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JANUARY
25 Cents
The National
(^uide to
SMotion Pictures
^^
H
■f
^^^i
\^inners/*5,000.00
Jut-Puzzle Content
Jn this Jssue
Eleanor- ^oardman
J0 l^ars Hence
What Will The Screen Stars Be Doins^
GKKTA GJIRBO
THE DTV^INE WOMAN
The M:?G^M
"Look, See and Remember"
Contest
Win Norma Shearer's
$50.00 This Month!
IF you don't think the millions of eyes out there in the darkened house see things, you ought to read our mail here in the M-G-M Studios. If our stage director uses a new kind of telephone cover, appearing for only a few feet of film; some woman will write in to find out where she can get one. If our costume director creates a new negligee, a dozen women will write in and ask where it may be ob- tained. Indeed there are seeing and re- membering eyes out there in the seats. Come now, you folks who see below the surface, and have a try at an- swering these questions. To the writer of the best set of answers from a woman I will send a check for $50.00 and the tiara head-dress worn by Greta Garbo in "The Divine Woman." To the writer of the best set of answers from a man I will send a check for $50.00 and the beret cap worn by Lars Hanson in the same picture. To the writers of the fifty next best answers, whether from men or women, I will send an autographed copy of my latest photograph.
Yours sincerely, NORMA SHEARER . .
THE flaming star of the North!
SOON she will appear
IN a brilliant, new screen play.
MORE exciting than "Ibanez' Torrent."
MORE seductive than "The Temptress."
MORE romantic than even
"FLESH and the Devil"
GRETA Garbo is indeed
"THE Divine Woman."
GRETA GARBO in "The Divine Woman" LARS HANSON anrLoWELL SHERMAN Adapted by Dorothy Farnum from Gladys
Unger's play, "Starlight"
A VICTOR SEASTROM PRODUCTION
Directed by Victor Seastrom
METRO
'wyn
MAYER
"More stars than there are in Heaven"
§oiai
Norma's Five Questions
1 Which do you consider Greta Garbo's greatest M-G-M picture to date, and why? (Please answer in not over 150 words.)
2 Give book title and author's name which furnish the theme for the forthcoming M-G-M picture, "Love," with John Gilbert and Greta Garbo.
3 What member of a famous stage family appears in M-G-M's "The Thirteenth Hour"?
4 Name the M-G-M stars whose names are commonly associated with these slogans: "The Smart Aleck," "The Prince of Romance," "The Man of 1000 Faces."
5 Name four pictures in the produc- tion of which M-G-M has received cooperation of the U. S. Government.
Write your answers o of paper and mail to way. New York. All by January I5th. Wi lished in later issue o Note: If you do not
Winners of "The Big Parade" Contest
of October
WILLIAM H. DILLARD
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tallapoosa
Mobile, Alabama
ELIZABETH COLLIER
Wills Point, Texas
Jiitoiraphed pictures have been sent to the nex,
50 1- ■
Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
FIVE minutes' check-up with any authority — your own dentist, for ex- ample— will quickly convince you that there's little mystery about troubles of the gums.
For your dentist will make clear to you that it's a simple case of cause and efFeCT. He will explain to you how the lack of rough- age and fibre in our food lulls our gums into a sluggish inertia — how it lowers their vital- ity and impairs their health— and he will show you, too, how its effects may be offset by a simple method of daily care which takes little if any more time than you now spend in brushing your teeth!
WHY MODERN FOOD IS SO BAD FOR OUR GUMS
To remain in health the gums, like all living tissue, need work and exercise. Nature planned that they should receive stimulation from the chewing of coarse food, to encour- age a free circulation of rich, fresh blood through their walls.
But we have thwarted that plan of nature's! For we demand only soft, rich foods — deli- cately prepared— daintily served. Roughage
Lyorit let your
gums sleep x\\t\x
health away!
Modern soft food makes gums dormant and flabby— Ipana and massage restore their vigor and their health . . .
in our food would only make us grumble at the cook. So our gums are robbed of activity by the refinement of our diet — deprived of the invigorating friaion they need. Year after year, they lead an artificial life of ease — year after year, they 'sleep' their health away!
HOW IPANA AND MASSAGE BUILD FIRM, HEALTHY GUMS
Small wonder that gums soften, weaken and lose their tone— that "pink tooth brush" appears, with its unmistakable warning that the troubles which could have been prevented may be close at hand.
Fortunately the dental profession offers a remedy for this difficulty— a remedy both simple in its performance and effective in its results. They tell us to massage our gums — to rub them, gently, either with the brush while brushing the teeth, or with the finger- tips after each brushing.
And thousands of dentists ask their pa-
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You will keenly enjoy Ipana's clean taste
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The ten-day sample the coupon brings will
quickly prove these things.
MAKE A 30-DAY TRIAL OF IPANA
But a full-size tube from the nearest drug store makes a better test, for it lasts more than a month — long enough to show Ipana's good effects on your gums. So give Ipana the full- tube trial it deserves and see if you, too, do not find that it answers your quest for a tooth paste you can tie to for life!
IPANA Tooth Paste
MADE BY THE MAKERS OF SAL HEPATICA
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When you write
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^ ■ \ Name
'' .'^^M^^cs^Znk^r Address
/ City Slate
clvertisers please mention PHOTOPLAT MAGAZINE.
Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
Stars of a new world
Gone are the days! Gone are the days when the sweet, simpering doll-faced heroine ruled the world of shadows ! Gone are the days of too-heroic heroes, of bushv-bro wed "heavies" and their deep,dai-k villainies. jk^ new world! A new public, impatient of the old, eager ^
for the new, is demanding new screen personalities at- ^^r *e^ M tuned to these changing times. And Paramount them! Here they are, all your favorites, ited in one common cause keeping the name Paramount supreme in motion pic
In next picture, . Clara Bom shoMS
tures as it has been / vou how to 'Get! our
Man". Adolphe Menj plays the part of a gling > iolin- in '■ Sere-
PARAMOUNT FAMOUS LASKY CORP., Adolph Zukor, Pres., Paramount Bldg. N. Y.
Evcrr aJvcitlscttcnt In rnoTOPLAT JIAGAZIXE Is t
FREDERICK JAMES SMITH
The World's Leading Motion Picture Publication
PHOTOPIAY
For
January
1928
Contents
Vol. XXXIII
James R. Quirk
No. 2
"IR AND PUBLI
The Hip-h-Lights of This Issue
Cover Design
Eleanor Boardman-
Charles Sheldon -Painted from Life
As We Go to Press 6
Latest News from East and West
Brief Reviews of Current Pictures 8
A Guide to Your Evening's Entertainment
Brickbats and Bouquets 12
The Voice of the Fan
Friendly Advice on Girls' Problems
Carolyn Van Wyck 16 Photoplay's Personal Service Department
Close-Ups and Long Shots James R. Quirk 27
The Editor Tells You What's What and Who With- out Fear or Favor
When Rudy Was a Boy
Hiram Kelly Moderwell 29
A Trip to Valentino's Childhood Playground in Italy
The Man Who Fought Alone
Frederic H. Schader 30
Bill Farnum's Battle for Health and Return to Films
What Killed Francis X.Bushman? Ruth Biery 34
He Blames Marriage for "Murder" of Career
The True Life Story of Lon Chaney
Ruth Waterbury 36 More Glimpses of the "Man with a Thousand Faces"
Making a Million Tom Mix 38
Dollars — Tom Has the Friends
Winners of $5,000 Contest
Awards to Cut Picture Puzzle Fans
Ten Years Hence Alma Whitaker
What the Stars Want to Be
40
42
Gossip of All the Studios Cal York 44
What the Film Folks Are Doing and Saying
Intimate Visits to the Homes of Famous Film Magnates Terry Ramsaye 48
Martin Johnson— a Big Game Hunter with a Camera
The Shadow Stage 52
Reviews of Newest Pictures
Are You Giving a Holiday Party? 58
Photoplay's Cook Book Will Help You
Always a Tree (Fiction Story)
Margaret Sangster 64
A Christmas Story that Will Awaken the Yuletide Feeling in Your Heart
Amateur Movies Frederick James Smith 67
Last Call for Prize Winning Films
What Does Acting Do to the Actor?
Dr. Louis E. Bisch 68
As Fsycho-Analysis Reveals It
Personal and Household Scrap Knick-Knacks
Lois Shirley 70 How the Studios Put the Final Touch on Home Furnishings
Who's Who in the Hollywood Social Swim
de Bru 74 Told in Pen and Ink by the Famous Spanish Artist
Shop Through Photoplay 78
Helps to Complete or Replenish Your Wardrobe
Questions and Answers The Answer Man 82
What You Want to Know About Films and Film Folk
Casts of Current Photoplays 124
Complete for Every Picture Reviewed in This Issue
A complete list of all photoplays reviewed in the Shadow Stage this issue will be found on page 10
Published monthly by the Photoplay Publishing Co. Editorial Offices, 221 W. 57th St., New York City Publishing Office, 750 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, III.
Th5 International News Company. Ltd.. Distributine Aeents. 3 Bream's Buildine. London. Ensland
James R. Quirk, President Robert M. Eastman. Vice-President and Treasurer Kathryn Dougherty. Secretary and Assistant Treasurer Yearly Subscription: $2.50 in the United States, its dependencies, Mexico and Cuba: $3.00 Canada: $3.50 to foreign countries. Remittances
should be made by check, or postal or express money order. Caution— Do not subscribe through persons unknown t
Entered as second-class matter April 24. 1913. at the Postoffice at Chicazo. IlL. under the Act of March 3. 1379. CopyriBht. 1927. by the PHOTOPLAY PUBLISHING COMPANY, Chtcago.
p you.
^s we go^/b Dress
/;
Js>ast Jdinute Jyews" TowL Gas't ^ West
N
OAH BEERYhas left Famous Players- "D EPORTS of a split between Gilda Gray TJOLLYWOOD anticipates an engage Lasky. He believes he will have -C^and her husband, Gil Boag, are denied, -^^ment announcement frnm Flnrpnn opportunities for more varied roles
CONSTANCE TALMADGE has com- pleted her First National contract and no new connection has been announced as yet.
by free lancing.
Vidor and Jascha Heifetz,
from Florence the violinist.
BUSTER COLLIER and Dorothy Mc- Carthy aren't married — yet. Buster is back on the coast, playing in "The Lion and the Mouse."
OLIVE BORDEN has left the WUliam Fox forces, following the completion of her contract. Ohve was getting $1,500 and wanted more.
POLA NEGRI and Famous Players are reported at odds. It is said that Miss Negri may not be re-signed for Paramount pictures. Miss Negri, it is whispered, will finish her contract in May and the ar- rangement will not be renewed. Mean- while, four of her pictures will be com- pleted and these will carry to September.
IRENE RICH is completing her War- ner Brothers starring contract.
GARY COOPER and Fay Wray are considered ideal team material at Famous Players. They are to be co- starred in several films.
■pvIRECTOR Monta Bell has sailed -'--'for Europe.
P HARLIE RAY is in New York and is ^^ planning to invade the speaking stage.
TTNIVERSAL has renewed its op- *— ' lions on the services of Reginald Denny and Mary Philbin, the former for six months, the latter one year.
JASON ROBARDS and Hope Maine Robards are divorced. They were married in 1914.
CLAIRE WINDSOR has been signed by Tiffaay-Stahl Productions.
■pUSTER KEATON tried a personal ■•-'appearance tour of prominent picture houses but quit in his second week at a Pittsburgh theater. He was doing a Salome burlesque which proved too strenuous.
rULIA FAYE has saUed for I vacation in Europe.
MAURITZ STILLER, the Swedish direc- tor, is leaving Paramount to spend three months abroad.
SAMUEL GOLDWYN borrows Virginia Bradford from Cecil B. De Mille. She will play in "Leatherface," supporting two months Vilma Banky and Ronald Colman.
YOU will see Gary Cooper in full dress in "Doomsday," opposite Florence Vidor. He is deserting definitely cowboy chaps.
DIRECTOR Tod Browning Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
is leaving TRVING THALBERG and Norma Shearer -'-postpone their honeymoon trip to Europe. Norma is to do one more film before starting.
THE daughter of Mrs. Emil Jannings, Ruth Maria, fifteen years old and now in school in Germany, is coming to Holly- wood to go into pictures. Ruth Maria is Emil's step-daughter.
GRETA GARBO is to get John Colton's story of the South Seas, "Heat," originally announced for Lillian Gish. And Clarence Brown is to direct her.
■New York and selecting costumes for her next film, "Her Cardboard Lover."
"DEPORTED that Gloria Swanson ■'^may return to Cecil B. De Mille' s direction. It is said that the arrange- ment between Miss Swanson and United Artists may not be renewed.
and Mrs. Jack Warner ex- ^pect to sail for Europe early in January. By that time it is expected all the best players and directors in that organization will be working else- where.
Mt.
Fannie Ward, the perennial flapper, has
returned from several months in Europe.
Photoplay caught her picture on tlv-
S.S. Leviathan
MONTE BLUE will soon be appear- ing on a new lot, due to the closed
MAY McAVOY and Dolores Cos- tello, too, will be emoting on new
'■mise of a divorce from Kenneth Harlan in the Los Angeles courts.
Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
>
Wf. J^OMANCE ROttS mtY HAY
You Can Make It Yours, Also
To you who know the singularly vivid Rod LaRocqtie — The winsomeness of the lovely Leatrice Joy — The orchid-like Jetta Goudal— The brave masculinity of William Boyd- The lithe and alluring Vera Reynolds — The blonde beauty of Phyllis Haver— The perfect poise of the ultra-modern Marie Prevost — They, the stars that shine in the PATHE-DeMILLE features, are more than names. They are your highly valued friends, bringing the romance of their roles into your life. Laughter and tears, thrills and heart throbs — under the supervision of Cecil B. DeMille, the man who has personally directed fifty great pictures without one failure, they have been magically invoked to make you happier!
