pushed by their mother to look for a career as a film actress. Mother and daughter traveled to Vitagraph Studios in Flatbush, New York, just a streetcar ride from her home. They managed to get past the studio gates and in to see the casting director, who promptly threw them out. However, scenario editor Beta Breuil, attracted by Talmadge's beauty, arranged a small part for her as a young girl who is kissed under a photographer's cloth in The Household Pest (1909). Thanks to Breuil's continued patronage, between 1911 and 1912 Talmadge played bit parts in over 100 films. She eventually earned a spot in the stock company at $25 per week and got a steady stream of work. Her first role as a contract actress was 1911's Neighboring Kingdom, with comedian John Bunny. Her first real success came with Vitagraph's three-reel adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities (1911), in which she played the small role of the unnamed seamstress who accompanies Sidney Carton to the guillotine. With help from the studio's major star, Maurice Costello, the star of A Tale of Two Cities, Talmadge's acting improved. She continued to play roles from leads to extras, gaining experience and public exposure in a variety of characters—from a colored mammy to a clumsy waitress to a reckless young modern. She began attracting both public and critical notice. By 1913, she was Vitagraph's most promising young actress. That same year, she was assigned to Van Dyke Brooke's acting unit, and throughout 1913 and 1914, appeared in more films, frequently with Antonio Moreno as her leading man. In 1915, Talmadge got her big break, starring in Vitagraph's prestigious feature film The Battle Cry of Peace, an anti-German propagandist drama, but ambitious Peg saw that her daughter's potential could carry them further, and got a two-year contract with National Pictures Company for eight features at $400 per week. Talmadge's last film for Vitagraph was The Crown Prince's Double. In the summer of 1915, she left Vitagraph. In the five years she had been with Vitagraph, she made over 250 films. In August, the Talmadges left for California, where Norma's first role was in Captivating Mary Carstairs. The whole enterprise was a fiasco; the sets and costumes were cheap and the studio itself lacked adequate backing. The film was a flop, and the small new studio shut down after the film's release. The demise