Evening star., 1943-10-17
Observation-Disclosures
By Harold Hefeynan.


In this instance, the unrecognized
big timer of old was Florence Tur-
ner, one of the brightest personah-
ties Of a yesterday that named her
the Vitagraph Girl. Three decades
and longer ago she was greater
than Bergman-greater because
there were fewer big stars in those
times with whom to share top hon.
ors.
Florence Turner has no regrets.
Il don't envy the stars of today"
she said. her eyes a-twinkle. They
have the glory and draw the big
money. But don't think they had
nearly the fun that we had"
First of the "Costumers."
Miss Turner glanced over the
crowd Of extras costumed in the
period of 1880 London and re-
called that on August Is and 26,
1907, she had helped make film
history by appearing in the first
costume picture ever made. 1t was
screen version of Francesca da
AeAlllAl1 OilC, lSCl, lCCSlNCu
for writing the script.
MY family were all theatrical
folks" said Miss Turner, "and I
had been literally reared on Fran
cesca.' That is why the idea Of
making a movie of the play oc-
CURED to me. The screen version
took me approximately an hour to
write"
Upshot of this daring move on the
part of a screen actress was the
talk of the then infant industry.
Francesca" was the first costume
film ever attempted. 1t took an
unheard-of two days to film. Until
that time companies made two films
each day. one in the morning and
another in the afternoon.
But I ran into trouble on the
costume end of the DEAL" Miss
Turner smiled, regarding Miss
Bergman's elaborate creation Of
shirred white slipper satin and silk
roses. j. Stuart Blackton, Vitagraph
president, told me that, as Fran
cesca, would have to limit myself
to three costumes, one in which I
met the hero and one in which I
married him. For the death scene,
I would have to 60 back to costume
No. l. Mr. Blackton pointed out
that use of additional costumes
would ruin the company. At IS each,
he said, this would mean SIS for
my wardrobe alone"
Miss Turner finally won out, how
ever. Her mother furnished her
with an appropriate black velvet
outfit in which to gasp her final
gasp.
Diminutive Sets.
"All the eXteriors were taken In
New York's Central Park she went
on. The few interiors were made
in our studio, which was converted
brownstone. Our actual shooting
studio wasn't as large as one cor
ner of this sound stage"
One Francesca" incident that re-
mains In her mind was the ingenu-
ity of prop man who stayed up
all night to paint the floor to re-
semble marble.
But he didn't count on the fact
that the floor was canvas" she
said. Imagine a marble floor
wrinkling when one walked on it.
1t was my big marriage scene. All
the way down the aisle kept pray
ing that the cameras wouldn't pick
up the wrinkles. AS I recall it
now, the floor didn't show"
Miss Turner thinks it too bad the
stars OF today must miss so much
OF that intimacy that went with
production in her heyday. Take her
famous Vitagraph company as an
example. The president was Alfred
Smith. j. Stuart Blackton was vice
president. They had one property
man, one scenic artist and one d.
rector. Their permanent stock com.
pany consisted of Paul Pazer, Hector
Dion and Miss Turner.
Sometimes in the morning I
would portray an innocent Young
wife and in the afternoon I would
be all done UP as dope fiend," Miss
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