One day in 1920, a letter arrived at Mack Sennett's Keystone studio in Hollywood, Calif., from a teenage girl in Mammoth, Utah.
She included a few snapshots of herself, along with a request to be in the movies.Joey Marion McCreery, born April 9, 1902, was just out of high school when she received a response, inviting her to come by the studio for an interview if she ever got to Hollywood.
Shortly thereafter, 18-year-old McCreery arrived at Sennett's door for an interview - chaperoned by her 24-year-old stepmother. And while she waited to hear back from Sennett, McCreery entered photographs in a contest run by another studio.
A few days later, she was hired by Sennett at $25 a week - and then received word that she had also won the other contest.
"You see, this was in 1920," she would recall years later, "and it could still happen like this."
Choosing to stay with the more prestigious Sennett Studio, McCreery was assigned to short films, specifically the "Little Mermaid" and "Sunshine" comedies. And she was asked to change her name - Joey Marion McCreery seeming a bit cumbersome.
So, she dropped both her first name and the last half of her surname - and came up with "Marion Mack."
Mack also met her future husband at the Sennett Studios. Lewis Lewyn was assigned to take publicity photographs, and he singled Mack out for extra shots. He then offered to drive her home, which began their courtship.
By 1923, Mack had graduated from short films - which gave her little to do other than stand around in a bathing suit - to full-length features.
Now married to Lewyn, she appeared in three successive films: "Mary of the Movies" (1923), "One of the Bravest" (1925) and "The Carnival Girl" (1926), all now forgotten - and probably lost.
But an unforgettable film was just on the horizon.
In 1926 Buster Keaton was looking around for an old-fashioned girl to take the role of Annabelle Lee in his Civil War comedy, "The General" (1926). Mack's makeup man on "The Carnival Girl" recommended her to Keaton, she went in for an interview and was hired on the spot.
"The General" is based on a true Civil War incident in which a handful of Union spies disguised themselves as Southern civilians to steal a Confederate locomotive.
Keaton plays Johnnie Grey, engineer of the stolen train who gives chase to retrieve it. In Keaton's version, his true love is aboard the abducted train - so he is in pursuit of his two great loves.
"The General" (the name of Johnnie's locomotive) is full of exciting chases and rescues; it's a classic example of Keaton's art form. And he spared no effort in making the film as authentic-looking as possible.
On location for six months in Oregon, Mack found that though Keaton was shy, he was also a lover of practical jokes. On- and off-camera, she found herself the butt of his pranks. But years later, Mack would say that she felt this was simply Keaton's way of letting her know she was accepted as a member of the team.
Finding her to be such a good sport prompted Keaton to have Mack do all of her own stunts. She never used her double. And she received plenty of bruises as she worked on actual moving trains and as she was tossed about when her character was concealed in a gunny sack.
In one scene, Mack was supposed to help Keaton put water in the train. With the camera running, Keaton stood on top of the engine and lowered the water tower's spout, which then came loose, dangling free and unattached - releasing a gusher of water onto Mack.
But Mack wasn't told about the stunt beforehand. Her reaction in the film is more then acting - and it was a good thing her words remained silent.
When "The General" opened theatrically, most reviewers panned the film, and it flopped at the box office. The Civil War theme was considered too realistic for a comedy. Indeed, looking at the film, one might think that the famous still photographer Matthew Brady was there with a movie camera.
The film also took its toll on Mack's career when her husband complained about her being on location for such a long time. As she considered herself an old-fashioned girl at heart, Mack chose to retire as an actress.
She stayed active in the movie business, however, helping Lewyn write a string of successful short films for Paramount. (One - "La Fiesta de Santa Barbara" in 1936 - was nominated for an Oscar.)
"Since my marriage meant more to me than anything else, I just refused all offers," Mack said near the end of her life. "We were only about two years away from our golden anniversary when he passed away."
"The General" remained virtually unseen for many years but was rediscovered in the 1950s. Critics and moviegoers all over the world hailed the film as an unappreciated masterpiece.
During the 1970s, it was revived once again, this time on the film festival circuit. And Mack made personal appearances to talk to audiences about her working relationship with Keaton.
Today, "The General" is considered Keaton's finest achievement, a comedy classic up there with Charlie Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" and Harold Lloyd's "The Freshman."
And the little girl from Mammoth, Utah, is very much a part of its greatness.
Marion Mack died in 1989 at age 87.
This is one silent movie that many video stores stock. As the film is on tape in several versions, look for one that has the organ score by Gaylord Carter or the orchestra score by Carl Davis. Prints for these versions are taken from Keaton's own library and are a pleasure to behold.