You May See Now
ROD I.AROCQI E LEATRICE JOY JETTA GOl DAI.
,„ In ill
"Thr Forbidden
■Tlie Ficliti
Donal.l Cns]
Easle
••The Ansel »f Broiidwiiy"
ois Weber. Uirecto
Paul Ste
lUARIE PREVOST IVILLIAM UO\I> VERA REYNOLDS
"On To Renn.'
mes Tnize. D.rec
"Dress Parade
Donald Cnsp. Dire,
'•The Main Event"
Vm. K Howard. Directoi
Watch For
"ChleaRO," with Phyllis Haver and Y'ietor Varoonlj William Boyd in "The Night Flyer"; Leatriee Joy in "The Blue Danuhe"! Marie Prevost in ".A Bloude For n Xight"; and many others you'll want 1 to see.
)>
V^ PA THE EXCHANGE, ine
11 IH- Mille Studio Pictures— Vathe News— Pathe W
''^^^^__^ Patheserials — Pathecomedies
WILLIAM BOYD ^.UUAMH.VOCEUCn.,., «.....,
\Mien j.)U ivrile to advertisers please mention PHOTOPI..VY JI.VGAZIXE.
ROD LA ROCaUE
Brief Reviews of
Hnddcatzs that photoplay was named as one of the six best upon its month of review
Current Pictures
ADAM AND EVIL— Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.— Clever and amusing, witli a smooth performance by Aileen Pringle and Lew Cody in a dual role. What could be sweeter? (September.)
AFTER MIDNIGHT— Metro-Gold\vj-n-Mayer.— In spite of its modern veneer, just the story of the good girl who never slips from the straight and narrow path. Not worthy of Norma Shearer. (October.)
ALIAS THE DEACON— Universal.— A good show, thanks to Jean Hersholt who plays a psalm- singing card sharp \vith fine gusto. See it and enjoy yourself. (September.)
AMERICAN BEAUTY— First National.— Billie Dove has her fling at playing a modern Cinderella. Krothy but nice. (December.)
ANGEL OF BROADWAY, THE — Pathe - De Mille. — In which a Night Club hostess joins the Sal- vation .-^rmy to look for drama. She finds it. You'll like Leatrice Joy and Victor Varconi. (November.)
♦ANNIE LAURIE-Metro-Gold^vyn-Mayer.-If you like your Scotch straight, here's your story. Lillian Gish shows unsuspected comedy talents, but it is Norman Kerry who runs away with the picture. (July.)
*BABE COMES HOME— First National.— Not much of a comedy, but an ingenuous and amusing performance by Babe Ruth helps it over. You'll like the Babe. (July.)
BACK STAGE— Tiffany.— Social research into the lives of dancing girls. It will excite only the very naive. (November.)
BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY— Universal.— Written by James Oliver Curwood and set in a beauti- ful background. .Mso splendidly played by Renee Adoree and a fine cast. ' (September.)
BARRED WIRE — Paramount. — The romance of a l-'rt nch peasant Kirl and a German prisoner of war. A sincere storj- of the war, enacted bv Pola Negri, Clive Brook and Einar Hansen. (September.)
BEAUTY PARLOR, THE— FBO — A swell series of two reelers, adapted from H. C. Witwir's stories. Worth your steady patronage. (September.)
BIRDS OF PREY— Columbia.— Priscilla Dean goes in for a little ladylike banditry. The results aren't thrilling. (December.)
BITTER APPLES— Warner Bros.— Bitter apple- sauce. An uninteresting dish, with Monte Blue as the hard-lx)iled hero. (July.)
BLONDES BY CHOICE— Gotham.— The ad- venturis of Claire Windsor, as a beauty expert, in a community of women with "plenty of sex but no aprKral." Not bad, Mortimer! (December.)
BLOOD SHIP, THE— Columbia.— Mutiny,
BODY AND SOUL— Mctro-Goldwyn-Mayer.— Should a surgeon kill his wife's boy friend? Even the acting of Aileen Pringle, Lionel Barrymore and Nor- man Kerry can't enliven this cheery little problem.
BOY RIDER, THE-FBO.-The exploits of one Buzz Barton, a freckle-faced kid who can ride a lio=s. For the less critical of the younger generation (November.)
BREAKFAST AND SUNRISE— First National - Lively little French farce about one of those trick mamaKes. Deftly played by Constance Talmadge. ' "" "' (December.)
BROADWAY KID, THE— Wai
George Jcssel comed\' that looks like :
old gags. .A. good performance by .-Audrey Ferris, a
newcomer. (October.)
BROADWAY MADNESS— Excellent.— Proving that people who go to the deuce on Broadway always reform at the first wliiff of country air. (December.)
BROADWAY NIGHTS— First National.— Do- mestic and professional trials of a couple of Broadway hoofers. Not as hot as the title, but Lois Wilson gives a good account of herself. (July.)
BUSH LEAGUER, THE— Warner Bros.- Monte Blue makes the big team and wins the love of the owner's daughter. Need we say more? (November.)
*BUTTONS— Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer.— A sea story, with Jackie Coogan as a cabin boy on a big ocean liner. A real thriller with gallant work by Jackie. For the whole family. (December.)
Pictures You Should Not Miss
"Tte Big Parade"
"The King of Kings"
"Beau Geste"
"Resurrection"
"Chang"
"Love"
"The Way of All Flesh"
"Quality Street"
"Underworld"
"The Patent Leather Kid"
"The Crowd"
"My Best Girl"
.\s a service to its readers, PnoTO- PLAY jNIag.^zine presents brief critical comments on all photoplays of the preceding six months. By consulting this valuable guide, you can deter- mine at a glance whether or not your promised evening's entertainment is worth while. Photoplay's reviews have always been the most author- itative published. And its tabloid reviews show you accurately and con- cisely how to save your motion picture time and money. The month at the end of each review indicates the issue of PtiOTOPLAY in which the original review appeared.
The children will prefer Tom Mi:
CALLAHANS AND THE MURPHYS, THE—
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. — Polly Moran and Marie Dr. ssler are a panic in this slapstick story of life as it is supposed to be led among the Irish. (.September.)
*CAPTAIN SALVATION— Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer. — .\ dramatic and appealing story of a gospel ship, well directed by John Robertson and with a fine performance by Lars Hanson. (July.)
*CAT AND THE CANARY, THE— Universal.— A swell melodrama, directed by Paul Leni from the Broadway success. Here's something rare — a really good screen mystery film. (July.)
CHAIN LIGHTNING— Fox.— If you like to watch Buck Jones chasing horse thieves, here is a picture in which Buck Jones chases horse thieves. (November.)
CHILDREN OF DIVORCE— Paramount.— The title tells the story. Clara Bow makes it worth see- ing, helped by Esther Ralston and Gary Cooper. (July.)
CIRCUS ACE, THE— Fox.— Tom Mix bursts into a circus and saves the little circus gal from a terrible fate, bless his heart! Good for the children and just as good for grown-ups. (August.)
CITY GONE WILD, THE— Paramount.— Thom- as Mcighan in a lively meller of the Chicago Under- world. Good stuff. (October.)
CLANCY'S KOSHER WEDDING — FBO —
This Irish-Jewish nonsense has gone far enougli. .\11 i n f a vor say " .■\ye I " (October.)
CLAW, THE— Universal.— Once more the weak- ling son goes to Africa to make good, amid the canni- bals and wild animals. Norman Kerry and Claire Windsor in the leads. (July.)
CLIMBERS, THE— Warner Bros.— Irene Rich
plays a Spanish duchess who runs a ranch in Porto Rico. Just another one of those movies. (July.)
CLOSED GATES— Sterling.— The war breaks out just in time to save the son! of a mid young mil- lionaire. Johnny Harron and Jane Novak are in it. Fair. (August.)
COLLEGE— United Arti.sts.— Buster Keaton as a wet smack who would be an athletic hero. Not over- whelmingly funny. (November.)
COMBAT— Pathe.— Bad direction and heavy mugging by George Walsh eliminate tliis as ment. (December.)
*COUNTRY DOCTOR, THE— Producers Dist. Corp. — Sound New England drama and a masterly performance by Rudolph Schildkraut in the title role. For discriminating audiences. (September.)
COWARD, THE— FBO.— Warner Baxter as a wealthy sap who turns out to be a hero. Old stuff but always good. (November.)
*CRADLE SNATCHERS— Fox.— Rough, racy and rowdy. Lock up the kids, but go yourself because it's funny and because Louise Fazenda is in the cast. (August.)
*CROWD, THE — Metro-Gold%V5-n-Mayer. — The storv of a white-collar man and his wife and tlii ir struggles in a big city. Trutlifully and beautifully told b\' King Vidor and sj'mpatlietically acted by James Murray and Eleanor Boardman. A high-spot in movie making. (December.)
CRUISE OF THE HELLION, THE— Rayart.—
In wliich a bad boy is reformed by an energetic papa. It's good stuff. With Donald Keith and Edna Mur- phy. (December.)
CRYSTAL CUP, THE— First National.— Dorothy Mackaill in the drama of a man-hater that sometimes approaches the weird. Only for the sophisticated. (October.)
[ CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 ]
Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
Meet the Rising Stars of Filmdom
in Fox Pictures !
Already these brilliant young stars have won the plaudits of screen critics all over the world for their impressive performances in one or another of the outstanding pictures of the year — "What Price Glory," " Seventh Heaven", "Sunrise", "Loves of Carmen" or other recent Fox re leases.
But watch them in their coming pic turest Their rise toward the heights of artistic accomplishment is scarcely begun! For youth is still theirs — and all their splendid achievement thus far is but a brilliant promise of the finer artistry still to come with the maturing of their genius.
When other present'day favorites of the screen have passed into oblivion, these youthful Fox stars will be at the very zenith of their triumphant
Thus has William Fox not only as' sured the present preeminence of Fox Pid;ures, but also provided for the future so that Fox Pidtures may con-
-■^tinue to be outstanding artistic and
-^ dramatic successes.
'Be (§ure and S^e .
MADGE BELLAMY in
•■Silk Legs"
JUNE COLLYER and WILLIAM KUSSELL
William Fox Pictures
I mention PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE.
Brief Reviews of Current Pictures
CONTINUED FROM PAGE i
DEARIE — Warner Bros. — A so-called noble uoman becomes a red hot mama in a night club all for the sake of her no-good son. Labelled an epic of mother love. Ouch I Irene Rich and Buster Collier are in it. (August.)
DEATH VALLEY— Chadwick.— Just a lot of hor- rors. Stay home and catch up with the darning. ■ December.)
DOG OF THE REGIMENT— Warner Bros.— Rin-Tin-Tin plus a good story plus good acting. In other words, a good picture. (December.)
DON DESPERADO— Pathe.— Leo Maloney is a slieriff who has to catch a bad bandit. A good show, with plenty of excitement. (July.)
*DRESS PARADE— Pathe-De Mille.— The making of a man at the United Stair? Milit,ir\ Academy at West Point. Real entertainm. nt, ili.uik- t.. William Boyd. Bessie Love and Loui- Xaili. aiix. ( Lhwmber.)
DROP KICK, THE— First Xalional.— It is now Richard Barthelmess' turn to win the game for dear old .Mm-d Mater. Who's next? (November.)
FAIR CO-ED, THE— Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.— Marion Davics at her ven' funniest in a pretty fair college yarn. The gal is a real comic. (December.)
FAST AND FURIOUS — Universal.— Another Reginald Denn\- comed\-. And oh, how partial we are to Reginald Denny! A good evening. (September.)
FIGHTING EAGLE, THE — Producers Dist. Corp. — .A story of the time of Napoleon, just to help \-ou with your history lesson. Rod La Rocque is the story, but Phyll s Haver steals the glory. (September.)
FIGHTING LOVE— Producers' Dist. Corp.— A slightly slow but interesting drama with some grand acting by Jetta Goudal and Victor Varconi. (August.)
FIGURES DON'T LIE— Paramount.— A zippy farce-romance of a stenographer and her boss. With Richard Arlen and the lovely Esther Ralston. (No- vember.)
FIREMAN, SAVE MY CHILD— Paramount.— Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton in a comedy adapted to the mentality of those who enjoy the funny papers. (October.)
FIRST AUTO, THE— Warner Bros. — Missing on all sixes, in spile of its interesting theme. A good Iierformance by Russell Simpson, however. (Sep- tember.)
FLYING LUCK— Pathe.— Monty Banks gets Fome laughs in the adventures of an amateur aviator in a home-made flying machine. (December.)
FORBIDDEN WOMAN. THE— Pathe-De Mille. — Dramatic doings in Morocco, well played by Jetta Goudal and Victor Varconi and over-acted by Joseph Schildkraut. Worth j'our money. (December.)
FOURFLUSHER, THE— Universal.— Pleasant, youthful comedy about a smart-aleck in big business. Ornannnted by Marinn N'ixon. (December.)
FRAMED— First National.— Milton Sills in a story of the South .African diamond mines. And, incidentally, the strongest vehicle he has had in some time. (September.)
GARDEN OF ALLAH, THE— Metro-Gold\vyn- Maj-er. — Rex Ingram's best picture in several years. .A beautiful re-telling of the Robert Hichens romance, made in the original locations. (November.)
GENTLEMAN OF PARIS, A— Paramount.— We thank you. Mr, Wcnjou, for another pleasant evening of smooth f ntertainment. (October.)
GENTLEMEN PREFER SCOTCH— Fox.— Just a short comedy but better than most features. Keep ^■our eye on Nick Stuart and Sally Phipps. (De-
GINGHAM GIRL, THE— FBO— Lois Wilson in a foolish storv tliat needed songs and dances to put it over. (Oclob'er.)
GIRL FROM CHICAGO, THE— Warner Bros.— Life and love in the underworld, agreeably acted by Conrad Nagel, Mjrna Loy and William Russell. (December.)
