Gertrude Selby (1916) 🇺🇸

The first comedienne engaged for the L-Ko Komedies was Gertrude Selby, and she was the heroine of their first comedy, Love and Surgery. Since then she has become one of the most famous funny film girls. “I played leads from the start,” she said. “I cannot remember the time when I did not want to do something. I tried at thirteen to be a cloak model, but they laughed at me because I was so small and immature. Well, lots of people are laughing at me still, but now I enjoy it — that’s the difference! I found it hard to be funny very early in the morning, sometimes. I think it must be nice to be a tragedienne, so that when you feel cross at 8 A. M. you can indulge the feeling in your heart and rave as much as you want to. It takes a real artist to feel a comedy situation when she’s still half asleep.”

Miss Selby has a new reason for liking pictures. “I soon tire of the same thing,” she says, “and work in the legitimate is just a repetition of the first performance. I know, because I danced with Gertrude Hoffman (1883–1966), played with Gus Edwards, and had an act to myself in vaudeville.

“The only thing in the world that I am afraid of is — getting fat!”

—

Splendid Music for “The Black Crook”

Kalem production exhibited with special score pleases critical audience.

A showing of the Kalem feature, The Black Crook, was given in the projection room of the Wurlitzer Building on West 41st street, New York, last Wednesday. The object of the exhibition was to demonstrate what original music combined with well-selected music will do for a great spectacular feature like The Black Crook. Music for the feature had been specially composed and arranged by Walter C. Simon.

The splendid projection room was well filled with a critical but appreciative audience when, at 11 o’clock, Robert E. Welsh in a felicitous little address stated the purpose of the exhibition and introduced the composer, Walter C. Simon. Mr. Simon, a young man of pleasing appearance, bowed his acknowledgment of the applause and as he took his seat at the organ the picture was started.

The Black Crook was reviewed in the issue of the Moving Picture World of January 1. It offers unusual opportunities to a clever musician to increase the power of the story and to accentuate the many spectacular incidents. In both these respects Mr. Simon has completely succeeded. The weird and magic element which at times predominates in the feature was wonderfully well illustrated by the music. The visits to the cave where the Black Crook meets Zaliel, the sudden disappearance of the Black Crook, were accompanied by music that made every scene more impressive. The one point in the score that stood out with particular brilliancy was the way the young composer handled the music for the great spectacular parts of the film-play. There are dances of great variety, the minuet, the ballet, a Greek dance, a fairy dance, etc., all of which required different treatment to be made as attractive as possible. Mr. Simon did exceedingly well in each one of these spectacular scenes. It is difficult to see how the score for the various dances could possibly have been improved.

Presented with this splendid score The Black Crook becomes a performance of rare merit and presents many novel features which no audience will fail to appreciate.

—

V-L-S-E in New Home

Now occupies the entire sixth floor of the Mecca Building, 1600 Broadway, New York City.

Friday, December 31, was moving day at the V-L-S-E, when the attachés of the home office and of the New York branch office took up their quarters on the sixth floor of the Mecca Building, at 1600 Broadway. This is the floor which was formerly occupied by the Kriterion Film Company and the Kinemacolor Company. It has a total area of 12,500 square feet, which is about 5,000 more feet than the Big Four had on the seventh floor of this building. Artisans have been working day and night for several weeks past to get the new offices in apple-pie order. The entire interior has been redecorated, and many alterations made in the arrangement of the offices, which will make for increased convenience and comfort.

The New York branch office and the home office of the V-L-S-E proper, which in the old quarters were thrown together, will be separated in the Big Four’s new home. They will have a common entrance way, the reception hall opening on the Seventh avenue side of the Mecca Building to the New York branch office quarters, and on the Broadway side to those of the home office.

“The suite of offices of General Manager Walter W. Irwin will be located at the Broadway and Forty-eighth street corner of the floor. Adjoining this will be that of A. W. Goff, assistant general manager, and then in their order those of Leon J. Bamberger, sales promotion manager, and E. L. Masters, advertising manager. Opening from the hallway on which these offices face is the entrance to a large projection room that will permit of a fifty-foot throw. This room will be beautifully carpeted and luxuriously furnished, with every facility for the convenience of those whose duties will take them there. Adjoining the office of Mr. Irwin on the Forty-eighth street side is a commodious auditing department, next to which is the stenographer’s department and the director’s room, facing on the corner of Seventh avenue and Forty-eighth street.

Joseph W. Partridge will have his office next to the director’s, and his assistant, F. F. Hartich, adjoining Mr. Partridge’s. The New York branch office will have its own cashier, so that there will be no lost motion for exhibitors having business with the branch. The poster and shipping departments are in the front of the floor in close proximity with the elevators.

The fact that the V-L-S-E has found it necessary to take such commodious quarters after only nine months of operation would seem to indicate that the reports of the progress which this organization is making are well founded. It is said that the lease for these offices covers a long term of years.

—

Will Picture Larry Evans’ Novel.

The Frohman Amusement Corporation, through the efforts of its president, William L. Sherrill, has secured the photoplay rights to Larry Evans’ very successful novel, Then I’ll Come Back to You, which enjoys the distinction of being one of the best sellers of the current year.

In its serial form, it appeared in the Metropolitan Magazine, starting with the February issue and concluding in the November, 1915, number. During that time, it created much favorable comment and was hailed as a masterpiece of American fiction. As an evidence of the popularity of this story, it was put in book form about four weeks ago and sales show it now to be in its fiftieth thousand.

Miss Alice Brady has been selected as the star in this production, playing the part of Barbara Allison, with Jack Sherrill in the part of Steve O’Mara, supported by a cast of well known artists. The entire company will be taken to Asheville, North Carolina, within the next ten days, where the exteriors will be secured.

—

Jacksonville Turns Out For “Sis.”

Sis Hopkins was welcomed to the ranks of screen characters last Wednesday evening at a reception given her Creator, Rose Melville, by her fellow Kalem players and other screen artists now in the Florida city. The screeners turned out in full force and there were over a hundred present at the dinner and dance which was given in the Kalem studio. There are eight companies of players now working in the pretty territory around Jacksonville, including the companies located there for the winter and the feature organizations making brief stop-overs to secure the atmosphere for pictures that will be completed up north. At Wednesday night’s reception William Haddock, president of the Actors’ Society of America, and a feature director, made the address of welcome for the outside players, while Kalem’s producer, Robert Ellis, and Miss Melville responded.

Collection: Moving Picture World January 1916