Although Charlie Chaplin was known as the master ofedy, with artistic achievements that were frighteningly high, in private he was actually a very serious person - some even called him the emperor on set!


    However, the three of them still rather agreed with what Chaplin had said, precisely because Miss America was a documentary, and behind it, Starry Entertainment, though also an entertainmentpany, seemed to have nothing to do with the film industry. No one would think that an entertainmentpany based in Antic City would affect Hollywood''s film industry in any way.


    "By the way, thewsuit from Edison has been filed; who will go to handle it?"


    Dous Fairbanks asked, holding Mary Pickford''s hand, as he addressed the others.


    In March of that year, Dous and Mary Pickford had a secret wedding in Glendale, California. Both of them had been married before - Mary Pickford had just divorced her former husband in early March, only to marry Dous by the end of the month.


    However, their marriage didn''tst forever; they divorced in 1936 and quickly found new happiness and families for themselves.


    But that was all in the future; right now, the newlyweds were very close.


    They had even nned to go to Europe for their honeymoon the following month.


    As for Edison''swsuit... the great inventor Edison''s life''s work was essentially inventing patents, then making money from those patents, and film technology was no exception.


    In fact, to deal with Edison''swsuits, filmpanies originally in New York and Phdelphia had flocked to Los Angeles.


    But this had merely changed state legal proceedings into federal ones.


    Until he lost awsuit in the 1930s, every filmpany had at some point been sued by Edison!


    Chaplin wouldn''t deal with such matters, and as a woman, Mary Pickford naturally wouldn''t attend such events. Dous raised the topic, clearly indicating he didn''t want to go either.


    So, they all turned their gaze to Griffith.


    Facing the eyes of the three, Griffith felt somewhat disgruntled. Among the four, Chaplin was arrogant and imperious, Dous and Pickford acted in unison, leaving Griffith, the one hailed as the greatest innovator in film history, filled with romanticism.


    This was precisely due to his character that when faced with situations he found displeasing, he wouldn''t speak out, preferring to let his feelings of discontent umte slowly.


    In the end, it was actually Griffith who first sold his shares in United Artists and left.


    "All right, I''ll handle this matter; you guys don''t need to worry!"


    Upon hearing Griffith''s response, the others showed relieved smiles.


    Chaplin, seated there, started discussing his ns for a new movie with Griffith, while Dous and Pickford discussed which country in Europe to visit first for their vacation.


    Griffith, while listening to Chaplin, nodded absentmindedly.


    .


    Not just in Los Angeles, but in other major cities across the United States, many were paying attention to the release of the Miss America documentary.


    In cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Phdelphia, where regionalpetitions were held,peting beauties promoted the screenings in theaters. In other major cities, beauties who had been eliminated from thepetition did the same, thereby harvesting a new wave of poprity.


    An audience member, having just watched the documentary, shouted to the beauty on stage taking a bow, "Sika, don''t cry, we will always support you!"


    Where someone shouted, others followed suit to echo the sentiment.


    Soon, the entire cinema erupted in support for Sika Kona.


    Sika Kona, standing on the stage with her eyes brimming with tears, had appeared on screen for less than a minute in a group scene in the film, yet unexpectedly she had garnered the support of the audience here.


    What Sika Kona didn''t know was that any other beauty standing there would have received the same apuse.


    It was merely a collective emotional release!


    .


    Amid the overwhelming buzz, the Miss America city preliminaries documentary reaped an impressive box office on its opening day.


    With screenings in over three hundred theaters across the country and movie tickets priced at only twenty cents each, the number of viewers surpassed a million.


    Converted to box office revenue, that was a whopping $200,000, but don''t forget it was just a documentary with a production cost of $70,000 and a promotion budget of $200,000.


    It seemed as if the box office hadn''t yet met the expenses, but this was only the first day''s earnings.


    Subsequent box office results, if calcted using normal patterns, would surely make Donnie Block some money.


    Of course, limited by current technology, neither Donnie nor the Phdelphia Film Company knew the exact box office numbers for the day, but the situation was telling.


    So, when Donnie received a call from Erickson, thetter sounded quite excited.


    "Donnie, the attendance in the theaters is very high. Thepany and I believe that this documentary will achieve impressive results!"


    "Yes, that is certainly very good news, but the credit all goes to you and your team!" Donnie''s tone was very calm.


    Erickson on the other end of the phone couldn''t understand why Donnie could be soposed; it was theirpany''s first investment in a documentary. Then Erickson assumed he understood: it must be because Donnie Block was used to big events, hence such news wouldn''t shock him.