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3 ш INTRODUCTION “We are the mortar between the bricks,” said legendary character actress Beulah Bondi, describing her work and that of her colleagues on screen.1 If the character player is the mortar and the stars are the bricks, how then may we explain the purpose of extras, “bit” players, and stand-ins? Their performances and their contributions to the films in which they appear—or more rightly the films in which they serve—are seamless. They are the unknown performers, without whom many a project might remain unrealized, but who, with few exceptions, are irrelevant in terms of their names and qualifications. They exist neither in the credits nor (with some not always honorable exceptions) as attention seekers or celebrities. They are neither the mortar nor the bricks; instead, they provide that unknown quantity that is always part of the moviegoing experience and of the moviemaking program . The extras may constitute crowds—occasionally a face in the crowd— or they may be more accurately described as“atmosphere.”To a large extent, it is the extra who adds substance to all the non-intimate scenes in a film. Extras endure and survive, and they have done so almost since the beginning of the motion picture.Yet they are both unknown to and unnoticed by their audience and generally by the players that they are hired to support directly or indirectly. Milton Sills, one of the great dramatic actors of the silent era, came up with a sensible distinction between him and the extra: “The gulf between the ‘extra’ and the actor is rather wide. It is defined largely by the accolade known in the industry as ‘screen credit.’”2 What Sills ignores is that at times extras add as much, if not more realism to the scene as the actor. Above all, they provided a setting in which the lead players can demonstrate their special talents. There was a distinct caste system in Hollywood during the silent era. At the studio, stars occupied lavishly furnished bungalows, while extras shared two rooms—one for the women and one for the men—furnished only 4 / I N T R O D U C T I O N with wooden benches, one long table, and individual lockers. Relationships among the players were described this way in 1932: Stars and featured players mingle freely at work and at play. There is a feeling of intimacy and friendship between them. The important free-lance actor, provided he is accepted as a good fellow, joins this group socially. Here the line tightens. The “bit” player finds himself just outside. At times he mixes with the star, due usually to a previous association in the old days of pictures or on the stage. He is not “accepted” in the full sense of the word, however. No law keeps the extra from associating with the important actors. But there is an unwritten rule governing his actions. He stays by himself or with his group on the sets and is rarely invited to social gatherings of the celebrities.3 The disparity between star and extra was never more evident than in salary, a disparity comparable today almost to the discrepancy between the take-home pay of workers on an assembly line and that of the CEO. For example , for the Warner Bros. 1944 production Passage to Marseilles, the studio hired twenty extras to play convicts. Each worked for a minimum of two weeks and took home a weekly paycheck for $82.50. In contrast, the female star, Michelle Morgan, was hired for a minimum of three weeks at a weekly salary of $3,500.00.4 One star of the silent era sympathetic to the plight of the extras was John Barrymore. It is reported that he walked off the set in the middle of the day, leaving a couple of hundred extras with nothing to do. He was not particularly tired, but he was aware that making a living was difficult for extras. By deserting the set, Barrymore guaranteed them another day’s work.5 The director quickly became cognizant of the relationship between star and extra. When placed in close proximity to a star on the set, the older, more experienced extras would—once the camera began rolling—introduce little pieces of business to draw the audience’s attention to themselves.At the same time, there were many kindly leading players who would watch over some of the younger extras, suggesting they keep close...

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