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Show How I Broke Into The Movies c " Herman By RICHARD DIX STAGE engagements In a stock company in Los Angeles led to my motion picture debut. I got Into pictures almost against my will. I had several chances to do screen work before I finally took the opportunity. op-portunity. Oliver Morosco saw me in a play and had offered me a job in his stock company fully two years before be-fore I had any picture offers. I played In stock for Morosco for two and a half years, and that was what really led to my screen debut. Our stock company enjoyed the patronage patron-age of many motion picture people, and naturally I met many members of our audiences. Picture offers resulted, re-sulted, although few of them ever got beyond the conversational stage. I never took them seriously, until politeness, po-liteness, and nothing more, forced me Into having a screen test. I had met Jeannie McPherson, a prominent scenarist, socially, and she had tried to persuade me to have a screen test made. But I refused persistently. I wanted to be a stage star, but she kept repeating re-peating her request and I had agreed. I never was so shocked In my life as when I saw myself on the S - ' t - ' I i " $ ? y ' -' ' " If? ' S V Richard Dix. screen. I was glad the projection room was dark so my blushes wouldn't be seen. I cannot tell you what my emotions were, they were so confused. I only know that my hands looked like hams and I was hardly able to recognize my head. My reactions were justified, however, how-ever, for the part Cecil Deilille had In mind for me in his picture "Why Change Tour Wife," was given to Lew Cody. I continued with my work in stock. The same experience expe-rience was repeated with Lois Weber, the director. Shortly after this my stock engagement en-gagement ended and I went to New York. Three stage roles In New York two "flops" and one fairly successful left me Just about where I had started except for a little experience gained. Incidentally, Incident-ally, the most successful of the plays was "I Love You," written by William LeBaron, who was later an associate producer with a big Long Island studio. Our pleasant association was perhaps per-haps the biggest thing I got out of the stay in New York. All in all, the New York trip had been a failure and I was at a loss what to do next. I was almost ready to give up the stage entirely. I had three chances. A man was ready to finance me In the automobile automo-bile business in Chicago. And Oliver Morosco offered me a return engagement engage-ment with his Los Angeles stock company. I came west again and signed a contract to be starred In ten weeks of stock. T.erore I startcxl on the engagement, I entered pictures. Among picture people I met In Los Angeles wore Sidney Franklin, a director, and Joseph Sehenck, producer. pro-ducer. They were planning a picture, pic-ture, "Not Guilty," and I was offered of-fered the leading role. My screen test, thanks to a hotter makeup, turned out well In this ense, and at last I wns In pictures. After tho picture was released, I got several oft'ars to continues as a screen actor. I went from one production to another an-other with Mr. Goldwyn, and finally got the biggest part of my career up to that time. It was In a picture called "The Christian." Th-t part proved to bo n milestone In my career, for It resulted In the copract which made mo n star. 1 nas anxiously awaiting tho release re-lease of "Tho Christ Inn," because It "ns an entirely new type of role for me, and I'll confess thnt I wns dubious about the public's reception of It. But It proved a success. The W thing for mo wns that Jobno Msky saw It and sent for me. When J loft his office nrrnngonionts were completed forme to sign a long t'T'ii contract. first talking pW-turos woro TVIiIiik But tho Truth," "Wheel of lfe," mid "Cimarron." One of my .went pictures that, wns kindly rece'ved by the public was "The CoTiroors," I" which I wn -. I tarr vm, Ann Harding. WNU Service |