And as manager and head director of the Kinemacolor Company went David Miles. Directly upon leaving Biograph, Mr. Miles had spent a short time at the “Imp” with Mary Pickford and her family, King Baggott, George Loane Tucker, Gaston Bell, Isabel Rea, and Tom Ince. Leaving “Imp,” he had gone over to Reliance. While at Reliance, and in need of a handsome young juvenile, there came to mind his friend Gaston Bell. Mr. Bell already was signed up for a ten weeks’ stock season in Washington, D. C.; with “Caught in the Rain” by William Collier and Grant Stewart, as the opening bill; Julia Dean, the leading lady; Mr. Bell’s part that of the dapper Englishman, the Grant Stewart part. Mr. Miles suggested that Gaston play the needed juvenile in the Reliance Company’s movie while rehearsing the opening bill of his Washington stock season in New York, and promised a good movie job when the Washington season ended. Said he’d rush him through at odd hours, so as not to interfere with rehearsals, and finish with him in time for the opening. Well, everything went along fine, and for the last scene Gaston reported beautifully arrayed in a new spring suit purchased especially for his stock opening. Suavely spoke the director, “Now, Gaston, we have saved this scene for the finish--we must take you out somewhere and run you over.” “Take-me-out-and-run-me-over?--in my beautiful new suit? Oh, no, you can’t.” But no one heeded Gaston’s distress. Everybody piled in the automobile--after a couple of turns it landed on a quiet street. “All out.” The car emptied--camera was soon set up and Mr. Bell shown the place where he was to be run over. These were amateur days in fake auto killings and injuries, but they did the “running over” to the director’s satisfaction and Gaston’s, as he escaped with no damage to his clothes or himself. But Gaston had reckoned without a thought of static. How many hours of anguish “static” caused us--static, those jiggly white lines that sometimes danced and sometimes rained all over the film. Early next morning his ’phone rang--Mr. Miles on the wire. “Awfully sorry, Gaston, but we’ll have to take you out and run you over again because there was static.” So they did it again, and again was Gaston dismissed as finished. It came close on to train time: another ’phone--ye gods, static again! He’d be bumped from juvenility to old age in this one running-over scene, first thing he knew, and hobble onto the stage with cane and crutch, which would never do for his precious little Englishman in “Caught in the Rain.” Well, they ran him over again. This was Saturday. The following Sunday the company was to leave for Washington. Thinking to cinch things, Mr. Miles offered, should anything be wrong with the scene this last time, to pay Mr. Bell’s fare to Washington and his expenses if he would stay in New York over Sunday. “Wildly extravagant, these picture people,” thought Mr. Bell, as he departed for Washington with the company.