Philip Curtiss

“ Absorbing constantly, by a species of objective intelligence, a vast experience in the pure craftsmanship of his art, gripping whatever he gained with a fierce tenacity that was constantly overreaching itself, the little man had eventually forced himself up to the very top line of the second-class actor. ”

“ Just a cooked-over version of 'Love Girl.' They never seem to get the idea that you can't ride one horse forever."
The little man was eager enough, but it all seemed very far from the point, and Bellsmith was only listening in a vague, dull weariness.
"Did you ever tell them that?" he suggested.
"Tell them, hell!" retorted the comedian hotly. "Who was I but a big fat 'ham' from the old-time circuit who ought to think himself lucky to be in the show at all without telling Walter Gay's little tin gods how to run it."
Bellsmith rose and filled the comedian's glass from the stout decanter. ”

“ Do you know how Harcourt & Gay made their money?"
"No. Not exactly," replied Bellsmith, which meant that he did n't know at all.
"Well, I 'll tell you how they did it," said Barnes. "Listen! They made it by playing safe every time, by letting the other fellow take all the chances. They brought out nothing that had n't been tried out by some one else. That meant foreign shows, mostly. They made their big money ten to fifteen years ago with 'The Princess Trix' and 'The Amber Whistle,' both Austrian shows, and then for five years they did n't produce one single new show—all stuff from Vienna. ”

“ To them the show business was like you buying land—to keep other people from getting it first. They never wanted a thing until they found out that somebody else wanted it. You could have offered 'Chu Chin Chow' to Harcourt & Gay in those days and they would n't have looked at it, if any one over here had written it. But send it over to London or Paris and play it a month and then they'd give a million dollars for it without ever seeing it."
"Just the same, that sounds like good business," suggested the chastened Bellsmith. ”

“ You 've got the value of thirty thousand dollars in costumes and sets. You can't want to throw that right into the fire. You 've got a good organization. We can get some one to write in a first-class part for Miss Marshall. The one she's got is no good. Then it will be all ready for her when she comes back. Just give us three or four weeks and some place to work, and I 'll guarantee to give you a show that you will be proud of."
Bellsmith did not reply, but Barnes knew that he was weakening. ”