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Title: Breaking into the movies
Author: Loos, Anita, Emerson, John
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Breaking into the movies" ***
BREAKING INTO
THE MOVIES
[Illustration: CASTING THE PICTURE
This is a typical scene in a casting director's office. Mr. Emerson and
Miss Loos, with their stenographer, are studying the faces of the
applicants. When a type exactly suited to the story is found, she is
sent direct to the studio to begin work.]
BREAKING INTO
THE MOVIES
_by_
JOHN EMERSON
_and_
ANITA LOOS
_Authors of "How To Write Photoplays"_
_ILLUSTRATED_
[Illustration]
PHILADELPHIA
GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1921, by
THE JAMES A. McCANN COMPANY
All Rights Reserved
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II WHAT THE JOBS ARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
III ACTING FOR THE SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
IV WOULD YOU FILM WELL? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
V MAKE-UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
VI HOW TO DRESS FOR A PICTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
VII MOVIE MANNERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
VIII READING YOUR PART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
IX INSIDE THE BRAIN OF A MOVIE STAR . . . . . . . . . 33
X SALARIES IN THE MOVIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
XI SCENARIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
XII HOW OTHERS HAVE DONE IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
XIII AMATEUR MOVIE MAKING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO PART II . . . . . . . . . . . 53
RED HOT ROMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
ILLUSTRATIONS
CASTING THE PICTURE FRONTISPIECE
FACING PAGE
ROUGING THE LIPS FOR THE CAMERA . . . . . . . . . . . 17
MAKING UP THE EYES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
GLUEING ON A CRÊPE MUSTACHE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
REHEARSING THE COMPANY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
TESTING MAKE-UP AND EXPRESSION . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
MAKING A "CLOSE-UP" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
BREAKING INTO
THE MOVIES
Breaking Into the Movies
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Were the average man suddenly called upon to assemble all the women in
his town who looked like Mary Pickford, he might find himself at a loss
as to how to commence. In fact, he might even doubt that there were
sufficient persons answering this description to warrant such a
campaign.
We know a way to get them all together on twenty-four hours' notice.
Just insert a small advertisement in the local newspaper, reading:
"Wanted for the movies--a girl who looks like Mary Pickford--apply at
such-and-such a studio to-morrow morning."
We guarantee that not only will every woman who looks like Mary Pickford
be on the spot at sunrise, but that a large preponderance of the entire
female population will drop in during the morning. For it is a puzzling
but indisputable fact that everybody wants to break into the movies.
The curious part of it all is that the movies really need these people.
On the one hand are countless men and women besieging the studio doors
in the hope of starting a career in any one of a thousand capacities,
from actress to scenario writer, from director to cameraman. There are
people with plots, people with inventions, people with new ideas of
every conceivable variety, all clamoring for admission. And, on the
other hand, there are the men who manage the movies sending out all
manner of exhortations, appeals and supplications to just such people to
come and work in their studios. They drown each other's voices, the one
calling for new talent and new types, the many for a chance to
demonstrate that they are just the talent and types that are so in
demand.
This economic paradox, this passing in the night of Demand and Supply,
has come about through a general misconception of everything concerned
with the movies.
The first to be in the wrong were the producers. They built up an
industry which, in its early days, was vitally dependent upon individual
personalities. A picture, according to their views, was made or unmade
by a single star or director or writer, and very naturally they were
loath to entrust the fate of a hundred thousand dollar investment to
untried hands. While on the one hand they realized the pressing need for
new blood in their industry, they were, nevertheless, very wary of being
the first to welcome the newcomer. Producers preferred to pay twenty
times the price to experienced professionals, no matter how mediocre
their work might have been in the past, than to take a chance on a
promising beginner. The business side of the movies, has, in the past,
been nothing more nor less than a tremendous gamble wherein the men who
had staked their fortunes on a single photoplay walked about in fear of
their very shadows--desiring new ideas, yet afraid to risk testing them,
calling for new artists yet fearing to give them the opportunity to
break in. The very nature of the industry was responsible for this
situation and, to a large extent, it is a condition which still prevails
in a majority of the smaller studios. The greatest obstacle which every
beginner must surmount is the one which first confronts him--the
privilege of doing his first picture--the first chance.
The larger companies, however, in the last year or so have awakened to
the fact that by excluding beginners they have themselves raised the
cost of motion picture production many times. They have found themselves
with a very limited number of stars and directors and writers and
technical men to choose from, all of whom, for this very reason, could
demand enormous salaries. One by one these companies are instituting
various systems for the encouragement of embryo talent. Now, if ever, is
the time to break into the movies.
But much more to blame for the general mix-up in the movies are the
beginners themselves. In the majority of cases they state in loud,
penetrating accents that they desire to break into the movies, here and
now; but when questioned as to the exact capacity in which they desire
to accomplish this ambition, they appear to be a bit hazy. Anything with
a large salary and short hours will do, they say. The organization of
the business and the sordid details connected with the various highly
specialized jobs in the studios concern them not at all. They let it go
with an unqualified statement that they want to break in the worst
way--and generally they do.
Now making movies is not child's play. It is a profession--or rather a
combination of professions--which takes time and thought and study.
True, there are fortunes to be made for those who will seriously enter
this field and study their work as they would study for any other
profession. But unfortunately, most of those who head towards the cinema
studios do not take time to learn the facts about the industry. They do
not look over the multitude of different highly specialized positions
which the movies offer and ask themselves for which one they are best
suited. They just plunge in, so intent upon making money at the moment
that they give no thought at all to the future.
Therefore, in writing this series, we shall start with an old saw--a
warning to amateurs to look before they leap. No industry in the world
presents so many angles, varying from technical work in the studio, to
the complexities of high finance. If you really wish to break into the
movies, go to the studios and see for yourself what you are fitted for.
Perhaps you think you are an actor, and are really a first rate
scenarioist. Perhaps you have an ambition to plan scenery, and instead
find that your forte lies in the business office. Men who started as
cameramen are now directors. Men who started as directors have ended as
highly successful advertising managers. So there you are. You pay your
money--and--if you are wise--you take your choice.
CHAPTER II
WHAT THE JOBS ARE
Most people seem to think there are concerned in the making of motion
pictures just four classes of people--actors, scenario writers,
directors and cameramen. It all seems very simple. The scenario writer
sits down in the morning and works out a scene; he wakes up the
director, who packs some actors and a cameraman in an automobile,
together with a picnic lunch, and goes out to make the picture on some
lovely hillside. Then, having finished the photoplay, they take it
around to your local theater and exhibit it at twenty-five cents a seat.
As a matter of fact, the movies, now the fifth national industry in the
United States, has as many phases, and as many complexities as any other
industry in the world.
Broadly speaking, the movies are made up of alliances between producing
companies and distributing companies. For example, the Constance
Talmadge Corporation produces the photoplays in which Miss Talmadge is
starred, and this Company is allied with the First National Exhibitors
Circuit which takes the completed film and sells it to theater managers
in every part of the world. The Constance Talmadge Corporation's duty is
to make a photoplay and deliver it to the First National Exhibitors
Circuit; the latter company duplicates the film in hundreds of "prints,"
advertises it, rents it to exhibitors, and sees to the delivery of the
film. In the same way, Nazimova makes comedies and releases them through
the Metro Corporation, her distributor.
The great distributing companies employ the salesmen, advertising
experts, business men, and so forth. All the technical work concerned
with the making of the picture, however, is in the hands of the
producing company, and, since we are engaged in such work ourselves, it
is about these posts that we must talk.
If we are to take the studio jobs in their natural order, the first to
begin work on a picture is, of course, the author. Each studio employs a
scenario editor who is on the lookout for good magazine stories or plays
or original scripts. He himself is not so much a writer as an analyst,
who knows what kind of stories his public wants; generally he is an old
newspaperman or an ex-magazine editor. Having bought the story, he turns
it over to a scenarioist--the "continuity writer." This type of
specialist is much in demand, since no story can survive a badly
constructed scenario.
The scenario writer puts the story into picture form exactly as a
dramatist may put a novel into play form for the stage. It is the
scenarioist or continuity writer who really gives to the story its
screen value--hence the very large prices paid for this work when it is
well done. Next in line is the director, who takes the scenario and sets
out to make the picture.
There is a shortage of directors at present, and for that reason,
salaries are particularly high in this line, but of course, direction is
a profession which takes many years of study.
In beginning work on his picture, the director first consults the studio
manager, who is really the head of the employment office. The studio
manager consults with him as to the expenses of the scenery and the
length of time to be spent in making the picture and then summons the
technical staff.
The technical staff of a studio is a rather large assembly. There is the
art director, who plans the scenery, the technical man who directs the
building, the casting director, who selects the actors, the electrician,
who assists in working out the lighting effects, the laboratory
superintendent, who must supervise the developing of the film, the
cutters, who assemble the completed film, and last, but not least, the
cameraman. Of course there are hundreds of minor posts--assistant
director, assistant cameraman, property man, research experts, location
seekers, and so forth.
The casting director immediately sends out a call for the "types"
demanded in the scenario. If possible, he notifies the actors and
actresses personally, but more often he is forced to get in touch with
them through the numerous agencies which act as brokers in "types." The
Actors' Equity Association is now doing excellent work in supplying
actors for pictures at the lowest possible cost to the actor in the way
of commissions. Presently a large number of actors and actresses appear
at the studio and the casting director selects from them the individuals
best suited to the coming production. Beginners are warned against
grafting agents who on any pretense whatever charge more than the legal
5% commission. They are also warned against signing "exclusion"
contracts with any agent, as this frequently compels the actor to pay
double commissions.
Meanwhile the art director has built his scenery, and the picture goes
"into production." At the end of some six weeks or two months, the
directors turn the completed film over to the assembling and cutting
department. As a rule both the director and the scenario writer work
with the assembler and cutter, and if they are wise, they insist on
doing the cutting themselves, for the success of the picture depends
largely upon this important operation of assembly. At the same time,
another specialist designs and works out the illustrations on the
borders of the written inserts. Finally the assembled picture is shown
to the studio staff, and if they are satisfied, the negative is
forwarded to the distributing company. The studio's work on that picture
is ended.
From this brief survey, you can see that the avenues for breaking into
the movies are almost unlimited. You can be an actor, director,
cameraman, scene builder, cutter, titler, scenario writer, or anything
else if you will begin at the bottom and learn the game. All of these
positions are highly paid and all require a high knowledge of motion
picture technique.
The important thing is to _start_--to get into the studio, in any
capacity. Then choose the type of work in which you desire to rise, and
learn it. Everybody will help you and encourage you if you start this
way, instead of trying the more common but less successful method of
starting at the top and working down.
CHAPTER III
ACTING FOR THE SCREEN
In New York resides a dramatic critic, now on the staff of a great
newspaper, who has his own ideas about movie acting. The idea in
question is that there is no such thing as movie acting--and the
gentleman carries it out by refusing to allow the word "acting" to be
printed in any of the notices and reviews in his newspaper. When he
wishes to convey the thought that such and such a star acted in such and
such a picture he says, "Miss So-and-So posed before the camera in the
motion picture."
Now this critic is a good critic, as critics go, but he would be
improved physically and mentally by a set of those monkey glands which
the medicos are so successfully grafting upon various ossified
personalities. Anyone who thinks that there is no such thing as motion
picture acting is probably still wondering whether the Germans will win
the war. Motion picture acting is a highly developed art, with a
technique quite as involved as that of the legitimate stage.
The fundamental principle to remember in undertaking screen acting is
that the camera demands far greater realism on the part of the actor
than the eyes of an audience. An actor in the spoken drama nearly always
overplays or underplays his part. If he recited the same lines in the
same tone with the same gestures in real life, he would appear to be
just a little bit spiffy, as they say in English drinking circles. On
the stage it is necessary to overdraw the character in order to convey a
realistic impression to the audience; exact naturalism on the stage
would appear as unreal as an unrouged face under a spotlight.
The camera, however, demands absolute realism. Actors must act as
naturally and as leisurely as they would in their own homes. Their
expressions must be no more pronounced than they would be in real life.
Above all, they must be absolutely unconscious of the existence of the
camera.
Any deviation from this course leads to the most mortifying results on
the screen. The face, enlarged many times life size, becomes clearly
that of an actor, rather than a real character. The assumed expression
of hate or fear which would seem so natural on the stage is merely
grotesque in the film. Unless the actor is really _thinking_ the things
he is trying to portray on the screen, the audience becomes instantly
aware that something is wrong.
In the same way the camera picks up and accentuates every motion on the
part of the actor. An unnecessary gesture is not noticed on the stage.
On the screen, enlarged many times, it is instantly noted.
The two most important rules to follow, then, in motion picture acting
are: act as you would under the same circumstances in real life, and
eliminate all movement and gesture which does not bear on the scene. It
is better not to move at all than to make a false move.
Beginners must adjust their walk to the camera. There is no rule for
this, however, as every individual's way of standing and walking is
different. Only through repeated tests can the beginner discover and
correct the defects which are sure to appear in his physical pose the
first time he acts before a camera.
Often in making a picture, the director will instruct his cast to "speed
up" or "slow down" their scene. Sometimes, also, he will alter the tempo
of the scene by slowing down or speeding up the rate at which the camera
is being cranked. Beginners must follow such instructions to the letter,
for the timing of a scene is a vitally important part of picture
production and a duty which is entirely in the hands of the director.
The best way to learn the principles of motion picture acting is to
watch the making of as many scenes as possible before attempting to act
one. Most of the stars of to-day learned their art by watching the
efforts of others before the camera. Only by constant observation in the
studio and, more important, in real life, where the actions and
reactions of real people can be noted, can an actor hope to become
proficient.
CHAPTER IV
WOULD YOU FILM WELL?
Probably the number of people who have not at one time or another
wondered in a sneaking sort of way if they wouldn't look pretty well on
the screen is limited to the aborigines of Africa. And, believe it or
not, two of the aborigines themselves applied at our studio for jobs not
long ago. They had acted in several travelogue pictures, taken in
darkest Africa, had traveled as porters with the company to the coast,
and had finally become so enamored of the work that they "beat" their
way all the way to America, with an English vocabulary limited to about
fifty words, twenty-five of which were highly profane. It just goes to
show that we are all human. Needless to say, both beauty and character
are the characteristics in demand in the films, as everywhere else. The
curious fact is that faces which in real life possess great beauty or
deep character, frequently fail to carry this across to the camera.
The chief reason for this lies in the fact that the camera does not
accept color values, and at the same time accentuates many defects which
are ordinarily imperceptible to the eye. For example, a wonderful type
of Italian beauty appeared at our studio while we were casting "Mama's
Affair" for Constance Talmadge. She had never before appeared in motion
pictures, and our casting director was quick to seize the opportunity to
make a test of her face. When the picture was shown, her extraordinarily
fine coloring of course went for nothing, and her beauty was entirely
marred by the inexplicable appearance of a fine down over her upper lip
and a large mole on her left temple. Both the mole and the down had been
entirely unnoticed in daylight, but under the fierce mercury lights of
the studio and the enlarging lenses they made her face grotesque. At
another time we attempted to make a leading man of a famous war hero.
This boy had been a college athlete and had subsequently distinguished
himself as a bayonet fighter on four battlefields. When his test films
were projected, to the astonishment of everyone he appeared as an
anæmic, effeminate stripling, whose every gesture aroused the ridicule
of the audience.
The skin of the face must be entirely smooth and unbroken. The slightest
eruption or blemish is visible on the screen, especially in this day
when "close-ups" are the vogue. The teeth must be perfect.
Considerations which do not matter in the slightest degree in facial
beauty on the screen are those of coloring and of fineness of the
features. The pinker a woman's cheeks may be, the hollower they appear
to the camera, for red photographs as black, and a face which is
beautiful, but coarse in its outline, frequently photographs quite as
well as the beautiful face which is exquisite in every detail.
A screen star should be equally beautiful in every expression and from
every angle. This is not so true of the stage star, for when she is
moving about, speaking and gesticulating, the question of her beauty
becomes comparatively unimportant. On the screen, however, important
scenes are always taken in "close-ups" wherein the star, whether
portraying rage or pain, love or hate, must be equally charming, at the
risk of making a permanently bad impression upon her audience.
Many people who are beautiful when seen in "full face" are most
unattractive in profile. In fact, the matter narrows down still further,
for quite often those who have a lovely profile are, for some
inexplicable reason, gross and unattractive when the face is turned to
show three-quarters. A number of the present movie stars have risen to
the top despite such impediments by stipulating in all their contracts
that they be never shown in close-up in the pose in which they are
unattractive. One star in particular never shows the left side of her
face for this reason. This, however, is obviously a great handicap.
The male types which are most in demand are not those whose appeal is
through physical beauty. Audiences are sick of large-eyed, romantic
heroes, and are demanding a little manly force and character in their
heroes.
To film well, a man's head should be large, rugged, with the features
cut in masses, like a Rodin bust. Whether he is attempting to play
"juveniles," "leads" or "heavies" his face must possess the cardinal
requisites of character. Deep-set eyes, a strong chin, a jutting
forehead, a prominent nose, are all desirable. Again, the high
cheekbones and long face appear desirable characteristics. William S.
Hart's success depends largely on these two simple characteristics of
facial structure.
Neither in men nor in women is the hair an essential for screen beauty.
Wigs and trick arrangements of the hair are a function of the make-up
department, and a man or woman with no hair at all could still be made
to appear most attractive to the unsophisticated camera.
In analyzing your own face, then, ask yourself the following questions:
Are my eyes large?
Is my skin fine and well kept?
Is my mouth small and are my teeth good?
Is my nose straight?
Has my face character, something which makes it not only beautiful, but
which portrays the underlying personality?
If you can answer these questions in the affirmative you may have a
career before you in the motion pictures. If you cannot answer any of
them but the last in the affirmative, you may still be successful as a
movie actor, for "types"--whether of gunmen or millionaires, villains or
saints--are much in demand. One man has made himself a small fortune by
playing parts in which a particularly villainous expression were
required--such as dope fiends. Another chap, in the Western studios, has
made a good living for years by acting "stained glass saints," having
been equipped by nature with an unusually æsthetic expression.
In any case, if you are to essay a career in the movies, remember that
your natural characteristics are all that count. Tricks of rolling the
eyes or puckering the lips or setting the jaw are buncombe and are
instantly discovered by the camera.
Be natural. Keep healthy and happy. That, in the movies, as in real
life, is the way to charm and beauty.
CHAPTER V
MAKE-UP
[Illustration: ROUGING THE LIPS FOR THE CAMERA
Red photographs black, so particular care must be taken in rouging the
lips for movie work. John Emerson is helping May Collins with her
make-up, while Anita Loos and the director, Victor Fleming, give
suggestions.]
Although most women use cosmetics in their every-day life, they are
lamentably ignorant of the principles of make-up. For example, not one
woman in a hundred knows that she should never rouge her face until she
has put on her hat, since the shadow and line of the hat changes the
whole color and composition of her face. The average man's knowledge of
the subject is limited to the use of powder after shaving. And yet
thousands of men and women secure work in the mob and ensemble scenes in
the movies and find themselves expected to make up for the camera, the
most difficult task of all, with no previous instruction whatsoever. No
wonder they are discouraged when they see themselves peering out from
the crowd scene with a face they hardly recognize themselves.
Nevertheless, almost all the stars of to-day--Norma Talmadge, Constance
Talmadge, Mary Pickford, and dozens of others--have risen from these mob
scenes. Their faces, even when seen among hundreds of others, attracted
instant attention. Perhaps it was natural beauty. Perhaps, too, they
had, by accident or design, solved at the start the great problem which
confronts all movie actors, that of finding the correct make-up.
Movie make-up strives only for a photographic effect and has no relation
to street or stage make-up. Almost every face contains numerous
imperfections which are invisible to the eye, yet which, when enlarged
many times on the screen, are very obvious. There are fundamental rules
of make-up, but the only way to perfect your technique is by constantly
viewing your own "stills" and movies, and changing your make-up to the
best advantage.
Red photographs black, and for this reason rouge is little used in the
studios, except for special effects. Rouge on the cheeks gives the
illusion of dark shadows and makes the face look hollow; it deepens the
eyes, and is sometimes used on the eyelids for this reason. Light carmen
may be used on the lips.
To start your make-up you will need cold cream, special yellow film
powder, film grease paint, and a soft towel. Massage your face with cold
cream and then remove it with the towel, so that the surface is
absolutely clean. Then apply your grease paint with the fingers, and
cover every bit of the face from the collar-line to the hair.
When you have a smooth, even surface of grease paint, spread special
film powder upon it and pat it in lightly with a powder puff. There are
a number of shades of grease paint and by changing the grease tint
before applying the powder you can darken or lighten your complexion in
accordance with your part. Before going further, make sure there are no
blotches on your make-up's surface and that the grease has left no
sheen.