GIRL FROM RIO, THE— Gotham.— An inde- pendent production, colorful and above the average. Carmel Myers as a Spanish dancer and Walter Pid- geon as a handsome Englishman. (November.'^
GOOD AS GOLD — Fox. — Not an ingenue opera but a roaring Western with Buck Jones totin' the guns, (.iitgusl.)
GREAT MAIL ROBBERY, THE—FBO. —
The bandits get everything their own way until the U. S. Marines are called into action — hurrah, hurrah! (September.)
HAM AND EGGS— Warner Bros.— A war com- edy, done in colors as it were. An occasionally amus- ing but oftener silly tale of the colored troops in the war. (November.)
-HARD-BOILED HAGGERTY— First National. — No war scenes, but a fine comedy of life back of the battle-lines. Milton Sills at his best. (October.)
HEART OF MARYLAND.THE- Warner Bros.— Now it is Dolores Costello's turn to swing on the bell. An old favorite. (September.)
HEBIE GEBIES— Hal Roach.— .A hypnotist turns Our Gang into animals. An original, really amusing comedy that will delight the children. (December.)
HERO ON HORSEBACK, A— Universal.— Hoot Gibson does his stuff, for the particular enjoyment of the cliildren. (October.)
HIGH SCHOOL HERO, THE— Fox.— A youth- ful, refreshing story of "prep" school life with a cast of youngsters. (November.)
HIS DOG — Pathe-De Mille. — Fine acting by a dog; terrible acting by Joseph Schildkraut. A good human interest idea gone blah. (October.)
HOME MADE — First National. — Johnny Hines pursuing his Art. Some of the "gags" don't belong on the screen- — or anywiiere else. (December.)
HOOK AND LADDER No. 9— FBO.— Some good newsree! shots of a fire. A feeble excuse for a story. (December.)
*HULA— Paramount.— The adventures of Clara Bow in Hawaii. The glorification of IT. Clara is the whole works. (October.)
IRISH HEARTS— Warner Bros.— May McAvoy suffers through another bad one that isn't wortli your (August.)
JAZZ SINGER, THE— Warner Bros.— Neither a Broadway reputation nor "Mammy" songs on the Vitaphone nor a good story can conceal the painful fact that Al Jolson is no movie actor. (December.)
*JESSE JAMES — Paramount. — Fred Thomson in an exciting, sure-fire presentation of the exploits of the distinguished train robber. Don't let the blue-noses interfere with your enjoyment of a corking melo- drama. (December.) <■
LAST WALTZ, THE— UFA-Paramount.— Ger- man sentiment that needs music — and a certain verboten beverage^ — to put it over. Willy Fritsch wears uniforms — and Iiow! (December.)
LES MISERABLES— Universal.— The Victor Hugo storj' is great, but the acting, photography and settings prove that fifty million Frenchmen can be wrong when they make movies. (November.)
LIFE OF RILEY, THE— First National.— George Sidney and Charlie Murray in — -you'll never guess — another I risli- Jewish comedy. Not as bad as most. (October.)
LONE EAGLE, THE— Universal.- Another pic- ture inspired by Lindbergh. Fair, thanks to young Raymond Keane. (December.)
LONESOME LADIES— First National.- Lewis Stone and .Anna Q. Nilsson in a rather amusing com- edy of domestic ructions. (October.)
LOST AT THE FRONT— First National.— Simon pure slapstick of the best variety. Not art, not drama, just entertainment. Cliarlie Murray and George Sidney are line. (.August.)
*LOVE — Metro-Goldwyn-Maycr. — Anna Karen- ina? Not so's you could notice it. But John Gilbert and Greta Garbo melt the Russian snow with their love scenes. Will it be popular? Don't be silly! (November.)
*LOVES OF CARMEN— Fox.— Very rough ver- sion of the Merimee- Bizet classic with a biff-bang performance by Dolores del Rio and some heavy cussing by Victor McLaglen. Lock up the children. (September.)
MADAME POMPADOUR— Paramount.— Dor- othy Gish and Antonio Moreno in an English produc- tion, lavishly set but not particularly dramatic. A shadv side of history tliat is notfor tlie little dears, (October.)
f CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 ]
Photoplays Reviewed in the Shadow Stage This Issue
Save this magazine — refer to the criticisms before yoa pic\ out your evenings entertainment. }Aa\e this your reference Ust.
Page .-\lias the Lone Wolf— Colunihi.i . . 122 Uaitle of the Century, The— iM.-(;.-.M 12.?
Hoy of the Street, A— Kayart 123
Urass Knuckles — Warner's 123
Buck Privates — Universal 122
Cabaret Kid, The— I'eerless 122
Chinese Parrot, The — Universal 55
Circus, The — United Artists 52
C'ollege Widow, The — Warner's 121
Devil Dancer, The— United Artists. , . 54
Kast Side, West Side— Fox 121
C.aucho, The — United Artists 53
Ciood Time Charlie — Warner's 54
f.'M-ill.-i, The— First X,-,lion,il 52
Page
Grandma Bernle Learns Her Letter.-^ —
Fox 54
Harvester, The— FBO 123
Honeymoon Hate — Paramount 122
Hoof Marks— Pathe 1 23
If I Were Single— Warner's 122
In Old Kentucky— M.-G.-M 122
Irresistible Lover, The— Universal. . . .121
Ladies Must Dress — Fox 121
Lovelorn, The— M.-G.-M 122
Main Event, The— De Mille 122
Man Crazy— First National 122
Man, Woman aii.l Sin — ,M.-G.-M 55
Mum's the Word— F.,x 122
:\IyFriend from Indi.-i— Patlic-DcMille.122
Page
Night Life— Tiffany 121
On Your Toes— Universal 122
Open Range — Paramount 123
Private Life of Helen of Troy, The —
First National 53
Racing Romeo, The— FBO 121
Ragtime — First Division 121
.She's a Sheik — Paramount 52
Sorrell and Son — United Arti.sts 53
.Spotlight, The — Paramount 54
Symphony, The — Universal 54
Texas Steer, A — First National 55
Uncle Tom's Cabin — Universal 55
Wild Geese— Tiffany 55
Wise Wife, The— Tiffany 121
Photoplay ISIagazixe — Advertising Seci
^n Impression ^LUPINO LANE
by JAMES R. QUIRK iTj,!
EDITOR OF PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE
f
"BIG BOY"
Greatest and Funniest ol
LARRY SEMON
Daredevil Clown Comedi
FELIX THE CAT
Rollicking Cartoons, by
LYMAN H. HOWE'S HODGE-PODGE
CURIOSITIES
rhe Movie Side-Show Funny and Fanciful ^dutcd bj IVaUcT Fuller
Chaplin's forte is pathos. Langdon's metier is infantile appeal. Lloyd's trick is the conquest of an inferior complex. Lupino Lane's is broad, clean burlesque.
I always suspect that he is going to jump on a horse and ride off in four directions. If Doug fights four swordsmen, Lupino takes on a dozen. If Mix jumps his horse over a freight car, Lane puts his nag ovef a barn. Nothing is impossible to him. Yet he is as futile as Don Quixote.
Most men are born clowns and don't know it. Lupino Lane can outboast the ginger ale that advertises six months' pre- paration for its perfection. It took 227 years to make him a comedian.
His pantomimic ancestry is long as a transcontinental railroad ticket. His Lupino grandfathers were Pierrot-ing on the London stage in 1700. His Lane grand- mothers were the Desdemonas of their day. He himself is one of the original theatrical mergers. He was supposed to
'Short Comedies Today, in >ir,thy D«7..r< Comedlti
„ ^ c r 1 ■ , , - DOROTHY DEVORE
get a fortune from his grandmother lor The oniy ciri Making Her twisting his names so that the first should ^■■-'- •-- be last and the last should be first. But the old lady broke his heart by lea\ing him nothing but a good recipe for tumbling without breaking his neck.
As British as bad cooking, the Lane- Lupinos survived when the newest chip from the family numskull announced his departure to America. They never under- stood the lack of concentration that kept him from being the hit of the "Follies," but then they had never seen a glorified American Chorus Girl. All even went well when the boy entered the movies. When he returned and told them his movie salary his grandfather did a back flop in his grave.
His comedies are released by Educa- tional, but don't let that fool you. He gags and he spins, and Solomon in all his wis- dom never thought up such stomach- laughs as his.
JOHNNY ARTHUR
Farceur Supreme, Featured in lux,d« Comediei
Se-cen years of specializing in Short Features have made the name Educitional Pictures mean the best in comedies, novelties and news reels.
EDUCATIONAL FILM EXCHANGES, Inc
I 501 Broadway, New York,
, E. jr. Ham mo N. Y.
OUTDOOR SKETCHES
PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE
Brickbats and Bouquets
LETTERS from
PHOTOPLAY
READERS
Three prizes
are given every month
for the best letters-^
$2S,$I0and$5
The Real Critics, the Fans, Give Their Views
The Monthly Barometer
BOUQUETS — in cartloads — for "Sev- enth Heaven," "The Way of All Flesh," "Captain Salvation," and our prize winner, "Beau Geste."
Brickbats — by the ton — for Irish-Jewish comedies, cheap vaudeville, local censors and also for the detractors of Renee Adoree, Corinne Griffith, Mary Pickford and Anna Q. Nilsson.
Lon Chaney and Emil Jannings lead all the handsome boys in the number of bou- quets received. But John Gilbert, Richard Dix and Charles Farrell still pul plenty of warm adjectives.
Clara Bow, Janet Gaynor and Greta Garbo are the Big Three among the girls.
Photoplay's department Brief Reviews of Current Pictures is voted the most useful regular feature of the magazine, with the Shopping Service and Favorite Recipes of the Stars tied for the second place.
What have you to say about pictures? This space is reserved for your criticisms. Photopl.\y will print your letter whether it agrees with you or not. The shorter the better.
§25.00 Letter
Baltimore, Md.
When I stop at a soda fountain to order a chocolate nut sundae, the clerk doesn't in- sist that I first eat a dish of spinach. Vaude- ville, like spinach, is one of my pet aversions, but I do enjoy the movies. I don't like acrobatic dancing. I don't like mushy ballads screeched to the accompaniment of a languidly flirted feather fan. I don't like jazz bands when they go in for exaggerated orchestration and comedy. However, I find the films, in general, interesting, and such exceptional productions as "White Gold" and "Captain Salvation" thoroughly de- lightful.
Photoplay recently suggested, in an editorial, that there may be a few people who are not eager to sit through forty min- utes of wise-cracking and soft-shoe dancing to see the advertised feature picture. I hereby appoint myself a committee of one to state that our name is legion. We have but one alternative: swallow the padded pro- gram or stay away entirely. Very few of us
12
The readers of Photoplay are in- vited to write this department — to register complaints or compliments — to tell just what they think of pictures and players. We suggest that you express your ideas as briefly as pos- sible and refrain from severe per- sonal criticism, remembering that the object of these columns is to exchange thoughts that may bring about better pictures and better acting. Be con- structive. We may not agree with the sentiments expressed, but we'll pub- lish them just the same! Letters must not exceed 200 words and should bear the writer's full name and ad- dress. Anonymous letters go to the waste basket immediately.
can run to the theater at eleven in the morn- ing or six in the evening. During the popu- lar hours we don't choose the particular moment at which we will enter. We wait meekly, in herds, for the privilege.
Here's to the good old days, when movies were movies and vaudeville was on the other side of the street!
Frances Shattuck.
$10.00 Letter
Los Angeles, Calif.
While dining in a Los Angeles restaurant one evening, I met a crippled man who was bubbling over with his good fortune, in obtaining a few days' work in pictures. But to him the outstanding event of that par- ticular day was when a lovely lady drove up to where about fifty of the crippled "boys" were working on location, and treated them generously to ice cream. Afterwards they learned that she was the famous actress, Lillian Gish.
Tears came into the poor fellow's eyes as he told me of this slight experience. Ponder- ing afterwards on how these boys had been touched by her thoughtful act, I took the liberty of w;riting Miss Gish and telling her how much it was enjoyed and appreciated.
In due time, I received an answer from Miss Gish, overflowing with kindest appreciation of my letter and happiness at learning the pleasure her "tiniest act," as she termed it, had brought the men.
The world admires at a distance the bril- liant work of its great men and women, but when we discover that, in addition to being brilliant and wise, they are also generous and tender, we do more than admire them; we love them. Vinton A. Holbrook.
$5.00 Letter
Louisville, Ky.
It is bad taste to air a family row, but Photoplay is to blame in this instance.
I made the mistake of taking home only one copy the other night and we all wanted to read it at once. Well, it occasioned quite a family jar.
Our fourteen year old daughter, aided in the fight by her youthful agilit^', got to read it first. When it finally reached me, nearly all the spots had been read off of it.
It is a magazine of charming personality, helpful in keeping alive the interests of old, as well as being educational and inspira- tional to the young.
It is a true guide to the really worthwhile in the movies. Its contents are clean and wholesome. Daughter studies better after reading it. In fact, she won't put it down to see a movie. Its "once-over" comes first.
The reading of a few issues greatly in- creases one's interest in the stars, and en- hances by one hundred percent the enjoy- ment of a picture show. Lee Hamilton.
Those Pesky Censors
Houston, Tex. Recently a censor board in this city denied a theater the privilege of showing "What Price Glory." Emil Jannings' re- nowned picture, "The Way of All Flesh," made its premiere recently, butchered by censors.
Just to what extent are censors allowed to deprive the movie-going public of entertain- ment made possible by superb casts and by such artistic and dramatic characteriza- tions as given by Emil Jannings?
Mrs. Richard J. Lmni fy. [ continued on page 98 I
Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
13
Brief Reviews of Current Pictures
[ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 ]
*MAGIC FLAME, THE— Goldwyn-United Art- ists.— Melodrama, comedy, romance, pathos — and above all Vilma Banky and Ronald Colman. Siep right tliis way, girls. (SepUmber.)
