In a few years Mr. Olcott had evolved from the “village cut-up” at Biograph to director at Kalem.
Here he engaged Miss Auer for society parts and adventuresses. Stopped her on the Rialto one day. “I know you are an actress,” said Mr. Olcott, “and that beautiful gray silk dress you have on would photograph so wonderfully, I’ll give you ten dollars if you’ll wear it in a scene—it’s a society part.” For a dress that was gray, and silk too, was a most valuable property and a rare specimen of wardrobe in the movies in those days.
It came as pleasant news that a tabloid version of “When Knighthood Was in Flower” to be called “When Knights Were Bold” was to be screened at Biograph. There were four, or perhaps five, persons in the cast of this première “Knighthood” picture. My husband was one; so was I. The picture commemorates our only joint movie appearance.
I recall only one scene in this movie, a back-drop picturing landscape, with a prop tree, a wooden bench, and a few mangy grass mats, but there was one other set representing an inn. I never saw the picture and couldn’t tell much about it from the few scenes in which I played.
A one-reeler, of course—nine hundred and five feet. Now whether the cost of Biograph pictures was then being figured at a dollar a foot, I do not know. But that was the dizzy average a very short time later. Anyhow, our “Flowering Knighthood” was cheap enough compared with what Mr. Hearst spent thirteen years later on his Cosmopolitan production, which cost him $1,221,491.20, and was completed in the remarkably short time of one hundred sixty working days.
Mr. Hearst’s “Knighthood” had a remarkable cast of eighteen principal characters representing the biggest names in the theatrical and motion picture world, and the supporting company counted three thousand extra persons and thirty-three horses.
Miss Marion Davies as Princess Mary Tudor was assisted by Lyn Harding, the English actor-manager; Pedro De Cordoba, Arthur Forrest (the original Petronius of “Quo Vadis”), Theresa Maxwell Conover, Ernest Glendenning, (of “Little Old New York”), Ruth Shepley (star of “Adam and Eva”), Johnny Dooley, (celebrated eccentric dancer), George Nash, Gustav von Seyfertitz (for years director and star of the old Irving Place Theatre), Macy Harlam, Arthur Donaldson, Mortimer Snow, William Morris (of “Maytime” fame).
A few other names of world-famous people must be mentioned in connection with this picture, for Joseph Urban was the man of the “sets”; Gidding & Company made the gowns; Sir Joseph Duveen and P. W. French & Company supplied Gothic draperies; and Cartier, antique jewelry.
There were only two old movie pioneers connected with the production: Flora Finch, who back in old Vitagraph days co-starred with John Bunny and after his death held her place alone as an eccentric comedienne; and the director, Robert G. Vignola, who back in the days of our “Knighthood” was the young chap who dusted off the benches and furniture in the old Kalem loft.
But Robert Vignola, who came of humble Italian parentage, had a brain in his young head, and was ambitious. Realizing the limitations of Albany, his home town, he had set out for New York and landed a job in a motion picture studio. Young Vignola represented at the Kalem organization, in the early days, what Bobbie Harron did at Biograph. But the Biograph, from ranking the last in quality of picture production, grew to occupy first place, while Kalem continued on a rather more even way. But Bob Vignola didn’t, as the years have shown.