[Illustration: MAKING UP THE EYES
The eyes are the most expressive of the features and their make-up is
correspondingly important. Here John Emerson and Anita Loos are helping
Basil Sydney, the noted English actor, to darken his eyes in accordance
with movie technique.]
The eyes are the most important and expressive features. The make-up
which relates to them is all important. First you must ascertain by
actual test the correct color with which to line your eyes. Almost every
color is used, for the effect seems to vary with different faces. Black,
blue, green, brown and red are all used in varying proportions and
mixtures by different actors. Naturally, you should try to find the
color which makes your eyes look deepest and most luminous.
The edge of the upper eyelid is clearly lined. Then the shade is worked
back toward the eyebrow, getting constantly lighter, until it finally
blends with the grease paint of the face. The process is reversed for
the lower lid, which is darkest at the edge and grows lighter as you
work down.
Your eyelids should be lined with black cosmetic. Do not bead them. This
shows clearly in close-ups and looks rather ridiculous. The slapstick
comedy people sometimes use beaded eyelids to burlesque the "baby-doll"
expression.
The corners of the eyes are shadowed with brown or red. It is this
shadowing that gives most of the character to the eyes; but at the same
time it is apt to age the whole face. For this reason it must be done in
conjunction with actual tests.
Finally, apply light carmen to your lips and make sure you do not overdo
it.
There are numerous special recipes for producing pallor, scars, bruises,
and the like. Blackface make-up is done most successfully with charred
cork dust mixed with water to produce a heavy paste. Tom Wilson, the
best known player of negro parts in the movies, who played in "The Birth
of a Nation," and more recently in our own special production, "Red Hot
Romance," advises amateurs to use this recipe and, further, to
high-light the natural lines of their faces by scraping off the cork
with a sharp stick, wherever a line is to show, and letting the natural
white of the skin appear.
High-lighting for most character parts is a special art. Such characters
as Indian faces or the weather-beaten and wrinkled countenance of an old
sea captain may be done in brown with white high-lights. You should ask
your cameraman to help you with high-lighting, as it is very difficult.
There are tricks of make-up which alter the entire character of the
face. For example, by shading the outline of the face with red you can
make it appear much thinner. In this case the grease paint is slightly
reddened--or, if you desire, darkened--near the ear-line. If you desire
to make your face rounder and fuller reverse the process and lighten the
grease paint at its outer edge.
If your eyebrows and hair are dark, you can tinge them gray by rubbing
the hair with mascaro and then combing. If they are light, white and
black grease paint, applied alternately and then combed, will do the
trick. Beards and bushy eyebrows are made of crêpe hair and glued on
with spirit gum. As a matter of fact, if you are really serious about
making a career of movie acting, it is best to grow, so far as possible,
the hirsute appendages required in your parts. For an unshaven tramp or
a Robinson Crusoe effect, for example, it is much better to go unshaven
for a week or so than to produce a false effect by attempting to imitate
the real thing with crêpe hair.
[Illustration: GLUEING ON A CRÊPE HAIR MUSTACHE.
John Emerson is affixing a villainous mustache to Frank Stockdale.
Spirit gum and crêpe hair are used.]
Finally, lest you be left in the position of the man who starts his
first ride on a motorcycle without knowing how to shut the power off, we
may add that all this nasty mess of grease paint and powder and gum and
hair will come off in an instant when cold cream is applied. It is hard
to feel natural in make-up at first; but presently you will forget that
you have it on at all.
All of the necessary cosmetics may be secured through any drug store or
theatrical costumer. If you want to find out how you will look in the
movies, it is not necessary to have a film test made. Just buy some
make-up and have someone take a few "close-ups" of your head with an
ordinary camera. But do not retouch the negatives--for movies are not
retouched, you know.
Look for imperfections of every sort in pose and expression. Then try to
find a make-up which will eradicate them. If you solve your make-up
problem before you go to the studio you will be well repaid. Among the
dozens of flat, uninteresting countenances a well made-up face stands
out and attracts the attention of the director at once.
CHAPTER VI
HOW TO DRESS FOR A PICTURE
There is only one drawback to the pleasurable life of the movie actor or
actress. They draw big salaries; they get their names in the papers and
are deluged with "fan" letters to such an extent that special postal
departments are installed in their offices; the work is interesting and
the hours comparatively short. But, alas, they have to have a lot of
clothes.
To be sure, the buying of clothes is a most pleasurable experience to
all women and to many men. And, forsooth, if they draw big salaries, why
cavil about the cost of replenishing a wardrobe every now and again?
The fact is, the wardrobes are not replenished every now and again; they
are constantly in a state of replenishment, and for that reason the
average actor's bank account, no matter how big the salary, is also in
constant need of being similarly replenished. For every new scene is apt
to require completely new gowns and suits, and, in the case of the
actors who play the more important parts, no two suits or gowns can be
worn in any two pictures or the fans will be sure to discover it and
write uncomplimentary letters to the studio.
In the case of the beginner, however, no such expenses need be met if he
or she has one complete wardrobe to start with. People playing minor
characters must dress for the part at their own expense, but no one
notices or cares whether they wear the same clothes with which they
recently graced the studio next door. If they play a part requiring a
special dress or uniform the management will supply it without charge.
It is rather difficult for a newcomer to the movies to know exactly what
clothes are required for their wardrobe. Therefore we are including the
following comments on clothes and styles, as applied to motion picture
work:
Men should have at least three business suits, one of which should be
light and one dark.
For summer scenes, white flannels, with a blue coat and a soft
shirt--_not_ a sport shirt--are required. White duck shoes complete this
outfit. Tweed suits are the proper thing for wear in the country club
scenes and in most pictures calling for scenes on English estates.
For dress wear three outfits are necessary. There is the cutaway for
afternoon weddings, society teas, and so forth, a Tuxedo for club scenes
and semi-dress occasions, and finally, full dress for balls and dinners
where ladies are in the scene. A dark four-in-hand or bow tie, with a
stand-up or wing collar, should be worn with the cutaway, and regulation
dress bow ties, black with the dinner coat and white with the dress
suit. These clothes are an essential part of a motion picture actor's
outfit.
The great difficulty with young actors is a tendency to overdress and to
attempt to hide bad tailoring with a flashy design and a freak cut of
the coat. Since clothes are an actor's stock in trade, he should
patronize only the best, if the most expensive tailors, and stick to
conservative lines unless the part requires eccentric dressing. Jewelry
should be avoided, unless called for in the character; cuff links and a
watch chain are all that should be worn, with the exception of dress
studs with the dinner or dress coat.
Girls will need a simple afternoon suit and an outer coat to match. They
must have two summer frocks, a sailor blouse with a dark skirt,
negligée, and an evening gown and wraps. Hats to match are necessary, of
course, as are dancing slippers and white duck shoes.
The evening gown is perhaps the most important part of the young
actress's wardrobe, since she is more apt to be called in for ball and
dinner scenes than any other. Simplicity should be the keynote of such
gowns. Simple French models are very attractive, but few women can wear
them well, since most American girls are too broad in the shoulders for
the Parisian styles.
Clothes for character parts must be assembled on the moment according to
the demands of the director and the imagination of the actor or actress.
Realism is the great essential of character dressing. To wear the rags
of a vaudeville tramp in the movies would turn the picture into a
slapstick comedy. A real tramp's clothes are a mighty different matter.
The greatest difficulty which a casting director experiences is that of
finding people to play the part of society folk. These parts require an
understanding of drawing-room manners and ballroom etiquette, and the
ability to wear smart clothes. If the clothes are not up to the moment
they will be obsolete when the picture reaches the country at large, and
the audiences will think that because the styles are out of date the
picture is out of date also. Also if any extreme styles are worn they
are sure to be out of date when the picture is shown. In the same way,
the slightest error in etiquette is sure to be noted and commented upon.
It is more of a trick than one might think to know, at a moment's
notice, how to act as best man at a fashionable wedding, or how to serve
a ten-course dinner according to the latest vogue.
The best way is to dress conservatively and to act as any well bred
person might be expected to. A man who fails to take off his hat upon
entering a fashionable house would be laughed at. A man who took it off
with a grand flourish would be hooted out. Recently a director read in a
certain short story that the Newport set had instituted the custom of
supplying a single green glove for each dinner guest to wear while the
olives were served. This was merely a bit of satire on the part of the
story writer--but the director took it seriously, and instituted the fad
in a dinner scene with dire results when the picture was shown to the
newspaper critics.
CHAPTER VII
MOVIE MANNERS
This chapter does not deal so much with how to act in a picture as how
to act in a studio.
Motion picture people live, more or less, in a world of their own. It is
a world which may seem a bit topsy turvy to the outsider, with its own
peculiar customs, and a greater freedom from restraint than is customary
in the conventional world outside. Examined a bit closer, these
outlandish ideas appear to be the very same ones which are always
associated with artists--a bohemian spirit which is the same whether in
Hollywood or the Latin Quarter of Paris.
If the newcomer to the studio wishes to establish himself as a bona fide
member of the movie world he must always remember that no matter how
cynical they may seem, no matter how pessimistically they may talk,
these people, in the bottom of their hearts, consider a photoplay a form
of art and themselves as artists. The actor or director or author who
does really good work, who has something new to offer, or who at least
is sincere in his desire to do something big and fine in the motion
pictures, will always be tolerated no matter how bizarre his character
in other respects. In short, people are ranked according to their
artistic understanding rather than according to their ancestry, their
bank account or their morals. Most of the leaders of the motion picture
world have risen from poverty and obscurity, a fact which accounts for
the democracy which prevails in the studio.
There are a few rules which beginners would do well to follow. Here they
are:
Be modest. Because you don't understand why something is done, don't
believe it is all nonsense. And remember that you have ever so much to
learn about the business.
Don't criticize.
Try your best to please everyone, particularly the director, whose
shoulders are carrying the responsibility for the whole production and
whose manner may be a bit gruff--as it usually is when a man is laboring
under a heavy load.
Don't be ashamed of being in the movies. If you think movies are a
low-brow form of making a living your associates will surely become
aware of your state of mind and you will be quietly frozen out.
In the old days of the movies social status in the studio was determined
by a curious system, based upon the pay envelope. Actors--for the movie
world is composed for the greater part of actors--are classed as stars,
the "leads," the "parts," the "bits," the "extras" and "mobs." The star
is, of course, the highly paid actor or actress who is the feature of
the production; the "lead" is the leading man or woman who plays
opposite the star; the "parts" include all those characters which appear
on the program--the minor characters of the play; the "bits" are those
who are called on to perform a bit of individual action, such as the
butler who opens the door, or the chauffeur who drives the car, but who
have no real part in the play; the extras are simply members of the
crowd, as the ballroom throng, while a mob is just a mass of people,
like an army or the audience at a football game.
The large producing companies frequently give elaborate dinners, seating
three or four hundred people, and under this ridiculous old system the
star sat at the head of the table, with the "leads" near at hand. Then
came the "parts," then the "bits," and finally, away down at the foot of
the table, were the "extras." In the same way directors, assistant
directors, studio managers, and so forth, were graded down according to
how much money they drew from the cashier every week.
To-day all this snobbery has passed away. The movie world has its smart
set and its slums, as in any other world, but the criterion is artistic
worth, not money. We know of one rather unpleasant personality who has
risen to stardom, but is completely ignored by the lesser lights of the
profession despite this star's attempts to break into "film society."
CHAPTER VIII
READING YOUR PART
On the legitimate stage actors and actresses are called on to read their
parts before beginning rehearsals. In the movies the part is read to
them. Before the company begins to make even the first scene in a
photoplay the scenario writer and director call a meeting and rehearse
the company, reading the scenario and explaining the meaning of each
scene. If the author and director are wise the story is then carefully
rehearsed clear through, scene by scene, before anything is
photographed. In this way the actors learn the sequence of their scenes
and the relation of their parts to other parts and to the whole.
[Illustration: REHEARSING THE COMPANY
Movie authors should rehearse their own stories, at least, according to
John Emerson and Anita Loos. Here these authors, on the left, are
rehearsing their scenarios for "Wife Insurance" while the director,
Victor Fleming (with the cap) takes notes. Rehearsals are arranged
before the scenery is built, and the above tableau is supposed to take
place in a restaurant.]
It is up to you to make the best of your part. Secure a copy of the
scenario, or at least of your scenes, as soon as possible. Then go over
the story as many times as possible, trying to grasp the relationship of
your own character to that of the other characters in the story. Work
out your own conception of the part.
Perhaps at first the director will never give you a chance to do a piece
of original acting. He will work out every bit of action for you.
Eventually, however, your opportunity will come to "create a part," and
you must be ready for it.
All the action of a motion picture story is contained in the numbered
scenes of the scenario. Your bit of acting will be in one or more of
these scenes. Here is a sample bit of one of our own scenarios, based on
the stage play "Mama's Affair," which we recently wrote for Constance
Talmadge. These are the last few scenes of the photoplay:
Eve watches her mother go out, then turns to the doctor, goes to
him, gives him her hand, and says very quietly:
SP: "GOOD-BY, DOCTOR."
The doctor looks at her, astonished, and says, "What!" Eve looks
up at him sternly and says:
SP: "GOOD-BY; I CAN HARDLY HOPE TO SEE YOU AGAIN.
She then starts out the door. The doctor hurries after her,
stops her, and says, "What do you mean?" Eve turns to look at
him, and then says very calmly:
SP: "I SHALL BE LEAVING TO-MORROW."
The doctor, taken aback, steps back a couple of steps, looks at
her in astonishment, and says:
SP: "I JUST TOLD YOU THAT I'D MARRY YOU!"
Eve looks at him commiseratingly, smiles a cynical smile, and
says:
SP: "YOU JUST TOLD ME YOU WOULD TAKE ME IN BECAUSE YOU SEE NO WAY
TO PREVENT MY BECOMING A CHRONIC NEURASTHENIC."
The doctor looks at her, flabbergasted at the plain way in which
she is putting things. She then goes on and says:
SP: "YOU DON'T WANT ME, BUT YOU'LL TAKE ME IN AS YOU'D TAKE A
PATIENT INTO A HOSPITAL."
The doctor looks at her, tries to speak, stammers, stops, not
knowing what to say. Eve then takes a step toward him, smiles
commiseratingly, and says:
SP: "YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT. I HAVE LEARNED HOW TO HANDLE MAMA.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MY HEALTH."
The doctor looks at her, surprised at this new Eve, who is in no
need of him at all in his professional capacity. Eve looks at
him, throws out her arms with gestures of complete victory over
all her worries, and says:
SP: "I AM GOING BACK TO NEW YORK, AND I AM GOING TO LIVE."
Eve then turns, starts, goes toward the door and starts to go
out. The doctor looks at her, struggles with himself, worries
over the fact that he is losing her, goes toward her, and says:
"Eve!" She turns, looks at him, and says: "Yes?" He looks at her
helplessly, trying to find words to express himself, and then
says:
SP: "I CAN'T LET YOU GO LIKE THIS."
Eve looks at him calmly, and asks why. The doctor looks around
helplessly, stalls a moment, and then says:
SP: "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU."
Eve looks at him a moment, and then, dropping all her pose,
simply overcome with intense relief, she says:
SP: "WELL, THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET AT."
The doctor rushes over to her, grabs her, takes her in his arms,
looks into her face, and says:
SP: "YOU BOLD-FACED, SHAMELESS LITTLE DARLING."
Then gives her a good kiss, and we FADE OUT.
You will observe that in the scenario there are many lines written in
for the actors to speak which never appear on the screen (only those in
capitals are shown on the screen). This is to give the cast a chance to
say the things they would say in real life under the same circumstances,
and so to make the scene entirely natural. The actor speaks all the
lines in small type and also those in the capital letters, following the
abbreviation "SP," which stands for "Spoken Title."
Contrary to common belief, the actors really speak the words of their
lines. There was a day when the hero, kissing the heroine in the final
close-up, might say something like "Let's go out and get a cheese
sandwich, now that this is over." But just about this time large numbers
of lip-readers began to write in to the producers, kicking against this
sort of thing. It seems that constant attendance at the movies develops
a curious power of following a speech by watching the character's lips.
And from that day the slapstick comedians who used to swear so
beautifully before the camera and the heroines of the serial thrillers
who used to talk about the weather in their big scenes began to speak
their proper lines.
CHAPTER IX
INSIDE THE BRAIN OF A MOVIE STAR
"But they have no brains!" someone is sure to say.
That sort of thing is rather cheap cynicism. As a matter of fact, they
have plenty of brains, but of their own peculiar sort. A movie actor,
like any other type of artist, is an emotional, temperamental creature;
but the problem which worries him the most is one of intellect rather
than emotion; in short, just how to control the reactions inside that
discredited gray matter of his.
Every movie actor--and you, too, if you enter this field--is at one time
or another confronted with the perplexing problem of just how much
thought he should allow to go into his work; that is, whether his acting
should be emotional or intellectual. The question resolves itself into
this:
Does an actor feel?
Should he feel?
There are two schools of thought on this seemingly academic but in
reality most important subject.
First are those who say that an actor must feel the part he is playing.
The greatest actors, they say, have always been those who wore
themselves out in an hour's time, because they felt the emotions they
portrayed. They tell stories such as that of Mrs. Kendall, who, having
lost her own child, electrified an English audience by her portrayal of
the bereaved mother in "East Lynne" to such an extent that women leaped
to their feet in the pit, shouting, "No more, no more." They point to
the fact that the great stars of the screen and the stage alike are able
to simulate the three reactions which are quite beyond the control of
the will--pallor, blushing, and the sudden perspiration which comes with
great terror or pain. This, they say, is proof positive that these
actors are feeling every emotion as they enact it.
The second group declares that all this is nonsense and that if an actor
really felt his part he would lose control of himself, and perhaps
actually murder some other actor in a fight scene. Acting, they say, is
an art wherein the artist, by the use of his intellect, is able to
simulate that which he does not feel--using his face merely as the
painter uses his canvas. The moment an actor begins to enter into his
part, his acting is either overdone or underdone and the scene is
ruined. The whole trick of it, they add, is to keep perfectly cool and
know exactly what you are doing, no matter how spectacular the scene.
Still a third school declares that both these views are wrong, and that
acting is neither a matter of thought nor of emotion, but is purely
imitative. An actor observes his own emotions as he experiences them in
each crisis of his real life, they say, and remembers them so well that
he is afterward able to reproduce them before the camera.
The truth of it seems to be that all of them are partly right and partly
wrong. The great stars of the movies to-day, when one is able to draw
them out on the subject, say that when they are acting they are thinking
not about one thing but about several things. The brain is divided into
different strata, and while one section is thinking about the part,
another section is entering into it, while still a third stratum is
busying itself with idle speculation about the cameraman and the
director.
There are two important secrets, connected with the psychology of screen
acting, which every beginner should know, even if he never makes use of
them. The first is that of Preparation; the second, that of
Auto-Suggestion.
A movie actor or actress is in a more difficult position, so far as the
artistry of his work is concerned, than the players of the spoken drama.
In the movies the scenes are nearly always taken out of sequence, the
first last, the last first, and so forth. For that reason the motion
picture stars have great difficulty in working themselves up to the
proper "pitch" to play a scene, inasmuch as they have not been through
the action which leads up to it.
The movie directors know this, and in most studios try to help them up
to this "pitch" by employing small orchestras to play during the
important scenes. In nearly every large studio where more than one
company is working there are to be heard the faint strains of Sonata
Pathetique, where some melancholy scene is being taken, or livelier
music for a bit of comedy in another set. Also the directors are always
behind the camera to guide their actors with spoken directions as the
scene is made. This orchestra business has always seemed to us pure
buncombe, but if the director or actor gets any fun out of it, it
doesn't do any particular harm.
The wise movie actors of to-day are borrowing these two tricks of
Preparation and Auto-Suggestion from their brethren of the stage.
Preparation consists merely of spending a little time before the scene
is begun in going over the part, in thinking about it, and in trying
really to feel all the emotions of the character in question. This seems
a simple matter; but it makes the difference between real acting and
routine work. Once an actor has carefully worked out the part for
himself he can easily conform to the director's ideas; and once he has
let himself feel his part he need waste no emotion upon it when on the
"set," for his mimetic powers will reproduce his feelings of an hour
before.
Auto-suggestion consists in working oneself up to the part before going
before the camera by various expedients. For example, one actor, before
playing a part calling for extreme anger, spends some ten minutes in
clenching his fists, swearing at the handiest fence post, setting his
jaw--and so making himself really angry. It is not hard to reproduce
emotion by these tricks of auto-suggestion. Try thinking of something
sad--draw your face down--and before long you will be in a very glum
mood. That is the way such stars as Norma Talmadge and Mary Pickford
produce tears on short notice. Most people think they are tricks of
make-up, such as drops of glycerine; as a matter of fact, it is a matter
of puckering the face and a few gloomy thoughts.
