Evening star., 1924-02-13
Behind the Screen
Intimate Personal Pictures Silver Sheet
GoLDWYN.
by II. DranC

no furry Of excitement. I was not.
however, discouraged by this initial
experience, for 1t often happens that
the very story which you suppose
exactly adapted to q performers per-
sonality fails to evolve her best. So
1t was with unimpaired belief in her
more sensational possibilities that 1
made preparations for "The Gin
derella Man" These included the en-
gagement Of George Loan Tucker. the
Man Here again Mae failed to
strike twelve. For the comedy which
brought Tom Moore's acting into
such bold relief again evoked only
!ukeWarm appreciation of its star,
Mae Marsh.
can not say that Macs presence In
the studio was invariably a sunny
one. She had a habit Of baking at
something which the director sug-
gested. and the terms of her objection n
were always the same.
Oh" she would say rather scorn-
fully. that isn't at all what Mr..
Griffith would do. He would do So
Naturally such continued harping
upon the one standard OF artistic
merit did not exactly enlist the sym
pathy of the director thus reminded
of his limitations. Friction marked
all subsequent relations between the
two.
There was one type of service in
the Goldwyn studios which did in
spire her admiration. 1t was the
thing removed from her own special
sphere Of activity. She always liked
the director assigned to the other
stars. She had a corresponding es-
teem for their stories.
Right here / wish to introduce one
of the thorny elements of any film
producers life. First of all, he buys
at the advice OF his editorial staff
some particular story. The purchase
is made. of course. with some one
is submitted to that star there is
hardly chance in a hundred that
she will like 1t. Sometimes she may be
convinced of it's merits. In other
cases she remains obdurate. Either
termination involves. of course, precl-
Gus time and money.
Mae Marsh was not. as I shall es-
tablish later, distinguished by her
captiousness in this regard. But she
was exceedingly able in the PERFORM
ance of rejecting scenarios.
II don't like this-it doesn't suit
me- she would report after reading
something our editorial department
had just bought for her. We would
then concede new scenario. only to
have 1t dismissed in the same ar
bitrary fashion.
In this way weeks went by. weeks
during which. of course, her salary
of more than several thousands was
being regularly paid to hec Was it
any wonder that / began to feel un-
easy as a man who sees his meter
jumping while his cab remains per-
fectly motionless?
In the beginning of these reminis-
cences of mine I said that il was al
ways the far horizon which haunted
me. While ] was with the I4asky
company / had tried always to march
in its direction. Now that I was head
of the Goldwyn company l was deter
mined upon really catching up with
ii. Far from limiting myself to those
who. like Mabel Normand and Mae
Marsh, were representative screen
stars, I reached out toward the far
lights of opera and the Legitimate e
drama. To draw to the screen. the
most finished histrionjc ability. the
names of deepest import in the world
Of art. to this ambition may be traced
the great disasters Of my professional
career.
CONTINUED In Tomorrow's Star)