IN FILMLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18173, 19 August 1922, Page 8 (Supplement)

IN FILMLAND.

" Lichtbild-Buhne," the German film magazine, has been endeavouring to find out how many cinemas there aire in tho world. The result of this " census" gives a grand total of 47,000, of which 20,000 are in Europe and 25,000 in America. In Europe first place is held by Germany herself, with a total of 3731 cinemas, Russia being second with 3500, Great Britain third with 3000, and France and Italy following closely behind. The United States claims 18,000 moving-pic-ture houses, more than one-third of the world's total. Booth Tarkington's " Monsieur Beaucaire" is to be filmed by Douglas Fairbanks, as soon as he has finished " Robin Hood." This delightful story has been served to an appreciative public a.s a play, as a musical comedy, and in book form. Great Britain has at last discovered a ! genuinely funny film comedian in the person of Mr. Walter Fordo, who has been making the cinema theatres ring w *th laughter. Mr. Fordo is inclined to model himself on Chaplin, Larry Semon, Mack Sennett. and other practitioners m the i American comedy field. " Walter Makes j a Movie," and " Walter Wins a Wager. ; two of his films, are full of good laughs ! and comic ingenuities, but are not characteristically British. Instead oi imitating America, Mr. Fordo is clever enough i to do something that not even America could imitate. Stories of a film Eldorado for writers •were related by Mr. George BernardShaw, at. a meetinc of the management committee of the Authors' Society held recently in London. " The cinema rights of a single story may be worth £10,000 to-day," ho said. " I have been offered £20,000 a year for five yeai-s if I agree to guarantee two films each year. No doubt , I have something of a reputation, but that jdoes not account for everything." "With H.R.H. the Prince of .Wales i through India and Burma"—the official film Tecord of the Prince's tour —was I shown a few weeks ago in England to a . large audience. * It is issued as a serial in six two-reel episodes. The firm of I Stoll has the handling of it. The Prince j is " featured" at his landing in Bombay, at parades, garden parties, and gymkhanas. He is shown riding a winner, playing polo, and watching the famous | devil dance. He goes tiger-shooting in | Nepal, and although at his special rei quest no photographs were taken during ! the actual shoot—for he does not want ! to pose as a big-game hunter —there are some magnificent scenes of the starting of the expedition, with the Maharajah's 700 elephants winding slowly up the river tH|d in the morning mist. Miss Norma Talmadge and her director were working over the casting "of a new cinema play recently. They were hunting for an actress who would fit a certain part —or rather, one who would walk the part, as her carriage was of the most importance. She was supposed to play a duchess, the locale of the story being laid where duchesses moved freely in the plot. And she had to walk like one. Telling the story of her attest, Miss Talmpdge savs : " Some of tie ' movie ' duchesses I have engaged for pictures, from time to time, were the Most splendid examples of our great democracy I have ever seen! The moment they*walked on the set one knew they had _never heard of Burk's Peerage. We sent a group of ambitious ' extras' into a corner out of the way of some cleaning women who had appeared, and started our quest. What we isaw was what one might see on Fifth AVienue any afternoon. Some of the women strutted, some slunk, and some used a Carmen swagger. Suddenly,' back" of a thin screen behind which a powerful light played, a woman's figure moved in silhouette. Head and shoulders were erect. The body moved with majestic ease and poise. ' There's our duches3, Miss Talmadge,' the director cried. It was one of thiß. scrubwomen, pail in hand, on her way to mop up the floor I Superbly she walked by us, treading the studio canvas as though it were a marble floor."