I looked at the cowboys galloping over the Western plains, and in their place there rose before me Henry Esmond crossing swords with the Young Pretender, wiry young D’Artagnan riding out from Gascony on his pony to the Paris of Richelieu, Carmen on her way to the bull-fight where Don José waited to stab her. Why not? Here was the most wonderful medium of expression in the world. Through it every great novel, every great drama, might be uttered in the one language that needs no translation. Why get nothing from this medium save situations which were just about as fresh and unexpected as the multiplication tables? When I went into that theatre I had no idea of ever going into the film business. When I went out I was glowing with the sudden realisation of my way to fortune. I could hardly wait until I told my idea to my brother-in-law, Jesse Lasky. “Lasky, do you want to make a fortune?” With these words I burst in upon him that evening. Lasky, who was at that time in the vaudeville business, indicated that he had no morbid dread of the responsibility of great wealth. “Very well, then,” I continued. “Put up some money.” “In what?” “In motion-pictures,” I answered. “Motion-pictures!” scoffed he. “You and I would be a fine pair in that business--me, a vaudeville man, and you, a glove salesman! What do we know about the game? Besides, how about the trust?” [Illustration: ELSIE FERGUSON Dignified stage star who lost none of her lustre on the screen.] [Illustration: MR. GOLDWYN, MABEL NORMAND AND CHARLIE CHAPLIN] His last words touched upon a vital issue in the screen industry of that period. The truth of it was that motion-picture theatres throughout the country were practically at the mercy of ten companies which, for the privilege of showing pictures, collected a weekly license fee of two dollars each, from fifteen thousand theatres. I shall not enter here into the argument by which the combine justified their taxation. I shall merely remark that the existent system presented an obstacle worthy of consideration. However, all the way home I had been preparing an answer to this protest of Lasky’s, and now I eagerly put it forth. “Give the public fine pictures,” I urged. “Show them something different from Western stuff and slap-stick comedies and you’ll find out what will become of the trust. And why should your entertainment have to be so short? If it’s a good story there’s no reason why it couldn’t run through five reels. I tell you the possibilities of the motion-picture business have never been touched. We could sell good films and long films all over the world.”