*MAN POWER— Paramount.— Wherein Richard Dix and his trusty tractor save the dam from burst- ing. .-^ trite story made excellent by the star's acting and some good thrUls. (August.)
MAN'S PAST, A — Universal. — A solemn, worthy production with Conrad Veidt, a capable actor. (October.)
*M ILE - A - M INUTE LOVE— Universal. -Regi- nald Denny hands this picture to Janet La Verne, a five-year-old. You'll love her and you'll love the picture. (November.)
MILLION BID, A — Warner Bros. — A weepy yarn wherein Dolores Costello is offered to the highest bidder. A good cast but a silly story and too many dizzy camera angles. (August.)
*MOCKERY— Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. — Lon Chaney, as a Russian peasant with a harelip, gets all mixed up in the Revolution. (October.)
MOJAVE KID, THE— FBO.— Introducing a new Western hero — Bob Steele. He's a good kid with a pleasant personality. (October.)
MOON OF ISRAEL— FBO.— A foreign ver- sion of the "Ten Commandments." It should not have been let by Ellis Island. (September.)
MR. WU — Iletro-Goldwyn-Mayer. — Madame Butterfly with variations — most of them gory ones. Lon Chaney is swell, but Renee Adoree is even more so. (August.)
*M V BEST GIRL— United Artists.— Some of Mar5- Pickford's best comedy and a romantic episode, played with "Buddy" Rogers, that is Mary at her greatest. The children, of course! (December.)
NAUGHTY BUT NICE— First National.— The ugly duckling goes to boarding school and gets a course in IT. Colleen Moore makes it entertaining. (September.)
NEST, THE— Excellent.— Pauline Frederick brings her great gifts to the sincere portrayal of a mother role. (December.)
NEVADA — Paramount. — A de luxe Western, with Gary Cooper. Beautiful scenery, fine acting and plenty of thrills. (October.)
NO PLACE TO GO— First National.— Fun on a South Sea Island, uith Mary Astor and Llo>'d Hughes. (December.)
NOW WE'RE IN THE AIR— Paramount.— Wal- lace Beery and Raymond Hatton show signs of weak- ening under the strain. They need a fresh line. (December.)
OLD SAN FRANCISCO— Warner Bros.— The earthquake comes along just in time to save Dolores Costello from the Fate that is Worse Than Death. Lots of good acting — but not by Dolores. (September.)
ONE ROUND HOGAN— Warner Bros.— Wherein love saves the championship for a prizefighter. With Monte Blue and Leila Hyams. Not so bad. (De- cember.)
ONE WOMAN TO ANOTHER— Paramount.— It is a farce about nothing at all, but charmingly told and ingratiatingly acted by Florence Vidor and Theodor von Eltz. (November.)
ON TO RENO— Pathe-De Mille.— Pretty good comedy, but Marie Prevost, aided by James Cruze, should do better than this. (December.)
OUT ALL NIGHT— Universal.— Reginald Denny does his best to put spontaneity into a machine-made farce. (December.)
PAID TO LOVE— Fox.— A sprightly, charmingly directed comedy that kids the old hokum of the mythical kingdom, romance. (October.)
PAINTED PONIES— Universal.— More breath- taking incidents in the frantic career of Monsieur Hoot Gibson. (October.)
PAINTING THE TOWN — Universal.— Glenn Tryon, a new comedian, just up among the Big Boys. A story of a small town — nutty but refreshing. (September.)
PARIS OR BUST— Universal.— Glenn Tryon as a boy who knew he was a flyer "because his mother gave iiis father the air." Anyway, you'll laugh at it. (December.)
[ CONTINUED ON PAGE 126 ]
"SNOOKUMS"
From Universal's Short Comedies
The bright spots in every movie -theatre
program, those which provoke hilarity and put every- body in a good humor, are what we term "short subjects" or two-reel comedies.
For example, '*The Newlyweds and Their
Baby," in which "Snookums" is the central figure and represents the original of George McManus' famous car- toons. Produced by Stern Bros. Askyour theatre manager if he has arranged to show the special Christmas comedy, * Weiy/y- weds' Christmas Party." It's a treat for young and old.
Then *'The Collegians/' v^ritten by Carl Laemmle Jr., depicting various phases of college life, particularly the athletics, and featuring the favorites GEORGE LEWIS, DOROTHY GULLIVER, HAYDEN STEVENSON, EDDIE PHILLIPS and CHURCHILL ROSS.
And the ^'Buster Brown and His Dog Tige" series from the cartoons by R. F. Outcault whose clever v/ork has had much to do with building up the Sunday Funnies.
Also **Andy Gump and Min*' from the
laughable cartoons by Sid Smith which, like all the foregoing, absorb the attention of the youngsters before they are out of bed Sunday morning.
These are only a few of Universal's "Short Subjects" and it will pay you well to keep track of them at your favorite local theatre. If you do not find them there, ask the manager to get them. He will be glad to do it.
I am happy to tell you that all I have pre- dicted for "Uncle Tom's Cabin" has come true. Its reception at the CENTRAL THEATRE, where it is now playing, on Broadway in New York City, has fairly taken my breath away. When you see it I am sure you will agree with me that it will live long in your memory.
{To be continued i
Carl '^emmle
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
730 Fifth Ave New YorK City
PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE.
1 4 Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
You won't like it -NOT MUCH!
COLLtCK
tR "Vivo oat
What MOORE do you want? — ^The Colleen who smiles and beams and capers with the joy of just being alive? — The sauey sprite who runs right up to Romance — and then gives Cupid the Air? — Or the wistful little waif who dreams and hopes through heartaches that would dash you to despair?. .. .You get them ALL in "HER WILD OAT"— quite the merriest fun-film Colleen has ever given you . . . M'ith the kind of story that keeps you Guessing and Gasping for one solid hour!
JOHN NcCORNICK
a<la.l«l from the story by HO WABD IRYIHG YOUNG
A HAnSHM.1 HEILAN
Production
Erery advertisoment In PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE is euaranteed.
Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
'Ze,
in
'^^Jc,
'^•i^/We^^Oce
national PicturCii
Take the Guesswork Out' of "Going to the Movies"
When you write to advertisers please mention PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE.
Friendly Advice from Carolyn Van Wyck
on
DEAR CAROLYN VAN WYCK, With clothes what they are this year, how can just an average working girl, with little time to shop and less money to spend, dress with distinction? I'm five feet four, twenty }ears old, weigh 125 pounds and have hips. I have good skin, but my coloring is indefinite — rather muddy blonde hair, my eyes sometimes brown, sometimes blue. How can I buy so I won't appear just another flapper?
Dorothy.
I KNOW exactly how Dorothy feels about the models displaced for this winter's clothes. I have been experiencing the feel- ing myself. Everj-where clothes, regardless of the price, are being made on practically the same, sane lines. It is smart but monotonous. How to win distinction, when j'ou haven't money or time to expend? My answer is — by the clever use of color.
Today color assumes a new importance in smart dressing. Correctly used it can make the simplest costume distinguished.
I advise Dorothy first — even at the risk of advertising my own department — to con- sult the shopping ser^■ice of Photoplay or other magazines. Here she will find simple, excellent models at moderate prices and if they suit her, she will be saved the toil and worry of shopping. But she must herself decide upon the proper colors for her type.
There used to be a standard color table. Blondes wore blue or pink, brunettes brown or yellows until by observing the color of the gown you could always forecast the com- plexion of the girl.
Today we know better. There are few pronounced blondes or brunettes. Like Dorothy most of us are a bit muddy.
It is wise, of course, for the fair blonde with flaxen hair to wear clear whites, dark browns, all the blues and the delicate pas- tels. The red-haired fair girl can wear pale green, taupe, amber, yellow and pale blue. The chestnut-haired should favor bronze, darkest purple, pale pink and blue. The pale brunette, all shades of brown, sapphire blue, orchid, burgundy and dark red. The olive brunette, browns, apricot, beige and terra cotta. The highly colored brunette, pale shades, pale blues, silver grays, old rose, coral. But it is the manner in which these basically becoming colors are combined that marks the successful costume.
Dorothy works, so most of her dresses rnust be simple, straight little one or two piece dresses with a full blouse and a tight hip line, in her case, to make her figure more
16
Distinctive Dressing
Is This Month's Problem
WITH hats the same tight little shapes, with dresses the same slender models, it's hard for a busy girl to find distinctive clothes. Read how color helps the clever girl.
I will be glad to give advice to specific types or answer letters on any subject relating to beauty, health or happiness. Letters with stamped envelopes enclosed will be answered by return mail; those without postage, in the columns of the magazine. Pamphlets on the care of the skin will also be yours for the sending of a stamped, self- addressed envelope — and a booklet on weight reduction may be had for ten cents.
Carolyn Van Wyck.
symmetrical. Since her skin is good, she can wear black, which is always smart, and most practical for business hours. But she can also gain distinction for herself about her work by wearing over her simple dresses gay colored smocks, that are inexpensive and afford an actual saving of her gowns.
Then when she starts out for home, let her think twice. Is her hat in good color contrast to her dress? Does the color of her shoes match in with anything else she is wearing or quarrel with it all? What about her handbag? What about her gloves? Is she wearing flesh colored stock- ings or black? And why?
Dorothy should unify her costumes by means of color. Black alone is a successful ensemble shade. Black shoes, stockings, dress and hat make a chic outfit, but blue or brown similarly used will mark her as dowdy. Of course, too many colors may not be worn simultaneously. Three is the out- side limit and two is better.
Dorothy's shoes should match either her dress or hat. Her handbag should match either her coat or hat, and the coat prefer- ably because the two will be more used to-
/-pjGirls' /-Toblems
gether. If her silk-stocking allowance is limited — and whose isn't? — she should buy only nude shades which blend with every- thing.
It is not the gown one wears, or the hat or shoes that makes for distinction. It is the manner in which these garments are suc- cessfully combined that makes for smart- ness. Cheapness comes not from price tickets but from the carelessness of com- bined colors, designs and models. You can't slam e^■en a forty-dollar hat on your head and make it look smart. But a clever girl will pull a little three-fifty coral felt cloche carefully down over her left eyebrow, con- trast it cleverly with her grey chiffon dress, her nude stockings and her well-heeled grey pumps and make the crowd notice her as she passes.
T AST summer when I was in Hollywood I •^-'lunched with Adrian, the costume designer at the DeMille studio. We are old friends and he was confiding to me his discourage- ment about dressing a very beautiful girl recently put under contract by the studio. Finally he exclaimed:
"An ugly woman should thank God. A pretty girl, no matter how dressed, remains merely a pretty girl. But a plain girl care- fully gowned attains immediate personality."
That is the secret which Paris knows and which^ Dorothy must learn. When you haven't a perfect face and figure, scorn com- rnonplace prettiness and go in for chic and distinction.
After all, the most important single thing to spend on clothes is thought.
Helen Waters:
Aged sixteen, four feet eleven, you should not weigh much more than 105 pounds. You are an olive-skinned brunette, I judge. Your best colors are ivory and cream white, mahogany and negro brown, darkest blue, dark green, dark, warm reds, terra cotta, buff and apricot, pink in pale shades. A^■oid solid black, gray and purple. Just as there are always neglected girls in schools, so there are neglected boys. Both sexes are held back from popularity by the same things — shyness, self-consciousne,ss, lack of poise. For a girl, to some extent, any hoy will do socially. What she really wants is to be able to prove to the other girls she isn't a social frost. But boys want one of two things from girls — they want pals or they want mothers. Apparently you don't appeal to them in the pal sense. Why not try mothering a few? I don't mean any- thing too sugary, but look up a couple of the more diffident boys and see if you can't draw them out. What you want for the present is simply a male escort. Get one and the rest will come more easily.
[ CONTINUED ON PAGE 86 1
Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
17
BEAUTY REQUISITES
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Photoplay Magazine — Advertising Section
EP THEM BY KEEPING A BEAUTIFUL SKIN
Do YOU REALIZE what wonderful power the skin has to renew itself — to keep its youth and freshness, given half a chance?
Each day your skin is changing — old skin dies and new takes its place. If you take care of this new skin as it forms — it does not matter what faults your skin may have suffered from in the past — you can build up, and keep in future, a lovely, smooth, clear complexion.
Begin today to take care of your skin the Woodbury way, with hot or warm water, ice and Woodbury's Facial Soap.
The wonderful helpfulness of Wood- bury's in keeping the skin smooth and clear, and in overcoming complexion troubles is a matter of such general ex-
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^^^^^AL^'^rlc^^-p.^
CALLY BLANE is one of th Amount for special training.
^;^^^ . was Miss Betty Jane Young of ^
^^J^P^-^ °"^ y^^'' ®^^ ^^^ played in six films
<:B>^k^^^'i.
■V\7ILLIAM BOYD is the best of Cecil B. De Mille's recent discoveries. Not only is ^ the blond Mr. Boyd easy on the eyes, but he's a comedian of no mean ability, as witness "Two Arabian Knights."'
■M„^
Y BEST GIRL" brings back the Mary Pickford of old. It is a picture innocent f complexes, sophistication or subtlety and confidently recommended to those who hanker for a movie of the Age of Innocence.
"LJOLLYWOOD is wasteful of beauty. Myrna Loy, for instance, surely has something
■*■ Mo contribute to Art. But, for the most part, she is relegated to the ungrateful task
of vamping in minor operas.
A DRAMATIC episode in the life of Sarah Bernhardt forms the basis of Greta Garbo's "^^ new picture, 'The Divine Woman." You will see the spectacle of a French actress interpreted with a Swedish accent.
PORTRAIT of a ■^ brave lad — Conrad Nagel. At the risk of talking himself out of pictures, Mr. Nagel fearlessly made him- self the spokesman of the embattled actors in the recent salary cut rumpus with their bosses.
