ecting of the double exposure
(superimposure) device in motion-picture making has made possible the
screening of innumerable good stories which would otherwise have been
almost impossible of production. When only a few years ago the
Vitagraph Company made their very creditable production of Charles
Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities," the two leading male characters,
Sidney Carton and Charles Darnley, were played by two different
actors--the final action of the plot turning on the fact that these
two were "doubles," for this fact makes possible Sidney Carton's
supreme sacrifice for his friend and the woman he loves. There was a
fairly close facial resemblance between the two actors who played
these parts--enough, with the aid of the wigs they wore and other
make-up, to make the picture convincing. Today, no director would
think of putting on such a picture with two different actors in the
dual roles of Carton and Darnley. When, in 1917, the Dickens classic
was released as a William Fox feature, William Farnum played both
roles, and some really remarkable results were obtained in scenes
where both characters were present at the same time. Almost everyone
has seen pictures containing examples of the possibilities offered by
double exposure in making pictures of this nature.

In the first place, when two characters are supposed to be "doubles,"
it is certainly more convincing to have one player portray both roles.
Again, any additional trouble that is attached to making pictures of
this kind, on account of the double exposures involved, is confined to
those scenes in which both characters are present in the scene at the
same time, and even then the difficulty is minimized by the use of
close-ups.

For example, to show Carton in one scene where Darnley is not present
is simply to take an ordinary scene in an ordinary way. Then, suppose
you wish to show Carton seated in a chair at one side of the room
while Darnley leaning against the table at the other side of the room
talks with him. In pictures of this kind the director frequently uses
more close-ups than usual merely to avoid the necessity of making
double exposures, in connection with which the greatest trouble is
always the keeping track--by counting, for instance--of the moves of
the two different characters. But it is a much easier matter for the
dual-role actor, made up as Carton, to be photographed singly in one
part of the room as he goes through with the action of