All this sort of thing sounds very intricate and unnecessary. And yet it
is the really practical side of screen acting. The psychology of each
actor is different and his manner of preparing for a scene and of
enacting it will be different. The important thing is that he be aware
that there is such a thing as psychology, and that if he will only
understand it as applied to himself he can improve his work as a film
player.
CHAPTER X
SALARIES IN THE MOVIES
So much propaganda and press-agentry has been at work during the last
few years that no one knows what to believe of the movies. There appears
to be a sort of attenuated smoke cloud thrown up about all connected
with the artistic, and, more particularly, the financial side of the
movies. And naturally the first question to be asked by one who is
considering entering this field as a vocation is "What do they pay? Is
it all true? Is there money in the movies?"
The leading stars of the screen get anywhere from one thousand to ten
thousand dollars a week. There are only two or three stars, however, who
get as high as ten thousand. The majority range between one and three
thousand.
A few stars are paid a percentage of the profits of the picture. One or
two others are paid a lump sum for a picture, rather than a weekly
salary, and in one case this lump sum comes to eighty thousand dollars.
A good leading man or leading woman gets four or five hundred dollars a
week--some much more. First rate character people, or "heavies," get
from three to five hundred a week, or, if called on to play by the day,
get anywhere from fifty to a hundred dollars.
The smaller parts bring salaries ranging from fifty to two hundred
dollars. "Bits," such as the butler who opens the door, which involve a
small bit of individual acting, although really merely atmospheric work,
bring ten dollars a day or thereabouts. Extras for the crowd scenes get
about five dollars a day.
The salaries of directors range all the way from ten thousand dollars a
week, which is the emolument of one great artist, down to the hundred
and fifty a week of the fly-by-night concerns. The average director in a
large company gets anywhere from five hundred to a thousand dollars a
week, especially as at present there is a great shortage of good
directors.
Scenario writers are paid according to the type of work they do. If they
write original stories they may get from one thousand to twenty thousand
dollars for them. Of course, the published works of notable authors or
the stage hits of famous playwrights bring more.
Writers doing the adaptations or "continuities" of the stories of others
are more often paid by the week. The big scenario writers get salaries
ranging up to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, for this is fast
becoming the most important work of the entire industry. The lesser
lights seldom receive less than twenty thousand dollars a year.
Cameramen get from one hundred to three hundred dollars a week. Art
directors receive several hundred dollars a week, but few companies have
as yet realized the necessity of employing specialists in scenic art.
A good five-reel feature picture to-day costs about sixty thousand
dollars to produce. If a famous star is employed, the cost of the
picture goes to a hundred thousand dollars, or even a hundred and fifty.
"'Way Down East," Griffith's latest production, cost just under a
million dollars to produce.
The profits of the picture come out of its run, which may last seven or
eight years, and even longer in Europe. A one hundred thousand dollar
picture may eventually make half a million dollars for it's backers,
but, of course, they have a long wait for their money. On the other
hand, the risk is stupendous, for the picture may be a flat failure.
One cheering fact, attested by all motion picture magnates, is that,
whatever may be the case in other industries, salaries are not going to
drop in the movies. On the contrary, the movies are growing bigger and
bigger and the demand is greater than ever before. There is money in the
movies now, and there will be even more in the next few years.
CHAPTER XI
SCENARIOS
On the legitimate stage nearly every actor at one time or another writes
a play. In the same way, in the movies nearly every actor tries his hand
at scenario writing. In fact, many of the most successful playwrights
and photodramatists have had stage or screen experience as actors.
For this reason, although this series is designed more for those who
wish to act than for those who wish to write--and although we have
already one book on "How to Write Photoplays"--nevertheless, a chapter
on scenario writing is not out of place.
There is a fine career for any writer in scenario writing if the writer
will only take the trouble to study it seriously. There is technique in
writing plots and still more technique in adapting those plots to the
screen, by writing them into scenario form. Studio experience is of vast
benefit to anyone who wishes to write movie stories; and that is where
the actor has the advantage over the outsider who tries to write
scenarios with no practical knowledge of how movies are really made.
First write your plot into a five hundred or thousand word synopsis,
just as you would write it for a magazine. Make it brief and clear. Be
sure it is based upon action, mental or physical, and try to give real
character to your plot people.
In choosing your story be sure it has the dramatic quality. It must not
be rambling; and it must have an element of conflict between opposing
factors--a man and a woman, a woman and her Destiny, or simply Good and
Evil--which leads up to a crisis in which the matter is fought out and
finally settled. Stories which have not these qualities are suitable for
novels, perhaps, but not for plays.
It is, as a general rule, inadvisable to try historical stories or
stories which require elaborate scenes. Battle stories and stories of
the Jules Verne or H. G. Wells type are also difficult to place. The
great demand to-day is for sane, wholesome stories of modern American
life, wherein character is the paramount interest rather than
eccentricities of the plot or camera.
Send your story in synopsis form to the scenario editor of the studio
which employs the star for whom you think the story is best suited. Send
with it a stamped and self-addressed envelope for the return of your
script, if it is not suitable for their use. Keep on sending it; don't
be discouraged by rejection slips. You may write dozens of stories and
then sell the very first one you wrote.
If the studio buys your story it is well to ask for an opportunity to
help write the "continuity," or scenario form. This is a highly
technical but very well paid task, and one which every screen author
should learn. The chance to enter the studio and help work out the
scenario of your own story is worth trying for.
[Illustration: Testing Make-Up and Expression.
Every make-up must conform to the part. Here the authors, John Emerson
and Anita Loos, are helping their director, Victor Fleming, to make a
test of Basil Sydney and May Collins, who played the leading roles in
"Wife Insurance." The tests are usually taken in some corner of the
studio under the best possible lighting conditions.]
Scenarios to-day are more in demand than ever before; but producers are
still chary of taking chances on untried amateurs. The amateur author's
greatest success is when he sells his first story. The road is
comparatively easy after that.
Original plots for five-reel pictures sell from $1,000 to $20,000,
depending upon the reputation of the author and the standing of the
company which buys them. Of course, some of the smaller companies pay
less than this, and two and three reel features sell for less.
Published stories and novels, and plays which have had a run, bring
enormous prices. Griffith recently paid $150,000 for the film rights on
a play. Fifty and seventy thousand dollars are frequently paid for
similar plot material, but that is because of the advertising value in
the names of the plays or books, or the reputation of the writers, which
assures the producers that the story is almost sure to make a good
photoplay.
The highest paid workers in the movies to-day are the continuity
writers, who put the stories into scenario form and write the "titles"
or written inserts. The income of some of these writers runs into
hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. It is extraordinarily
interesting work and well worth while learning; but unfortunately the
technical training for this sort of thing takes as much time as the
training necessary to enter any other profession.
Scenario writing does not require great genius. It does require a
dramatic insight and certain amount of training. It is the latter factor
that most amateurs overlook. If you are to write scenarios, you must
take your work as seriously as you would if you were trying to write
music or paint pictures.
CHAPTER XII
HOW OTHERS HAVE DONE IT
The histories of the movie celebrities are as picturesque as the story
of their industry. Nearly all of them have risen from the ranks. Few of
them, in the days when the motion picture was classed as a freak
novelty, expected the present amazing expansion of the industry; still
fewer had any conception of their own latent talents in photodramatic
art.
But characteristics which they all had in common were determination to
succeed in their profession, a modest faith in its future, and a desire
to learn the business from the ground up.
It is a curious fact that many of the directors of to-day were once
automobile mechanics. This is not because automobile mechanics are as a
class better fitted for such work, but because, in the old days of 1907
and 1908 and 1909, when everything started, they had a singular
opportunity to apprentice themselves to the profession.
In those days companies worked almost entirely out of doors, and the
cameraman transported his paraphernalia in an automobile. The driver of
the automobile would usually assist the cameraman in "setting up"; a
friendship would spring up between them; presently the driver would be
assistant cameraman, then chief cameraman, and finally director. Of
course, directors have been recruited from every profession and every
class--actors, authors, professors, newspaper men, scene carpenters,
artists--for the dramatic gift is not confined to any class. What a
man's profession was before he entered the movies has nothing to do with
his career thereafter; he has to learn everything all over again, and a
very good actor, with years of studio experience, may make a very poor
director, whereas an unsuccessful tinsmith might suddenly rise to the
top by virtue of an innate gift for this type of work.
The scenario writers of to-day have also grown up with the business.
Some were newspaper men who broke into the game as press-agents; some
were actors; others were directors. Recently a large number of
professional playwrights, novelists and authors with magazine experience
have entered the movies to learn scenario writing, but this is a new
development.
The writers of this series have been asked to tell how they themselves
broke into the scenario offices. Unlike the others, our own story has
nothing picturesque about it. Miss Loos was born and bred in a
California town; she was the daughter of a newspaper proprietor and
inherited that fatal desire to write. At the age of fourteen she sent
her first scenario to Griffith; for a miracle, it was accepted--but, of
course, it was easy to sell stories in those days, when scenario writing
was almost unheard of outside of California. Soon after this she paid a
personal visit to the Griffith studios and became the youngest scenario
editor in the world, turning out a new story about every six weeks. Some
six years ago Mr. Emerson left his post as producer for Frohman on the
legitimate stage and went to Hollywood to keep an eye on the filming of
one of his own plays which was being adapted from the "speakies." He
decided to make the movies a permanent profession, and with this in mind
worked as an actor about the Griffith studios to learn the rudiments of
the game. Some months after this he was allowed to direct his first
picture; and at this time he met Miss Loos, who was to write the
scenario. After that they collaborated in the Doug' Fairbanks'
pictures--and that's that.
Most of the present-day movie actors and actresses gained their
experience as extras, although a few have first made their success on
the legitimate stage and then stepped directly into film stardom. Doug'
Fairbanks was one of the latter, and so was Mary Pickford. Charley
Chaplin and Wallace Reid, on the other hand, have done little of note
outside of the movies.
Both Norma Talmadge and Constance Talmadge rose from the ranks. They
took small parts in the old Vitagraph pictures; but their extraordinary
beauty and talent was immediately recognized by the directors, and they
were permitted to try bits, then parts, and finally leads. Norma
Talmadge went in for the more emotional rôles, while Constance developed
her ability as a comedienne. Within six years they have attained to
position of leadership in their respective fields.
D. W. Griffith himself was once an extra. He was a good extra, too,
according to some of his former employers who now work under him in his
great studios at Mamaroneck, Conn. But he had all manner of queer ideas
as to how pictures should be acted, and directed and photographed. For
example, he thought that more effective scenes might be made, at times,
by photographing actors "close up," cutting off their legs and arms with
the frame of the picture and showing only their faces many times
enlarged; also he had a theory that one might heighten the dramatic
suspense by "cutting back" from one scene to another, instead of
following one line of action in a monotonous sequence through an entire
photoplay. The directors and actors and cameramen of those days, who
would no sooner have thought of taking a character's picture from the
bust up than of taking the picture upside down, were nevertheless
interested in this eccentric chap, and even asked his advice from time
to time. Finally, the eccentric extra got his chance as a director to
try out a few of these radical theories. His "The Birth of a Nation"
changed the entire technique of the movies.
Many noted directors received their training in directing plays for the
legitimate stage, as, for example, Hugh Ford. Others, like Marshall
Neilan, or Allan Dwan, came in from outside professions. Victor Fleming,
formerly director for Douglas Fairbanks and Constance Talmadge, was one
of the latter. His first success, many years ago, was as an automobile
designer, but his interest always lay with the theater; he resigned his
post with the automobile company at about the age when most young men
are seeking their first jobs, and decided to learn the business of
making movies. The same creative faculty which made his automobile
designs distinctive in the old days manifested itself in his pictures
last year, "The Mollycoddle" and "When the Clouds Roll By."
There are a million ways to break into the movies. No one can imitate
the career of another. Don't read other people's biographies; go out and
make one for yourself.
CHAPTER XIII
AMATEUR MOVIE MAKING
Amateur theatrical clubs, theater guilds, and the like, have done much
to make the modern drama the great art that it is. But because of the
overwhelming expense heretofore attached to the making of movies there
have been no attempts at any similar activities in the films. The movies
have never had the advantage of the experiments of amateur societies.
To-day, however, the making of movies by amateurs is a distinct
possibility. The possibilities of making a motion picture at
comparatively little expense were first drawn to public attention five
years ago when two young men, both of whom have become well-known
directors, made a saleable photoplay in their own back yard. These boys
had many theories about what a movie should and should not be, but they
could never find a company willing to give their theories a trial.
Finally they hit upon the original expedient of buying their own camera
and making a picture in which nearly all the actors were children and
which therefore cost very little money. Nearly all the scenes were
exteriors, so that practically no scenery was required. The picture was
most original and in spite of their technical shortcomings, they found a
fairly profitable sale.
If you desire to write, direct or act in the pictures, you can have no
better experience than trying to make a picture of your own, even if at
first you are not very successful.
The great initial expense for this sort of thing is, of course, the
outlay required to buy a camera. In most towns of any size there are now
professional movie cameramen who work for the news reel companies and
who may be hired for a comparatively small sum. If, however, you desire
to make your photoplay an entirely amateur affair, you can buy a usable
second-hand camera for outdoor work for as low as a hundred dollars.
Some one of your associates must make it his business to learn to run
this camera with sufficient skill to insure that your film will not be
wasted.
The next important outlay is that of the film itself. Film costs about
eleven or twelve cents a foot when developed and printed. Therefore, the
cost of production depends largely upon the length of your picture. For
a first attempt we should advise you to keep your photoplay within 2,000
feet, or two reels.
Start by writing a simple story into a scenario with as many exterior
scenes as possible. The necessary interiors, such as rooms or hallways,
may be built by your own amateurs, outdoors, as they are often built in
California, so that no lights will be necessary. You can paint your own
subtitle cards--the written inserts--and film them yourself.
[Illustration: MAKING A "CLOSE-UP"
Sun reflectors, consisting of silvered canvas screens, are used to
lighten the shadows, which are apt to make the cheeks seem hollow. The
actors are Basil Sydney and May Collins.]
It is not necessary to make the scenes in their natural sequence. After
the picture is finished and developed, however, someone must assemble
and cut it.
This means that you must rent the use of the projection machine at your
local theater for a few mornings, and get the local operator to help you
splice and cement the film together in its correct order of long shots
and close-ups. There is no rule for this work except that of practical
values on the screen. Just run your bits of film through the projection
machine and stick them together the way they look best. It is a matter
of artistic perception rather than any set rule.
If your scenario calls for an outdoor picture--for example, a cowboy
story--which does not require costumes, you should be able to make it
for a thousand dollars, provided your amateur actors, and amateur
cameramen, and amateur authors are working for nothing. There are mighty
few amateur theatricals of any pretention whatsoever which do not cost
as much as this, and you should be able to take in a good profit if your
picture is exploited in your local theaters.
As a matter of fact, pictures have not always been produced on the scale
that they are to-day. Ten years ago feature pictures cost from $5,000 to
$7,000 to make, and in those days film and cameras were much more
expensive. The producers simply made outdoor pictures which required no
lights or scenery, and saved on the salaries of actors and directors,
which have multiplied twenty times since then. To-day the average
feature picture costs from $50,000 to $150,000 to produce. Griffith's
"'Way Down East" cost nearly a million to produce. That is because the
salaries of actors, directors and authors have risen so enormously.
But there is no reason why an amateur company in which the cost of
salaries is completely eliminated cannot make their own picture at a
minimum expense. If you want to break into the movies, here is a way to
do it, right in your own home town.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO PART II
Whether you desire to break into the movies as writer, actor or
director, your most important consideration will be the scenario. In the
scenario you will find all the elements of the photoplay; everything is
built upon that as a foundation. The actor or director who sincerely
desires to do good work studies his script assiduously. The ambitious
writer analyzes not only his own photoplays, but those of other people.
It is exceedingly difficult to talk technique to anyone who has never
read a scenario. For this reason we have incorporated a "continuity" in
this book. It is the dramatic form of a screen story which we have made
as a special production. The titles, which are the written inserts to be
flashed on the screen, are in capital letters. The inserts refer to such
articles as letters, telegrams, pictures, and the like, which may be
shown in close-up. The "iris" is the broadening or narrowing of the
frame of the picture to open or close a scene, or to emphasize some
particular object which is "irised" upon. The "fade" effects are used
very much as the curtain of the legitimate stage is used to open and
close scenes. The abbreviation "Sp" means "Speech," indicating that the
title which follows is to be spoken by the actor. Some of the quoted
lines--the ones not set off in capitals--are not shown on the screen,
but are merely given as a guide for the players.
Most of the directions concerning the scenes are also given in capital
letters. "EXTERIOR," or the abbreviated "EXT.," for example, refers to a
scene outdoors, while "INTERIOR" or "INT.," is an indoor scene. The
terms "LONG SHOT" and "CLOSE-UP" refer to the distance at which the
camera is placed from the scene.
"Red Hot Romance" is played as a romantic melodrama, but is intended as
a satire upon this very type of story, with its incredibly heroic hero,
its American girl, its marines-to-the-rescue and all the rest of it.
Basil Sydney and May Collins played the parts of Roland and Rosalie, and
Victor Fleming was the director.
RED HOT ROMANCE
T: IT'S BAD ENOUGH FOR SOME TO BOSS THE REST OF US WHILE THEY ARE
ALIVE, BUT THE LIMIT IS REACHED WHEN THEY WANT TO KEEP RIGHT
ON AFTER THEY HAVE CASHED IN.
T: FOR INSTANCE, THERE WAS OLD HARDER N. STONE, THE
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH-AMERICAN INSURANCE CO.
1. LIBRARY, STONE HOME IN WASHINGTON. (Fade in.) Harder N. Stone,
an old skinflint, is seated at his desk writing.
INSERT--Stone's hand writing the following:
"I, Harder N. Stone, of Washington, D. C., hereby direct that,
should I die before my son, Roland Stone, he is to receive
from my estate the sum of $50.00 per week and the use of my
residence in Washington, D. C, until his twenty-fifth
birthday."
Stone sits back and regards what he has been writing, smiles
smugly, and then continues writing.
INSERT--Stone's hand writing the following:
"On his twenty-fifth birthday, provided he has lived according
to instructions herein set down, my son, Roland Stone, is to
receive his inheritance at the hands of my chosen executor,
Lord Howe-Greene, of London, President of the British-American
Insurance Co."
Stone sits back and reads over what he has written and is
highly pleased. He then rings for a servant and presently
Briggs enters. He is a little English butler, who has been in
the family for years. Stone turns to him and tells him that he
has just been making out his will. Briggs is properly
impressed and Stone says to him:
SP: "BRIGGS, I HAVE PROVIDED IN MY WILL THAT IF I DIE BEFORE MY
SON YOU ARE TO STAY ON WITH HIM AS LONG AS YOU LIVE."
Briggs is highly pleased, thanks him, Stone dismisses him,
goes on writing. (Fade out.)
THE OLD BOY DID DIE, AS HE DESERVED TO, AND LEFT HIS SON AND
HEIR, ROLAND STONE, WITH NOTHING TO DO BUT LIVE ON $50.00 PER
WEEK.
2. ROLAND'S BEDROOM. (Fade in.) He is lolling in bed in
pajamas and dressing gown, smoking a cigarette and opening a
stack of bills and reading them.
INSERT--top bill--tailor's bill with a balance from the month
before and about $275.00 for this month with a note in heavy
letters "PLEASE REMIT." This one is turned over, and the
second one is from a club with a statement "You have this day
been posted for $179.00 and your credit is hereby suspended
until same is paid." This bill is turned over and the third
bill is from a florist's for $950.00 worth of flowers sent to
Miss Rosalie Bird and has a note reading: "Impossible for us
to fill any more orders until these bills are paid."
Roland puts down the bills in disgust, not looking further, as
he knows they're all alike.
Briggs, the butler, now enters and takes up the breakfast tray
which is lying on the bed opposite beside Roland. Roland looks
up to him, then looks at the bills, and says:
SP: "HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO PAY THESE BILLS ON $50.00 A WEEK?"
Briggs shrugs his shoulders as though he had nothing to do
with it, and suggests that Roland's bills are too big. He then
leaves. Roland looks after him, disgusted, runs through a few
more bills, throws them on the floor and at this juncture,
Tom, Roland's valet, a big husky negro with a child-like,
innocent smile, enters the room with letters, goes to Roland
and hands him the letters. Roland looks at them and sees they
are more bills, puts them down. Tom picks up others from floor
and gives them to Roland, much to his disgust. He looks up to
Tom and says:
SP: "YOU'RE A FINE 'SECRETARY'! WHAT DO I PAY YOU FOR?"