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THE MILLER RUBBER COMPA N Y ofN.Y. AK R 0 N, OHIO
The National Guide to Motion Picture
(THADE MARK)
PHOTOPLAY
January, 1928
Close-Ups and Long-Shots
THEY are still hunting for the man who blew up a Hammond, Indiana, movie theater with a bomb. Ten to one it will turn out to be some chap who paid a dollar for a loge seat and had to stand through a bum overture, five acts of third rate vaudeville and a prologue, and then had to leave before he saw even a news reel.
JUST as we were getting rid of the old- fashioned movie pests who read all the titles out loud to little Oscar, and broadcasted mis- information about the players, along comes the boll weevil theater manager who is so deter- mined to demonstrate what a great showman he is that a visit to a motion picture theater becomes an endurance contest between the management and the patrons.
Twenty years ago motion pictures were used by vaudeville houses as "chasers." Today vaudeville is chasing patrons out of motion picture houses. If these theater managers ever get down to selecting good features and giving us a well chosen program of news reels and short subjects, with a fairly good musical accompaniment, the radio business of the country would be cut to half its present pro- portions.
OTRIPPED of all pretense, presentation is a ^substitute for good picture entertainment. It is served up on the same principle that inspired French chefs to invent piquant sauces to smother a questionable fillet. Then they became so intrigued with their art of camouflage
that even the tenderest and juiciest steak was lost in a sea of paprika gravy, truffles, mushrooms, and condiments.
It has gotten to the point where every jerkwater exhibitor tries to smother a picture in a sea of vaude- ville gravy in the hope that his patrons will ac- quire a taste for the gravy and disregard the meat of the program, the feature picture, when he serves up a rancid one.
npHE high priest of the presentation cult, ^ Sam Rothapfel, nationally known as "Roxy," with the greatest movie temple in the world named after him, carried his rituals to the point of absurdity when he cut about three reels out of "What Price Glory" to make room on his elaborate program for a half hour pro- logue.
Of course, he drew a record crowd to his temple, "The Cathedral of the Motion Picture" he devoutly calls it, when the great war picture was exposed, there to his congregation.
"How's 'What Price Glory' going?" someone asked the Reverend Roxy, one Sunday after- noon as he was about to conduct vesper service,
"Great, brother, just great," replied the holy man, "You should see how I put it over with a prologue,"
That's not gilding the lily, brothers, that's gold plating the Kohinoor diamond,
"T>EAU GESTE" suffered painfully from
-*^the crude surgery of presentation mad
exhibitors, I happened to see it for the fourth
^7
time recently, in a small West Virginia town. The print had made the rounds of fifty larger cities and towns and was butchered almost be- yond recognition.
There ought to be a law against motion picture mayhem.
TN a month when there are so many excellent -^-pictures that we are forced to extend the "Best Six" to* ten, in justice to Will Rogers' opus, "A Texas Steer," it should be noted that only the exigencies of a printing plant operating schedule kept it from the list of the best new pictures viewed in the past four weeks.
The very fact that Rogers is in it is a guaran- tee of a picture on which it is safe to put the family money.
Will Rogers is not an actor. If he tried to act he would probably be terrible.
He plays himself with delightful elTect and the captions are in his own uniquely expressed philosophy.
Will is no John 'Gilbert, no Douglas Fair- banks, nor could he play the sua\e and polished Menjou if his Oklahoma neck depended upon it.
He's himself. And he's always great com- pany for an evening.
A S a matter of fact most of our picture stars -^ *-play their own personalities over and over. In real life Doug is a genial jumping jack, Lon Chaney a morose idealist, John Gil- bert a reckless romanticist, Gloria Swanson a child of fate, Adolphe Menjou a cultured and sophisticated gentleman. Milton Sills is an athletic college professor. Dick Barthelmess is half boy, half man, vainly seeking sympathy and understanding in a world he cannot quite comprehend.
Pola and Jetta Goudal live the tempera- mental qualities of their pictures. Mae Murray was born to dance. Reginald Denny is a handsome pugilistic champion. Some of the attributes the sport writers give Gene Tunney fit him perfectly.
Tom Mix has lived the life he portrays on the screen. Billy Dove and Corinne Griffith are beautiful and languid on and off the screen.
You cannot fool the camera. It gets behind the eyes of the actor.
I make no claim to psychic powers or more than an average ability to judge human nature. I have seen almost every picture of consequence made in the last fifteen years and have met nearly all the well-known players.
And I can say truthfully that the judgment of their personalities that I got from their screen work has always been \"erified by personal acquaintance.
T DOUBT that the screen will ever produce a -*- Barrett, a Booth, a Mansfield, a Maurice Barrymore, a Duse, a Bernhardt. Their fame rested upon their versatility and upon the wide range of characterizations they were called upon to portray.
John Barr^aiiore, born and reared in stage traditions, ^^•ith an inherited love of character portrayal that has become almost an obsession, has failed to acquire a screen following com- parable to his stage fame because he would rather play Shylock than himself.
Barrymore is one of the greatest actors on any stage. In real life he is a modern Hamlet, an extreme individualist whose personality is little understood. He has some of the eccen- tricities that accompany genius, a total dis- regard of what an^^one thinks of him and no sympathy whatever with the popular con- ceptions of screen acting. He is a Gauguin among photographers.
But if he ever learns what makes a box office go, and gives a rap whether it goes or not, he will carve for himself a place as distinctive as X'alentino, Fairbanks, or Chaplin. He is a wandering lad who does not care to be adopted b}' a rich family.
ANOTHER wanderer who persists, but only through lack of guidance in losing himself in the maze of motion pictures, is the late Harry Langdon, of laughing memory. Sennett kept him on the straight road. He chose to go it alone like Chaplin and Lloyd. But he lacks their sense of direction, and is in sad need of a road map.
To me his screen quality of infantile help- lessness is every bit as touching as Chaplin's pathos.
A few more pictures like "Three Is A Crowd," and he will be sent to that limbo of lost movie souls, vaudeville.
JVas J Boy
The Wild Days of Valen- tino's Childhood are told for the First Time
By Hiram Kelly Moderwell
{Mr. Moderwell is a well known atithor, as well as being special representative of a leading Chicago newspaper in Rome, Italy. Mr. Moderwell spent weeks investigating and checking the early days of Rudolph Valentino in the little south Italy village of Castellaneta. He talked with Rudy's boyhood friends, family doctor, the nurse, Rosa, and others who knew the screen star intimately. Mr. Moderwell has obtained a wealth of interesting facts about the childhood of the ill-fated film idol.)
w
H O i s
the most beautiful
in Castellaneta?"
The speaker is eleven-year-old Ro- dolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaele Guglielmi, the town bully. He is standing with clenched fists amid a group of small boys in the main square of the agricultural village of Castellan- eta, near Taranto, in south Italy.
"Rosina Maria," answers one, loyal to his sweetheart.
Bing! Rodolfo's fist lands on the boy's jaw. Another blow and another. The boy is on the ground, blubbering and half uncon-
Valentino was born in the small room above the door of this white corner house
Rudolph Valentino, then Rodolfo Gu- glielmi, at eleven was the daredevil of Castellaneta
scious. He knows the required answer, but his loyalty for- bids him to give it. Rodolfo lifts him bodily and throws him into the town fountain. The boy sinks, rises to the surface, and Rodolfo, red with rage, pushes him under again.
Once more he rises. This time he knows he is licked. He gives the correct answer.
"Donna Gabriella," he blubbers. He is permitted to crawl out of the water, sit on the coping, and get his breath.
Donna Gabriella is Donna Maria Berta Gabriella Barbin Guglielmi, the French mother nf Rodolfo Valentino, who 20 years later died in New York calling on her name.
The villagers of Castellan- eta are full of such reminis- cences as this about their Ru- dolph, who was born in their town and lived there until, at the age of twelve, he moved
[continued on page 84]
an
Wh
o
Bill Farnum's grim and
H
IGH-UP in the Hollywood Hills there is the T?^,,.. ..^^. ^' •// j ' Ji
home of William Farnum. From the great i" OUT yCarS lllneSS and tdleneSS
stone gallery that runs across the front of the ^OSt klm OVCr tWO million dollaVS
house this star has been gazing down over the lights of Cinemaland for more than a year watching and waiting for something. Just what that something was he, himself, could not definitely say. He had a hope however that it was going to be a summons to come down from his roost and again take his rightful place in the ranks of those who provide the entertain- ment for the world.
Alone except for his dogs and his wife — alone except for the occasional close friend of \-esterda\- who would call — "Bill" Farnum sat and fought as gallant a fight as any bemedaled hero of the late world unpleasantness. I^ought it to a finish and to what seems to be a very suc- cessful conclusion.
It was a victory, but not without the paying of a tre- mendous price for it.
Almost four years ago William Farnum appeared in the last picture that he has made up to this time. That picture was made for Para- mount and its title was "The Man Who Fights Alone." I saw that picture the other day, in a private projection room at the Paramount labo- ratory. I was forcibly struck l»y the similarity of the iheme of its story and the actual facts in the life of William Farnum which necessitated a star as tal- ented as he, with so tre- mendous a fan following, re- tiring from the screen.
The following is a ver- batim extract from the syn- opsis of the story of "The Man Who Fights Alone":
More painful than Bill Far- num's illness were the months of convalescence, dreaming, and waiting for the call to the studio that "ould take him back to the work he loved
30
Fought Alone
By
Frederic
H. Schader
courageous battle for life
Photography by Stagg
' The. Man Who Fights Alone' is a dramatic presenta- tion of the power of love to triumph over human ills. It is
Now Bill is making pictures
aSain^ looking; better than ever t^ie story of a strong man~a tone fighter— who, beset by o •> o tragic mrsjorttine, acniei'cs regeneration through the abid-
ing love of his wife and child.
" As a great engineer, Wil- liam Farnum in the title role makes the desert bloom and provides the power that turns the wheels of industry. He, with his 'best friend, loves the same girl. Farnum marries her. On the day their daughter is born he is stricken with paralysis leaving him help- less from the waist down.
"Four years later he is still confined in a wheel chair — "
That, almost, is the real story. So near that, one wonders whether it is possi- ble for screen shadows to forecast the future.
A LITTLE more than four ■**-years ago William Far- num, then at the height of his career, was drawing a salary of $10,000 weekly from Wil- liam Fox. He had been with the Fox organization for many years. He signed with Fox after having at- tained his great triumph in the original screen produc- tion of "The Spoilers." This picture was the initial at- traction at the Strand Theater in New York, the opening of which created a historical moment in the ex- hibition division of the mo- tion picture industry.
The contract with William Fox was about to terminate and William Farnum wanted to make a trip abroad. He did, and when he returned he entered into a new con- tract with the same organi- zation which called for his appearing in five produc- tions. For each of these he was to receive a flat sum of $65,000. The last of these five pictures called for nine actual days of work on the part of the star, which will give you a rather definite idea of the earning power of Farnum four years ago.
31
Having completed the five picture contract with William Fox, he went over to the Paramount studios to appear in a single picture for that organization. That picture was "The Man Who Fights Alone." His lead- ing lady was Lois Wilson.
IT was in the making of this picture that William Farnum sustained a slight injury which necessitated an operation after the production was completed. From this slight injury there is a long and definite line of misfortune and illness, a line broken only by tremendous personality of Mr. Farnum and his will to sur- mount the difiiculties that beset him and his career.
The will to live and the personal- ity behind it eventually triumphed. Today William Farnum again stands, a well man, on that great stone gal- lery surrounding his hillside home. But the cost! In monev alone it is almost 82,500,000. And who can tell what the sum total might ha\'e been, for had William Farnum been active during the last four years — a lime during which the picture indus- tt
try has been making its greatest for- ward strides — he might have today been the greatest of all stars. Instead he is beginning once again to take up the threads of an interrupted career. He was, at the time that illness overtook him, conceded the foremost "he man" star of the silent
drama, his ^^3c^ fans were
From the heights of his Hollywood home, he wondered if the public and the studios had forgotten him
32
PHOTOPLAY'S little editorial about him brought a flood of inquiries to Mr. Farnum, a flood of requests to come back
in legion, his pictures avidly awaited and the producers Mere vying with one another for his services.
Not only was this true of pictures, but of the legiti- mate stage as well. Arthur Hopkins, who gave the spoken stage John Barrymore in classical roles, had just signed a contract with Mr. Farnum and had one play in rehearsal when the first of his illnesses overtook the star.
Farnum had gone to New York for his "slight opera- tion." The operation successfully performed, he came to terms with the theatrical manager for the produc- tion of a play, "The Buccaneer," and rehearsals were started. As the^' progressed the star became weaker and weaker, until just ten days prior to the opening night, which was to have taken place in Philadelphia, Mr. Hopkins noting the fact that Mr. Farnum wasn't himself physically, ordered him home to rest.
THAT was the star's last conscious hour until one day about a week later he came to his senses in a room and noted the fact that there were a num- ber of men present. His first thought was "What has happened? Hopkins has changed the entire cast on me." Then he saw that it was Dr. Royal S. Copeland, since United States Senator from New York, standing at the foot of his bed. With the doctor there were almost a dozen other special- ists, including the famous surgeon, Dr. Erdman.
"What is the matter, have I been sick?" he managed to murmur to Dr. Copeland. He re- ceived a nod in repty and then slipped oiT into oblivion again, and remained unconscious for the next eleven weeks. On his next return to con- sciousness his ears heard the rustling of a news- paper and his eyes disco\'ered his brother, Dustin Farnum, seated at his bedside. Dustin had been there for six weeks, for during that entire time the life of William had been despaired of.
Then came a long, long period of convalescence, almost a year in fact, the greater part of which was spent at the [ continued on p.\ge 97 ]
Are Public
Opinion
516 BILL THOHP^ON
/OHN ROACH RtK
If we must have censorship, PHOTOPLAY suggests this group of ideal censors. They know their poHtics
33
/N 1917 Francis X. Bushman was on the film heights. Then everything was swept away. The suddenly revealed knowledge that he had a wife pushed him from his pedestal. "Don't marry," Bushman says to his fellow stars. "While the whole world loves you, don't marry! I never want other stars to sufifer as I suffered."
