Evening star., 1923-05-13

her best pajama scene in 'Nobody's
Husband and I wouldn't do her a
wrong for worlds. Not for worlds!
Let's go over to the stage and pipe
this pippin OF yours"
JULIUS Davids, owner, dictator and
- supreme authority Of the Quad
rangle Motion Picture Corporation,
knew his public.
when got to make pictures for
the sake Of art. understand" he would
say. ITS time I should go back maxi
ing pants. The people that buy tick
cts like my pictures. and you could
let the rest Of them talk till they got
blue in the face. II want to know
whether a picture Is good. I look In
the balance sheet and not In the
newspapers!
Mr.. Davids proved his contentious.
too. He undertook to lay out broad
general policies for his production
manager, and the latter undertook to
deliver sure-fire releases. About half
the time he missed. but then he could
always blame the author, the director.
the star, the case. the cutter or the
decadent public taste. The other half
Of the time his results hit the bulls
eye. And when a motion picture hits
rings. but large. solid. beautiful gold
coins-by the basketful.
Pursuant to the policy of pleasing
the people, Mr.. Davids ran a notion
picture factory. His raw materials
were Of an infinite variety, and of
those raw materials perhaps not the
least was Gerald Sisson. playing
Handsome Harry leads.
Gerald thought well OF himself.
which gave him one vote. Appar-
emily millions of sweet young things
in orchestra chairs and loge seats
agreed with him, but after that the
returns were all in. AS far as the
Hollywood studios were concerned.
he was an egg.
Gerald was. to begin with. far. far
of a schoolgirl, the manners OF a con-
tinental dandy. the bearing Of road
show Hamlet and the brains of a
gnat. There were those who went so
far as to say that this comparison
was unfair to the gnat.
But, true to his instincts julius.
kept Gerald Sisson on the payroll.
and UP near the top. too. Because he
| certainly was a money getter in the
small towns. Gerald was big, hand
| some. Impressive. and the susceptible
female fans adored him. He photo
graphed amazingly we'll and ne GER
tainly could wear clothes. whether
they were the black and white of his
$500 London made evening dress or
the corduroys and fannels Of an en-
gineer in The Bridge Builder" Any
way you took him. Gerald was a valu-
able member Of the Quad family
except humanity.
DUKE Bassett. assigned to the di-
- rection Of The Pool of Tears"
swore in four languages and Vola-
puk when he was informed Gerald
was to play the man lead in the piece
opposite. Nora Norris. The Norris
had no particular form OF intelli-
gence that anyone had ever been
! able to classify or put a name to. but
she was handsome and looked we'll
in watersoaked clothing or when she
was being carried down a ladder in
a fire-rescue scene. Basset had no
great love for her. but he could make
her act. Gerald was different. Ger
aid was. for Bassett. impossible. Prin-
cipally because. when there was any
hardship or peril to be undergone by
the hero in the making of a story.
Gerald had to be doubled. And dou-
bling a hero is not. in any sense. an
easy or pleasant job for the director.
The Pool of Tears" was hair
raiser. It's great climax was the
bursting OF a dam. through which the
hero and heroine were swept In a
bore of rushing water. logs, fiotsam.
debris and dead cattle. One look at
that scene had told Duke Bassett that
he would have to play 1t with a dou-