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Show , 'l- . - pswfTirfft TrMR?WT?5T ftlTWWF 5? Little Alary Charleson jr SaysSomeDay in Trials II for Alurder, Films 'Will. II Be Used in Arguments OME day," says Mary Charleson, Charle-son, the Essanay star, "somo brilliant lawyer 13 going o Introduce moving pictures Into legal trials. Just think what a hit he would mako with Juries, If, Instead of going go-ing through usual tlrcsomo H Eueechmaklng, he would present hla argument H In pictures." , . 9 ' I "Seeing Is bollevfng." Is the secret of tho I . great power and popularity of tho pictures. I ' Narratlvo In speech or print never convinces fl h- as clearly as action I Thoro nro several reasons for this. Ono of tho greatest Is that many people, most people, peo-ple, lacl. Imagination. They hear only tho speaker's words, or heed only the printed letter of a page, and unless tho speaker or the wrltor draws wonderful and accurate word pictures their minds absorb nothing but tho ourface of the narrative." Tho moving pictures not only tell the story, but they supply Imagination to those who look at them. Tho spoken or written story tells you that John Smith went down tho street ond met a gray-whiskered man at tho corner, cor-ner, who presented him with a bouquet of carnations car-nations and a black cat in a bird cago; and you, If you have no Imagination, got no more than that. But when you see a plcturo of tho same thing your mind travels beyond tho action, and what sccmod perfectly Insane In tho telling looks logical In tho pictures, because seeing tho thing dono starts your thinking apparatus. Tho man with gray whiskers stimulates the Imagination. You figure out that he Is cither Wpy a lunatic or that he is paying an election bet or something llko that, and you are right up I on your mental toes wondering what Is going HI to happen next. You wonder why there la no If bird In tho cago. Did the cot eat tho bird, or If do somo people always keep their cats In bird II f cages? It If Building Your Own Story. If You think your mind races ahead of tho If picture; you build a little story of your own, If while lr tho reading or listening jour mind l utops at the end of each aentenco and jou II wait for tho thing to bo explained to you. If That Is tho reason that many peoplo who If Dover read books and cannot "abide" fiction If otorles go to tho plcturo shows and revol in If the most absurd and Illogical plots of the It Boreen. What would have no appeal to thorn II on a printed pngo appeals to them greatly II when they see the characters doing tho things If In tho films. If Illogical action Is clothed with reality; tho If most unreasonable steps taken by the char-It char-It actors becomo plausible because they aro seen m? doing tho things that their 'magJnauon tells It1 them they might havo done or would do under II the samo circumstances. If You can seo yourself gravely accepting tho If caxnatlonn and cat In tho bird cage from the If gentleman with gray whiskers, becauao your If Imagination has already figured out a solu- If tlon. and your awakened romance Is crying If with curiosity for what is going to happon II next. If Merchants aro using plcturo cameras and If projection machines to exploit goods, becausa II the pictures speak louder than any words or set speech the salesman might recite to his prospective customer. In many of tho salesrooms of the big cities customers aro shown moving pictures of factory processes, taken through every detail of the making of merchandise, and tho futuro will, no doubt, see traveling salesmen equipped with a movie machlno, that will bo packed in with their samples, and when a salesman gets to a town the first thing he will do, after spreading o'lt his wares In tho hotel display room, will b to rig up his movlo machlno, and then ho wm Invite tho merchants of the town In to soo a stronger argument as to the merits of his goods than ho could over hope to give thorn with mero speech Moving Pictures at a Trial. It Is not at all unreasonable to supposo that Miss Charleson's prediction of motion pictures in court trials will bo fulfilled. And to anyone who has been on a Jury and sat through tho long-winded speeches that follow long-winded trials, an early fulfillment will be most earnestly dcalred. , Imagine youraelf ono of twelve peers who have been kept away from your business, and your family, and your baseball, and everything else worth living for, listening to counsel for tho dofenBo and counsel for the prosecution wrangle over obscure points of tho law until you havo come to wish It were tho attorneys Instead of the prisoner at the bar, that you hav,j the privilege of hanging or sending up for life. What a relief It would be to know that when tho speech-making time camo you were to be argued with by pictures Instead