, 1923-02-14

of her picture and to make this a
what it is.
"Why should l make myself dis
agreeable to you who are in the same
boat?" she asked. So she wrote let
tiers that snapped the lash at those
actually responsible for exiting her
to a place without baths, situated on
a stream called the Sinking River.
The company left New York in
July, to be joined by Tom Santschi
and Milton Stills who were dispatched
from Los Angeles to play principal
Roles in "The He'll Cat" Before we
reached Chicago Madame Geral-
dimes roses were parched by the
heat, and her hampers of fruit dis
solved into pulpy refuse. Westward
Ho! is not a pleasant path to take
when Sirius rules the heavens. The
tour was SO routed hat we changed
four times, once at three in the MORN
ing to await a train connecting at
seven, but through it all she remain
ed serene. Not that changing trains
is a hardship amounting to martyr
dom, but in this instance it was one
of life's little i%ronies. Farrar, the
singer, always travels in a private
car. The difference was calculated
to temperamentalize a prima donna
into a maniac. That is, some prima
donnas. But when ours strolled
through the day coach in a cotton
kimono, singing "Poor Butterfly"
and balancing a glass of lemonade.
l knew once and for all she hadn't
forgotten how to be an American
girl. l may add that the lemonade,
which she shared with me, was a
pledge of friendship that even now
tastes delicious.
In Cody-named after Buffalo
Bill" not Lew there was much to
try the patience and test the endur-
ance of a woman used to rattle more
comforts than were to be found on
the main street of a little Western
town like nothing so much as a set
ting for a William S. Hart picture.
Cowboys, horses, Indians, factory
made souvenirs of leather and beads,
flies and speckled fruit-all under a
blazing sun. Thus "The He'll Cat"
began. 1t lasted five weeks.
A ranch on the outskirts of the
was the scene of the first cpl
sode. 1t was there Madame Geral-
dimes strenuosity hurled her into
conflict with Tom Santschi. That
she emerged only with blackened
eyes, dislocated nose and minus a lot
of blood was an instance of the
Farrar luck-and pluck.
Right now Tom Santschi must be
absolved of all blame. Staggering,
her W words cleared him then.
"My fault" she gasped. Don't worry,
anybody" Then tainted. 1t all came
about through her miscalculation of
distance in their tussle. He, as the
william, was attempting to abduct her
and bear her away on his horse. Re
hearsal Of the scene went well, but
in playing it she put up such a wild
fight that all was forgotten but the
real desperation of her mimic plight.
She struck her face against a table.
In n flash she was all blood. 1t was
then NADINE Geraldine blamed her
self. People do not, as u rule, keep
any sort of control when sustaining
physical. shock. Still more seldom
do they blame themselves when in
pain. Stars, as far as ! have seen,
blame every one but themselves for
anything.
So this, then, was the famous sing
err, nourished on praise and plaudits,
living in the rarefied atmosphere of
song and artifice. No amateur, stalk
ing all on a chance to make good,
could have borne more than this star
did to put it across" Indeed, with
camera cranking, stunned, bleeding,
she went on with the cen rather
than cry out and stop it. Her I'M
erring sense of values told her that
the wound would add realism to her
acting. She paid for the realism by
remaining three days in n darkened
room.
Tom Santschi suffered mentally as
much as she did physically. His
silence and aloofness, childlike in
spite of. his aggressive acting, won
us all from the start. He was such an
excellent actor hat you would have
excused him for telling you so. But
good actors never do. Instead, he
seemed not to know anything about
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