Mabel normand

“That Little Band of Gold“

Keystone-Mutual – Two reels – Reviewed by Peter Milne.

Mack Sennett, director-in-chief pf the Keystone comedy has produced in “That Little Band of Gold,” a comedy that will cause any house to rock with laughter over the entire two thousand feet of the picture. This, you will say, is nothing unusual in Keystone comedies, but some persons have been speaking harshly of recent Keystones because they contend there are some things in them which should be left out, but not even the most staid and prim old maid in the neighborhood will find anything offensive in these two reels of fun.

The famous team, Roscoe Arbuckle and Mabel Normand, appears first as lovers then as man and wife, then as divorcees, then as lovers and lastly as man and wife again.. But, there is another gentlemen who appears who is equally as important as these, a gentleman who will receive a warm welcome. He is no other than our won Ford Sterling, back again going stronger than ever,

Most of the fun takes place in an opera house, where bibulous Fatty has taken Mabel, his wife and his mother-in-law on whom he looks with growing disfavor. In an opposite box are friend Ford, a belle, who is recipient of his great admiration, and another who has the odious role of chaperone.

Well Fatty makes his escape, robs Ford of his belle, leaving him the chaperone and all four repair to a cabaret. Ford is jealous, so he calls Mabel to the phone, with the result that a divorce follows, but Fatty and Mabel fall in love all over again and soon after get married.

A mere outline of the plot comes far from doing the picture anything like its deserved amount of justice, for the laughs will result from the clever actions of the players, all of whom are capable comedians. Both Fatty and Ford are acknowledged masters of facial expressions. What is more it is of their own manufacture, for their facial contortions are inimitable as attempted imitations have proven.

“That Little Band of Gold” is worthy of a feature’s place on any program. Only trouble with the picture is that it is too short. Outside of that it is all right – all right in every degree.
* from Photo-Play Review, April 20, 1915

Mabel Normand Not Married

An ambitious but misguided press agent of a Los Angeles theatre started a rumor to the effect that Mabel Normand, “Queen of the Movies,” and Bert Levey, a theatrical agent, were married and the affair caused Miss Normand much annoyance. She was in San Francisco at the time and when the report reached her ears she sent the following telegram to the Keystone studios at Edendale:

“To all my friends in the Keystone, Greetings: Be assured that I am not married and have no such thought. Some foolish person evidently thought to perpetrate an April fool joke which was both cruel and misplaced. My love and best wishes to you all. Please post on bulletin.

Mabel Normand”

At about the same time Mr. Levey sent a wire discharging the press agent. Levey is not even a friend of Miss Normand--merely an acquaintance of the most casual sort, having met her in connection with the “Tillie’s Punctured Romance“ feature which Mr. Levey controls in several states.
* from Los Angeles Times, April 21, 1915

Also Films

Mack Sennett is playing a leading role in the new six reel comedy feature which he is producing, in which Miss Normand, Owen Moore and Ford Sterling are featured.¹²⁴

Miss Mabel Normand, “Queen of the Movies,” was greatly annoyed a few days ago by a “nut” who followed her to her home and later to the Keystone studio. He informed the gardener at her home that he was the “King of the Movies,” but being no respector of any royalty other than his employer, he chased the “King” into the street. The self-made “King” waited until Miss Normand left her home to go to the studio and followed her, attempting to enter when she did. He was promptly seized by the gateman and placed under arrest.

Having taken all sorts of spectacular chances before the camera, Miss Mabel Normand is here shown in a moment of comparative quiet.

Because the motion picture art is so new and unfettered by tradition, because its possibilities are even now admittedly unguessed, it is enlisting the eager efforts of producers, writers, scientists, young aspirants for dramatic fame, and actors and actresses who have already won success on the real stage. The earlier pictures reproduced, as do many still, simple stage plays, thereby providing an inexpensive form of amusement; but, as an expert in the field said recently, “The true function of the film is to show that which could not be shown on the stage.” And that is what the film is now doing. The film shows us grand dramatic and historic spectacles acted by hundreds of characters in the proper surroundings: Rome, Egypt, the Saharan desert, or our own forests, plains and hills. It shows us the hidden lives of plants and animals, the wonders of the laboratory and of physical science. The pictures on this page relate to a little of what is being done in the motion picture world, showing a few – a very few – of those who are doing it

