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Page 71
For the moment we said nothing.
The scene before us was indeed interesting. Half a dozen
aeroplane engines and propellers had been set up outside the
picture, and anchored securely in place. The wind from them was
actually enough to knock a man down. Rain was furnished by hose
playing water into the whirling blades, sending it driving into
the scene with the fury of a tropical storm. Back of the
propellers half a dozen men were frantically at work shoveling
into them sand and dirt, creating an amazingly realistic cyclone.
We arrived in the midst of the cyclone scene, as the dust storm
was ending and the torrential rain succeeded. For the storm, a
miniature village had been constructed in break-away fashion,
partially sawed through and tricked for the proper moment. Many
objects were controlled by invisible wires, including an actual
horse and buggy which seemed to be lifted bodily and carried
away. Roofs flew off, walls crashed in, actors and actresses were
knocked flat as some few of them failed to gain their cyclone
cellars. Altogether, it was a storm of such efficiency as Nature
herself could scarcely have furnished, and all staged with the
streaming sunlight which made photography possible.
Pandemonium reigned. Cameras were grinding, directors were
bawling through megaphones, all was calculated chaos. Yet it took
only a glance to see that some marvelous effects were being
caught here.
At the conclusion I recognized suddenly the little leading lady,
It was the girl we had seen with Manton at Jacques' cabaret.
"That's the way to take a picture," exclaimed Millard.
"Everything right--no expense spared. I came over to see it done.
It's wonderful."
"Yes," was Kennedy's answer, "but it must be very costly."
"It is all of that," said Millard. "But what of it if the film
makes a big clean-up? I wouldn't have missed this for anything.
Werner never staged a spectacle like this in his life. Fortune
Features are going to set a new mark in pictures."
"But can they keep it up? Have they the money?"
Millard shrugged his shoulders. "Manton Pictures can't--that's a
cinch. Phelps has reached the end of his rope, I guess. I'm
afraid the trouble with him was that he was thinking of too many
things besides pictures."
There was no mistaking the meaning of the remark. Millard was
still cut by Stella's desertion of him for the broker. I caught
Kennedy's glance, but neither of us cared to refer to her.
"Where can I find Manton now?" Kennedy asked.
"Did you try his office at seven hundred and twenty-nine?" was
Millard's suggestion.
"No; I wanted to see this place first."
"Well, you'll most likely find him there. I've got to go back to
the city myself-some scenes of 'The Black Terror' to rewrite to
fit Enid better. I'll motor you across the ferry and to the
Subway."
At the Subway station, Millard left us and we proceeded to
Manton's executive offices in a Seventh Avenue skyscraper, built
for and devoted exclusively to the film business.
Manton's business suite was lavishly furnished, but not quite as
ornate and garish as his apartment. The promoter himself welcomed
us, for no matter how busy he was at any hour, he always seemed
to have time to stop and chat.
"Well, how goes it?" He pushed over a box of expensive cigars.
"Have you found out anything yet?"
"Had a visit from Phelps this morning." Kennedy plunged directly
into the subject, watching the effect.
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