Evening star., 1924-02-25
CONTINUED from Yesterdays Star.)

trance which had redeemed Mrs. Nor
.,ris' former earthly abode from the
mists of obscurity. "fou-you were
. u princess. Thousands Of years ago
you reigned over many in some far
Seastern land, You loved the music
played by your slaves on 1helr
sstringed instruments. the soft scent en-
winds, the moonlight as it fell on the
oars of your galleys@
Charlie may have had a number OF
:. similar tastes back in that remote in
"carnation of his, but 1 don't think
.,they were brought to light; For the
"roars OF merriment which greeted
sthis presentment stilled the voice OF
the seer. To this laughter Charlie
.himself contributed. most heartily.
in fact, I don't believe any one ever
%laughed at Chaplin quite so hard as
Chaplin laughed that evening at Eli
enor Glyn.
Regarding the introduction of these
Stwo an amusing story is current IN
California. 1t is reported that on TINS
Occasion Mrs. Glyn said to the come. me.
,.Chapln! Do you know you don't
look nearly so funny as thought you
,.would?" To this reassuring message
Chaplin is said TO have Responded
.promptly. Neither do you.
To go back to my dinner After After
Mrs. Glyn had concluded her report
upon previous abodes of the ego our
>conversation drifted toward the pro
leSSlON Chg ouL pA SSS4't 80
started. I believe, by Miss Elsie Fer
t.guson, who at that time was working
with the Famous Players-LaskE com .
pany To her announcement that She
did not like her leading man or the
moment. Mrs. Glyn turned a swiftly
sympathetic ear:
My dear" said she, what do they
know about soul. about art. about
poetry? Blind, absolutely blind! The
..other day 1 took the loveliest young
man to see them-he had the most
beautiful eyes-but they dldnt see IL
they didn't appreciate it,
This verdict regarding my COM
petitors' callousness to the finer Is
''sues of life Is not to- to be ia TAKEN EN- 700 30
the midst of that period or disliiu- :
sionment which seems almost lneVlta- :
BILE in the career of the author VINO
tries to adapt his manuscripts 10 the
screen. Out of the depths of my own
. experience l can speak OF the frlc-
tion which arises among author, pro-
,.ducer, star and director.
I thought that l had eneouniIereu eo ori
ganized the Eminent Authors; but
when the Goldwyn Company intro, ,
,iuced this literary faction in the fold
being comparatively placid. This fact FAC;
does not reflect upon the personail-
ties of those writer's whom we en-.
gagged. Socially. each one OF
when the tradition of the pen ran
athwart the tradition of the screen
Il am bound to say that j suffered
considerably from the impact.
The great trouble with the usual
author is that he approaches me
Camera with some fixed literary ideal
and he cannot compromise with the
motion picture viewpoins' point 81 He Heney aoey
James prose. leading through the
finest shades Of human consciousness,
is absolutely lost on the screen a
medium which demands first OF all
tangible drama, the elementary in
.teraction between person and person
or person and circumstance. This
attitude brought many of the writer's
whom I had assembled into almost
immediate conflict with our scenario
department, and / was constantly be.
'ing called upon to hear the tale or
woe regarding some title that mad
been changed or some aw19ily I'M
been left out entirely or else altered
in such a way as to ruin the literary
conception. .
Nor did this end the difficulty. For
-hopelessly entangled in similar con-
'troversies. This latter situation Is
-deftly suggested by VIII Rogers. G,
The last year of the reign of the
eminent authors and. while helped
spoil none of their stories,- j made
various ones for the near-eminents
:and lost the friendship Of every liv-
ing one Of whose stories I made. So
now" adds VIII, II have made Wash
ington Irving's. Ichabod Crane. I
am off all living authors works
mo for the dead ones!'
'. Undoubtedly the warfare which SO
frequently wages between star and
author is to be attributed many times
10 the inflexibility and prejudice of
the former. Thus I remembered hear
ing Miss Rita Weiman tell of an in
-erchange of thought between Nail
~lnova and herself regarding the
production of certain story in
which the one figured as author, the
sother as actress.
II hope the time is coming" con-
cluded NaZimova haughtily, when
.-the great actress may find great
stories"
> "Ah, yes" rejoined Miss Weiman,
"I hope, too, the time is coming when
5he star may write her own stories"
In contrast to this attitude of the
'Russian actress is the humility which
Norma Talmadge displayed in her
Interpretation or Benaventss me me
Passion Flewer" have been nsr bDs told
band and her director. advised
against the screen preservation of
the dramas tragic end. They urged
upon her the fact that the picture
>and that she would lose thousands
of dollars by adhering to the story.
BY all such practical arguments she
was absolutely unaffected.
NO." said she firmly. this is the
sstory of the great living playwright:
He knew what he wanted to say and
twho am ! to spoil great mans
-story?"
Goidwyn Company brough to Holly
wood Rupert Hughes was notably
successful. His story of "The Old
Nest" crossed our organization
nearly a million dollars. and since
the production of this tale he has
been actively engaged on our lot
las both author and director. For
both Mr.. Hughes and his wife I feel
~ warmth of friendship quite indie
pendent of the profltableness of our
business association, and some of the
happiest hours of my life have been
spent in their home. They, together
with Mr.. and Mrs. Rex Beach, repre-
sent two OF my most valued associa-
= Mr.. Hughes success in photoplays
Is to be ascribed to his prompt
recognition of the gulf between those
two channels of expression, literature
and screen, and to his determination
TO master both the technicalities and
spirit Of the latter. In addition to
this receptiveness OF mind he has a
capacity for work which have never
seen excelled. Many times i have
known him to arrive in the studio
go home that evening to work on
sscenario. and then, after perhaps a
dinner or a dance, write several
schapters of his new novel
Mrs. Glyn showed much the same
zeal In her cooperation with the
Famous Players-L -Lasky Company. I'm
like numerous authors who have in
vaded Hollywood, she was not easily
diverted from the set. So excessively
did she superintend every detail of
hot spr c. a