Rushing along at seventy miles an hour in a motor driven by a daring engineer called “the Speed Demon.” Or something else equally suggestive is merely commonplace in Motion Picture Land. Ability and courage to ride restive horses, to swim, to scale steep cliffs and high castle walls, to dive from great heights, and to perform other sensational and athletic feats are valuable qualities in one department of film

Because the motion picture art is so new and unfettered by tradition, because its possibilities are even now admittedly unguessed, it is enlisting the eager efforts of producers, writers, scientists, young aspirants for dramatic fame, and actors and actresses who have already won success on the real stage. The earlier pictures reproduced, as do many still, simple stage plays, thereby providing an inexpensive form of amusement; but, as an expert in the field said recently, “The true function of the film is to show that which could not be shown on the stage.” And that is what the film is now doing. The film shows us grand dramatic and historic spectacles acted by hundreds of characters in the proper surroundings: Rome, Egypt, the Saharan desert, or our own forests, plains and hills. It shows us the hidden lives of plants and animals, the wonders of the laboratory and of physical science. The pictures on this page relate to a little of what is being done in the motion picture world, showing a few -- a very few -- of those who are doing it

[Caption to accompanying photo:] Rushing along at seventy miles an hour in a motor driven by a daring engineer called “the Speed Demon.” Or something else equally suggestive is merely commonplace in Motion Picture Land. Ability and courage to ride restive horses, to swim, to scale steep cliffs and high castle walls, to dive from great heights, and to perform other sensational and athletic feats are valuable qualities in one department of film dramatics.
* from Photoplay, May 1915

 Grace Kingsley

...”Put your mind on the fashions and anticipate changes,” said Miss Mabel Normand, the popular New York motion picture actress at present appearing in the Keystone pictures. “It’s not hard if you watch the tendency of fashions to prophesy what the next thing’s going to be.

“I get many fashion tips from my mother, who lives in New York and is in touch with the leading fashion firms there. But I don’t rely too much on today, for pictures taken today must represent tomorrow’s fashions else they will be out of date when the film is shown.

“Praise be, I’m doing a costume play of 1820 at present, and all I had to do was to go to the library and browse ‘round till I found pictures of that date.

“Don’t you think this gold thread dress is pretty? Silks, velvets, satins and flowered and striped materials are best in pictures. I often have materials photographed before I make them up.”

 interview with Mack Sennett by Harry Carr

“When Miss Normand first came to my company,” said Sennett in his club the other night, “She got such a small salary that I can’t think of any word short enough to tell about it. Now she gets the second or third highest salary in the picture business.

“Miss Normand is such a wonderful success even more on account of her head than her good looks. She is quick as a flash and just naturally funny. She is funny to talk to. She seems to think in sparks.”

Sennett was asked if Miss Normand didn’t have troubles like other people learning to act. “Worse,” he said. “The trouble with her was inducing her to keep quiet. Like most girls with quick thoughts, she acted quickly. She moved so quickly that the audi­ence couldn’t get it. Deliberation and poise were lessons she had to learn. It was a tough job getting her to slow down. After that, she took up the problem of getting what I call ‘man comedy’ -- that is, the repressed stuff. Not just flying around but sit­ting still and showing the changing thoughts on one’s face.”
* from Photoplayers Weekly, May 14, 1915

Mabel’s Mail

Mabel Normand, Keystone star comedienne, has a secretary to care for her correspondence which has long since overflowed all possibility of personal attention. Last month she received a total of seven hundred and twenty-six letters from all parts of the world. Many contain requests for photographs; others seek advice about sisters or daughters entering the moving picture profession and some are freak letters on all manner of subjects. Much of the accumulation is handed to Miss Normand who dictates the replies. Some of the letters, such as requests for photographs are handled by the ordinary routine.

Last month one letter was received from a wealthy but eccentric lady residing in South Carolina who expressed her desire to adopt Miss Normand. In part the letter follows:

“One of my amusements in this little Southern town is visiting the moving picture theatre. I thought it was a very sinful sort of pleasure for several years until I was induced to make a visit with a friend, but I have found that it is really innocent of evil consequences. I have seen you in many pictures and am full of sympathy for the rough treatment that you receive in some of them. How much better it would be if you could live in a quiet, restful place such as this?”