■U
||4iat Killed JrancU/v.
"Marriage," he says, "Murdered My Career"
A"
1 V
LONG, narrow room with cabinets from the floor to the ceiling. Five secretaries gracing the ^center. Thirty thousand letters regularly each week to be answered. In addition, at least five thousand photographs and little notes to the fans during each seven day period.
The tall, handsome, virile man, who was the owner of all this, walked through the door, spoke to the messen- ger boys, to the five o\'er-worked women. He rubbed his hands in satisfaction. Had any other man reached such a pinnacle of adoration?
He was a god ; a world worshipped hero.
This was in 1917.
"Ah, at that time, I was so intensely popular that I felt permanently established. My friends were num- bered by thousands. Tens of thousands. Nothing could shake my faith in myself. No one could have told me that all of this glory would not last forever. I was a god and I felt secure in my heaven.
"Then, overnight, it all vanished. Overnight, there were no more letters. The secretaries were dismissed, the cabinets and messenger boys faded. They were no longer needed. The idol had fallen."
Francis X.Bushman took his hand from the head of King, the champion Great Dane who has suffered with his master through the long years of trials and heart- breaking experiences, swept it through the air to the low couch between us.
"With a motion like that, everything was swept away. From a hero, to — what would you call it? — that was the way I tumbled.
" — And all because of the women." He smiled; a wan, shadow-like hint of cynical amusement.
""Y'OU see, they thought -'- I was not married. From 1902 until 1918 I kept my secret. I had an unwritten agreement with my producers that my wife and five children would be kept a secret. "After much argument we had agreed to a secret divorce. Then overnight she changed her mind and sued me. Overnight, it was all over.
"The Metro people for whom I was working sent a man all over the coun- try. He returned and made me this statement.
By Ruth Blery
'You were always a possible lover, a possible husband. The love of young girls for you while you were single was not wrong. But as a married man — '
" 'Is it as bad as that, Harry?' I could not believe it. He was right; exhibitors refused to book my pictures.
"/^F course, there was talk. Gossip. My fans had ^^ wanted me to marry Beverh* Bayne. I had thou- sands upon thousands of letters suggesting it. Just as the world wanted \'ilma Banky to marry Ronald Col- man. But, when I did marry her, I had already mar- ried. There had been talk — oh, there was a momen- tary reaction. I had thousands of letters from those who were glad, happy we had married. But it was never the same. Motion picture days seemed over. We went into ^'audc^'ille together."
We were silent a moment. Bushman — the forty- three-year-old FrancisX. Bushman — stroked the head of his great dog, while his eyes ^•isioned the glories of the thirty-year Bushman.
"I always tried to save \^alentino," he continued slowly, "from the suffering, the heart-aches, the awak-
ening which were mine.
You know he lived up here, next door to me. I used to warn him, tell him that the American public is more fickle than e\'en the most fickle of women. Tried to save him again and again. But Rudy only laughed. He couldn't be- lie\e me. What had hap- pened to poor old Francis X. could never happen to Rudolph \"alentino!"
A NOTHER long, unin- -^•-terrupted silence. Somehow, I could not bring myself to talk when this man was reminiscing, living o^•er the days of his unparalleled glory — "Then one day Rudy came over. It was when Natacha was interfering with his pictures. She had written this one, super- \ised it. It was about to open at a downtown Los Angeles theater. [continued on page 88]
35
Bushman, with Beverly Bayne, at the apex of his success, in "Romeo and Juliet"
The song-and-dance man who wanted to be
a comedian. Lon Chaney as he came to
Universal
I DID not get the story of Lon Chaney's childhood in a single talk with him. It took many hours of many days, but those days brought me something I value highly, Lon Chaney's friendship.
He had told me succinctly that he hated interviewers. There were questions that I asked him which he flatly refused to answer. Yet after I had seen him several times, after I had once got behind the barrier of his silence, his shyness was broken down and the friendliness that makes stage hands and every person with a hard luck story love him, stood revealed.
When he desires he can be as subtly charming as an old world courtier. He let me come into his dressing room, hitherto sacred to his make-up. The first day there had been only a rough chair on which I could sit and, man-fashion, his combs and brushes and ciga- rettes were all over the place. The second time Lon had tidied the room and the chair had a cushion.
He loathes having people on the set. Yet he saw to it that I always found a comfortable place on "The Hypnotist" set that I might wit- ness how easily he worked and with what economy of gesture.
Arriving one day at the studio I was told he was in his dressing- room. I did not find him there. On the company stage I observed Tod Browning, his director, and the Kleigs were blazing. Suddenly I
rue Life Story
Further revelations of the career
heard a voice calling me. Up against the roof of the stage, some thirty feet high, was a monster bat, waving a friendly hand at me.
/^F course, it was Lon. He had been rigged up there ^^for hours. At that distance the camera couldn't catch his face and any other man would have used a double. Lon thought the bat business important to his characterization, so he did it.
He came down nearly an hour later. He linked his arm through mine, paced his stride instantly to match my shorter step and marched me off to the company commissary. No fuss, no posing.
Then in the big studio dining room Lon and I gazed out across the green lawns and flowering hedges of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lot and cut back to the days of 1901 when the West was largely frontier and the Chaney boys were starting their first tour and troupe through the state of Colorado.
The boys tried to route their company through a series of one-night stands. But for such youthful managers the strain of ticket-taking, managing, bill posting, staging and acting was very severe. When their tenor, Charles Holmes, offered to buy the show from them and let them go along merely as actors, they relinquished their doubtful glory immediately.
Holmes started them out through the Indian Terri- tory, now Oklahoma. Sparce, lonely, amusement- starved towns they struck. They went on through Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska. North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Arkansas and Texas.
The only picture of Mrs. Chaney Lon has allowed the public, snapped the opening night of " Tell It to the Marines "
36
<?aLonChaney«
By
uth Water bury
of the mystery man of the movies
Lon loved it. It was all new to him. There were such things as automobiles, electricity and large cities, he knew, but he never saw a town that boasted them. The company traveled along in a caboose that could be attached to any freight train. There were twenty- three of those terrible actors and they had to take turns cooking their meals over the car's wood-burning stove. Lon insists that the trains crept along so slowly they made a practice of shooting quail in the fields as they passed, then hopping off to retrieve them, and of catching the train in a walk.
HAMS among the hamlets. They played every town that rose to break the open stretches of the prairies. They felt sinfully luxurious when they found a theater with dressing rooms. Usually they had to put up a sheet back stage and reserve one side for the women, the other for the men. When there was room enough back stage for the trunks, that was a big night. Generally the trunks had to be put in the orchestra pit, along with whatever audience there was. When costume changes were called for the actors were forced to march solemnly front in full sight of the public, choose the necessary regalia and cart it back. As they went on, particularly in Te.xas, they began to regard theaters of any sort as miraculous. More and more they played stores and halls.
For footlights they used coal-oil lamps and when the script demanded a light change some performer would have to walk down stage, and adjust the lamp wicks. It was fortunate that neither actors nor audiences
his youngest brother, George Chaney, who is now editor of a small California newspaper
possessed a sense of humor. Lon remembers one scene in their first plaj', "Said Pasha," in which the lights had to go out during a love scene. The lover entering worked his way to the front of the stage, turned out all the lamps and hurled his hot words at the heroine. But the plot required that Pasha should dis- cover his daughter in the arms of her sweetheart. Since he could do no discovering in darkness, he had to go down and light the lamps before he could act sur- prise at the sight that met his eyes.
Naive days, those, when the entertainment world was young. Lon Chaney today is known as the easiest star in filmdom to direct. His pictures are among the least expensive to produce. Thrift is as inevitable to him after that training as it is to Cal Coolidge.
Even with the unsophisticated tolerance of their audiences, Lon thinks they would never have drawn a house anywhere save for the "hard tickets" they issued. These were guarantees to the public that they would get their money back if they didn't like the show. The company gambled on the fact that no one would have the nerve to tell the truth about them and nobody ever did. Once they ran out of their "hard tickets." The town's only substitute was milk tickets. Adults came in on quarts, children on pints.
AS the original road builders had pushed on, those tawdry, tired pioneers of laughter followed their vague dream. Rough traveling, sleeplessness, loneliness, the lack of proper food. The youngsters counter- balanced it all with their optimism, the elders with the resignation of failure. It wasn't until they came into a Florida ^'il- lage on December 24th, 1903, that they jolted back to reality.
It was a ghastly little town, sand everywhere, and a few weather- beaten, sun-bleached buildings. None of them had any money. They counted themselves fortunate when they made enough money to cover expenses and get to the next stand.
But they simply had to have a Christmas.
Lon and his brother hunted a tree. They dragged a small pine back to the town hall where they were to stage their bill. They dug down into the company trunk for decorations, pathetic, glittering things, buttons off their costumes, tinfoil jewelry, cardboard crowns. They hung them on the tree and pretended it was beautiful.
All through the show that night, all the next morning — for wonder of wonders, this was a two-day stand — the company was busy de- vising Christmas gifts. As Christ- mas week is the worst the show busi- ness knows, they were poorer than usual, [continued on page 119]
37
Illustrated b) Russell Patters
aking A
A year ago Tom Mix started writing; first for Variety, then for Photoplay, .then for Life; and now he is a regular contributor to all three. He doesn't write for publicity. He doesn't need that. He writes for money. He doesn't need that either. But many magazines are now bidding for his mamiscripts.
In our agreement for six stories we provided that he must write a minimum of so many words for so much money. Extra words didn't add to his check. We also made him promise to throw away his dictionary so he would not lose his natural style. When he sent in this first article, he wired:
"You thought you were smart when you 7nade me get rid of my dictionary. T swapped it for an arithmetic and yoti didn't get one extra word."
The Editor.
EARLY in life I decided that no gent could be properly bankrolled without a million dollars. Then I started after it.
Next to the herdin' of a million dollars, which I'll admit I'm now a doin', inducin' the aforesaid million to group 'emselves together is about the toughest job I know of.
How come I decided on a million as the proper amount for a well-to-do citizen to have on hand, came in a peculiar way. The fact is I had never heard of a million dollars until I was told an old, red-skirted gypsy had confided to a ranchwoman that one day her baby would be the owner of a million dollars — this important information bein' purchased for two-bits. My mother believed it and that's why I had to go out an' get it. As a boy about twelve, to give me some idea what a million meant an' in a language I could understand, my father pictured how big a ranch it would take to feed a million horses or cattle. I also recall that my first important
Don't miss this — the first of a which our hero starts out to
decision on the million matter was that once I got the million, I didn't propose to let anybody mind it for me an' that I'd always carry it around in my pocket, thereby havin' it handy in case I had to leave on one of those quick, unexpected overnight jumps toward the Mexican border that citizens often made in the early days of Texas. As I remember now, I never figured on gettin' more'n the first million.
The first person I ever confided this deep set million dollar resolution to was my mother an' I slipped it to her as a secret just before I rode away from home to take my first job of cowpunchin' for wages, then a lad of perhaps twelve. I didn't tell my father, as I expected to be back with the million in a few months an' give the old gentleman a surprise.
A LTHOUGH that was many years ago, later in life, I -^*-had the pleasure of tellin' that same little mother that the gypsy's prophecy had come true — I had the million. In passin', I'd like to add that my father and mother are still alive an' happy after fifty years of married life. No, they don't live in Hollywood. Any man or woman out here in Hollywood, who would con- fess to livin' together for half a century an' still be on speakin' terms, would be throwed into jail as insane and disloyal to the town's best an' finest examples.
As I grew up, I did a lot of figurin' as to the best way to round up that million. Livin' in an open country, my first idea was to make it in cattle. I figured it out that a cattleman's profit on a steer would average about six dollars a head. I saw that to get the million in that way, I would require a herd cf somethin' like
Million
series of six true stories in rope and hog-tie a fortune
168,666% head of full grown cattle with two yearlin's added — the latter represcntin' the two thirds. I didn't know anybod}' in all Texas or the Indian Territory — now Oklahoma — who had 60,000 head, let alone more than twice that number, nor did I see how, at that time, I could feed an' range that much stock if I really had 'em. So it came about, the cattle idea was abandoned.
Over in Pecos country, where I was then a workin' out in a line camp, I met " Good Eye " Williams, a cow- hand. It seems a billiard cue in the hands of a quicker man had deprived him of the sight of one eye, although "Good Eye" used to describe it as a triflin' incident that occurred durin' a terrific hand-to-hand encounter with cattle rustlers, whereas in truth an' fact the trouble started over who put the fifteen ball in the corner pocket without callin' the shct.
"Good Eye," not the gentlest cowpuncher in the world, had made several hurried trips to Mexico, where he always remained until a new sherifif had been elected back home. So it was that "Good Eye" knew a lot about Mexico, an' after listenin'
By Tom Mix
to him I decided that if I was a goin' to get that million, I had to get together fifteen or twenty kindred spirits an' ride down an' take Mexico, stufY a million in my pocket an' go on my way, leavin' "Good Eye" an' the bo\s what was left. At the time "Good Eye" an' me planned our revolution, I figured that if the rest of the inhabitants were like the border peons I knew, "Good Eye" an' me, with our gang, could take the country easily. An' I'm not so certain to this day, that I wasn't right.
One of the singular things in that connection is that many years thereafter, the first $500 in gold that I had ever seen, was paid to me in Juarez, Mexico, by Fran- cisco Madero, for services rendered when he was leadin' a revolt against General Porfirio Diaz, then president of the republic. But I'll tell of that later.
Back in the line camp, "Good
[ CONTINUED ON PAGE 110 ]
"Now," says the director, "re- member, while you're a killin' the wolf, keep your back to the camera. We don't want to see your face — "
inners «/$5000
The solution of Mrs. C . F . Schneiker, pre- sented in the form of colored blocks, shown at the left, carried off first honors and the $1,500 prize
Ruth Curry won second honors and the $l,fl prize. The solution, a colored butterfly, is shown at the left
THE avalanche of entries in Photoplay Maga- zine's fourth Cut Puzzle Picture Contest brought most impressively to the judges' attention the fact that this annual event continues to maintain not only a national, but an international character. Every state sent its host of entries and every continent as well as the islands of the seas were well represented. Photoplay, along with pictures, girdles the globe.