Tom looks up at him, round-eyed and smiles and says:
SP: "YOU DON'T."
This is a poser for Roland for a moment, he finally regains
his composure and says:
SP: "WELL, I AM GOING TO WHEN I GET MY INHERITANCE NEXT APRIL."
Tom nods his head quizzically as he has heard this many times
before. Roland then picks up the bills, runs through them
again and says:
SP: "THE QUESTION NOW IS--HOW ARE WE GOING TO LIVE UNTILAPRIL?"
He sighs, reaches over to a table which has a little calendar
on it, picks up the calendar, sees that it is the 13th of
January, and runs through the pages very dubiously. He finally
looks up at Tom, shows him how many days they have to live
through on the calendar, and says:
SP: "I HAVEN'T A NICKEL AND I CAN'T BORROW ANYTHING NOW. HOW
ARE WE GOING TO LIVE UNTIL APRIL?"
Tom looks about very dubiously. Finally he gets an idea, he
looks from one object of furniture to another, and his idea
grows until he is fairly beaming and he says:
SP: "THEY'S A MIGHTY LOT OF HOCKABLE STUFF AROUND HEAH, BOSS!"
He indicates the things around the room, and Roland is
delighted with the idea. He picks up the bunch of bills, looks
at the top one.
INSERT--TAILOR'S BILL.
Roland then looks around for something to pay that with and
his eye falls upon an antique vase. He jumps out of bed, takes
the vase and hands it to Tom together with the tailor's bill,
saying that that will pay for that. Roland looks at the next
bill.
INSERT--BILL FROM CLUB.
Roland then takes a couple of ornaments from the mantel, gives
them to Tom together with the club bill saying that they will
pay for that. Roland then looks at the next bill.
INSERT--FLORIST'S BILL.
Roland then takes a picture from the wall, leaving a
discolored place behind it, saying that will pay for that. He
then thinks a moment and picks up a little antique clock and
hands it to Tom, saying:
SP: "AND BUY HER SOME ORCHIDS WITH THIS."
Tom grins, goes out loaded down with all the junk. Roland
looks after him, very pleased with himself, and, probably
thinking of his girl and the orchids, smiles, and fade out.
T: INDICATING THAT IT'S TEA TIME.
3. EXTERIOR COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. (Fade in.)
Roland comes down the street with a bunch of orchids in his
hand and goes up and rings the bell.
T: COLONEL BIRD, OF VIRGINIA, WHO HAS BEEN HANGING AROUND
WASHINGTON FOR THIRTY-FIVE YEARS, WAITING FOR A JOB WHICH WAS
FIRST PROMISED HIM BY PRESIDENT CLEVELAND.
4. PARLOR, COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Colonel Bird, seated at a
desk, very busily reading several large law books and making
notes, trying to "kid" himself into believing that he is busy.
A colored mammy presently shows in Roland, who greets the
Colonel very effusively. The Colonel asks Roland to sit down,
which he does. The servant exits. The Colonel, not being very
greatly impressed with Roland, excuses himself and goes on
with his work, explaining that he has some very important
matters on hand. Roland looks at him, smiles to himself, then
looks out expectantly toward the hall.
T: THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER, ROSALIE, THE LADY OF THE ORCHIDS.
5. HALLWAY, COLONEL'S HOUSE. Rosalie comes down the stairs
and enters the parlor.
6. PARLOR, COLONEL'S HOUSE. Rosalie rushes over, greets Roland.
The Colonel rises until Roland and the girl are seated
when he sits and goes on with his on a sofa, work. Roland
gives Rosalie the orchids. Rosalie thanks him, but says:
SP: "ROLAND, YOU SHOULDN'T BUY ORCHIDS EVERY DAY."
She then points around to different vases in the room, all of
which are full of orchids. She holds on to the orchids and
gives Roland a little lecture on economy, telling him he has
no business to spend his money so foolishly. And Roland says
he thought she liked orchids. She says she does and he's a
dear sweet boy to bring them, but he sees she is not pleased
and is correspondingly depressed.
7. EXTERIOR COLONEL'S BIRD'S HOUSE. A low rakish roadster drives
up and out of it gets Jim Conwell. He has a small sized
package in his hand.
CLOSE UP--And he runs up and rings the bell.
T: JIM CONWELL IS ONE OF THAT BROTHERHOOD OF DIPLOMATIC
HANGERS-ON WHO MAKE A SHADY LIVELIHOOD BY DOING THE DIRTY WORK
OF THE VARIOUS WASHINGTON EMBASSIES.
8. EXT. COLONEL BIRD'S PORCH. The colored mammy opens the door,
lets in Conwell, takes his hat and coat and shows him into the
parlor.
9. PARLOR COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. The colored mammy shows Conwell
SP: "HERE'S A LITTLE THING I PICKED UP IN AN ANTIQUE SHOP. I
THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE IT."
Rosalie puts down her orchids in Roland's chair. She then
takes the package, opens it up and takes out Roland's clock.
She lets out a cry of surprise and delight, then turns to
Conwell and says:
SP: "IT'S LOVELY! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED A CLOCK LIKE THAT."
Roland looks at this, open-mouthed and in absolute
astonishment, sits down in his chair, smashing the orchids.
Rosalie then shows the clock to the old Colonel and the two of
them rave over it, forgetting the existence of Roland, who
finally comes to sufficiently to see that he's sitting on
something, gets up and picks up the mashed orchids, looks at
them disgustedly. The clock is finally put in place on the
mantel and Rosalie comes back and joins Roland, who stands
looking ruefully at the flowers in his hand. He dolefully
shows them to her, and she, seeing he is hurt, comforts him,
telling him he's a dear boy and she loves the orchids. She
takes them from him and tenderly straightens them out, but
Roland is still in the dumps. Conwell is now throwing a lot of
"bull" at the old Colonel, saying:
SP: "I JUST SAID TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE: 'YOU'RE NOT LOOKING
VERY WELL, ELIHU, I WISH YOU'D LET MY OLD FRIEND, COLONEL
BIRD, TAKE SOME OF THE WORK OFF YOUR HANDS.'"
He goes on spouting and the old Colonel fairly eats it up.
Finally, Roland, unhappy and jealous and disgusted at Conwell,
gets up and tells Rosalie he has to go. Rosalie begs him to
stay in her sweetest manner, but Roland takes another look at
Conwell, says no, he's got to go, says good-by to Rosalie and
says good-by to the Colonel and Conwell, and leaves.
STREET EXT. COL. BIRD'S HOUSE.--Roland comes out and goes
dolefully down the street. (Fade out.)
HALLWAY ROLAND'S HOUSE. Roland enters, disheartened. Hangs up
hat and coat and stick and goes slowly into library.
10. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. (Fade in.) Tom is fussing about the
room. Roland enters the room, terribly depressed and upset and
starts to tell Tom about the scene that just took place. He
goes on talking about Conwell and finally says:
SP: "THE OLD MAN STANDS FOR ALL OF CONWELL'S BUNK AND THINKS HE'S
GREAT."
Tom is very sympathetic and tells Roland he ought to settle
the matter. Roland agrees with him, pounds on the table, and
says:
SP: "I THINK THE TIME HAS COME WHEN I OUGHT TO TELL ROSALIE I LOVE
HER!"
Tom agrees with him, says that's absolutely right. Roland says
he knows it's right--the only thing to do is to come to an
understanding right away. He then goes over to the telephone
and calls a number, and while he is waiting for the number, he
goes on talking to Tom, telling him just how he is going to
settle things and Tom encourages him.
11. HALLWAY COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Rosalie comes down the hall to
the telephone and answers it.
12. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. Roland is still talking to Tom,
telling him how he's going to lay down the law when he
suddenly hears Rosalie's voice over the 'phone. All his
belligerency oozes out. He smiles and stammers foolishly and
gulps and tries to get his courage up as if he were going to
lay matters right before her and finally weakens and comes out
with
SP: "HOW ARE YOU?"
13. HALLWAY COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Rosalie, wondering what the
devil he's asking her that for when he just left her, frowns
quizzically and says that she's feeling all right.
14. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. Roland goes on talking through the
'phone in a stammering embarrassed sort of way, and Tom keeps
telling him to go on and tell her what he said he was going
to. Roland tries to motion to Tom and he goes on stammering
and stuttering.
15. HALLWAY COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Rosalie still very quizzically
listening to Roland. She finally asks him what is the matter
with him.
16. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. Roland stammering into the 'phone.
Finally Tom, utterly disgusted, comes over to the 'phone and
yells in it:
SP: "HE'S TRYING TO ASK YOU TO MARRY HIM, MISS ROSALIE! WILL YOU?"
Roland turns angrily to Tom, still holding the receiver to his
ear, and starts to berate Tom soundly, when he suddenly hears
something in the telephone which stops him. He listens,
overcome with wonderment and finally says:
SP: "SAY THAT AGAIN!"
17. HALLWAY COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Rosalie at the 'phone,
laughing, says:
SP: "YES. OF COURSE I WILL!"
18. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. Roland can hardly believe his ears,
makes her reiterate it, then turns to Tom in great glee and
says:
SP: "IT'S ALL RIGHT. SHE SAYS YES."
He then turns back to the 'phone and asks Rosalie if she
really means it. While he is talking to Rosalie, Tom goes over
to a heavy couch, pulls it out toward the hall. Roland still
at the 'phone talking, turns and asks Tom what he is doing.
Tom still pulling the couch says:
SP: "AH'M GOING TO BUY YOU A ENGAGEMENT RING."
Roland smiles and nods, and suddenly thinks of the clock
episode, stops Tom, tells him to wait a minute, then turns
toward the telephone and says:
SP: "WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE--A RING OR A SOFA?"
19. HALLWAY COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Rosalie listening at the 'phone
is utterly dumbfounded at this odd request, she asks him to
repeat it, then finally still puzzled, says:
SP: "WHY, A RING, OF COURSE! YOU SILLY BOY!"
20. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. Roland listening at the 'phone, hears
Rosalie wants the ring, turns to Tom and tells him to go on
and hock the sofa. He then turns to Rosalie, starts in to talk
to her ecstatically over the 'phone, smiling, as we fade out.
T: THAT NIGHT AT THE HANGOUT OF THE FRINGE OF THE DIPLOMATIC SET.
21. A WOP RESTAURANT. (Fade in.) This is a typical $1.35 Table
d'Hote joint. Seated at the various tables are many diplomatic
hangers-on, all of them crooked and all looking out for the
main chance. Among them is a Mexican, a Frenchman, an
Englishman, a German, a Russian, an Italian, a Chinaman, a
Jap, a Bulgarian, a Hindoo and their women--perhaps three or
four Americans, but the atmosphere is generally foreign, the
waiters being Wops.
Seated at one table is Conwell alone. He is eating spaghetti
and looking very sourly about.
T: ENRICO DE CASTANET OF BUNKONIA.
Enrico is seated at a table talking to a very attractive vamp
type of a woman.
T: HIS LADY FRIEND (THE INTERNATIONAL VAMP AND SPY), COUNTESS
PULLOFF DE PLOTZ.
The Countess is listening very intently to Enrico. Enrico goes
on talking very earnestly, and finally says:
SP: "YOU SEE, WE MUST HAVE A MAN WHO CAN BE BOUGHT BODY AND SOUL."
The Countess agrees with him, and perhaps suggests somebody,
whom Enrico says would never do. The Countess starts thinking
again, and, as she does, her eyes wander over the room and she
sees Conwell, who has just gotten up, paid his bill and given
the waiter a very small tip, at which the waiter shows his
disgust. Conwell then turns to leaves the restaurant, starts
down toward Enrico and the Countess. The Countess sees him,
has a sudden idea that he would be fine for the job and points
him out to Enrico. At this moment, Conwell has stopped to talk
to someone at one of the tables, Enrico looks him over from
head to foot, asks the Countess if she is sure he can be
handled; she assures him he can.
SP: "HE WORKED FOR THE SHIPPING BOARD."
Enrico agrees that he looks like a good bet, and just at this
moment Conwell comes past the table, sees the Countess motion
to him. He comes over to the table, Enrico rises and the
Countess introduces him saying:
SP: "SENOR DE CASTANET IS MINISTER OF WAR OF BUNKONIA."
Conwell is mildly interested in this fact. Enrico then asks
Conwell to sit down, so he takes a seat, and the Countess then
begins to get very confidential. She looks around to see that
no one is looking, then getting their three heads together,
she says in whispered tones:
SP: "WE ARE ENGINEERING A LITTLE REVOLUTION DOWN IN BUNKONIA."
Conwell is a little more interested now. He pricks up his ears
a bit and casually glances around to make sure no one is
overhearing, then looks to De Castanet for some information,
and De Castanet, with a quick glance around says to Conwell:
SP: "THE AMERICAN CONSUL HAS RESIGNED AND A NEW ONE IS TO BE
APPOINTED NEXT MONTH."
Conwell is still more interested, asks Enrico where do I come
in? Enrico says, indicating Madame:
SP: "I AM HERE TO SEE THAT THE 'RIGHT' MAN IS APPOINTED."
Conwell says "Oh ho," he sees and looks at the Countess, who
nods her approval. He then asks her where he comes in. With
more mysterious looks, they get their heads very closely
together, and the Countess says:
SP: "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU FOR CONSUL? THE PICKINGS ARE
GOING TO BE FINE FOR THE 'RIGHT MAN.'"
Conwell considers a moment, smiles quizzically and shakes his
head and says:
SP: "NO, I'M IN WRONG--THE SENATE WOULDN'T CONFIRM ME."
The Countess tries to argue with him but heis obdurate and
says there's no chance for him, but as they are talking he is
suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. He says, "Wait a
minute." They all wait and finally he speaks and says:
SP: "I'VE GOT JUST THE MAN FOR YOU!"
They are all attention and eager to know who it is. He
indicates that this must be very much on the quiet and then
says:
SP: "OLD COLONEL BIRD--FINE RECORD--EASY TO HANDLE--BEEN
WAITING THIRTY-FIVE YEARS FOR A JOB."
The Countess indicates that she knows old Bird and tells
Enrico that he is ideal, that they couldn't do better. Enrico
asks if he can be handled when the time comes. Conwell swells
up and tells him to leave that to him. It's the easiest thing
in the world. Enrico turns to Madame, who backs up Conwell and
Enrico is then satisfied. Conwell then speaks up and says:
SP: "I'LL GO ALONG AS SECRETARY AND KEEP MY EYE ON THE OLD BOY."
They both express their approval of that, and indicate that he
will get part of the swag. The Countess leans over and says
rather tauntingly:
SP: "I SUPPOSE THE OLD BOY'S DAUGHTER WILL GO ALONG, TOO!"
Conwell says he bets she will and winks the other eye. The
Countess laughs and Enrico smiles, interested at the idea of a
romance. He and the Countess exchange glances. Conwell then
says:
SP: "REMEMBER--MUM'S THE WORD UNTIL AFTER THE APPOINTMENT IS
MADE."
They all agree to that and put their heads together and go on
with their scheming. (Fade out.)
T: AND SO IT CAME TO PASS----
22. PARLOR COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. (Fade in.) An old trunk in the
middle of the floor and the Colonel and mammy are packing in
his books, papers, etc. The Colonel all full of business and
very busy. Rosalie is helping, but is very sad over the
matter.
23. EXTERIOR COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Roland rushes down the street
with a newspaper in his hand, runs up the steps and rings the
bell.
24. PARLOR COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Rosalie looks up quickly,
thinking that this must be Roland. Mammy starts for the door
but Rosalie tells her she will answer the bell, and she runs
out into hall.
25. HALLWAY COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Rosalie runs to the door and
opens it.
26. EXTERIOR COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Rosalie opens the door, and
Roland rushes in.
27. HALLWAY COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Roland, full of excitement,
grabs Rosalie, shows her the article in the newspaper.
INSERT--Article in newspaper stating that Colonel Bird has been
appointed Consul of Bunkonia and that he is to leave for
there immediately with his daughter and his Secretary, James
Conwell.
Roland asks Rosalie if this is true. Rosalie nods her head
sadly, says that it is and
SP: "I DIDN'T KNOW A THING ABOUT IT MYSELF UNTIL THIS
MORNING."
Roland protests that she can't go away and leave him, and
Rosalie asks what she can do and says that her father has
waited for this all his life and insists on taking her along.
Roland asks where her father is, she points into parlor, and
Roland tells her that he will see about whether she will be
taken away or not, and full of worry, rushes into the parlor
followed by Rosalie.
28. PARLOR COLONEL BIRD'S HOUSE. Colonel Bird is helping mammy
pack and Roland rushes in followed by Rosalie. He goes to the
Colonel and protests against taking his fiancée away from him.
He puts his arm around Rosalie and says that he wants to marry
her now and keep her. The Colonel can't see this at all, and
says:
SP: "IF YOU MARRY NOW, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SUPPORT HER?"
Rosalie turns to Roland and says that is the trouble--that her
father won't let her stay there and marry him because he can't
support her. Roland then turns to the Colonel and says:
SP: "BUT, COLONEL, IN ANOTHER MONTH EVERYTHING WILL BE ALL RIGHT!"
Rosalie seconds the motion and tries to persuade her father
that everything will be all right, but her father shakes his
head, looks grimly at Roland and says:
SP: "THAT'S WHAT CLEVELAND SAID TO ME IN '89."
Roland looks discouraged and realizes that he is up against a
hard proposition in the old Colonel, but tries to explain that
if they can just struggle along for a month he will have
millions, but the Colonel says:
SP: "WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR INHERITANCE RIGHT IN YOUR HAND, COME DOWN
TO BUNKONIA AND GET HER."
Roland, much discouraged, still tries to argue with the old
boy, but he cuts him off and goes on about his work. Roland
then turns to Rosalie, who by this time is in tears. At
the sight of Rosalie's tears, Roland forgets his own
disappointment, and putting his arm around her, leads her off
to a secluded corner out of sight of the old Colonel, seats
her and tries to comfort her, putting his arm around her and
saying:
SP: "THE FIRST OF APRIL IS MY BIRTHDAY. I GET MY INHERITANCE THAT
DAY AND I'LL START AT ONCE FOR BUNKONIA."
At once Rosalie looks up at him with her eyes full of tears
and smiles wanly. Roland takes her hand, wipes away her tears,
kisses her and says:
SP: "I'LL SEND YOU A CABLE EVERY DAY!"
At this Rosalie is greatly cheered up, she looks and says:
"Will you, dear?" and he assures her that he will and again
kisses her. (Fade out.)
T: THE AMERICAN CABLE COMPANY DID WELL THAT MONTH BUT LOOK WHAT
HAPPENED TO ROLAND'S HOUSE.
29. HALLWAY ROLAND'S HOUSE. (Fade in.)
View of hall without a piece of furniture, bric-a-brac or
pictures. (Dissolve out.)
30. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. (Dissolve in.) View of Library
absolutely bare. (Dissolve out.)
31. ROLAND'S BEDROOM. (Dissolve in.) Bedroom has nothing in it but
one couch, one chair and a soap box on which are Roland's
mirror and toilet articles.
Roland is asleep on the couch. Presently Briggs enters, looks
about at the devastated room, then shaking his head over the
laziness of his master, goes over, wakes Roland up and says:
SP: "I WISH YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIR."
Roland wakes up, looks at him, rubs his eyes, realizes that
his probation is over. Tom enters smiling with a telegram in
his hand which he gives to Roland who opens it and reads:
INSERT--TELEGRAM.
New York, March 31, 1920. "Arrive Washington four-forty
to-morrow, April first, to deliver inheritance.
HOWE-GREENE."
Roland jumps out of bed, goes over and claps Briggs on the
back and shakes hands with him--then shakes hands with Tom.
Then makes Briggs and Tom shake hands. Tells them both he's
going to have loads of money and they will be paid. Roland
then goes over to his soap box on which is a calendar. He
looks at page marked "March 31." Tears it off and looks at
page marked "April 1."
He tears off the page with a flourish which reads March 31st,
turns it over, and, sitting on the floor, writes on the back
of it. Tom in the meantime sends Briggs for his breakfast and
gets out Roland's clothes, brushing them with great gusto.
Roland finishes writing and reads what he has written.
INSERT--WHAT ROLAND IS WRITING.
"Miss Rosalie Bird, Santo Grafto, Bunkonia. At last the great
day is here. Lord Howe-Greene arrives to-day with my
inheritance. Leave for Bunkonia to-morrow to claim you as my
bride. Roland."
He reads it and tells Tom to send it. Tom takes the message.
Scratches his head and looks around the room for something to
hock. Roland wants to know why he's hesitating, and he tells
him. Roland then says:
SP: "TAKE THE COUCH!"