of tho hateful voices of tho two learned gentlemen of the bar! What a rellof It would be for tho bailiff to darken the room and show you tho early and blameless lifo of the accused depleted on the screen. You could seo him. aa a llttlo boy, bolng kind to other bojs and refraining from pulling tho hair ribbons from the pigtails of-little of-little girls, seo him robuko the bad boys for throwing snowballs at the elderly gentleman, eeo him raise a protesting hand whon the other lads wero about to docorato tho stray dog'3 tall with a tin can; seo his whole llfo laid out before you In masterfully acted plcturea that showed nothing but goodness and purity up to the day he was falbely accused of putting a figurative spider in his rich uncle's biscuit for his Insurance money. Wouldn't that bo more forcible and convincing convinc-ing than any words hie lawyer could utter especially If the room wero so dark that you could not Bee tho accused's face whllo the pictures pic-tures wero going on? Pictures by the Prosecution, Or, on tho other hand, what a skulking scoundrel ho could be mado to seem whon tho other side got Its whack at him. The prosecution prosecu-tion could get ono of the well-known screen villains to enact that part, and any Jury would be willing to hang tho accused without leaving their scats Think how Invaluable pictures would be for tho lawyers to strengthon a woak alibi, how tho accused could bo shown returning homo when he was supposed to havo been clsewhoro You could seo him weaving hlo uncertain wav down tho street, which could account for hla walking two miles to cover one; 300 IiIb efforts to And tho keyhole to his front door for ten long minutes. That would explain tho discrepancy discrep-ancy between tho tlmo he Bald he got homo and the time his wife said ho got thero, and provo conclusively that he could not havo been In Simpson's barroom when tho fatal shot was flrcd that demolished tho plate-glass mirrors and othorwlao created hob with the decorations and an all-around rough house. Think of what pictures would mean In a f ia rs 'IBIP W --'A. '"(( ' m f ) eSCSSoSv 'M . -J I I divorce trial; what jars of spiced pictorial evidence evi-dence could bo unreeled and how tho public would revol In It! If tho contestants were rich enough, ono of tho well-known vampires of tho screen could be employed to take the part of tho other woman In tho caso; or in breach of promise cases, tho fair and broken-hearted auer could enact the part herself with some handsome horo of tho 'movies taking the part of tho sueo. What Jury would fail to award damages on tho spot when thoy saw tho lovomaklng and billing and cooing workod out befoio their oyes In place of listening to tho summing up of the samo testimony from a lawyer who was may-bo may-bo 56 years old and had tho Influenza and chin whiskers Of couise, pictures cannot be used for direct testimony, because peoplo aro not in tho habit of committing misdemeanors In tho bright light neceasarv for the taking of a movio film, but some day some genius may Invent a machlno that can bo sot up In tho spot where crimes aro about to bo committed that will silently record tho damning ovldcnco of misdeeds Husbands might have thorn hid away In obscuro corners of the house, and when no sues hl3, wlfo for separate maintenance ho could show tho Judgo and jury th'e movies of tho day his mother-in-law visited them, and how hl.'i life waa a burden from that day on What Jury would fall to find for the plalntlK In tho face of such action? f Mary Charleson, who predicts legal films, waa born in Dungannon, Iroland. which fact probably accounts for hor habit and power of prophecy, and If she, proves Ho bo as good a prophet as aho la a film player all that she says about movies In coui trooms will eoon come to pass. Miss Charleson comos from a theatrical family; fam-ily; hor father was at ono tlmo a well-known actor of tho English stage. Tho family camo to Amcilca a few years after Mary's birth, which occurred In 1S93. They settled In California, Cali-fornia, and their small daughter was placed m a convent school to bo educated. As soon as she was old enough to talk about what sho was going to do when 6ho grow up, llttlo Mary Charleson announced her Intention of living up to the family traditions and becoming an actress. As soon as she left school sho set ?bout carrying out her plans, and her voice, which was ery strong and sweet, and the natural nat-ural ability she had Inherited from her parents, made It an easy matter for her to find a placo on the atnge. Miss Charleson's first appearance was with tho Grand Opera Stock Company in Los Angeles, An-geles, In Ingenue parts She played with a number of Pacific Coast dramatic organizations organiza-tions an then took up moving-picture work, at which she was an almost Immediate