In spite of the fact that the great majority of the solutions submitted were more simply presented than in previous years, the judges found their task in no wise diminished.
But after weeks of the most careful and assiduous labor they believe that they have reached as just and fair decisions as it is possible for any group of human beings to arrive at.
It was necessary to set aside a spacious store room where the entries could be safely kept under lock and key, awaiting the judges. And after their weeks of labor here you may read the names of the fifty whose solutions triumphed over many thousands, and who thereby carry off the total of $5,000 in cash prizes. And here, too, are presented photographs of the leading
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i Sixteen Correct Cut-Puzzle Answers |
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July August |
September |
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Corinne Griffith |
Lloyd Hughes Mary Brian |
Lawrence Gray |
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Norma Shearer |
Owen Moore Mary Astor |
Conrad Nagel |
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Lois Moran |
Edmund Burns Eleanor Boardman |
WiUiam Boyd |
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Betty Bronson 40 |
Antonio Moreno Renee Adoree |
James Hall |
Contest
Photoplay's Fourth Cut Puzzle Awards
Frances E. Heggstrom, win- ner of the $500 prize, and her book of solutions
prize-winning solutions, together with portraits of some of the winners.
The prizes will be sent to the four corners of the country. In addition, one fifty dollar award will go to England.
The Contest was made more interesting than ever tliis year by reason of the addition of the key letters, from which names of photoplay actors and actresses were to be made. Correctness, naturally, was the first factor to be considered. Neatness, as before, counted in the assembling of the cut pictures. And simplicity, combined with ingenuity of design, was required as a matter of fairness to all contestants.
As in previous contests, many solutions had to be cast aside because of errors in assembling the cut pictures. Many also lost out in the awarding of prizes because of the use of more key letters than were actually printed on the sections of the pictures.
One factor stands out strikingly, and that is, it is obvious that motion picture fans everywhere are be- coming better acquainted with the faces and names of motion picture actors. Many minor actors and
The Prize Winners
First Prize $1,500 — Blocks
Mrs. C. F. Schneiker
30 N. Bergen Place, Freeport, Long Island, N. Y.
Second Prize $1,000 — Butterfly
Ruth Curry
4006 Main Street, Kansas City, Mo.
Third Prize $500 — Book
Frances E. Heggstrom
Red Wing, Minnesota
Fourth Prize $250 — Peacock
Emil Paulson
335 East Colfax St., Denver, Colo.
Fifth Prize $12,5 — Album
Sallie Carrol P. O. Box 185, Redwood City, Calif.
[ ADDITIONAL PRIZE WINNERS OX PAGE 90 ]
actresses were well represented in the lists of names formed from the key letters.
Well worthy of note is the excellent uses to which the prize-winners propose to put their awards. One is to be used either to re-decorate a little home or to take a long desired trip abroad ; one to go into a savings account; and two will be utilized to further the educa- tions of the winners, one a crippled girl.
The first prize of $1,500 goes to Mrs. C. F. Schneiker, 30 North Bergen Place, Freeport, Long Island, New York, for her nest of blocks and list of players.
"I have been interested in the contest each year, this one appealing to me particularly because of the new feature in your presentation of making names of screen players from the key letters," Mrs. Schneiker writes Photopl.w. "That was most absorbing, and my back numbers of [continued on page 90]
A beautifully colored pea- cock, mounted in a frame, formed the background for Emil Paulson's solution. He is awarded the $250 prize
Wanted by Richard Barthelmess: A happy family and a producer's job — in Europe
THESE top-notch motion picture stars of ours, riding on the crest of the fame wave, known in every corner of the earth, so rich, so universally admired — what does the future hold for them? What are their own ideals for themselves? Are they evolving a philosophy of life? Are they content to live in the present, to let tomorrow take care of itself?
Deep down in their hearts they know that stardom in motion pictures cannot endure forever. They know that they are in the cruellest of all professions, in which "old age" comes earlier by ten or fifteen years than in any other — a profession depending so desper- ately on youth, on appearances, on continued charm, on a fickle public's adulation. They have seen the stars of former days drop out one by one and become mere has-beens.
WHAT sort of lives are they preparing for them- selves when their stardom wanes? In any other profession they could look towards maintained and increasing success through the years, but in screenland ten years hence is the equivalent of twenty, thirty- years hence in any other realm. There will be another life to lead, a long life, long after their names have ceased to be headline and electric sign drawing powers for the film industry.
Are they making any plans towards making this later life gracious, worthy of the fame that was theirs, charming for themselves and others — a genuine con- tribution to life in general? Are they storing up inter- ests for the future to take the place of public adulation?
They have attained what the world envies them — wealth and place and universal admiration. None before them has ever attained such far-reaching fame, such glittering success. They are the most envied of the envied. To such a large extent it would seem that they could make of their lives what they will. Their rewards exceed those of great public benefactors, idealistic altruists, the world's finest statesmen.
What is it all going to mean to them — ten years hence?
I selected a dozen of our most starry famous ones, those who have been in the profession long enough to have become used to fame and who will be past forty years of age — ten years hence. I asked them to tell me in what circumstances they would wish to find themselves ten years hence, what their lives would be if they could control their own destinies.
Jf2
Wen Years Hence
In most cases the question boggled them. It was plain that looking thus into the future disturbed them mightily. They had not thought about it, they did not want to think about it. Pictures are their life, for the most part. They were, most of them, startled to be confronted with a question that might seem to ex- clude pictures from their realm. They really could not envision life outside of motion pictures. And then, as they compelled their minds to the thought, almost all of them talked vaguely about travel, about lovely estates, yachts, while just one or two considered possible new fields of work, of endeavor.
The women seemed to know their minds better than the men.
T FOUND Norma Talmadge, dressed in a plain little -^ sport dress, painting porch furniture and indulging herself in a wild go of domesticity. Norma looks much tinier, not at all stately ofif the screen. Her hair was rumpled and her face guiltless of make-up. She left the painting, lit a cigarette and curled up on a divan with her legs folded beneath her.
"Oh, goodness, I have never thought of anything but pictures," she said in answer to my searching question. "I have never been quite satisfied with
Wanted by Col- leen Moore: Two children, a 125 foot sailing yacht and no superfluous avoirdupois
The Paradise the stars
hope for is a home in
France, children— and an
occasional fling at Art
By Alma Whitaker
any picture I have made yet, so all I can think about is making better ones. But I would like to go on the stage. I should have to learn, of course. I wouldn't try to do it just on my picture reputation. Oh, I should always have to work. I couldn't consider life without work.
" I think I would like a villa in the South of France, near Monte Carlo. People seem to know how to live there. Lots of women, Mary Garden for instance, have their homes there — but not retired. They go right on working out in the world and use their villas as a charmed retreat between engagements. Women don't grow old any more. . . .
"I would have liked to have had children," she murmured, thoughtfully. "I adore Natalie's babies. I like giving big parties . . . You know I will invite 100 and 300 will turn up and I love it. Talking about babies, I think my pictures have been my babies. Waiting for the results, it's like giving birth to a child. All the anguish and not knowing whether all is well until it is actually produced. . . . Oh, ten years hence. It seems so far off. But, yes, I suppose the years do creep up on one. ..."
It hasn't anything to do with the story exactly, but I must also quote Norma Talmadge on the subject of "gossip." I had said that we seemed to be able to forgive some reckless famous ones. . . .
Wanted by Norma Talmadge: A villa on the Riviera, children and a chance on the stage
Wanted by Ron- ald Colman: A son, a yacht, some books, twenty weeks work a year on the stage and a good game of poker
"Forgive!" said Norma gravely. "Who are any of us to judge and forgive? Or to blame?"
And yet, of course, this attitude of Norma's will affect her life ten years hence. A "judge not that ye be not judged" attitude must sweeten life tremen- dously as the years pass on.
A DOLPHE MENJOU also looks to the South of ■**-France for his setting in 1937. Adolphe managed to be quite emphatic — but I think something had happened that day to assist his decision.
"I am working hard now and will for several more years," he said, "but in ten years — maybe sooner — I'll have enough money to buy a country place at Pau, France. I'll be in the foothills of the Pyrenees, 'taking it big.' I want to live in France as a country gentleman, in a chateau with modern plumbing, and raise dogs and horses — and maybe children. And then no more movies. I expect to realize my ambition, too."
Little Colleen Moore, looking a wisp of a girl of about 16, is a buoyant person to interview. Colleen placed a finger on her forehead and registered pro- fundity with a naughty twinkle.
"Of course," she began, "first of all I should like to be able to say I had made one really fine artistic picture — that was also a huge box office success, " she grinned. "And I hope by then I will have an absolutely clear con- science, for I do love my sleep. I am afraid I haven't any nice high- brow ambitions. I hope I will still be skinn^^ be- cause fat people take up too much room on little yachts.
"Yes, ten years from now, I hope I will be on a 125-foot sailing yacht good engine for emergen- cies), with my John, and drifting about the seas. I want us to be poking into queer harbors and up funny little rivers, maybe the Nile, for instance. You know I had four wonder- ful months of such cruising this summer with my John, [continued on page 108 ]
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"If you'll give me a chance in pictures," says Joan Crawford's
poochiepet puppy, "I'll prove that I've got more brains, more IT
and a better camera face than Rin-Tin-Tin." What supervisor
will "discover" him?
THE weirdest story of the month emanates, not from Holly- wood but from Milan, Italy — of all places! This fantastic tale runs to the effect that a jealous motion picture actress, aided by a demonic mo\ie magnate, killed Rudolph Valentino by crushing diamonds and sprinkling them in Rudie's drinks. Can 3'ou imagine, Oswald, a mo\-ie actress and a movie magnate crushing up diamonds and not dropping dead of heart failure themseh'es?
TX7ILS0N MIZNER says the "persistency of the '' ^ uninspired" is the greatest tragedy of the motion picture industry.
HERE is a Hollywood story, more tragic than any that our own Adela Rogers St. Johns e^^er wrote. It concerns X'irginia Lee Corbin and her mother.
Mrs. Corbin was the wife of a prosperous Los Angeles druggist, so it wasn't money that made her want Mrginia to bcoonie a mo\ie star. It was a curious, persistent ambition that influenced her to start Virginia as a child actress when the girl was little more than a baby.
VIRGINIA, as you know, was successful. Successful enough to be the innocent cause of an estrangement l)etween her father and mother. When Mr. Corbin died last Spring, he carried with him to his grave the regret that his X'irginia hadn't enjoyed the normal childhood of other little girls.
THAT was tragedy No. 1. Virginia is now seventeen years old and has reached the age when she has ideas of her own — right or wrong. And so trouble started between \'irginia and her mother. There were quarrels about salary and quarrels about Virginia's right to go to parties. Finally, Virginia brought an in.sanity complaint against her mother. The poor woman had tried to kill herself.
Then came the bitterest quarrel of all, o\er tlie ridiculous
What the well- dressed Eve wears in "The Garden of Eden." This rare photograph is the first time Corinne Griffith has shown her knees since leav- ing Vitagraph
party question. Virginia left home and Mrs. Corbin swallowed poison. And Virginia rushed to the hospital, where her mother fought a wavering fight against death.
They're reconciled now and the insanity complaint is dismissed. And nobody's to blame. You can't blame the mother who was so ambitious for her pretty little child. Nor can you blame the child who was forced into a hard, unnatural life when she was too j-oung to grasp the difference between right and wrong.
LENA MALENA, the little German actress, who has been borrowed by United Artists from Cecil De Mille to play with John Barrymore in "The Tempest," was talk- ing to a writer.
"How are you getting along with Barrymore?" the writer inquired.
"But Meester Barrymore, he no has flirted mit me yet. I am so much the deesappointed," was the tragic answer.
the ^tudioj
SBy Caljork
Dolores Del Rio wanted to take this papoose to Holly- wood. Big Chief and his squaw shouted a heap big "No!"
What's the younger generation coming to? It's enough to make
Charlotte Greenwood believe the things she's heard about the
movies. The "baby" is Harry Earles. Remember him in "The
Unholy Three"?
ZELDA SEARS, the playwright, was chatting with me. "Even as a boy, Cecil De Mille was a nice kid," she re- marked. "Of course, his mother and father were so clever that we never really expected either Cecil or William to amount to a thing. But they were nice children."
And now Zelda draws her pay checks from the "nice boys" of her early acquaintance.
LEILA HYAMS, that nifty young person, has gone and gotten married to Phil Berg, a Hollywood casting agent. They were married at Sherry's in New York. What could be grander?
'T^OM GERAGHTY passes along a new word, coined by ■*■ Samuel G. Blythe. Blythe calls a certain type of worker a "slib." A "slib," in case you want to know, is a man who is both slick and glib.
NORMA SHEARER and Irving Thalberg have taken up their nuptial residence with Mother Thalberg and little sister Sylvia.
Norma was very wifely on the morning of the honeymoon return. " I'll put in Irving's collar buttons and cuff links, now. You don't need to do it any longer, " she told her mother-in-law.
And she did, for four whole mornings. Then she called for help, "You can do it, if you want to, Mother. I have to be at the studio, and you're used to doing it, and ■ — •"
Mother Thalberg can almost forget now that her boy is married.
NORMA TALMADGE is making a home for sister Natalie's children, while Mr. and Mrs. Buster Keatonarein the east. The kiddies arrived with their little black terrier, "Scotty. " Within two days "Scotty" was missing.
The Talmadge house was in an uproar. An advertisement was rushed to the papers which made the mistake of carrying the true name and address of the owners. The procession be- gan! As many dogs as the Pied Piper had rats paraded with their inquisiti\e masters before the Talmadge front door-step.
