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Show j Girls Get an Increase in Salaries j f At fj. Giebler's Latest Story BREAKING INTO THE MOVIES 1 r TT1T time that Myra Jones and i spent at a French studio, where we obtained positions after giving up pictures for J I the regular stage, then rhang- l 1 1 1 cr our minds, was the most V S a interesting period of our ca- recr. The days wero full of long hburi, hardships, and even dangers 1 havo scars on me that I will carry to my grave from acting with a wire fanee in one of Mr Stephens-alleged Stephens-alleged comedies, hut It was all very wonderful and the best schooling In the world. We played every kind of part Imaginable. One day It would be low comedy and the next heavy tragedy We frequently made comedy and dramatic dra-matic scenes within the same hour. In the morning, when the weather was good and the sun shone, which was seldom, as It was in January, we would go out on locations for exteriors. W e always went In two big closed automobiles and arrled a small side-wall tent along, to be u.ed f..r a dressing room when changes of costume were necessary. The outside work done, we would rush back to the studio and work under tho bright lights on studio stuff. The plant turned out four ono-itcl ono-itcl comedies a week, and we were going at top spi ed dl the Lime often we worked far into tho night on plays that had to be ready for release lat; On these occasions madamo. the proprietor, proprie-tor, would serve us supper and a midnight lunch, which she prepared and cooked herself in a very complete kitchenette that she maintained at the studio. YV liked tho outside work best as long as We were out in the country or In the villages, but It was not so nice In the streets of Now .rk nnd Brooklyn, where wo went frequently on account of the crowds. The people would block the streets as soon as the movie players appeared. It seemed Impossible Impos-sible to guard against this. Many of the play we made required the exteriors of small shops and stores In the poorer part of the city. Tho "locator" would go to the owner of a store and bargain with him for tho use of the location Maybe wo would need to only have an actor enter or exit from the store, but tho proprietor would get Jo for the privilege 1 he "locater" would swear him to secrecy to keep the crowds away, but Invariably we would find a big audience waiting for us In the street, and the proprietor's family occupying reserved n-ats at the upstairs window, If the family lived abovo tho sioro. which they usually did. These voluntary audtenees were a great dal f trouble. Ons day I wheals m. heavy banana cart for two blocks on Eighth avenue. It was a Iv-art-lnterest rccne. 1 was supposed to be tho wife of an Italian fruit peddler who was sick, and I was taking his placo to buv bread for our little brood of seven children, three of whom were following in In the street. It took two policemen to keep the number from being swelled to a dozen Every child In the neighborhood neigh-borhood wanted to Join In the procession Tho crowd on either sldo of the street amused themselves by talking to me. ' Ge to It, kid." they would yell. And one fellow advised mo to "put more elbow grease into my work." The funny side of the situation struck me and I had a most difficult time to keep from laughing. The crowds wero not alwavs respectful, espe-Cialij espe-Cialij If we were making a love scene, or anything any-thing sentimental. If an actor had to kiss an actress, a chorus of ahs' and "ohs" and the sibilant sound of kissing would echo up and down the street One day we had a seen where Myra played wife to Karl Fisher. Karl was supposed to havo killed a man and Is arrested lie thinks Myra has Informed on him and refuses to kiss her gocd-by when the police come to drag him away from his family. The scene of the arrest was staged at the studio, but as the play was loi ated in tho Bowery in New York, the scene where the police emerge from the house with the prisoner was staged on that famous thoroughfare thor-oughfare to get the correct atmosphere. There were four well-dressed youths In the street audience that day, who looked as though they might have been college boys out on a lark. When the police, with Karl handcuffed and Myra weeping, and tho same threa children that supported mo in the banana picture tagging tag-ging at her heels, entered the scene from the hallwav of the tenement house. Myra clung to Korl and told him she had not "turned him up" to tho police, and begged him to kiss her good-ty these young chaps edged up as closo as they could get and amused themselves and the crowd by making remarks. Ono of them was very persistent. "Kiaa him. old girl." he cried to Myra. "You're bigger than he is Go to it, ho can t get away." Neither Myra nor Karl paid any attention to this, As soon aa tho scene was linlshed the "smart aleck's" companions wanted to go. -Not yet," he said "I'm going to stay here and see somebody get kissed." I knew Mvra was angry. She stepped toward the edge of tho erowrl whero tho young fellows wcrs, one of her long aims shot out and grabber grab-ber tho fresh youth by tho collar. Ho tried to get away, but Myra was too much for him. "So ou w.nt to see somebody get kissed, do you""' she asked him. "Ml accommodate you." And then sho kissed him two or three times on each cheek loud, resounding smacks! 1 never saw nuch an abashed and wilted young man In my life. The crowd began to laugh at him and hoot aim as ho struggled to get away. "Now run along," said Myra, giving him a shove and a slap on the back that knocked tho breath out of him, "and tell your mother not to allow you out of her Bight without your nurse." The young chap moved away with his companions com-panions gulng" him unmercifully. I know he never heard tho last of that episode. The fourth week at the French studio was an epoch to both of us. We wero considered lm- M portant enough to have our pictures put In the advertisements. Myra and I sat for our photographs and they were turned over to the publicity department and posters were made of us In all colors of the rainbow. The early moving picture lithographs were not things of beauty. Myra and I each have ono of those first posters pos-ters folded sway, and Myra told mo the other day that whenever she gets tho blues she gets out her "ono sheet," as it Is called in billposters' billpost-ers' parlance, and has a good laugh. They did not look llko us in the least. Myra was labeled Tho Boisterous Comedienne" and I was called an "Effective Exponent of Emotionalism." Emo-tionalism." But crude as it was, it was an epoch to vis. anc a short time afterwards our pictures appeared ap-peared In a leading trade journal. The article that went with them was laudatory It was .vrltten by the press agent of the studio, wno wouicj have lost his Job If he had written anything any-thing else but a laudatory story about us. But it meant progress, it was steps upward , Not long after this 1 received an offer to go with another company who wanted me to pla' second loads in a series of dramatic pictures they wero planning, to be known as Tho Mishaps Mis-haps of Mary. One of the directors we had known at the Acme studio had the work In charge and he L had evidently "boosted" mo to tho company. Thev offered me JSO a week. I was puzzled tho Increase was only J15 more than I was getting, and maybe tho new company was not as solid as madame's I didn't want to be separated from Myra I think that was what caused the most hesitation. I kept the news from her for two days because be-cause I was afraid she would say "Go to It, kid," and I might be tempted and then be sorry afterward. Finally I told her. ., yGc0, 1 m B,f,d vou told mo that." she said. "I've got the same kind of a secret on my chest. The Blalsdell people have been shaking n week lr. my face to head a new comedy outfit." W decided to ask Karl Fisher's ndvlcc. We told him that -we had each received an ofTer that meant more money, which we liked, but It meant s. paratton, which we did not liXo, and wo asked him what to do. "You poor fish," said Karl. "Go to madams and tell her that while you do not like to leave hor, a belter oricr has been made to you, and. ten to one, she'll meet the offer. She's not paying pay-ing either of you enough as it is." Wo had never thought of doing that, but decided de-cided to earn- out his suggestion at once. Myra said she wo..ld do the talking, and we went v dov n to the office and knocked on the door of madame's private offlcs, Madame "cam through" nicely, ' k I 1 |