Tom looks at the couch dubiously, then looks at Roland and
says: "Where are you going to sleep to-night?" Roland, in an
extravagant manner and with a grand flourish, tells him to
take it away.
SP: "I WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP TO-NIGHT ANYWAY!"
Tom goes over, picks up the couch and starts out of the room
with it. At the door, Roland stops him, picks up the one
remaining chair, hands it over to him and says:
SP: "CABLE HER SOME ROSES WITH THIS!"
Tom takes the chair, starts for the door when he suddenly
thinks of the fact that Lord Howe-Greene is due that morning,
so he stops, turns to Roland and says:
SP: "WHAT DAT LORD HOWE-GREENE TO SIT ON WHEN HE COMES?"
Roland says that's right, so he leaves the chair and starts
out with the couch. Briggs in the meantime has entered with
Roland's breakfast. Puts breakfast on soap box. Roland tells
him to put the chair down in the hall. Briggs doleful. Roland
slaps him on the back--tells him to cheer up. Briggs goes out
shaking his head and Roland sits on chair and starts his
breakfast all smiles. (Fade out.)
T: THE NEW MILLIONAIRE.
32. FRONT OF ROLAND'S HOUSE. (Fade in.) Roland's taxi drives up
and stops, followed by Tom's. Roland and Lord Howe-Greene
with portfolio get out. Tom also gets out with bags.
Howe-Greene starts up walk. Tom stops Roland and shows him
three cents--all he has and whispers to him, saying:
SP: "HOW DO I PAY THE TAXI?"
Roland signifying that he can't be annoyed with such little
things, says grandiloquently:
SP: "TELL THEM TO WAIT!"
He follows Lord Howe-Greene up the walk while Tom goes to the
taxis and tells them to wait. Then he follows with bags.
33. RECEPTION HALL ROLAND'S HOUSE.
It is perfectly bare. Briggs is just coming down the stairs
carrying the one chair that is left, he puts it down, looks
around at the bare hall, shakes his head sadly, dusts off the
one chair, then looks up quickly at hearing bell ring, goes
over to the door.
34. FRONT OF ROLAND'S HOUSE.
Briggs opens the door and lets Roland and Lord Howe-Greene in
followed by Tom with bags.
35. HALLWAY ROLAND'S HOUSE.
Roland and Lord Howe-Greene enter, followed by Tom and Briggs.
Briggs is delighted to see the old Englishman but is terribly
chagrined at the condition of the house. He takes Lord
Howe-Greene's coat and hat, and Roland engages Lord
Howe-Greene in talking, then motions to Tom to get the chair
into the library. Tom sneaks the chair around behind Lord
Howe-Greene and into the library.
36. LIBRARY.
Tom sneaks the chair in, puts it down near the fireplace.
37. HALLWAY ROLAND'S HOUSE.
Roland noticing that Tom has the chair placed, escorts Lord
Howe-Greene into the library with a grand flourish.
38. LIBRARY.
Tom is standing behind the chair. Lord Howe-Greene and Roland
enter. Tom seats Lord Howe-Greene very ceremoniously in the
chair. Lord Howe-Greene looks around the empty room and is
astounded. He turns to Roland and says: "_I say, old fellow,
the place looks rather beastly bare? Where's the furniture?_"
Roland thinks for a moment, looks at Tom; Tom does some quick
heavy thinking and finally says, very graciously:
SP: "WE SENT THE FURNITURE OUT TO BE CLEANED IN HONOR OF YOUR
COMING."
Roland smiles in relief and in approval of Tom, and then says:
SP: "THE CLEANERS ARE ON STRIKE SO THEY DIDN'T GET IT DONE IN
TIME."
Lord Howe-Greene blandly accepts the explanation and thanks
him for his thoughtfulness. Roland, who has been fondling the
portfolio, can hardly wait for it to be opened, and he gives
it to Lord Howe-Greene and then goes and stands by the mantel
with Tom. Lord Howe-Greene fishes out the papers, finally
comes to the will and starts to read the glad news. He reads
for a moment and then
INSERT--"That providing said Roland Stone has carried out
previous instructions of the will, his father provides as
follows:"
Roland, overcome with impatience, begins to get even more
interested. Lord Howe-Greene clears his throat and goes on
reading:
INSERT--"I bequeath to my son, Roland Stone, one unencumbered
position in the Anglo-American Insurance Co. as soliciting
agent with a guarantee of $25.00 per week."
Roland looks in astonishment at Lord Howe-Greene as does also
Tom. Lord Howe-Greene clears his throat again and goes on
reading:
INSERT--"If at the end of one year, the business said Roland Stone
procures for the company has proven profitable, the same will
be a proof of his good business judgment, and he is then to
come into possession of my entire fortune."
Roland stares simply open-mouthed in astonishment and
disappointment, while Tom can hardly believe his ears.
INSERT--"If on the other hand, the company at the end of one year
has suffered a loss through the agency of said Roland Stone,
my entire fortune shall be given to the support of the
Washington Home for Incurables."
Roland, absolutely dumbfounded by the news, stares at Lord
Howe-Greene, then looks around at Tom. Tom looks at Roland
accusingly.
Roland then turns in discouragement and asks Lord Howe-Greene
if there's any more. Lord Howe-Greene goes on reading:
INSERT--"It is further provided that conditions under which said
Roland Stone is to work, shall be subject to the approval of
Lord Howe-Greene."
Roland is utterly unable to take all of this in, and he
insists on reading it himself. Lord Howe-Greene hands it to
him, and Roland starts in to read it as though he could hardly
believe his eyes. Tom looks over his shoulder, and, finally
disgusted with the whole proceeding, he goes over toward the
window, stands there dejectedly and looks out.
39. STREET IN FRONT OF ROLAND'S HOUSE. Flash of the two taxis waiting,
taken from an angle of the house.
40. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. Tom receives a terrible shock on seeing
the taxis and realizing that they can't pay them. He then goes
over to Roland, and tells him that the two taxis are out
there, eating their heads off. Roland looks out toward the
window, thinks about the taxis, then looks over to Lord
Howe-Greene, who is sitting comfortably in the last chair,
thinks a moment, then goes over to Lord Howe-Greene, excuses
himself, takes the chair from under the utterly flabbergasted
Lord Howe-Greene, gives it to Tom and tells him to take it out
to pay the taxis. Tom takes the chair and goes out, Lord
Howe-Greene looking after him in wide-eyed astonishment.
Roland then turns to Lord Howe-Greene and starts in to protest
about the conditions of the will, but Lord Howe-Greene tells
him that there is nothing that he can do. He takes the papers
from Roland. Sits on window sill (especially built) and starts
in to read the long document to Roland. Roland trying to
follow Howe-Greene gets disgusted, leans against wall and at
length slips to floor and sits there disconsolate, thinking of
his rotten luck and of the girl away off with his rival.
(Dissolve out.)
41. STUDIO GARDEN IN BUNKONIA. (Dissolve in.) Rosalie sitting in a
hammock with Conwell standing near her, natives playing ukuleles,
fanning them and giving them ice drinks, and Conwell whispering
sweet nothings in Rosalie's ear. (Dissolve out.)
42. LIBRARY ROLAND'S HOUSE. (Dissolve in.) Roland, sitting in the
corner, very much distressed by the vision he has just seen.
Lord Howe-Greene is still sitting on window sill reading
document. Roland gives him a dirty look, puts his hands on his
ears and at length jumps up and stalks out into the hall,
leaving Howe-Greene still reading.
43. HALLWAY--ROLAND'S HOUSE. Roland rushes in from library, looks
back disgusted at Howe-Greene, who is still reading. At this
moment Tom enters from street, goes to Roland, looks at him
despondently, and says: "_What are we going to do now?_"
Roland puts his hand on Tom's shoulder, and says with great
emphasis:
SP: "LOOK HERE, TOM, YOU'VE GOT TO THINK OF SOME WAY TO GET ME TO
ROSALIE!"
Tom thinks a moment, finally his face brightens and he says:
SP: "IF YOU'VE GOT TO SELL INSURANCE, WHY NOT SELL IT IN
BUNKONIA?"
Roland is delighted at this, and tells Tom he knew he'd think
up a way out--that they can start for Bunkonia to-morrow just
as they had planned. Tom says of course they can. Roland says
they will put it up to Lord Howe-Greene at once and they go
into the library.
44. LIBRARY, ROLAND'S HOUSE.
Lord Howe-Greene still sitting reading. Roland and Tom enter,
see him, and stop, both disgusted. Howe-Greene finishes his
reading. Gets up and goes to them--gives Roland the document,
tells him it is very important for him to keep it safe. Roland
puts it in his pocket then turns to Howe-Greene and says:
SP: "I'VE BEEN THINKING THINGS OVER, AND I'VE DECIDED THAT IF I
HAVE TO SELL INSURANCE, I WOULD LIKE VERY MUCH TO GET AWAY
FROM WASHINGTON."
Lord Howe-Greene indicates that he understands his feelings in
the matter, thinks a moment and says:
SP: "I HAVE IT! YOU SHALL TRY NEW YORK."
Roland looks at him in utter astonishment and says he is
surprised that Lord Howe-Greene would suggest such a terrible
place to sell insurance. He then turns to Tom and Tom agrees
with him. Roland then says to Lord Howe-Greene,
SP: "NEW YORK WOULD NEVER DO! IT'S A TERRIBLE PLACE FOR INSURANCE!"
Lord Howe-Greene is interested, and wants to know why, and
Roland goes on saying:
SP: "WHY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ARE KILLED THERE DAILY!"
Lord Howe-Greene is tremendously interested and surprised and
wants to know how. Roland then goes on to describe the
terrible life that New Yorkers lead and we fade out.
INSERT--Animated Cartoon of subway entrance--people pushing their
way madly into the subway.
_Interior of subway car._ Animated Cartoon. Conductor is
packing people in, smashing them in so they can hardly breathe
and mashing them against the wall so that they collapse. He
hammers others on the head with mallets to get them to move
back. Everybody about him is mashed flat but still he pushes
more in. (Fade out.)
Roland concludes his story about the terrible life in New York
and Lord Howe-Greene greatly surprised at this says:
SP: "MY WORD!"
Roland appeals to Tom for confirmation and Tom nods his head
and says that he hasn't heard the half of it. Lord Howe-Greene
shakes his head, thinks a moment and says:
SP: "THEN YOU SHALL TRY CHICAGO!"
Roland is surprised at his suggesting Chicago, shakes his
head, and says:
SP: "CHICAGO IS WORSE. PEOPLE ARE BLOWN TO DEATH IN CHICAGO BY
MILLIONS!"
He turns to Tom and Tom confirms this and Lord Howe-Greene,
extremely puzzled and surprised, wants to know how. Roland
then goes on to describe a scene of how people are blown to
death in Chicago, along Michigan Avenue. (Fade out.)
INSERT--Animated Cartoon. (Fade in.) Michigan Avenue. People are
being blown down the Avenue and slammed up against walls where
they mash out flat. Some of them are blown over and over and
some of them are rolling like barrels. (Fade out.)
Roland finishes his tale about Chicago, and Tom agrees with
him, shaking his head and saying: "It is indeed a terrible
sight to see this thing that Roland just described!" Lord
Howe-Greene shows great distress, and shakes his head again
and exclaims:
SP: "MY WORD!"
Roland looks over at Tom and gives him a wink. Tom gives
Roland the high sign and the two of them feel that things are
going fine when suddenly Lord Howe-Greene scratches his head
and gets a brilliant idea. He then tells Roland that he has
just the place for him and says:
SP: "I HAVE A COUSIN--A REAL ESTATE AGENT IN LOS ANGELES--WHO
WRITES ME THAT THE CLIMATE IS SO SALUBRIOUS THAT EVERY ONE
LIVES TO A RIPE OLD AGE."
Roland looks at Lord Howe-Greene in astonishment, feeling that
he has been stuck at last. Lord Howe-Greene then pats him on
the shoulder and says:
SP: "THAT'S THE PLACE FOR YOU, MY BOY!"
Roland looks genuinely alarmed and turns to Tom for aid, but
Tom himself is pretty much stumped at this. Lord Howe-Greene
feeling that their problem has been settled, says that that's
exactly the place and everything will be fine. Roland stalls,
does some quick, heavy thinking, finally gets an idea, and
says: "Lord Howe-Greene, that's exactly where you're wrong."
SP: "THE TROUBLE OUT THERE IS THAT PEOPLE NEVER DIE. THEY WON'T
BUY INSURANCE!"
Roland is rather pleased with himself for thinking up this and
Tom congratulates him on it, smiling his approbation. Lord
Howe-Greene can hardly believe this angle of the situation,
says he doesn't think that's possible. Roland, realizing that
he has got to spike this says:
SP: "WHY, I TRIED TO SELL INSURANCE OUT THERE ONCE AND WHAT DO YOU
THINK HAPPENED?"
Lord Howe-Greene is interested and wants to know what did
happen to him. Tom looks rather quizzically at Roland, feeling
that he is getting out beyond his depth. Roland clears his
throat and starts in to describe what happened. (Fade out.)
45. FRONT OF BUNGALOW IN LOS ANGELES. (Fade in.)
Three men with white whiskers to their waist are playing
leap-frog on the lawn. Roland comes down the street,
approaches one with an insurance circular in his hand and asks
if he could interest him in some insurance. The old fellow
says:
SP: "NO, I DON'T WANT ANY INSURANCE, BUT YOU MIGHT SEE PA."
Roland is surprised that a man of his age should have a father
and asks where he is. The old fellow points to the front door
of the bungalow and says:
SP: "HE'S HELPING GRANDPA CARRY THE PIANO UP IN GRANDMA'S
ROOM."
Roland can hardly believe his ears at this and says: "What?"
The old man nods and says:
SP: "YES, GRANDMA IS GOING TO TAKE MUSIC LESSONS."
Roland looks aghast at the old man who goes back to his
leap-frog, and finally coming to, goes up to the house and
rings the bell while the three old boys continue their
leap-frog. Presently a youthful looking Jap with long, white
whiskers opens the door. Roland asks for the father and is
shown in.
46. HALLWAY LOS ANGELES BUNGALOW. Roland enters with the Jap
servant. Pa and Grandpa--one with whiskers to the knees and
one with whiskers to the ankles--are lifting a piano up the
stairs. Roland approaches pa and asks him if he could interest
him in insurance. Pa holds the piano with one hand, with the
other takes the young man's circular and looks at it. He then
shakes his head no, turns to grandpa and says: "Father, do you
want any insurance?" Grandpa asks to see the circular and Pa
hands it up to him. Grandpa looks at it a minute, then looks
at Roland, shakes his head and says:
SP: "I THINK NOT, SON. I CAN LOOK AFTER MY FAMILY FOR A FEW YEARS
YET, AND BY THAT TIME THEY'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF
THEMSELVES."
He hands the circular back to Roland and he and Pa pick up the
piano and go on upstairs, Roland looking after them in
absolute amazement. (Fade out.)
47. LIBRARY, ROLAND'S HOUSE. (Fade in.) Roland finishes his story
about Los Angeles. Turns to Tom who confirms everything he has
said. Lord Howe-Greene, shaking his head in amazement over
these extraordinary conditions in America, says very weakly--
SP: "MY WORD" (in very small type).
And Lord Howe-Greene is very much distressed. He feels that
this case is baffling him. He finally looks up hopelessly and
asks Roland what they're going to do. Roland, puzzled, turns
to Tom and asks him what he thinks of the situation. Tom
thinks a moment, finally gets an idea, turns to Lord
Howe-Greene and says:
SP: "IF YOU COULD ONLY GET HIM TO GO DOWN TO BUNKONIA."
Roland pooh-poohs this idea and says no, he never would, he
couldn't go there because it is too far away. But Tom goes on
into raptures about Bunkonia, telling him what a marvelous
place it is for business of all kinds, and Lord Howe-Greene,
glad of some solution to his problem, finally jumps at the
idea--turns to Roland and says:
SP: "THAT'S AN IDEA! NEW COUNTRY--VIRGIN FIELD--IT'S JUST THE PLACE
FOR YOU!"
Roland thinks a minute as though he had to be convinced, but
Lord Howe-Greene keeps on begging him to take a chance. Tom
joins Lord Howe-Greene in urging him, and finally Roland
allows himself to be persuaded, decides that he will go, Lord
Howe-Greene shakes him warmly by the hand and--(fade out).
T: SANTO GRAFTO, CAPITOL OF BUNKONIA, THE BEAUTIFUL LAND OF SUNSHINE
AND FLOWERS, MUSIC AND LAUGHTER, TAMALES, TYPHOID AND PTOMAINE.
48. EXTERIOR VIEW OF TOWN OF SANTO GRAFTO. (Fade in.) Showing
natives, equipages, a few soldiers, etc. (Dissolve out.)
49. PARK (dissolve in) SINGERS, DANCERS, MUSICIANS, FLOWER SELLERS,
CHILDREN, ETC. (Dissolve out.)
T: KING CARAMBA AND HIS COUNCIL ENGAGED IN THEIR FAVORITE INDOOR
SPORT OF RAISING TAXES AND DOWNING LIQUOR.
50. THE KING'S COUNCIL CHAMBER. Caramba sitting at the head of the
table with three councilors on his right and three on his
left--among them being Enrico. Some servants in livery are
standing about. One of the councilors has just finished
reading the text of a bill to raise the taxes. King Caramba is
sound asleep with a bottle in his hand. Enrico, the only sober
one in the lot, is looking in a sinister, calculating way
around the table. The councilor who is reading the bill sways
as he reads and the paper jiggles in his hand.
51. INSERT PAPER RAISING TAXES. The councilor finishes reading, puts
paper in front of King and guides his hand while he signs it.
INSERT--King's hand is signing the paper--it wanders all over the
paper so that most of the name is written on the table with a
grand flourish at the end. After signing the paper, the king
takes another drink. The man takes the paper and blows on it.
Enrico, with a sinister smile, gets up and starts to go. The
Councilor takes the paper, waves it aloft to the other
councilors who cheer in a drunken manner. They all pour out
another bumper, Enrico stands by the doorway in a calculating
manner, then smiling a satisfied smile, he turns on his heel
and leaves. (Fade out.)
T: THE REVOLUTIONISTS AWAIT THEIR LEADER AT THEIR RENDEZVOUS IN THE
RUE DE STILETTO.
52. REVOLUTIONISTS' RENDEZVOUS. (Fade in.) A number of revolutionary
leaders are there, including the Countess, Conwell, the
General and two men in citizen's clothes. They are discussing
matters more or less violently and waiting for Enrico.
53. RENDEZVOUS AT GATE. Enrico enters, looks about stealthily,
sees that no one is watching and then wraps three times on the
gate. The gate is opened by a villainous servant and Enrico
enters.
54. REVOLUTIONISTS' RENDEZVOUS. The revolutionists are still
talking together and they see Enrico entering. They gather
about him to get the news and Enrico says:
SP: "THEY WERE _ALL_ DRUNK TO-NIGHT. IT WILL SOON BE TIME TO STRIKE."
They all rejoice at this. Enrico asks the General about the
army and he replies:
SP: "TWO HUNDRED OF THE ARMY ARE WITH US NOW. IT WILL TAKE A HUNDRED
PESETAS TO WIN OVER THE OTHER FIFTY."
Enrico is very angry at this, and asks him what he means by a
hundred pesetas, and is very sore at the tremendous cost at
buying these men. The Countess stops his raving, putting her
finger over his lips, goes into her stocking, takes out the
money and gives the General two bills, which amount to more
than he has asked for. He then turns to Conwell and starts in
to talk. The General puts the money in his pocket but Enrico
notices him and says:
SP: "HERE! HERE! GIVE US THE CHANGE!"
Reluctantly the General digs it up, starts to pass it over to
the Countess but Enrico stops him before the Countess notices,
grabs the money and puts it in his own pocket. Enrico then
crosses over to Conwell and says:
SP: "ARE YOU SURE WE CAN HANDLE OLD BIRD WHEN WE'RE READY?"
Conwell tells him it's the easiest thing in the world, that
the old man has got to do just what he says and winds up with:
SP: "DIDN'T I GET HIM THIS JOB?"
They all seem satisfied with this and go on plotting. (Fade
out.)
T: ON THE EDGE OF THIS POLITICAL VOLCANO SITS OUR OLD FRIEND,
COLONEL BIRD, AT PEACE WITH ALL THE WORLD IN THE FULLNESS OF
HIS IGNORANCE.
55. COLONEL BIRD'S ROOM IN THE CONSULATE. (Dissolve in.)
Colonel Bird is sitting at his desk reading a political book.
Mammy is straightening room and dusting. Rosalie enters
dressed for the street. She goes to the Colonel, looks over
his shoulder, tells him that he works too hard, makes him
promise he will get some rest and kisses him good-by and goes
out.
