"A Visit to Movieland" reprinted from The Forum magazine, January 1920. This is the 3rd of 9 parts. Written by "The Forum's Correspondent."
"Raving Beauties" Not Wanted:
It was in the studio building that we heard words of wisdom concerning these "extra" girls and their male supers. The words fell from the lips of a very blase you man upon the door of whose office was the legend "Assistant Director." Cabinets of card indexes were backed up against the walls whose spaces were covered from floor to ceiling with a most astonishing gallery of photographic pulchritude. "Yeah, they're all extra girls," he said, indicating the photographs, "and in the cabinets, there, I keep the dope on them, filed." Opening one of the cabinets, he took a card.

Mary Pickford
"When a girl comes in here for a job," the assistant director explained, "the first thing I do is to size up her face. Will she photograph? We're not looking for raving beauties--we're looking for types. The really pretty girl, the girl whose facial measurements are classic, rarely makes good later as an actress. It's the distinctive

Pauline Frederick

Margarita Fischer
And, likewise, from the records of the male extras, was it evident that self-appraisal errs more often than not where the movies are concerned. For on one card, of a young college graduate, I saw on the back that the Cerberus of the studio had enthusiastically written "fine type for East Side gunman." So, girls and young men, if you would become movie stars, be not discouraged if you are not put to work after your first interview. A good Assistant Director is sizing you up when he is talking to you; and some day, when they need a princess of royal blood or a shoplifter, you'll get a 'phone call to come to the studio after you think they've forgotten you.
Next: Part 4: "What Success In the Movies Is
Previous: Part 2 - "A Land of Perfect Weather"
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