success. Miss Charleson Is of medium stature, haa dark hair that curls In natural ringlets without with-out having a thing dono to it or having a thing put on it. It la Just tho kind of Irish hair that ha; tho habit of falling into curls of Its own accord. Sho has Celtic gray eyes, a wcll-doflned wcll-doflned senso of humor and an unnssumlng disposition, likes emotional parts, und aays sho Just revels In roles where sho can be a fioor-scrubblnp. fioor-scrubblnp. down-trodden sort of horolno that always comes out on top in tho end MIbs Charleson's next film play, which will no called tho Salnta' Adventure, will be released re-leased on tho Kllcno-Kdlson-Sollg-Essanny program. In tho near luture. j AMSWERS TO FAMS j H Sign your name It will not appear In the IH column and give a title so that you will H recognize your answer. Address the Photo- H play Editor, care of this paper. IH IH .RELAND-Fandor In "Fantomas" waa Loula i Melchlor, That picture was made In Franco H and tho players wore all French. The Fair- H banks twins aro not related to Douglas Fair- banks. They aro 10. H l DICK D. Warner Oland, who plays the part ' l of the Japancro baron, Hurokl in Patrla, is a Swede. Addre-3 Milton Sills at Fathe. IH 2." West Forty-fifth street. New York, Bessie lf Eyton, Sollg, Los Angeles, Cal. Douglas Fair- IH banks carries the key to his own studio now ' H and will lease his futuro productions through H Artcraft, tho samo exchange that handles th9 iH Mary Plckford productions. IH p H BRIGHT EYES George Le Guere has been H acting for more than a dozen years and has been In pictures about two years. Ho Is IH really around 30, but looks much younger, and H always plays Juvenllo leads. jH IH JAY The American Film Company Is at 6227 H Broadway, Chicago, III. The Essanay la IH at 1333 Argylc Btreet. and the SeHg studio ia IH at Western and Irving Park boulovard Just IH now the Essanay Is tho only one of theso mo- H tlon picture companios making photoplays Ip IH Chicago, the othor two having transported all Wk theirayors to their California studios several H months ago. IH IH 5 C The fans arc now writing to Douglan M . Fairbanks in caro of Artcraft. 729 Seventh H avenue. Now York Give him the Impression tH that it will add materially to your happiness to IH come Into tho possession of ono of his plcturea IH and he will probably instruct his necrctary to H send you one H IH ,-, HAS. ELTON Mary Miles Mlnter Is 15. is H C still single, and gets her letters at the H American Fllni Company, Santa Barbara, Cal. H K you ask her in a real nice way, Charles. H wc think she would send you her picture. H IH t-i D1TH HOPWOOD Maurice Costello Is in H E his -JOs and is r-arrlcd. Ethel Grandln is m Mrs Ray Smallwood In private Ufe and Is H about 23 Letters will be forwarded to them H from th Metro Pictures Corporation. !. IH Broadway. New York. Il .miH F B.-A detalfed synopsis of a photoplay H L. Is nlmost a short story, except that thcra tM Is no dialogue; tho story is developed by aeon H alone If you havo your plot well in mind H and can see your characters going through H tnrtr parts as if they were on the screen be- H fore you. von will have no trouble in writ.nff H out your story Begin at the beginning. Just H as the play should appear on the screen, and H bring It to a logical conclusion You may ha H to go over It several times to put In tho llttlo H nctalls. but It will all bo good practice, and K trill make it easier for you to write your next H .HHH ' vLLMO-If you can write Ptorlea it should H Iot be hard for you to write photoplay- So H many people would like to write, but tlW H STve nothing to write about. o u a Jortu- H nato In knowing what goes Into the maklnB H of a story. The synopsis of a photoplay 13 H l1TnS Say the skeleton of a story. You H CrJt. olo idea and plot, but no frills no H now ery language, no conversation-nothing H but action. M ,nLOOR-Whoever spread the rumor that H F Francis X. Bushman ana jjbvw., .- m werelng to stop playing toother after Tho H Great Secret was finished was mlstak en They H are even now at work on tho llrst of a series of H flvo-rcol features in which they are to co-star. H Thov both answer letters. Their address is. H Mtro. H7C Broadway. New; York. H fc s A. A photoplay, more than a story, H A. must have a well-deQned plot to It. A story H is often nothing but a character sketch with a H verv weak plot to hold It together but a pho- H topiay must bo nearly all plot-w th. plent of H opportunities for "close up" pictures of the H IsBBsl ,-, K. Alma Reuben was tho Uttlo Pata- H G. gonlan girl in American Aristocracy, op- H poslto Douglas Fairbanks. Toto Dc Crow Is the H name of the actor who played the part of Sonor H do Castile. H H ,-;,rlLDFLOWER-Hclen Holmes Is with the H VV Signal Film Corporation, Los Angeles. H California, M |