56. CONWELL'S ROOM IN THE CONSULATE. Conwell is sitting at his desk
very busily but rather slyly making out a report. Rosalie
comes from her father's room, says good morning to Conwell and
starts to pass through. Conwell immediately jumps to his feet,
comes to her, and stops her, admiring her dress, etc. Rosalie
shows by her attitude that she has begun to fear this man. She
starts to pass him but he takes her by the hand, restrains her
and says:
SP: "HOW MUCH LONGER ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP ME WAITING?"
Rosalie is embarrassed and doesn't know what to say. She tells
him that she doesn't care about him in that way and he finally
says:
SP: "DON'T YOU THINK YOU OWE ME SOMETHING AFTER ALL I'VE DONE FOR
YOUR FATHER?"
She expresses her gratitude for the help he has been to her
father but doesn't quite see why she should marry him for that
reason. Conwell is getting impatient and finally says:
SP: "YOUR FATHER AS GOOD AS PROMISED THAT YOU'D MARRY ME."
Rosalie is surprised and incredulous, says she doesn't believe
it and turns and goes to the door. Conwell tries to restrain
her but doesn't succeed. Rosalie calls in to her father and
asks if he will come in.
57. COLONEL BIRD'S ROOM AT CONSULATE. Colonel Bird puts down his
book and goes in to Conwell's room.
58. CONWELL'S ROOM AT CONSULATE. Rosalie looks up at her father
almost in tears and asks if he promised that she marry
Conwell. Colonel Bird berates Conwell for suggesting such a
thing, tells her she shall marry the man of her choice.
Conwell protests that Bird is indebted to him for his job,
Colonel Bird straightens himself up with great dignity and
says:
SP: "WELL, SIR, DIDN'T I MAKE YOU MY SECRETARY?"
Conwell looks at him as much as to say--"You poor old
simp--just wait." Colonel Bird takes Rosalie to the door,
kisses her good-by and she goes out. He then turns to Conwell
and tells him to stop annoying his daughter.
59. EXTERIOR CONSULATE. Rosalie comes out and goes down the street
toward the station.
60. CONWELL'S ROOM AT CONSULATE. Colonel Bird is still laying down
the law to Conwell who nods his head, and Colonel Bird goes
back to his own room. Conwell looks after him in a menacing
way, then shakes his fist after him and suggesting that he
will get even with him yet. He then gets his hat and goes out.
(Fade out.)
T:
61. RAILWAY STATION AT SANTO GRAFTO. Station master is there,
baggage man, three or four natives, some kids and several
pretty native girls. Rosalie also is waiting. The train comes
in, a couple of soldiers get off and greet the girls. Two
natives get off and then Tom and Roland get off. Rosalie
rushes to them. Roland kisses her, she greets Tom and leads
them off.
62. BACK OF SANTO GRAFTO STATION. Carriage waiting with native
driver. Rosalie enters with Roland and Tom, they get into the
carriage and drive off. (Fade out.)
T: THE HOTEL DEL MOSQUITO.
63. FRONT OF HOTEL. (Fade in.) There are several tables in front
of the hotel and also several booths and a sign over the
entrance. Several people are sitting at the tables drinking.
At one table sits the Countess and Enrico. Conwell enters and
joins them, rather sore over his rebuff by Rosalie. They ask
him why so grouchy and he tells them. They give him the laugh
but Enrico slaps him on the back and tells him she will come
around all right. Waiters are going in and out. A pretty girl
is selling flowers, a couple of musicians are playing guitars.
Carriage drives up with Rosalie, Roland and Tom. Tom and
Roland get out, a native porter comes from the hotel and takes
their bags into the hotel followed by Tom, while Roland stops
to speak to Rosalie. Conwell looks up, sees Roland and is very
much disturbed. He calls the attention of his two friends to
Roland and tells them who he is and they all look searchingly
at him. Roland says a very affectionate good-by to Rosalie and
says:
SP: "MAY I COME TO SEE YOU THIS EVENING?"
Rosalie tells him that he may, bids him good-by and he watches
her drive away, sighs and turns and goes into hotel. Conwell
half hides so that Roland won't see him. After he is well out
of sight Conwell starts to grumble at his ill luck at having
this fellow come down here. Enrico pats him on the back,
whispers in his ear and says:
SP: "WE CAN PUT HIM OUT OF THE WAY DURING THE REVOLUTION."
The Countess nods that this will be easy but Conwell looks
doubtful, shakes his head and says:
SP: "NO, IT WOULD BE DANGEROUS FOR US--HE'S TOO WELL KNOWN IN
WASHINGTON."
Conwell shows his anger and chagrin at the turn of affairs.
Enrico shrugs his shoulders but the Countess starts in to
think of some way out.
64. HALLWAY OUTSIDE ROLAND'S APARTMENT. Porter enters with Roland
and Tom, opens door and they enter Roland's room.
65. ROLAND'S APARTMENT IN THE HOTEL. The porter shows Tom and
Roland in. Roland is quite pleased with the place, tips the
porter generously; the porter leaves, followed by Tom and his
bag.
66. FRONT OF HOTEL. Conwell is still cursing his luck. Enrico is
sympathetic but helpless. The Countess is thinking heavily and
finally gets an idea. She leans over, pats Conwell on the
and says:
SP: "THERE'S SOMETHING ON EVERY MAN IF YOU CAN ONLY FIND IT. LEAVE
IT TO ME. I'LL FIND SOMETHING TO HANG ON HIM."
Enrico approves of this, Conwell is slightly interested and
the Countess goes on explaining that she has tackled many a
difficult proposition and won out. Just to leave it to her.
(Fade out.)
T: EVENING.
67. BEAUTIFUL COURTYARD OR GARDEN AT THE CONSULATE.
Roland, dinner coat, and Rosalie, evening dress, and the
Colonel are there. Roland has just finished telling the story
of his dad's directions regarding his fortune and he finishes
up by saying to Rosalie:
SP: "SO WE'VE GOT TO WAIT ANOTHER YEAR, ROSALIE."
She takes his hand and says she doesn't mind at all, she knows
he'll be a great success. The old Colonel comes to him, takes
him by the hand and says:
SP: "I'M GLAD SOMETHING HAS SET YOU TO WORK, BUT YOU'VE GOT TO WIN
TO GET ROSALIE."
Roland thanks the Colonel, tells him he knows it and that he's
going to make good. The Colonel rather brusquely tells him he
hopes he does and then leaves. Rosalie runs to Roland, tells
him she knows he's going to make good.
68. HALLWAY OUTSIDE ROLAND'S APARTMENT. The Countess enters, looks
around stealthily, goes to the door, tries it, finds it
locked, takes a hairpin from her hair, unlocks the door with
it, looks around and enters.
69. ROLAND'S ROOM IN HOTEL. The Countess in dark evening dress
enters and closes the door. Begins to rummage around among
Roland's things in his wardrobe trunk. She finally uncovers a
lot of blank insurance policies. She shows great interest in
the discovery of the papers, as papers are one of her main
stock in trade. She starts feverishly to examine them.
INSERT--HANDFUL OF INSURANCE BLANKS.
The Countess looks at them in disgust, puts them back where
she found them and goes on hunting.
70. GARDEN OF CONSULATE. Another very beautiful shot with Rosalie
and Roland standing or sitting on a bench planning their
future.
71. ROLAND'S BEDROOM IN HOTEL. The Countess still rummaging
around. Down in the bottom drawer of the trunk, she discovers
a copy of Roland's father's instructions which have been given
him by Lord Howe-Greene. She pounces on this and reads it.
INSERT--If at the end of one year the business said Roland Stone
procures for the company has proven profitable, the same will
be proof of his good business judgment and he is then to come
into possession of my entire fortune.
Countess ponders over this a moment, then reads next
paragraph:
INSERT--Part of statement as follows:
"If, on the other hand, the company at the end of one year has
suffered a loss through the agency of said Roland Stone, my
entire fortune shall be given to the support of the Washington
Home for Incurables."
The Countess gloats over this discovery, carefully replaces
everything just as she found it, conceals the paper in her
dress and stealthily leaves the room.
72. EXTERIOR OF CONSULATE. Roland is just bidding Rosalie
good-night. She is expressing her good wishes for his success.
Roland looks out toward the view of Bunkonia, then turns to
Rosalie and says:
SP: "WHY, IN A VIRGIN FIELD LIKE THIS, I CAN'T HELP BUT MAKE THE
COMPANY MONEY."
Rosalie is just as certain as he is about it. He then goes on
telling her that in just one little year he will be claiming
her. Rosalie is delighted. Roland timidly kisses her, says
good-night and leaves. Rosalie looks after him and sighs.
73. CAFE OF THE HOTEL. Enrico and Conwell sitting at a table
smoking and drinking. Conwell is quite nervous and irritable.
Enrico is trying to jolly him up. The Countess enters in a
very mysterious way, sits beside them and tells them with much
glee but in great secretiveness that she has great news. She
stealthily draws the paper from her dress and shows it to
them.
INSERT--SAME CLAUSE AS BEFORE WITH THE COUNTESS' FINGER POINTING
TO IT.
Conwell and Enrico are puzzled over this, and Conwell asks the
Countess how it concerns him.
The Countess looks furtively about and says:
SP: "DON'T YOU SEE--IF HE LOSES MONEY FOR THE COMPANY, HE LOSES
THE FORTUNE AND THE GIRL!"
Enrico and Conwell consider this for a moment, and finally
realize the truth of it but ask the Countess what she has in
her bean. The Countess looks furtively about and says:
SP: "WE'LL HAVE HIM INSURE THE LIVES OF THE KING AND COUNCIL."
Enrico and Conwell look at her, then at each other and ask
what good that will do. The Countess looks at them in a
surprised way and says:
SP: "AREN'T THEY ALL TO BE KILLED IN OUR REVOLUTION?"
Slowly the force of this breaks over the minds of Enrico and
Conwell, their faces become wreathed in smiles, at length both
laugh boisterously. Conwell takes the paper and looks at it
again, then rises, takes his glass, holds it out toward the
Countess and says:
SP: "TO THE WOMEN--BLESS THEM. WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT THEM?"
He and Enrico raise their glasses and drink to the Countess
who smiles and blushes. (Fade out.)
T: THE NEXT MORNING--THE PLANT.
74. FRONT OF THE HOTEL. (Fade in.) Roland is sitting at a table
in the f.g. having his breakfast. Conwell and Enrico come to
the hotel doorway and look out. They finally spot Roland.
Conwell then gives instructions to Enrico as to what to do. He
then goes out toward Roland while Enrico backs into the hotel
doorway and waits. Conwell goes over to Roland, slaps him
on the back, greets him heartily. Roland rises, rather
embarrassed, Conwell shakes his hand cordially and sits beside
him. Enrico in the doorway watches with a sinister smile.
Conwell asks Roland what he is doing down in Bunkonia. Roland
says:
SP: "I'VE COME DOWN TO SELL INSURANCE."
Conwell is interested in this and Roland tells him in a few
words what he wants to do. Conwell is quite interested and
says:
SP: "PERHAPS I CAN GIVE YOU A BOOST. I KNOW ALL THE BIG GUNS DOWN
HERE."
Roland is mildly interested but not overly enthusiastic as he
knows something of Conwell's boasting proclivities. However he
thanks him. Conwell offers Roland a cigarette and while Roland
is taking it, Conwell quickly signals to Enrico. Enrico sees
the signal and walks down to the front of the hotel. Conwell
looks up sharply, pretending he has just seen Enrico, points
him out to Roland, who looks also, and Conwell then speaks,
saying:
SP: "THAT'S ENRICO DE CASTANET, SECRETARY OF WAR, AND A GREAT PAL
OF KING CARAMBA."
Roland is quite impressed. Conwell says he will bring him over
and gets up and goes over toward Enrico. Enrico turns, sees
him, greets him very enthusiastically, saying, "Ah, my
friend," shakes his hand and raises his hat at the same time
Conwell is doing it. Conwell then asks him if he won't come
over and meet his friend, at the same time giving Enrico the
wink. Enrico says he will be pleased and they both go over to
Roland's table. Conwell introduces Enrico to Roland. Enrico
again raises his hat. They all sit, Roland orders drinks and
Conwell briefly tells Enrico about Roland's business. Enrico
says he is interested in any friend of Conwell's and after a
few words of explanation from Roland, Enrico says to Conwell:
SP: "THERE'S A MEETING OF THE COUNCIL TO-NIGHT. WHY NOT BRING YOUR
FRIEND? I'LL HAVE HIM MEET THE KING."
Roland is quite overcome by all this kindness, and Conwell
says: "_That is exactly the thing to do_." Conwell takes his
drink, holds it up and says:
SP: HERE'S HOPING YOU INSURE THE LIVES OF THE KING AND ALL HIS
COUNCIL."
They all drink to Roland's success. Roland is overcome by
their kindness. (Fade out.)
T: AT THE COUNCIL MEETING.
75. KING CARAMBA'S COUNCIL ROOM. (Fade in.) King Caramba and his
councilors are there, boozing as usual. Conwell is standing
making a speech to them which they are not listening to very
intently. Conwell is telling them what a great thing insurance
is, and says:
SP: "RIGHT AT YOUR VERY DOOR, GENTLEMEN, IS A YOUNG YANKEE WHO IS
ABLE TO SELL YOU THIS WONDERFUL LIFE INSURANCE."
The councilors listen in a drunken way, all except old Señor
Frijole, who is very sore and grouchy and signifies that he
wants nothing to do with this Yankee and his business. Enrico
rises to speak, telling them what a wonderful thing insurance
is, and then he says:
SP: "WHY, DO YOU REALIZE, GENTLEMEN, THAT WE GET THOUSANDS OF
PESETAS FOR A MERE FEW HUNDRED?"
He turns to Conwell and asks him if he is right. Conwell
assures him he is right, and then continues his speech. At
this the Councilors begin to take very much more interest.
They signify that this must be very good after all, all except
old Señor Frijole, who is sitting next to Enrico. He pulls
Enrico's sleeve and says:
SP: "BUT YOU HAVE TO DIE TO GET IT--DON'T YOU?"
Enrico gives him a quick, dirty look, tells him to shut up,
which squelches him somewhat, but he goes on mumbling to
himself. Conwell goes on talking, saying that this opportunity
should not be overlooked. He sits down. Enrico says he thinks
it is a fine idea and says:
SP: "I'LL TAKE 10,000 PESETAS MYSELF."
At this the councilors are more interested than ever as they
know Enrico is not the type to be done. Old Frijole goes on
grumbling into his glass of liquor saying he will have nothing
to do with it. Conwell goes over to the door, opens it and
goes out.
76. HALLWAY IN PALACE. Roland sitting on a settee. Conwell comes
from Council Room. Roland with application in his hand jumps
up nervously and meets him. Conwell tells him it is all right
and they go into Council Room.
77. COUNCIL ROOM. Conwell brings Roland in and introduces him to
the councilors who greet him, with drunken enthusiasm, while
Conwell stands in the background with a menacing leer. Roland
is very much pleased, but bashful, overcome by his luck.
Enrico, with a grand flourish, asks Roland for an application
which Roland gives him, and he signs his own application with
a grand flourish and hands it over to Roland as if to
say--"There, what more assurance do you want that this is a
good thing?" At this the other councilors all reach out
drunkenly and grab applications, Roland writing in the
amounts, and all of them signing the applications drunkenly.
Enrico and Conwell exchange triumphant looks, but old Señor
Frijole shows his disgust for the entire affair. He finally
goes up and tries to keep the King from signing his
application, but the King gives him a push, he staggers back
into his chair, mumbling and grumbling and warning them
against Yankee tricks. By this time, Roland has most of the
applications signed, Conwell comes up, pats him on the back
and congratulates him. (Fade out.)
T: ABOUT A WEEK LATER. (Fade in.)
78. COLONEL BIRD'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Rosalie in simple
evening dress is standing by the window. Roland, in a blue
coat and flannel trousers, rushes in and Rosalie runs to him.
He tells her he has a surprise for her. She is very much
interested and wants to know what it is. He says:
SP: "I'VE INSURED KING CARAMBA AND HIS COUNCILORS FOR NEARLY A
HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS."
Rosalie is amazed and delighted at this good news. Roland
says:
SP: "I JUST DELIVERED THE POLICIES AND COLLECTED THE PREMIUMS."
Rosalie is in ecstasies and throws her arm around him and
kisses him, much to his embarrassment, although he is also
greatly pleased. Roland says:
SP: "I WANT YOU TO COME OUT TO HELP CELEBRATE MY GOOD FORTUNE."
She is delighted, picks up a tulle scarf and goes out with
Roland.
79. CONWELL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Conwell is standing at desk as
Roland and Rosalie enter. Conwell turns to them smiling.
Roland stops and tells Rosalie Conwell's influence got him his
big clients. He goes to Conwell and thanks him, shaking his
hand. Rosalie is surprised and puzzled that Conwell should
help Roland. Roland gets Rosalie and they go out bidding
Conwell good-night. Conwell looks after them leering.
80. EXTERIOR CONSULATE. Roland and Rosalie come out of the
Consulate and leave in the direction of the hotel.
81. REVOLUTIONISTS' RENDEZVOUS. The Countess, three other
Revolutionists and about thirty soldiers are there. They are
all excited and talking among themselves.
82. GATEWAY OF RENDEZVOUS. General enters hurriedly and knocks
three times--gate opens and he quickly enters.
83. REVOLUTIONISTS' RENDEZVOUS. Revolutionists talking and
awaiting somebody. The general enters and joins group. He
looks about and says:
SP: "ENRICO HAS JUST LEFT THE COUNCIL MEETING. AS SOON AS HE COMES
WE STRIKE."
He then leaves and goes to soldiers--the others discuss this
news excitedly.
84. GATEWAY OF RENDEZVOUS. A group of six or eight soldiers, led
by a sergeant, approach skulkingly--the sergeant knocks at the
gate, which opens and the soldiers all sneak in.
85. EXTERIOR CONSULATE. Colonel enters from opposite direction
taken by Roland and Rosalie and enters consulate. Four guards
look out from hiding places.
86. CAFE IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL (NIGHT). Several people at tables.
Roland and Rosalie enter and go into one of the little booths
and sit down--waiter comes and takes their order--they are
very happy.
87. EXTERIOR CONSULATE. Enrico enters, whistles softly, and four
guards sneak out of hiding places and come to him. He asks if
Colonel Bird is home. They tell him he has just gone in. He
tells them to wait in the shadow and they go into the shadow
and Enrico, looking about cautiously, goes to the porch and
knocks three times.
88. CONWELL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Conwell at desk hears knock,
glances toward the colonel's room and goes to the door, opens
it. Enrico quickly enters. Conwell closes the door. Enrico
asks him if the Colonel is in. He smiles and says yes. Enrico
tells him he has come to fix old Bird. Conwell says:
"Easy--he'll do anything you say," and tells him to wait a
moment and goes into the Colonel's room.
89. COLONEL'S ROOM. Colonel at his desk. Conwell enters, tells him
that Enrico de Castanet wishes to see him. Colonel somewhat
surprised and a little bit flattered, swells up a bit, tells
Conwell to show Señor de Castanet in. Conwell opens the door
and de Castanet enters. The Colonel greets him and they sit
down and Conwell goes out and they begin to talk, Enrico
telling him that they are going to pull a revolution that
night and put King Caramba and his council out of the way.
90. CAFE IN FRONT OF HOTEL. Roland and Rosalie still dining,
having a grand time. A couple of revolutionists enter and sit
in the booth next to theirs.
91. COLONEL'S ROOM. Enrico is talking very earnestly to the
Colonel. At length he says:
SP: "NOW IF YOU WILL ADVISE THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT TO
RECOGNIZE OUR NEW GOVERNMENT TO-MORROW, IT WILL MEAN ALMOST
ANYTHING YOU WISH TO ASK."
The old Colonel is puzzled and vaguely alarmed at this,
doesn't quite get it. Asks Enrico:
SP: "ARE YOU OFFERING ME A BRIBE?"
Enrico shrugs his shoulders and says if that is what he
chooses to call it. The old Colonel becomes very angry, rises
at his desk, begins to lay down the law to Enrico and says:
SP: "YOU WOULD HAVE ME BARTER THE HONOR OF MY COUNTRY? ARE YOU
AWARE, SIR, THAT YOU ARE DEALING WITH _A LOYAL AMERICAN
CITIZEN_?"
He bangs the table, stretches himself to his full height.
Enrico rises and tries to argue with him, but the Colonel
brushes him away and grandiloquently points to American flag.
SP: "THAT, SIR, IS THE GREATEST FLAG IN THE WORLD, AND NO ACT OF
MINE SHALL EVER STAIN IT."
At the finish of the speech, the old Colonel, with a grand
flourish, orders Enrico out of the room. Enrico backs out,
protesting all the way. The old man kicking him out at the
finish.