Mabel replied, thanking the dear old lady for her sincere kindness but assuring her that rest and quiet were as foreign to her nature as the Swanee River is to icebergs.
* from Motography, May 15, 1915

Mabel Normand and Roscoe Arbuckle (Fatty) arrived back at the studios, having been at the San Francisco Exposition for two weeks on the grounds of which they staged two hilarious comedies. They also brought back about one thousand feet of film of the Exposition, which will be used for educational purposes.

The six-reel Sennett feature which has been in the making for the last two months and in which are being featured Mabel Normand, Mack Sennett, Ford Sterling, Owen Moore and almost all the other members of the stock company, will be finished within the next week if the good weather keeps up.

How these players do enjoy themselves! The other night a big American exhibitor visiting Los Angeles gave a banquet to the Keystone players, and after it the players gave an impromptu show of their own. Fatty Arbuckle sang several selections, Ford Sterling recited a German dialect story, Syd Chaplin gave a Cockney dialect recitation, while Mabel Normand demonstrated the latest society dances.

Appropriate favours were at each guest’s place, Mabel Normand being given a miniature diving Venus; Ford Sterling a stuffed doll; Roscoe Arbuckle a doll representing a fat boy; Chester Conklin a saw and saw-buck; Harry McCoy a “snookums”--his nickname among the players; Minta Durfee a kewpie doll; Mark Swain a miniature ambrose, and Syd Chaplin a k’nut.
* from Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1915

Playing Post office

Mabel Normand, Keystone star comedienne, has been obliged to hire a secretary care for her correspondence. Last month she received a total of 726 letters from all parts of the world.

 from “Impressions” by Julian Johnson

Mabel Normand: a kiss that explodes in a laugh; cherry bon-bons in a clown’s cap; sharing a cream puff from your best girl; a slap from a perfumed hand; the sugar on the Keystone grapefruit.
* from Photoplay, June 1915

 Grace Kingsley

Mabel Normand’s home is a big two-story house in a semi-colonial style. Its high ceilings and roomy stretches give a vastly restful effect.

The dining room which is used much as a living room, is a long apartment with high beamed ceilings and wainscoting of mission oak. Collecting odd bits of furniture is one of Miss Normand’s hobbies, and her graceful Chippendale would gladden the heart of the most discriminating connoisseur. A wide grate at either end of the room glows with fragrant log, and the walls are decorated with antlered heads that are mementos of hunting trips in the mountains of California.

Miss Normand’s bedroom is as distinctive as the great dining room. A Louis Quatorze bed, for which she has been offered big sums, and a sleeping porch for use in hot weather, are the two items of interest in this part of the house.

There is a big garage at the back of the house.

Miss Normand owns two pedigree collie dogs, whose ancestors slept before the firesides of the first families of the land in the days before the Civil war. There is a rose garden at the rear of the house where the owner delights to walk early in the morning.

Mabel Normand has engaged a cottage at Venice and spends much time there. Her town house is not closed for the summer, however, as she motors from beach to city and back daily.

The huge concrete tank which serves as an artificial lake in the making of Keystone comedies, is a popular spot during the warm summer days. As soon as the light begins to go in the afternoon the greater portion of the Keystoners don bathing suits, and as much rivalry exists among the many expert swimmers, the impromptu competitions are of interest to the crowd that surrounds the tank. Mabel Normand leads in swimming skill and is really a wonderful mistress of aquatic sports. She excels in high diving, long and short distance swimming and duration under water.

One day last week Fred Fishback, a powerful young man who acts as assistant director for Walter Wright, was stunned by contact with the side of the tank through a misjudged dive. Although an excellent swimmer, he was rendered temporarily helpless and would have been in great danger of drowning had not Miss Normand plunged in and rescued him.
* from Photoplayers Weekly, June 24, 1915

Mabel Normand recently paid $45 for hospital service when her blue-ribbon cat became ill. After the cat was discharged as cured it was brought home and died the following day. Henceforth Miss Normand will purchase nothing but stuffed cats.

World famous as a comedienne, Mabel Normand, known wherever films known as “Keystone Mabel,” couples her success with that of her great director, Mack Sennett. She first worked with Mr. Sennett in the old Biograph days, and when he left that organization to form the now celebrated Keystone company, she joined him immediately and they have worked hand in hand to accomplish the astonishing success of their special brand of film. Miss Normand’s capacity as an actress is of a special nature. She astounds by her ability to play rough and tumble parts and at the same time preserve her immaculate femininity intact. How she does it is as much of a secret as the peculiar, unusual and essentially different type of make-up she achieves in each separate part she is called on to play.

