracious even
beyond his studied habit, flourish
ing a glass of California chamgapne
above the dinner table in his bun
galow at Beverly Hills.
The toast went by reclamation,
and Lucinda laughed, at once graft
fed, diverted, and disposed to
deprecate the spirit of these felici-
tatiOns as premature.
A phrase of Culp's required un-
hidden: "A lot of kids, that's what
we got to make pitchers with, lot
of kids"
1t was childish, in a way; on the
NJ i1h ~
pleasant to think of oneself as a
sort of Sleeping Beauty of the
screen only waiting to be awak-
ened to vivid life by one wave of
the witching wand and se!f-conf-
dence
Summerlad had been talking of
his early screen experiences and
flashed an apologize smile One
of the worst faults we movie act
ors have, Mrs. Lee, is talking about
our salaries. So l won't say any
more than this: outside of the Big
Four-Mary and Doug and Charlie
and Bill Hart-there's mighty few
that drag down as much green
money week as do"
I'm glad to absolve you of the
sin Of boasting, Mr.. Summerlad."
Il suppose that did sound funny.
You wouldn't guess who the
director was who gave me my first
Barry Nolan"
The name was apparently known
to Lontaine, for he exclaimed, You
don't mean it," as if no more ex-
citing information had come to his
ears in many days.
Continued in our next issue)