92. CONWELL'S OFFICE. Conwell waiting expectantly. Enrico lands in
the room, to which he has been catapulted by the old Colonel's
foot. Conwell comes to him, much perturbed.
93. COL. BIRD'S ROOM AT THE CONSULATE. Old Colonel slams the door
and walks up and down in excitement.
94. CONWELL'S ROOM. Enrico angrily telling Conwell what happened
in the other room. Conwell very sore and disgusted at the old
man, says:
SP: "HAVE YOUR GUARD KIDNAP HIM AND LOCK HIM UP AND _I'LL_ TAKE
CHARGE OF THE CONSULATE."
Enrico angrily approves of this and rushes outdoors.
95. COLONEL'S ROOM AT CONSULATE. Colonel at his desk, rapidly
writing a telegram, presses button.
96. CONWELL'S ROOM AT CONSULATE. Conwell, looking out, hears
the button, goes into the Colonel's room.
97. COLONEL'S ROOM AT CONSULATE. Colonel finishing telegram,
rises. Conwell comes to him. Colonel indignantly tells him in
a very few words what has happened, points to the flag,
hammers his chest in great indignation, shows him a telegram
which he is sending. Conwell reads telegram:
INSERT--TELEGRAM.
TO CAPT. HENRY HALYARD, U. S. BATTLESHIP UTAH, PORTO PUNKO,
BUNKONIA.
REVOLUTION THREATENED HERE TO-NIGHT. SEND MARINES AT ONCE TO
PROTECT AMERICAN INTERESTS.
BIRD, CONSUL.
Conwell smiles at this. The Colonel orders him to send it at
once and Conwell, still smiling, starts to leave the room,
when the door opens and in bursts Enrico with his four guards.
He tells them to arrest the Colonel, which they do, but the
old boy puts up a fight. They finally overcome him and hold
him prisoner. He appeals to Conwell, who only laughs at him
and tears up the telegram and throws it in his face, shakes
his finger at the old man and says:
SP: "WE SHALL SEE NOW WHO IS THE BOSS AROUND HERE."
The old Colonel is annoyed and tries to get at Conwell but the
guards hold him. Conwell smiles and says:
SP: "WE SHALL SEE NOW WHETHER I GET YOUR DAUGHTER OR NOT."
He tells the guard to rush the old man out, which they do,
followed by Conwell and Enrico.
98. CONWELL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. The guards rush the old Colonel
through the room and out, followed by Conwell and Enrico.
99. FRONT OF THE CONSULATE. Guards rush the old Colonel out
followed by Enrico and Conwell. Enrico tells the guard:
SP: "LOCK HIM UP IN THE DUNGEONS UNDER THE PALACE."
He scribbles on a card that he gives to one of the guards. The
guards rush the Colonel off toward the palace and Enrico and
Conwell go in the opposite direction, toward the rendezvous.
100. CAFE IN FRONT OF HOTEL. (Long shot) showing the two booths,
with Roland and Rosalie in one and the two revolutionists in
the other.
CLOSE UP OF TABLE WITH ROLAND AND ROSALIE. They are talking
animatedly. Roland has a little notebook in his hand, which he
shows to Rosalie and says:
SP: "THINK WHAT THIS MEANS TO US, ROSALIE! I CAN'T FAIL NOW."
Rosalie is delighted at the wonder of this--takes his hand and
they go on talking of their plans.
CLOSE UP OF THE TABLE WITH THE REVOLUTIONISTS. A third
revolutionist officer comes in hurriedly, sits down, looks
about and says:
SP: "THE HOUR TO STRIKE IS AT HAND." The other revolutionists
listen.
CLOSE UP OF ROLAND AND ROSALIE. They are pricking up their ears.
CLOSE UP OF REVOLUTIONISTS' TABLE. One asks the newcomer what
is going to happen and he says:
SP: "THE REVOLUTION STARTS TO-NIGHT." The other two gloat over
this.
CLOSE UP--Roland and Rosalie listen, their alarm growing,
Roland climbs on chair and looks into next booth.
OTHER BOOTH--Roland looking over top, frightened. The
revolutionists go on talking, the newcomer says:
SP: "KING CARAMBA AND HIS COUNCIL WILL BE KILLED FIRST." They go
on talking together.
CLOSE UP, ROLAND AND ROSALIE--Roland is dismayed at what he has
heard. Rosalie starts to speak and he tells her to keep quiet
and he listens over the partition.
CLOSE UP, THREE REVOLUTIONISTS--They are talking, call waiter, pay
him and get up and leave hurriedly. Roland ducks down.
CLOSE UP OF ROLAND--Finally he realizes what is to happen, and
that it means ruin and he turns to Rosalie and says:
SP: "THEY ARE GOING TO KILL EVERY ONE I'VE INSURED."
They are both terribly alarmed and realize that this means
ruin for their hopes. They don't know what to do, at length
Rosalie says:
SP: "WE MUST HAVE FATHER SEND FOR HELP."
Roland in his terror agrees to this--he throws a bill on the
table, she grabs him by the hand and they rush out.
101. EXTERIOR REVOLUTIONISTS' RENDEZVOUS--Enrico and Conwell
enter. Enrico knocks on door three times, the door is opened
and they enter.
102. REVOLUTIONISTS' RENDEZVOUS. Enrico and Conwell enter and join
Countess and General and tell them the time has come to
strike--that old Bird refused Enrico's request, that they
chucked him in prison and Conwell now is boss of the
Consulate.
103. DUNGEONS UNDER PALACE. Four guards rush in Colonel Bird and
chuck him in one of the cells, lock the door and rush out.
104. EXTERIOR CONSULATE. Roland and Rosalie run in and rush into
the Consulate.
105. CONWELL'S ROOM AT CONSULATE. Roland and Rosalie rush through.
106. COL. BIRD'S ROOM AT CONSULATE. Roland and Rosalie rush in--see
the overturned furniture and realize something has happened.
Mammy enters from back door. Rosalie runs to her and asks what
has happened and she doesn't know. Rosalie asks Mammy where
her father is. Mammy says she left him here. Rosalie is
terrified. Rosalie and the old servant rush out. Rosalie
upstairs and Mammy to kitchen to look for the Colonel. Roland
picks up the bits of the telegram from the floor and pieces
them together.
Rosalie comes back into the room and the old servant enters
and shakes her head. Rosalie in terror, says:
SP: "FATHER IS NOT HERE."
Roland thinks a moment, realizes that they have taken him
away, shows his anger at this, calls Rosalie to him, finishes
piecing the telegram together and then reads it.
INSERT OF TELEGRAM PIECED TOGETHER.
Rosalie having read the telegram shows hope in her face and
says to Roland:
SP: "YOU MUST SEND THAT MESSAGE AT ONCE."
Roland jumps at this and gathers up the pieces in his hand,
starts to go, then thinks of the girl, stops and asks her what
she will do in the meantime. She says never to mind, but to go
on, old Mammy will stay with her. Roland is reluctant to go,
but Rosalie goes to the drawer of the desk, takes out her
father's old army revolver, and then goes to Roland and says:
SP: "I AM AN AMERICAN GIRL AND CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF."
She tells him to go and forces him out toward the door. He
takes her in his arms and kisses her and rushes out. The old
mammy comes to her and puts her arm about her.
107. FRONT OF CONSULATE--Roland rushes out and down the street
toward the station.
108. REVOLUTIONISTS' RENDEZVOUS. The Countess, the General and a
few other officers, about 100 soldiers and a major are
there. Enrico is giving his instructions to the various
people. Conwell and Enrico enter. Conwell tells Countess,
General and others what has happened and tells them what to
do. Conwell says:
SP: "LOOK HERE, WHAT ABOUT THE GIRL? I WANT HER ABDUCTED AND
KEPT FOR ME IN THE PALACE."
Enrico says that's all right--tells the general to put a guard
at the disposal of Conwell. Conwell and the general leave--go
to soldiers. Enrico tells Countess to look after the girl when
she gets to the palace. Countess says she will and Enrico goes
on talking to others.
About 100 soldiers are there. Conwell and General enter.
General selects a guard of about three men. Tells them to obey
Conwell's orders and Conwell leaves with the three men. The
General then turns to the rest of the soldiers instructing
them as to what they are to do.
109. EXTERIOR R. R. STATION. Roland runs in and enters station.
110. INTERIOR R. R. STATION AND TELEGRAPH OFFICE. Roland rushes in
and tells station master he wants to send a message. Starts to
write it. Station master stops him--says he cannot send
message. Roland asks why. Station master points to telegraph
instrument.
CLOSE UP OF TELEGRAPH INSTRUMENT SMASHED.
Roland asks who did that. Station master says:
SP: "THE REVOLUTIONISTS."
Roland is nonplused for the moment--rushes out of the door,
followed by the station master.
111. EXTERIOR R. R. STATION. Roland rushes out followed by
station master. Roland runs in the direction of the hotel.
Station master looks after him and bites his thumb at him,
then goes back into station.
112. EXTERIOR WINDOW SIDE OF CONSULATE. Conwell sneaks in with
his three soldiers and peeks in window and sees--
113. COL. BIRD'S ROOM IN CONSULATE--Rosalie sitting tense
holding gun and watching door. Mammy beside her standing.
114. EXTERIOR WINDOW SIDE OF CONSULATE. Conwell shows his
chagrin at the fact of Rosalie's having a gun, thinks a
moment, then tells his guard to keep very quiet and follow
him. He sneaks out toward front of house, followed by guard
very quietly.
115. CAFE IN FRONT OF HOTEL. Tom is sitting in one of the
booths shooting craps with a native civilian. Roland rushes
in, tells Tom about the revolution, says:
SP: "WE'VE GOT TO SAVE ALL THOSE GINKS I INSURED."
He grabs Tom and they rush out of the cafe toward the palace
leaving the native flat.
118. CONWELL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Conwell, with his three guards,
enter stealthily. He places the three guards against the wall
on each side of the door leading to the Colonel's room and
he then knocks on the door.
117. COLONEL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Rosalie, terrified, says:
"Who is it?"
118. CONWELL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Conwell says, "It's I--Jim
Conwell."
119. COLONEL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Rosalie, greatly relieved,
lowers gun and says, "come in." Conwell enters, leaving the
door open. He smiles ingratiatingly and comes forward. She
asks him if he knows where her father is. He doesn't know, but
pats her reassuringly on the shoulder and gently takes the
revolver from her. In this position he whistles. The girl
looks up quickly and jumps to her feet in alarm, but before
she can make any move, the three guards rush in and seize her.
Conwell steps to her and says:
SP: "DON'T BE ALARMED, THESE GENTLEMEN WILL ESCORT YOU TO THE
KING'S PALACE WHERE OUR WEDDING WILL TAKE PLACE TO-MORROW
MORNING."
Rosalie is horrified at this and starts to struggle, but the
men hold her and start to take her out of the room. The old
Mammy grabs a big book and lambasts Conwell over the head,
stunning him for a moment. She then runs for the guards,
jumping on their backs like a cat. By this time Conwell has
regained his feet, grabs the colored servant and bangs her on
the head with something heavy, then chucks her over into a
corner and he follows the guards and Rosalie out through a
back door.
120. BACK DOOR OF CONSULATE. Conwell rushes out followed by the
three guards dragging Rosalie. They start toward palace but
Conwell stops them and says:
SP: "WE'LL KEEP HER IN OUR RENDEZVOUS UNTIL ENRICO CAPTURES
THE PALACE."
They all exit in the opposite direction.
121. REVOLUTIONISTS' RENDEZVOUS. Enrico is there with the General,
Major and Countess. Enrico is haranguing the soldiers, giving
them final instructions. They all cheer. Enrico calls Major to
him and tells him to look after the Countess and after they
have captured the palace to bring her there. Major salutes and
steps aside with Countess. Enrico goes on haranguing the
soldiers and at length says:
SP: "AND REMEMBER THERE IS A PRICE OF THIRTY PESETAS ON THE
HEAD OF THE KING!"
They all cheer. Enrico draws his sword and says:
SP: "ON TO THE PALACE!"
He gives orders to fall in, which they do, then forward march.
They all march out led by Enrico, the Countess and Major
looking after them.
T: THIRTY PESETAS' WORTH OF ROYALTY.
122. KING'S BEDCHAMBER. Councilors standing by bed all salute
drunkenly. Two lackeys carry the King (who is dressed in a
long white night gown and night cap and hugging a bottle of
booze to his chest) and chuck him on the bed, cover him up and
stand. The king dozes off into a drunken stupor. Councilors
salute and stagger out toward Council Room (followed by
lackeys).
123. HALLWAY IN PALACE. Councilors stagger out of King's bedroom
across hall and into Council Room.
124. COUNCIL ROOM IN PALACE. Councilors stagger in and sit at table
and begin boozing--drinking to:
SP: "GOOD REST TO HIS MAJESTY."
They all down a drink and sit down.
125. FRONT DOOR OF PALACE. Two royal guards on duty (uniforms
elaborate and different from those of the army). Roland and
Tom rush up and demand admittance and are refused. Roland says
it is very important to see the king, but they won't let him
in. Tom wants to wallop them on the nose and go in, but is
restrained by their guns and finally he and Roland leave in
disgust and go down to the edge of the grounds, then look back
and see the guards are not looking and beat it around to the
side of the palace.
126. STREET. Enrico, the General and soldiers march through toward
palace.
127. WALL OF PALACE (outside). Roland and Tom run in and scale wall.
128. WALL OF PALACE (inside). Roland and Tom jump down and run
toward back of palace.
129. BACK OF PALACE. Roland and Tom run in. Tom leans down and
makes a stepping stone for Roland, who jumps from his back to
window, pushes it open and crawls in. He then pulls Tom up
after him.
130. HALLWAY OF PALACE LOOKING TOWARD THE BACK. Roland and Tom
crawl in the window, quickly look about, rush into the Council
Room.
131. COUNCIL CHAMBER. Councilors all drunk. Tom and Roland rush
in from hall, tell them there is a revolution on and they've
got to beat it to save their hides as the soldiers and
revolutionists are coming. They all get up in a drunken,
stupid sort of way--don't take it in. Two lackeys rush out the
window at back. Roland demands of one of the councilors:
SP: "WHERE IS THE KING?"
The councilor, half soused, points across the hall. Roland and
Tom stir up the councilors and drive them out into the hall.
One of them is too far gone to walk. Roland pitches him over
to Tom who throws him over his shoulder and carries him out.
Little Frijole, the grouch, is the soberest of the lot and
realizes the situation and tries to follow along, but Roland
gives him a shove and lands him in a chair, saying:
SP: "GET AWAY! YOU'RE NOT INSURED."
They all go out into the hall, Frijole getting up and
following. As he does so, he draws an old revolver out of his
pocket.
132. HALLWAY IN THE PALACE. They all cross the hallway to the
king's bedroom--Tom carrying his councilor, Frijole following,
waving his revolver.
133. KING'S BEDROOM. They all rush in--Tom carrying the same
councilor and Frijole waving his revolver. Roland rushes to
the king's bed and wakes him up while the councilors stagger
about stupidly, bumping into each other and not yet fully
realizing what's up. Tom drops his councilor on a couch or
floor. Roland wakes the king up--pulls him out of bed--tells
him that the revolutionists are coming and he has got to get
out. The King is very stupid from drink and doesn't take it
in. Roland shakes him and tries to make him understand.
134. STREET CORNER NEARER THE PALACE. Enrico, the General and army
march through.
135. KING'S BEDROOM. Roland, trying to make old King Caramba
understand, says to Tom:
SP: "GET SOME WATER."
Tom leaves. Roland goes on shaking the King.
CLOSE UP OF LITTLE PRIVATE SIDEBOARD OR BAR in corner of room.
Tom rushes in, looks for water but there is none. He turns and
says:
SP: "EVERYTHING HERE _BUT_ WATAH!"
Roland says to bring a bottle of something. Tom takes a bottle
of champagne, knocks neck off of it and goes toward bed.
CLOSE UP BY BED--Roland still trying to bring King to. Tom enters
with champagne. Roland takes it and souses it in King's
face--King falls back on bed. Roland and Tom pull him up again
to his feet. King licks champagne from his face with tongue.
They punch, pummel and slap him and finally bring him to.
Roland tells him about the revolution--that they must get out
of the palace and hide. The King looks around and sees the
various councilors. Finally realizes what is up--asks where
the Revolutionists are.
136. FRONT OF PALACE. Two royal guards sleeping on ground.
Enrico, General and soldiers march in. Royal guards are
overpowered and Enrico, General and soldiers begin to bang on
door.
137. KING'S BEDROOM IN PALACE. Roland tells him they are rushing
on the Palace. The old King is scared blue--begins to shake
and tremble. Roland asks him if he doesn't know some way to
get out. Finally the old King comes to his senses enough to
remember a trap door under the flagging of the floor. He takes
Roland over to the place in the floor and points down there.
Roland and Tom look and see nothing but flagging. The old King
keeps pointing and poking with his toe, says:
SP: "STAIRWAY UNDER THERE."
Finally Roland taps the flagging with his heel. Then he and
Tom get down on their knees and try to pull up the stone. It
won't come. They look up at the King. He says, yes, that's the
place.
SP: "TUNNEL--LEADS TO EL JUGGO PRISON."
Tom then gets a big jack-knife from his pocket, opens it and
begins to pry up the flagging. The old King claps his hands
and nods his head. Roland and Tom continue pulling up the
flagging from the floor.
138. FRONT OF THE PALACE. Enrico, the General and soldiers
banging on the door.
139. THE KING'S BEDROOM. Roland finishes pulling up the last
stone. Tom chucks the stones under the bed. Roland then raises
the trap door, starts to shove the Councilors down.
140. FRONT OF THE PALACE. Soldiers still banging on the door
trying to break it down.
141. THE KING'S BEDCHAMBER. Roland is shooing the King and
Councilors down the stairway. Frijole keeps butting in and
Roland pushing him back.
CLOSE UP OF THE STAIRWAY. Frijole is trying to push himself
down, but Roland holds him back and says:
SP: "I TOLD YOU TO KEEP OUT OF THIS--YOU'RE NOT INSURED."
But Frijole insists that he shall go and raises his revolver
at Roland. Roland ducks and knocks the revolver out of his
hand. Tom picks it up. Roland pushes Frijole over to Tom, who
picks up the little man and drops him out of the window.
142. FRONT OF PALACE. Soldiers still banging on the door--door
breaks through and they enter.
143. KING'S BEDCHAMBER IN PALACE. Tom runs to door to hall,
opens it a crack and peeks out.
144. HALLWAY OF PALACE (front end). Soldiers rush in. Enrico
is holding his soldiers at the door, through which they have
broken, telling them just where to go.
145. KING'S BEDCHAMBER. Tom calls to Roland to look. Roland
comes to the door and looks.
146. HALLWAY IN PALACE. Enrico giving instructions to his men.
147. KING'S BEDROOM. Tom aims revolver at Enrico. Roland stops
him and says:
SP: "FOR GOD'S SAKE DON'T KILL _HIM_. HE'S INSURED FOR TEN
THOUSAND DOLLARS."
He grabs Tom, closes the door and locks it, pulls Tom away.
148. HALLWAY. Enrico, with a flourish, leads his men down the hall
toward the King's bedroom.
149. KING'S BEDROOM. Tom picks up his councilor and starts down
through trap with him. Roland quickly removing traces of the
broken floor, takes a rug and pulls it to the back of the trap
door.
150. HALLWAY OF PALACE. Enrico and part of his soldiers are beating
down the door of the King's chamber--the rest going to the
council chamber.
151. KING'S BEDCHAMBER. He closes the trap just as the door breaks
open and Enrico rushes in with his soldiers. Enrico rushes to
the bed, sees the King is gone, looks angrily all about the
room, points toward the council chamber and they all rush out.
152. COUNCIL CHAMBER. Soldiers with General looking about coming in
from door leading to other rooms where they have found
nothing. Enrico enters, followed by soldiers, discovers there
is nobody there. He meets the General and they are much
puzzled as to who could have tipped off the King and let him
escape. The General shrugs his shoulders, says if they have
escaped, Enrico can proclaim himself dictator. Enrico goes to
the head of the council table, the General on his right
raising his sword and shouting:
SP: "THE KING AND COUNCIL HAVING FLED, SENOR DE CASTANET
PROCLAIMS HIMSELF DICTATOR OF BUNKONIA!"
Soldiers wave their hats, officers their swords, and all
acclaim him dictator. He starts to make a speech and says:
SP: "GENERAL, OUR FIRST MOVE MUST BE TO CAPTURE AND SHOOT OUR
RENEGADE KING AND HIS COUNCIL."
The General approves and calls an officer and tells him to
take a troop and go after the King. Officer leaves.
