Manton represented a secondary phase in film finance.
Continent Films, his first corporation, was a stockjobbing
concern. Grasping the immense popularity of Stella
Lamar, he had coaxed her away from the old studio
out in Flatbush where all her early successes had
been photographed. With the magic of her name
he sold thousands of shares of stock to a public already
fed up on the stories of the fortunes to be made in
moving pictures. When much of the money so raised
had been dissipated, when Continent’s quotation
on the curb sank to an infinitesimal fraction, then
it developed that Stella’s contract was with
Manton personally. Manton Pictures, Incorporated,
was formed to exploit her. The stock of this
company was not offered to outside investors.
Stella’s popularity had in no way suffered from
the business methods of her manager. Manton,
at the least, had displayed rare foresight in his
estimation of public taste. Except for a few
attempts with established stage favorites, photographed
generally in screen versions of theatrical classics
and backed by affiliations with the producers of the
legitimate stage, Continent Films was the first concern
to make the five-reel feature. Stella, as a Continent
player, was the very first feature star. Under
the banner of Manton Pictures, she had never surrendered
her position of pre-eminence.
Also, scandal somehow had failed to touch her.
Those initiated to the inner gossip of the film world,
like myself, were under no illusions. The relations
between Stella and Manton were an open secret.
Yet the picture fans, in their blind worship, believed
her to be as they saw her upon the screen. To
them the wide and wistful innocence of her remarkably
large eyes could not be anything but genuine.
The artlessness of the soft curves of her mouth was
proof to them of the reality of an ingenuous and very
girlish personality.
Even her divorce had helped rather than harmed her.
It seemed irony to me that she should have obtained
the decree instead of her husband, and in New York,
too, where the only grounds are unfaithfulness.
The testimony in the case had been sealed so that
no one knew whom she had named as corespondent.
At the time, I wondered what pressure had been exerted
upon Millard to prevent the filing of a cross suit.
Surely he should have been able to substantiate the
rumors of her association with Lloyd Manton.
Lawrence Millard, author and playwright and finally
scenario writer, had been as much responsible for
the success of his wife as Manton, and in a much less
spectacular way. It was Millard who had written
her first great Continent success, who had developed
the peculiar type of story best suited for her, back
in the early days of the one reel and General Film.
It is commonly known in picture circles that an actress
who screens well, even if she is only a moderately
good artist, can be made a star with one or two or
three good stories and that, conversely, a star may
be ruined by a succession of badly written or badly
produced vehicles. Those of us not blinded by
an idolatrous worship for the girl condemned her severely
for throwing her husband aside at the height of her
success. The public displayed their sympathy
for her by a burst of renewed interest. The receipts
at the box office whenever her films were shown probably
delighted both Manton and Stella herself.
