Item Info

Publication Date: 1/17/1914
Media Type: House Organs
Source: Theatre Collection
Notes:

Lubin’s Famous Players: Edgar Jones.

   It may be because he was born in the Middle West and spent his young manhood there that Edgar Jones brings to the screen today that buoyant breeziness which is usually associated with Westerners only. Certain it is that his wholesome, virile masculinity breathes the spirit of the great out-of-doors. This same quality, as well as his stalwart, muscular frame, forceful countenance and intrepid horsemanship, have frequently brought forth the inquiry if he was not at one time a model for Frederic Remington’s ideal plainsmen. It has been said, too, that Edgar Jones might have been the prototype of one of Bret Harte’s bold heroes of California in the 40’s, or one of those picturesque gamblers of the Mississippi steamboats when the West was in the making.

   The quick recognized accorded Mr. Jones by the picture public is a happy indication of its appreciation of the genuine Western man, when it has been said that the counterfeit cowboy of the movies was good enough because most people did not know the difference. 

   Like most prominent picture players Mr. Jones is a graduate of the stage, having first appeared in Lubin films less than two years ago, after a few seasons in the companies of Kyrle Bellew and Viola Allen, with some stock engagements and several special productions between. 

   From the outset Mr. Jones attracted attention. He had not appeared three times on the stag before his earnestness and the perfection of his type — he was a cowboy in a revival of “Arizona” —  brought him an offer of something better. Thus it has been all along: he has been recognized for his untiring efforts to improve himself, his zeal in working toward perfection in whatever part he had to play, and his commanding magnetism. 

   Few players entering the field practically unknown have been so speedily made favorites by the public and have been so rapidly advanced by their management as has Mr. Jones. It was just that conscientiousness, that ability to master the difficulties of directing as well as acting — not forgetting his commercial value — that induced the Lubin Company to promote Mr. Jones to the responsibility of directing the photoplays in which he plays the leading part. 

   Most of the young actor-director’s pictures have been made at Betzwood, the vast Lubin estate on the Schuylkill River, where he has had resources at his command for the filming of out-of-door stories such as no other director in the East has had at his disposal. 

   Like some other players in the mute drama, Mr. Jones has become imbued with an absolute disregard for his own safety and, at times, his very life itself. During the summer just past, when he and his company were filming “The Man of Him,” in which Jones was supposed to be buried in quicksands, his life hung in the balance.

   The sand had been saturated with water in order that the star might sink surely and swiftly, and so, with his nose and ears carefully stuffed with cotton, he began the scene. He staggered across, became engulfed in the sand and began to sink. He could not signal for help, for his gestures would be mistaken for acting, and he dared not open his mouth for fear of strangling. After what seemed an eternity his hand finally disappeared. This was the signal for the camera to stop and the corps of rescuers to fall to. Jones was dug out, nearly suffocated by a mouthful of gritty sand which had been forced between his lips when he felt himself losing consciousness. Yet he began the next day another story which required a daring risk which made the exploit of the day before seem tame by comparison. 

Call Number: Lubin - Bulletin I:6