153. HALLWAY OF PALACE. Officer comes in, gets together his men,
and beats it.
154. OLD STONE STAIRWAY WITH HEAVY WOODEN DOOR AT THE TOP.
Roland, Tom, King and four Councilors stumble up the stairs.
155. HALLWAY OF EL JUGGO PRISON WITH HEAVY WOODEN DOORS AT BACK.
Guard is sitting there half asleep. He arouses a little bit.
156. OLD STONE STAIRWAY WITH HEAVY WOODEN DOOR (same as 154).
Roland still beating on the door.
157. HALLWAY OF JAIL. The guard, amazed at hearing the noise
outside this door, gets up, unlocks the big lock and opens the
door. Roland rushes in with the King on his arm, followed
by the four Councilors, Tom carrying one. The guard is
dumbfounded at seeing all these notables coming through the
tunnel and asks what the trouble is. Roland tells him there is
a revolution. He looks closely at the King, realizes who it
is, drops on his knees and kisses the King's hand. Roland
pulls him up to his feet and says:
SP: "I WANT YOU TO LOCK THIS WHOLE GANG UP UNTIL I CAN GET
HELP!"
The guard looks at Roland then at the King and says:
SP: "LOCK UP MY KING--NEVER!"
He then kneels down and kisses the King's hand. Roland again
pulls him to his feet, takes him aside and gives him a couple
of pesetas.
The guard says, "Sure, that's all right," grabs the King and
hustles him and others down corridor, Tom carrying his
councilor. Roland tells Tom to stay with them. Tom follows
them down the corridor and Roland beats it out of the front of
the jail.
158. HALLWAY IN PALACE. Countess and Major enter, followed by
Conwell, Rosalie and guards. They walk down the hall and into
the Council Chamber.
159. COUNCIL CHAMBER. Enrico at the head of the table, the General
on his right (Councilors' liquor still on table). Several
other officers at the table and a number of soldiers standing
about. Countess enters with Colonel, Conwell, Rosalie and
guards. Countess is escorted by Colonel to Enrico, who kisses
her hand and steps over to Rosalie, who is with Conwell. She
is terribly frightened but Enrico leers at her and tells her
she has nothing to fear. Then turns to the party and says:
SP: "LET US DRINK TO OUR LITTLE BRIDE."
They all take glasses. Conwell raises glass to Rosalie and
says:
SP: "TO-MORROW AT TEN."
They all drink to Rosalie, who stands shivering pitifully.
(Quick fade out.)
T: TOO LATE.
160. EXTERIOR CONSULATE. Roland runs in and rushes in the
Consulate.
161. COLONEL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE--Old mammy lying unconscious where
Conwell had thrown her. Roland rushes in, is alarmed at seeing
the girl gone. He goes to mammy, raises her up, shakes her,
rubs her hands and slaps them, trying to bring her to.
162. STREET. Tom runs through desperately.
163. COLONEL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Roland is giving mammy a drink
of water. She opens her eyes and slowly comes to. He puts her
in a chair and asks her what has happened. She pulls herself
together and says that Conwell was there with soldiers--says:
SP: "THEY TOOK HER TO THE KING'S PALACE! THEY ARE GOING TO
MAKE HER MARRY CONWELL IN THE MORNING!"
Roland shows his alarm and anger, is stumped for a moment. The
old mammy begs him to save her girl. Roland thinks for a
minute what is best to do.
164. FRONT OF CONSULATE. Tom runs in and rushes into the house.
165. COLONEL'S ROOM IN CONSULATE. Roland is still talking to old
mammy, who is describing what happened. Tom rushes in from
Conwell's room, rushes to Roland and all out of breath points
hand and says:
SP: "THE REVOLUTIONISTS PAID THE JAIL GUARD TEN PEZITS AND HE
TURNED OVER THE KING AND HIS WHOLE GANG TO THEM!"
Roland is in despair at this news. Tom still panting, says:
SP: "THEY ARE GOING TO SHOOT THEM ALL IN THE MORNING!"
Roland is utterly flabbergasted at this, looks bewildered at
Tom and the old mammy and finally says to Tom that they have
Rosalie in the palace and are going to make her marry Conwell.
Tom is open mouthed at this news. At length Roland says:
SP: "THERE'S ONLY ONE CHANCE--WE MUST GO TO PORTO PUNKO AND GET
THE MARINES!"
Tom and the old mammy are very much interested in this and
urge him to try it and Roland asks mammy if she is all right.
She says she is and tells them to go on. Tom and Roland beat
it out toward the front. She looks after them.
166. FRONT OF CONSULATE. Roland and Tom come out and rush down the
street toward the station.
167. DUNGEON UNDER PALACE. Squad of soldiers bring in the King and
four Councilors. Tom's Councilor is being carried. They chuck
them in the cells and go out. Col. Bird looking out of
adjoining cell and demanding that he be released. The soldiers
spit at him and go out.
168. THE R. R. STATION--Roland and Tom run in and quickly enter
the station.
169. INTERIOR R. R. STATION. Roland and Tom rush in. Roland asks
the station master when the next train goes to Porto Punko.
Station master laughs sardonically and replies:
SP: "NO TRAINS TO PORTO PUNKO TO-NIGHT! THE REVOLUTION LEADERS
HAVE GIVEN ORDERS THAT NO ONE SHALL LEAVE TOWN!"
He laughs again at Tom and Roland. Roland looks at Tom in
alarm then asks the station master if he is sure. Station
master says of course he's sure. Roland steps out of back
door. Tom starts an altercation with the station master,
telling him he is too fresh, etc.
170. EXTERIOR BACK OF STATION. Roland comes out and looks around
in desperation. Sees native riding by on an old bony horse,
runs to him and tries to hire horse.
171. INTERIOR R. R. STATION. Tom and station master's argument is
getting warmer. They are threatening each other violently.
172. EXTERIOR FRONT R. R. STATION. Two soldiers (officers with
revolvers) ride up on hand car, get off and run into station.
173. INTERIOR R. R. STATION. Tom is pounding station master's
head on counter as two officers enter. They see him, draw
their revolvers and shout, "Throw up your hands." Tom stops
thumping station master and throws up his hands. They make him
turn toward front door and while one covers him the other
talks excitedly to station master.
174. EXTERIOR BACK OF R. R. STATION. Roland trying to bribe native
to give him horse, but native refuses and rides off. Roland
turns and looks toward station and sees--
175. INTERIOR R. R. STATION. One of officers covering Tom whose
hands are up, the other talking to station master.
176. EXTERIOR BACK OF R. R. STATION. Roland, alarmed, runs to
station.
177. INTERIOR R. R. STATION. Officer finishes his talk with
station master, covers Tom also and they start to march him
toward front door. Roland rushes in and fairly catapults
himself on the two officers, knocking them down. Then he and
Tom rush out front door jumping over officers.
178. EXTERIOR FRONT OF R. R. STATION. Tom and Roland rush out of
station and start down road.
179. INTERIOR R. R. STATION. Two officers scramble to their feet
and rush out front door, followed by station master.
180. EXTERIOR FRONT OF R. R. STATION. Roland and Tom running down
road. Two officers rush out, see them and both fire at them.
Roland falls and Tom stops to help him. The two officers run
up to them followed by station master. They stick Tom up again
and jerk Roland to his feet. Roland loses his hat and puts his
hand to his head. He has only a scalp wound. Two common
soldiers run in from opposite direction--attracted by shots.
One of the officers says to them:
SP: "TAKE THEM TO THE PALACE DUNGEON AND LOCK THEM UP."
The two soldiers start off with Roland and Tom. The officer
says, "wait a minute"--they stop. He speaks to the other
officer who nods his head. The first officer then says to Tom:
SP: "YOU COME WITH US."
He tells the two soldiers to take Roland off, which they do.
The two officers then march Tom off to the hand car, followed
by station master. Arrived at the hand car one of them says to
Tom:
SP: "GET ON THERE AND PUMP THAT CAR."
Tom and two officers get on hand car. Officers cover Tom with
their revolvers. The station master says:
SP: "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"
One of the officers turns to him and says:
SP: "TO PORTO PUNKO."
At this Tom's face lights up and he begins to pump like mad
and the hand car goes down the track in opposite direction to
one of train in scene. Station master waves his hand to them
and exits to station. (Fade out.)
NEXT MORNING.
THE FATAL HOUR APPROACHES.
181. PLAZA--FRONT OF PALACE. Soldiers are lined up in front of
palace. Populace in native costumes are running about talking
excitedly and reading placards which are posted all about.
INSERT--PLACARD (in fake language).
_PROKLAMATIONIZ_ BINGUS DE SPOLIO KAYITZ! ETC.
DISSOLVE INTO ENGLISH WHICH READS:
PROCLAMATION EX REX CARAMBA AND HIS COUNCIL HAVE DESERTED
THEIR PEOPLE. ENRICO DE CASTANET HAS BEEN PROCLAIMED DICTATOR
BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE ARMY. CARAMBA AND HIS COUNCIL WILL BE
SHOT AT TEN. ALL TAXES WILL BE RAISED TWENTY PER CENT AT
TEN-THIRTY.
The people are frightened at this and call others to read.
182. COURTYARD BACK OF PALACE. Officer enters from palace with
sixteen soldiers. He picks out ten for a firing squad. He goes
to the wall and paces off a distance, then lines up his firing
squad. He then takes the other six and goes back into the
palace.
183. COUNCIL ROOM. Enrico enters with Magistrate carrying a book.
Enrico leads him across the room and says:
SP: "THE WEDDING TAKES PLACE HERE!"
The Magistrate says "all right" and gets ready.
184. DUNGEONS UNDER PALACE. Conwell and guards with guns enter and
open the door of cell and drag Roland out leaving old Colonel
in. They lock the door. Roland reaches through the bars and
grasps Bird's hand, saying "Good-by." They take out Roland,
who has a handkerchief tied around his head. March out. Roland
then straightens up and marches out like a Sidney Carton.
185. COUNCIL ROOM. Enrico and Magistrate are waiting (no guns on
anybody in this scene). Countess enters with Rosalie who is
terrified and completely cowed. Enrico goes to her, pinches
her cheek and says:
SP: "WELL, HAVE YOU MADE UP YOUR MIND TO MARRY CONWELL?"
She weakly shakes her head and says she doesn't know what to
do. Enrico smiles and says:
SP: "SO YOU'D RATHER SEE YOUR FATHER KILLED, WOULD YOU?"
She miserably shakes her head and says "No." Enrico pats her
on the shoulder and says: "That's a sensible little girl."
186. HALL OF PALACE. Roland, with two guards and Conwell, comes up
the stairs and they march to the door of council room and
stop. Conwell smiles at Roland and says:
SP: "I DID YOU A GOOD TURN, NOW YOU ARE GOING TO DO ME ONE."
Roland looks at him suspiciously and Conwell still smiling,
says:
SP: "YOU'RE GOING TO BE BEST MAN AT MY WEDDING."
He then throws the door wide open and indicates the wedding
party on the opposite side of the room, with a flourish.
Roland looks in astounded and horrified.
187. COUNCIL ROOM. Enrico, Magistrate, Countess and Rosalie
standing opposite door. They all look at doorway and see
Conwell and Roland. Rosalie stands transfixed with her eyes
wide open.
188. HALL IN PALACE. Roland stands transfixed, looking at
Rosalie. Conwell invites him in with a sinister smile and
enters first, followed by Roland, who is followed by the two
guards.
189. COUNCIL ROOM. Conwell enters, followed by Roland and two
guards. Conwell crosses to Rosalie but Roland stops near door,
with guards back of him almost in doorway. Conwell takes
Rosalie's hand, tells her Roland is to be their best man and,
looking tauntingly at Roland, he leans over and kisses her.
This infuriates Roland so he cannot contain himself. He
suddenly whirls, pushes the two guards in the face. They fall
through the door out into the hall. Roland quickly closes the
door.
190. HALL IN PALACE. The two guards fall through the doorway,
sprawling on the floor.
191. COUNCIL ROOM. Roland closes the door and locks it, turns and
rushes upon the astonished Conwell. Then follows a general
mixup. Roland having to fight Conwell, Enrico and possibly the
Magistrate--or the Magistrate might be an old guy who beats it
out the window as soon as the fight begins. Rosalie tries to
help by picking up a vase or some such object and hitting
Conwell or Enrico, but the Countess stops her and Rosalie
keeps the Countess busy by struggling with all her might.
Conwell must be put out completely and Roland conquers Enrico
and the Magistrate and would be a complete winner but for the
Countess. While she is struggling with Rosalie and the fight
is going on, the guards in the hall struggle to their feet and
begin banging on the door. The Countess hears this and her
object is to get the door open. She is prevented for some time
by Rosalie but just as Roland has finished off Conwell and the
Magistrate and has Enrico down and practically out, the
Countess manages to get the door open and let in the two
guards. They cover Roland and he rises and surrenders. Conwell
and Enrico are pretty far gone but they manage to get up and
Enrico says to the guards:
SP: "TAKE HIM TO THE COURTYARD AND SHOOT HIM!"
The guards rush Roland out--Rosalie collapses.
During this fight we see a long shot of Tom with an American
flag and the marines coming down the street.
A man running to a group of the populace and saying: "The
Americans are coming!" The whole of this group then run out
toward the palace. This group runs to the crowd in front of
the palace and yell: "The Americans are coming!" The crowd
falls back to the other side of the Plaza and the soldiers
guarding the palace look anxiously up and down.
Tom with his marines rushes into the plaza. The crowd falls
back and the soldier guards beat it hot foot. Part of the
marines rush into the palace, led by Tom. The man with the
flag and the rest of them stop outside and guard the palace.
Also, during this fight the officer and his guard of six men
take the King and Councilors out of their cells and lead them
off toward the courtyard, line them up against the wall, tie
their hands behind them, blindfold each one and are just about
to give the order to shoot when Tom rushes into the courtyard
with his marines, who chase the soldiers off and Tom picks up
the King and carries him and shoos them all before him into
the palace, having jerked off their blindfolds.
192. HALLWAY OF PALACE. Just as the two guards bring Roland out of
the Council Room into the hall and start toward the stairs,
Tom runs in at front with his marines. The guards, seeing
them, drop Roland and beat it out the back window. Roland
greets Tom ecstatically, looks at his watch, sees that it is
one-half minute to ten and says:
SP: "TRY AND SAVE THE KING AND COUNCIL!"
Tom wants to know where they are and Roland points down stairs
and back. Roland tells twenty of the marines to come with him
and the rest run down stairs with Tom. Roland leads his little
bunch into the council room.
193. COUNCIL ROOM. Countess is holding up Rosalie, Conwell leaning
against the wall side of her. Magistrate is starting
marriage service. Enrico is sitting on the table holding his
head and watching the ceremony. The door bursts open and in
rushes Roland with six marines. He rushes over and grasps
Rosalie and tells the marines to cover all the others, which
they do.
194. COURTYARD OF PALACE. Officers just finishing blindfolding
King and Councilors. They are all lined up to be shot. Firing
squad is all ready--sixteen in all, now. Officer leaves King
and Councilors and takes place at end of firing squad. He is
just about to raise his sword when Tom runs in from the
Palace, lets out a yell, and followed by his twenty marines
rushes in. The soldiers seeing them, run like mad, chased by
the marines. Tom quickly jerks off blindfolds and shoos the
whole bunch--King and Councilors--into the palace.
195. COUNCIL ROOM. Colonel Bird and two marines run in. Rosalie
rushes to her father's arms and Roland tells Bird to look
after her and to go into the hall, which they do. He tells
two of the marines to guard Conwell and the Countess and
Magistrate. He then grabs Enrico, tells the other six marines
to follow, and drags Enrico out into the hall, followed by six
marines.
196. HALLWAY IN PALACE. Colonel Bird and Rosalie are waiting.
Roland drags Enrico out, followed by six marines. They start
toward the front. At this moment the King and Council come up
the stairs headed by Tom. Roland grabs the King in his other
hand, calls Tom and tells him to bring the King along; hands
him over to Tom. Tells the marines to herd along the Council,
and they all go toward front of hall.
197. FRONT OF THE PALACE. People waiting. American soldiers there.
Roland and Tom drag the King and Enrico out on the porch,
followed by Bird and Marines. The people become silent, not
knowing what has happened.
CLOSE UP OF ROLAND STARTING SPEECH. He raises his hand while Tom
holds the King. He points at the King, then turns and says:
SP: "MY FRIENDS, FOR TEN YEARS YOUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY HAS BEEN
RULED BY THIS COMIC OPERA KING, WHO HAS NOT DRAWN A SOBER
BREATH SINCE HE ASCENDED THE THRONE."
Tom holds up the King, to whom Roland points--the King weakly
protesting. Roland turns front and speaks again, pointing at
Enrico:
SP: "LAST NIGHT THE KING WAS DETHRONED BY THE MOST CORRUPT AND
CONTEMPTIBLE GRAFTER THE COUNTRY HAS EVER KNOWN--ENRICO DE
CASTANET!"
He points at Enrico, who grits his teeth and wants to pounce
on Roland, but is restrained by guns of marines at his back.
Roland looks triumphantly at Enrico, then front, and says:
SP: "THE FIRST ACT OF THIS TYRANT, ON ASSUMING POWER, WAS TO RAISE
THE ALREADY EXORBITANT TAXES!"
The people nod their heads "yes" and shake their fists at
Enrico. Roland points to Enrico and says, "Look at him." He
then turns to the King and says "Look at him." Then he turns
to the people and says:
SP: "IS EITHER OF THESE WRETCHES FIT TO RULE THIS BEAUTIFUL
COUNTRY?"
The people shake their heads yelling "No, no," and to-helling
both the King and Enrico.
CLOSE UP OF ROLAND listening to this demonstration, turning first
to the King and then to Enrico, as if to say "Ah, you see,"
and then front again and says:
SP: "IN AMERICA WE CHOOSE OUR OWN RULERS AND DETERMINE OURSELVES
WHAT OUR TAXES ARE TO BE."
LONG SHOT OF THE CROWD--Hearing this, turning to each other and
expressing their approval of the idea, one or two yelling out
exclamations of approval.
CLOSE UP OF ROLAND--Smiling, looking again at the men on his right
and left and again speaking front:
SP: "WHY NOT CHANGE THIS GOVERNMENT INTO A _DEMOCRACY_ LIKE
AMERICA AND ALL THE _CIVILIZED_ COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD?"
LONG SHOT OF THE CROWD, yelling approval, waving their hats and
hands and (fade out).
T: AND SO A NEW REPUBLIC WAS BORN. THEY TRIED TO MAKE ROLAND
PRESIDENT, BUT THERE WAS ONLY ONE JOB HE WANTED.
198. FADE IN JUDGE'S COURT. Roland is sitting on the bench all
dolled up in a judge's rig. Beside him stands Tom in a
policeman's uniform. He indicates to Tom to bring in the
prisoners. Tom tells an officer to open the door.
CLOSE UP OF DOOR AT SIDE OF ROOM. Officer opens door and the King
and four Councilors and Enrico file past the camera going to
the front of the Judge's bench.
LONG SHOT OF COURTROOM, showing prisoners, Judge and Tom.
CLOSE UP OF ROLAND looking over the prisoners and saying:
SP: "YOU ARE ALL SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR IN PRISON--THIS COUNTRY MUST
BE MADE SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY AND INSURANCE."
The prisoners all look at each other in dismay. Tom steps
down, starts to jerk Enrico roughly toward the door. Roland
raises his hand and speaks:
SP: "TREAT THEM GENTLY, CHIEF. THEIR POLICIES DON'T EXPIRE FOR
ELEVEN MONTHS!"
Then Tom takes them very gently and leads them out of the
room. As they go out, Roland says:
SP: "WE'LL CALL THAT A DAY. COURT IS ADJOURNED!"
He leaves by door at back.
199. GARDEN. Rosalie waiting. Roland comes to her. (Fade out.)
Transcriber Notes:
Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_.
Passages in bold were indicated by =equal signs=.
Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS.
Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of
the speakers. Those words were retained as-is.
The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up
paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate,
and the table of illustrations is changed to reflect those moves.
Errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected
unless otherwise noted.
In the list of Illustrations, "CREPE" was replaced with "CRÊPE".
On page 6, "ConstanceTalmadge" was replaced with "Constance Talmadge".
In the illustration on page 20, "CREPE" was replaced with "CRÊPE" and
crepe was replaced with "crêpe".
On page 59, "ORCHID'S" was replaced with "ORCHIDS".
On page 69, a double quotation mark was added before "WHAT DAT LORD
HOWE-GREENE"
On page 81, one title has no text.
On page 104, "(same as 158)" was replaced with "(same as 154)".
On page 104, "king's" was replaced with "King's".
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Breaking into the movies" ***
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