Evening star., 1923-12-03
CRUzE GETS TOP
SALARY IN MOVIES
Former Star Has Five-Year
Contract at $1,000 a
Week Directing.
Special Dispatch 10 The Star.

Special Dispatch 10 The Star
LOS ANGELES. December a--who
draws the biggest salary In the
movies?
Not such q hard question to an
swer, perhaps but for the Wild stories
Of the press agents, who dream In
German marks and write the result
down in dollars. and whose Iightest
achievement is the making overnight
of millionaires of even the child stars
Now that the movies have paused
to catch their breath and the big
producers are bitterly railing at high
salaries which, they declare, must
come down, the truth about salaries
in the movies. and whether or not
they are extravagant or well earned.
takes on new interest.
Who, then, does draw the biggest
salary in the movies? Even the best
informed film fan might never guess,
ana the information may bring dis
shippers.
The real inside information, OBJ
tanned from those who actually know.
IS that James Cruze the director. is
the highest straight salaried long
term contract individual directly en-
DAY. lie draws $4,000 week, under
d hVe-year contract which has about
four-and- half years TO run.
Thrill Is Taken OF.
Dosen't sound so startling after
reading about a 100000 for Jackie
Coogan and another S1,000,0OO for
paby Goofy, but statistical digest
was never as entertaining as Baron
Munchausen. Still. it's d lot of money
When you consider that Jimmy Cruze
gets has in cash and not in conversa-
tion.
There may be others who stand to
profit more in a year through inter
est In productions, like De Mile.
Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks
and Harold Lloyd, but they also stand
10 take a loss. and the gamble is not
always good one, by authentic re-
port.
But there is not another man.
woman or child in the movies, ac-
cording to the inside sharks, who
can step up to the pay window every
Saturday and draw out $4,000 clear.
ana know that the same amount Will
be on tap week after week for years
to come.
There is quite story behind
Jimmy Cruces big salary and sweet
contract. But it was not a sudden
big winning, for which HOLLYWOOD IL
about as well advertised as Monte
the same reckless Invention liz fi1fn&
money returns.
0ld-Time Movie Star.
Cruze is an old timer in the movies
Bt eakinS in right at the start wears
i%o. a. an actor, ne was one of the
there best known figures in the game.
holding equal rank with Mary Pick
Ivf4 anu tne 4ate John Bunny He
was the Star OF the two great thrill
ers. the MillLon-Dollar Mystery ard
! The Diamond From the Sky Am
accident Iaid him low fer almost two
years ana he came back into the game.
as director
A little over a year ago Cruze went
with the Famous Players-Lasky Cor
poTatlon 10 make pictures. He was
given direction of The Covered
wagon; He was not greatly i'm
pressed with the material, but Frank
r. w oods, the real godfather of all
the movies, Sa w Cruces great oppor-
tunity and told him to go out. cut
himself off from the studio and make
a real picture.
Cruze, with a cast of no great past
or promising future. went. When h.,
returned he brought back a picture
practically complete.
Offer From Mexico.
Some Mexican dignitaries on a secre,
mission TO Hollywood saw a private
showing of the Cruze picture. They ap-
III odCI4eu 1TuZe with proposal to make
similar pictures that would tell the
world of the romance and opportunity
of Mexico. They said that 500 900
American dollars We're on deposit and
would be made payable TO Cruze for his
work.
Cruze informed Jesse Lasky that he
had this offer under consideration
Lasky quickly met it with a five-year
contract al $4,000 a week and Jimmy
Cruze lost no time in signing on the
dotted line
What Go such salaries mean in the
movies when the talk is ali of
cutting down production cost? Sup
pose Cruze makes three feature pic
lures year-a high average. That
means 100000 for direction alone.
for each picture he makes. Frank
Woods says good pictures can be
made for 100000 all told. and has
proved that he can do il.
And yet all the big, practical men,
Woods included, agree that the
Cruze contract is the greatest asset
of the Famous Players-Lasky or
ganization today.