Rupert Julian — How to Succeed in the Movies (1917) 🇺🇸
Rupert Julian, author, actor and director of Bluebird Photoplays, is a very busy man — so busy that he seldom has time to sit down and tell any one about his own career, which has been one of which he might make several thrilling scenarios, if he ever runs short of ideas.
But the other day I was lucky enough to catch him in an idle half-hour between scenes in The Door Between, the elaborate Japanese Bluebird which he was producing at the time. This is very fortunate for the purposes of an interview. He was in a communicative mood. He had been engaged in casting his next picture, provisionally called A Wife in Arizona, selecting fitting types of all kinds, that is to say, for some of the small roles, and for the big scenes which required a lot of people. This has to be done some time before the picture is started. Julian’s minute attention to detail is one of the noteworthy features of his splendid work, and he was induced to talk freely on “How to Succeed in the Movies.”
“I am always on the lookout for talent,” he said, “and you never know where you may find the divine spark. That is what keeps up your interest.
If the director is forced always to take the people chosen for him, his usefulness to the picture and the company is greatly curtailed.
Rupert Julian’s Progress.
Rupert Julian, director and star of Bluebird Photoplays, came into prominence when the program was nineteen weeks advanced — and he has kept in the foreground ever since. Naked Hearts was his first production, and his personal artistry in presenting the play and acting the stellar role won immediate approval from followers of the then comparatively new series of features.
His fine ideas of production were conspicuously advanced in his next offering, Bettina Loved a Soldier, and still further along in The Evil Women Do, The Bugler of Algiers, then renamed We Are French, The Right to be Happy and The Gift Girl. In all of these productions Mr. Julian played stellar roles, his associates being severally Elsie Jane Wilson, Louise Lovely and Ella Hall.
Especial praise has been given by newspapers and the public to his presentation of the great We Are French, a play of patriotic inspiration which came just in time to serve as an incentive to love of country in our own present need of defenders. The Right to be Happy was Mr. Julian’s version of Dickens’ immortal Christmas Carol, and proved to be another work of conspicuous artistic achievement.
These achievements decided Bluebird to make a move of importance to screendom — Mr. Julian was given a special company with pretty Ruth Clifford the star, and Monroe Salisbury her leading man, the work of presenting de luxe Bluebirds then beginning. A Kentucky Cinderella, The Mysterious Mr. Tiller, The Desire of the Moth and The Savage have been rated as the cream of Bluebirds. Now comes The Door Between.
Rupert Julian’s Method
by Peter Pepper
‘Extra people’ are nearly always worthy of a director’s study. Almost every one of note as an actor in the film world to-day began as an extra, unless they came with a big reputation from the stage. A crowd of persons waiting for a job outside the gates of a ‘picture city’ is like a mine of undeveloped ore for the director. He never knows when he may come across a nugget of the real stuff. “I personally select my people whenever I can, for written applications are not generally considered. Of course, they are sent by the thousand, but the only real chance for a neophyte who has made up his mind to tread the thorny path of motion picture playing, is to call at the studio in person, and keep on calling until he gets attention. Then he has taken the first step, for, in my opinion, the only way to start is as an ‘extra.’
“The market is not oversupplied with good players, though poor material is a drug in every market — in pictures as in everything else. Talented players are always in demand. Even persons of no dramatic experience have a sporting chance, if they go after the prize seriously and sincerely. ‘Types’ are necessary to the screen, and every description of face, figure, complexion and form is required for photoplays. Personally, I am a believer in actors of experience rather than in the so-called ‘natural types.’ I believe most decidedly in all possible preparation for a screen career. Training in dancing is especially valuable, as it adds greatly to the player’s deportment — a matter of vital importance to the screen player.
“Beauty is quite non-essential. Personally, I am a very ordinary-looking fellow, and yet I may say, without self-flattery, that I have made a success. It has not been easy. To the average beginner this business seems to hold abundant promise of glory, to say nothing of easy money. In reality, it is a hard, uphill fight, bounded on all sides by failures and heart-breaking reverses. It takes a vast endowment of luck, courage and perseverance to succeed. But I suppose I would do it all over again if I had another chance. After failing at all ‘honest work,’ you know, I tried the stage. I had been various other things before entering pictures — a sailor before the mast, for example; a tea salesman, the engineer of a donkey engine, a gold prospector in the wilds of Australia, as well as an officer of the British army, and a prisoner of the Boers. When I determined to try the stage, it nearly broke my mother’s heart. But that is the only way, if you have the fever — break her heart and suffer the insults of the stage director for your punishment. My first director said that I would never make an actor, and it has taken me eighteen years to prove it.”
“Will you give advice, according to your experience, through the Weekly, as to how to get into the movies, Mr. Julian?” he was asked.
“Willingly,” he answered. “The only way is to follow the regular routine. Influence and introductions are of no real use. Steadfastness, brains and temperament are the principal requirements. If an applicant is sure that he has those, let him haunt the nearest studio until he gets a hearing. He may send a written application, though, as I have said, they are seldom considered. He should by all means be armed with photographs of himself, both full figure and bust pictures. Of course, it is impossible to tell whether a person will register well from a photograph, as his registering depends upon his ability. Stage experience, in my opinion is preferable, even for an extra.
“When the beginner has graduated out of the ranks of the ‘extras’ into those of the ‘regular actors,’ he must not think that he has nothing more to learn. You never stop learning in this profession. Even the oldest actors are constantly coached. Nothing will advance one but study and work, but the best gift for which to pray the gods is originality. You may protest that originality is not given much chance of expression, if you are a screen actor. To a certain extent that’s true, but genuine originality will always reveal itself, and it is priceless. Pictures, like every other art and profession, demand those who are best adapted to their needs by nature. You will find your level in spite of reverses, if you are sincere and earnest in your work at all times. One word of caution. Use tact.”
Rupert Julian’s Rules.
- Follow the regular routine.
- Don’t use pull or influence.
- Persevere in your application.
- Don’t stop studying because you have arrived.
- Show all the originality the director will permit.
- Use tact and discretion on every occasion and toward all directors and actors.
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Collection: Moving Picture Weekly, December 1917