Miss Normand, whose picture career began before a Vitagraph camera and continued, after a few months with Biograph, in her association with the Keystone brand produced at the Edendale studios, has devoted herself entirely to comedy. The Keystone comic films captivated the public from the start. They have a character all their own. Mr. Sennett‘s fertile brain brought forth one novel plot after another, each more fantastic, more excruciatingly funny than the last. Miss Normand’s contribution to these creations was not her appearance alone.
* from New York Morning Telegraph, June 27, 1915

 Clem Pope

(Los Angeles)--Pretty soft for some of these Keystone actors this nice warm weather. While the mercury is trying to blow out the top of the bulb, the water in the Keystone tank gurgles merrily while the actors do the sea nymph stuff. The other day Fred Fishback, in diving in the plunge, misjudged the distance and collided gracefully and firmly with the concrete wall, and was rendered temporarily helpless. Mabel Normand did the Carnegie stunt and saved him. Sure I know that Fred Palmer is a publicity man, he has to make a living some way.
* from Motion Picture Magazine, July 1915

Great Cast Contest

Best Leading Woman  Mary Pickford

Best Character Woman  Norma Talmadge

Best Comedian (male)  Charlie Chaplin

Best Comedian (female)  Mabel Normand
* from Photoplayers Weekly, July 8, 1915

No medals have ever been pinned on Raymond Hitchcock‘s manly breast for proficiency in equestrian sports, but since he became a member of Mack Sennett’s Keystone comedy forces he has not refused to take a chance at anything that has been suggested when the value of a picture has been at stake. So when he was requested to ride an emotional horse in the high with no emergency brake, he bravely mounted and exhibited all the nonchalance of old Colonel Cody himself. But the horse knew the difference, and, taking the bit in his teeth, he set out to shatter a few records. “Hitchy” did a Todd Sloan crouch and he and his mount disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Miss Mabel Normand, who rides as if she had been born in the saddle, saw the getaway and leaped onto her mount, following in the wake of the runaway. After a half mile chase, she caught up and grasped “Hitchy’s” bridle, pulling up his steed and rescuing a panting star from what might have been a serious fall. After changing horses Mr. Hitchcock resumed the scene and all was well. The picture, one of Mr. Sennett’s latest two reel features, will soon be released.
* from Photoplayers Weekly, July 8, 1915

Mabel Normand, featured Keystone star, owns a summer home in Bear Valley, and one of the greatest delights of her life is to take parties of friends on weekend parties. This summer, however, the important parts she is playing in two reel features make it impossible to get away from the studio long enough to make the trip up into the hills, so Miss Normand has engaged a cottage at Santa Monica and motors to and from the beach daily. Merry gatherings at this seaside residence take the place of the hunting and fishing trips that had been planned for the Bear Valley visits but the “Queen of the Movies” contemplates enjoying a week or two at her mountain home later in the season.

 Clem Pope

(Los Angeles) -- On July 9 a party of Keystone players will prove that they are ladies and gentlemen outside of the routine of work and appear at a benefit at St. Catherine’s Church. Among those who will be present are Raymond Hitchcock, Mabel Normand, Roscoe Arbuckle, Harry Booker, Phyllis Allen, Polly Moran, Ford Sterling, Chas. Parrott, Chas. Avery, Harry McCoy and Glen Cavender.
* from Moving Picture World, July 17, 1915

Last week the Los Angeles Baseball Club held a benefit for the widow of “Hap” Hogan, who died here recently. The picture people gave their generous support, there being representatives from several companies to draw the crowds. Charlie Chaplin and some Essanayers were there, and Ford and Mabel, with Roscoe, frolicked around on the lawns. James Snyder, while taking part in the funny ball game, fell and broke his shoulder.

Mabel Normand killed a five foot rattler last week. As she was motoring through a canyon south of Los Angeles she caught sight of some flowers and stepped from her car to pick them. While walking through a clump of sage brush she heard the ominous sound of a rattler and jumped to one side just in time to escape its strike. Seizing a stick which lay nearby she struck at the reptile and quite by accident she admits, caught it fairly on the head, stunning it. Picking up a heavy stone she crushed its head. In order to prove her story was not of the fish variety she threw the snake into her car and brought it to the studio.