“Orphans of the Storm” was finished in time to open in Boston about the
end of the year 1921. Lillian and Dorothy accompanied Griffith to the
first showing; also, to other first showings in the larger cities—as far
South as New Orleans, as far West as Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Everywhere they were fêted and entertained; in New Orleans the railway
station was crowded when they arrived; the news correspondent says that
a procession with a “real, honest-to-goodness brass band led the way to
the City Hall, where the Mayor of New Orleans gave Lillian and Dorothy
Gish a warm welcome and the freedom of the city.”
Perhaps there were not brass bands everywhere, but always a crowd,
always entertainment, always a reception on the stage after the picture,
with demands for a speech, which Lillian had to make. In Washington,
they were given a special luncheon by President and Mrs. Harding, with
great boxes of flowers which, with Griffith standing between them,
Lillian and Dorothy were obliged to hold while they were being
photographed. The papers spoke of the “democracy of these two
celebrities, who were so cheerfully willing to meet in a ‘closeup,’ in
the lobbies, after their appearance on the stage, proving the bigness of
their characters.” True enough, but there was another side to it:
Lillian to Nell:
We have been going around the country on the “Orphans” tour. It is
all so nerve-racking. I would rather do anything else, but if it
helps Mr. Griffith, of course I could not refuse, and I suppose it
is a good experience. You can’t be a hermit all your life, though
I do not enjoy crawling out of my shell.... I was never made for
this life—if they would only let me go by unnoticed.
She could not hope for that. They had her back in Boston, to ornament
the hundredth showing, and the celebration was greater than ever. Miss
Crabtree, once the adorable “Lotta,” was there. Lillian went into a
stage box to see her. The little old lady, darling of a former
generation, kissed her affectionately, and taking her hands, sat
stroking them. Presently she said, softly: “Take care of your beauty,
dearest—it goes so soon—so very, very soon.”
In an interview, Lillian expressed a belief that colleges might give
moving-picture courses, thereby improving the standards of both acting
and morals in productions of the future. This was seized upon by the
Harvard Dramatic Club, and she was urged to speak at the Harvard Union.
She had spoken briefly at a number of churches, during her travels, and
presently we find her addressing an audience of several thousand, at the
Chelsea Methodist Episcopal Church, in 178th Street, New York. The
burden of her purpose, as to the pictures, she conveyed in these words:
“The industry needs the development that the people of the church and
the educators can give it. We players are doing our very best to get rid
of all objectionable elements, but we want outside help.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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