FINALLY, when the ele\enth hundred child arri\-ed with a huge Dane, e\idently her own, and as evidently used as an excuse for mama and papa and all the brothers and sisters to see Norma, the Keatons and the household equipment. Norma became disgusted.
"But the ad\ertisement said definitely that it was a tiny black Scotch Terrier, answering to the name of 'Scotty.' Why have you brought this huge Dane?" she demanded.
"Because it answers to the name of 'Scotty'," was the lisp- ing answer.
"And the paper might have made a mistake in the rest of the description," Mama added. A Hollywood boulevard police- man found the real "Scotty" and returned it.
HUMAN stories often skirt motion picture sets, that far exceed the poignancy of the box office attraction being filmed.
This happened on the Florence Yidor "A Celebrated Woman" set.
45
Joyce Coad (at lefti is the only triplet in pictures. She is now nine years old and one of the best of the child ac- tresses in Hollywood. Her brother and sister are not on the screen
A revolver was used in a scene. Several " takes" were made, the revolver exploding in each instance.
The head electrician came to Director Frank Turtle;
"Say, Air. Tuttle, could you let me know when you're gonna fire that gun? I want to signal those fellers," pointing to four electricians high in the rafters manning spotlights. "The boys got shell shocked in the War and sudden explosions iinner\'e them."
They rccei\"ed their signals.
A HUGE sight-seeing 'bus dashed up Fifth Avenue and •'*■ plastered across it was this flaming banner, "Welcome Home, Carl Laemmle."
"What's all that about?" I asked my intelligent taxi driver.
"That's a movie stunt," he answered. "It says 'Wel- come Home, Carl LeMeal. Carl is a brother of Cecil Le- Meal who plays in 'The Big Parade.' "
And that, my lads, is fame!
LUPE X'.^LEZ, Doug Fairbank's Mexican discovery, now is 100 per cent Hollywood. She is being sued by her mana- ger for breach of contract. The manager claims he discovered Lupe while the little Mexican was riding on a merr}-go-round in her native city.
This story takes the prize of the handsome solid i\ory copy of "Cinderella."
NOW we know that Lupez is a primiti^"e creature. It has just leaked out that she was such a good comrade on the set where she was working, that one of the prop-boj-s took it for granted he could become familiar. She charged at him with a knife, chasing him the length of the lot. before outsiders could rush to his protection.
We wonder if the well-known director to whom she is re- ported engaged has heard this storj-.
"DAMON NOVARRO can't see why his new picture, a ■^^story of the early life of Louis XIV, has been titled "His Night." Ramon thinks it would be better box-office to call the fihn "His Nightie."
AILERN PRIXGLE was welcomed to Xew \"ork after months of absence with a lii'ry tea given by Fania Marinoff and Carl Van \'echten.
And Ramon Novarro, upon arri\ing in the big city, promptly arranged for a series of singing lessons from Louis Graveure.
I could burst out crying. What's become of the old-fashioned hotsy-totsy movie stars who celebrated his or her advent to Manhattan by making merry all night at Texas Guinan's joy parlor?
.\nother fair immigrant who "no spik Eng- lish." Carl Laemmle, Jr., discovered her in Europe, christened her Joan Lido and signed her for Universal
M.ARCELIXE DAY is one Hollywood girl who never even had a beau, they tell me. But if you could hear Alarceline and James Murray whisper- ing together — and giggling a little — you would draw your own conclusions. And Mary Philbin, that heretofore unattached yoimgster, now admits to an interest in Paul Kohner, one of Universal's producers.
'T^HE non-professional sister of a famous producer ■*• encountered Agnes Christine Johnston at one big social function after another.
"My, but you get mvited to a lot of places for a mere writer," was her greeting on the seventh festal evening.
IT was almost coincidentally with Constance Talmadge's return to New York that "Buster" Collier, formerly Connie's hea\iest beau, staged his near-elopement with Dorothy McCarthy. Miss McCarthy is the girl who sings cute little songs with her sister in George White's shows.
"Buster" and Dorothy hied themselves to the Municipal Building to get a license but the clerk refused because Dorothy didn't have her birth certificate to prove she was of legal age to get married. -After the delay, the marriage was postponed because "Buster" discovered that he had a movie contract which forbade his getting married in ten weeks.
But anyway, as a solace to two romantic hearts, the episode was given stories and photographs in all the newspapers.
COXXTE TALMADGE'S new beau seems to be Ben Finney. I always w-onder why newspapers are so insistent on re- ferring to Ben as a movie star. Ben hasn't been before a camera in several years and the only pictures in which he achieved any sort of prominence were "Miama, " and "The Heart of a Temptress."
But Ben is a movie star to the newspapers who are a great deal more generous in handing out glory than this sour old cynic.
OPEAKING of a non-professional party, which was ^blowed in Hollywood, Wilson Mizner declared, "The breaths of everyone present was enough to start the wind- mill on an old Dutch print moving."
Kicks at $90.00 per, of silver kid, with veins of red and rhinestone buckles. Contributed to Ruth Taylor by Mr. Eistnan in "Gentle- men Prefer Blondes"
THERE is a lot of cruelty in this business. And whether it is deliberate or accidental, doesn't hide the fact that it is cruelty, nevertheless.
Take the case of Renee Adoree, a capable and good-natured trouper. Miss Adoree was promised the title role in "Rose- Marie," as a reward for past excellences. She started work in the picture and thought she was giving general satisfaction.
But one day, in the costume department, she happened to hear that Joan Crawford was being fitted for costumes for the role. On Friday, so our spies say, Renee was given notice that she was out of "Rose-Marie."
On Monday, Miss Crawford stepped into the picture.
THERE is one actor in Hollywood who has never seen him- self on the screen, who never reads his publicity, and who nonchalantly forgets he is a motion-picture satellite between pictures.
Buz Barton, the thirteen year old FBO western star who thrills the kids of the country' with his daring riding, staunchly refuses to see his own pictures.
"Ah, Louis King can tell me whether I done all right or not. I can't be bothered," is his answer. We wonder how long this lack of self-interest will continue, with even this young man from Missouri.
LON CHANEY, who intersperses every picture with a fishing trip in the high Sierras, insists he has discovered a new kind of animal.
"A mule that points deer like a dog," is his story. "When a deer is near, this pack animal stops and sticks out his nose, waits, as much as to ask, 'Why don't you shoot?'
"Oh, I didn't believe this story, either, when I heard it," he answers the laughs which greet him. But he's offered to take scoffer? on his next trip to show them.
OHANEY was proudly displaying his huge upper-arm ^^muscles, muscles which he has developed with much hard exercise and training.
Gwen Lee took one look, patted his arm lightly and laughed knowingly,
"0)i, go on, that's make-up. It's just another Lon Chaney!"
The Irish invade Greek territory. Mickey Neilan is direct- ing CoUen Moore in "High Life," a comedy glorifying the American lunch wagon and the home of hot dogs and indigestion
SPEAKING of Gwen Lee, we were talking about Hollywood parties, cafes and general amusements. She seemed a little indifferent and finally remarked frankly:
"Such things really don't interest me anymore. I'd rather just spend a quiet evening!"
"You must be in love!" we answered. She blushed violently. And it developed that George Hill is one of those boys who doesn't enjoy anything jazzy. His proclivity is quiet evenings.
EMIL JANNINGS has developed sex appeal! The girls paid him no attention until he arrived on the lot one day in a uniform of a general for his new starring vehicle, "The General." The fur-lined coat with the huge fox collar made such a difference, that they seriously considered board- ing up the set to protect him from the admiring young lady players!
DID you ever know that Jeanie MacPherson, the screen author of "The King of Kings" and numerous other big pictures, was the cigar-factory girl who fought with Geraldine Farrar in her interpretation of "Carmen"?
ONE Hollywood director has solved the secrets of Victor McLaglen's interpretation of the toreador in "Carmen." McLaglen asked what he was to play next. They told him "Car-men." So Vic looked it up and found car-men meant motormen or gripmen and that's the way he playsd
RL'TH TAYLOR is having to learn some bitter lessons, even though she is Lorelei Lee and supposed to be clever enough to master any situation.
"Ritzy — stuck up — her part's gone to her head — "
Some kind "friend" told her that's what certain folk were saying about her. And Ruth was so cut up she couldn't work the day after.
Then came the rumor that a certain well-known Hollywood man had captured her affections.
"What about those rumors, Ruth?"
She tossed her blonde head coyly.
"Oh, that's part of the game. Wc should worry about the men. But I want the women to lo\c me!"
With tears in her eyes she told me. It was a part Anita Loos forgot to "write in" for her.
NILS ASTOR is the latest actor to "go Hollywood." This recent Swedish gift to the screen has just received an especially-built car, which demands an especially-built garage to house its huge length. The upholstery is genuine pigskin, sewed together by hand. [ continued on page 100 ]
i7
ntimate "J/Tsits ^^ the
Martin Johnson now calls Nai- robi, British East Africa, home. Then, too, the John- sons have a ''country place" at Lake Paradise on the border of Abyssinia
THERE is no telling where this storj- will end, but it begins in a woodshed in Independence, which is a town in that portion of the Great American prairie called Kansas, and the time is about thirty years ago.
A boy on the verge of his teens stood at the chopping block in the woodshed skillfully wielding a hatchet with which he was reducing packing cases to kindling.
From time to time there were lulls in the labor as the youngster paused to regard the strange foreign labels on some of the cases, or to straighten out and decipher stray bits of circulars or to examine wisps of curious grasses and mattings and papers and remnants of packing material. The boxes were discards from the
The Story of Martin Johnson, the farm boy who ran away from his Kansas home to become one of the world's best known explorers with a camera
receiving room at his father's jewelry and notion store in the village and they came, it seemed, from many strange, far away lands and ports — Shanghai, Tokyo, Christiania, Singapore, Muk- den, Beyrut, Liverpool, Melbourne, Manila. This was young Martin Johnson's favorite Saturday morning diversion. His schoolmates looked upon the woodpile as an institution of slavery, but for Martin it was the threshold of fanciful adventure. He day- dreamed over these far away places and all the exotic sights and scenes the grotesque, many colored labels suggested. Martin preferred his woodshed adventures and his merry collection of shipping labels and seals to any possible excitement of town lot baseball and like pastimes of his set. Probably Martin's teacher in the Independence public school may have noted that the lad was a star in geography, and most likely indeed she may also have observed that he was not quite so good in arithmetic. His mind was continually on the large
Mrs. Martin Johnson on the recent Johnson expedition into the African wilds. These Lumbwa girls must wear long veils of skin over their faces for a period of several months before they are married
Homes of Magnates
By Terry Ramsaye
Author of "A Million and One Nights"
and remote Elsewhere and lands of his glam- orous fancy.
All of this did not make Martin highly social. He was given to exploring the country about for and by himself. He knew a great deal about the fishing and the birds and such wild life as might be found in the scrub oak and hackberry groves along the Kansas streams.
Presently young Mr. Johnson arrived at the milestone age of fourteen years and made a momentous decision. He would wonder about those far away places no longer. It is just possible that there was a certain heritage in the abundant red blood of him that had an influence. Martin's
F
amous
Osa Johnson
in her African
hunting
costume
A few Johnson close- ups, showing a leopard at home, two rhinos on their way to water at Lake Paradise and a hyena taking his own pic- ture, having just stepped on a camera trap
father, the jeweler and
watchmaker, was a square
jawed, firm set Johnson
from Sweden, and the lad's
mother was of the pioneer stock of western Missouri. Now
wherever there is blue salt water is the home of the seafaring
Swede, and as for the maternal side of the house remember
that the slogan of Missouri is "Show Me!" So it came that
Martin Johnson, fourteen and eager and husky, decided to just
go and see and go and see until he had seen it all.
From the viewpoint of age fourteen the world is a rather large sort of arrangement and Martin was not entirely sure just where to begin on it. But then one place was likely to be about as new as another. Without taking the railway com- pany or any one else into his confidence he took train one night, bound out of Independence for Kansas City and all points elsewhere, whatsoever, whenever.
Martin managed to see large [ continued on page 105 ]
An interesting shot of some long African drinks. Otherwise a herd of giraffes drinking at Lake Paradise
Copyrieht. 1927, by Terry Ramoaye /Q
V
if J if.
As the year of 1927 draws to a final fade-out, Photoplay surveys the twelve months of stirring scraps and daring deeds and thinks it fitting to make a role of honor of those, outstanding personalities who have contributed much to the life of the party.
Will the boys and girls step to the front of the class-room, when their names are called, and re- cei\-e their handsome medals? Anyone making a disturbance will please step outside and fight it out in the alley with Bull Montana, our official bodyguard. All set for the presentation of the medals of honor for 1927? Let's go:
To Adolph Zukor: Because his company makes more money for his stockholders than any other outfit in the business; because he does not solicit personal publicity; and just because.
To Eric von Stroheim: Because he is willing to starve in order to make pictures the way he believes they should be made.
To John Gilbert: Because of amthing he does — good or bad.
To Tom Mix : For literary progress.
To Greta Garbo: Because she has stuck to her story and remained herself.
To Clara Bow : Because she is the hardest-work- ing girl in Hollywood.
To Louis B. MaNer: Because he gave the censors ammunition for destructive Federal censorship; because, for two weeks, he didn't give out a state- ment or interview.
To Will Hays: Because he didn't become dis- gusted and leave the business flat.
To Bebe Daniels: Because she has taken her
work seriously and given us some of the best
comedies of the year.
To Harry Langdon: Because he paid Charlie
Chaplin a great compliment by tr3-ing to imitate
him.
To Lita Grey Chaplin: Because she forced Charlie to go to work again. We hope Charlie gets re- married and re-alimonied, if he'll make more pictures.
To Corinne Griffith: Because she and her hus- band, Walter Morosco, have completed another year of domestic happiness, untouched by the
tongues of gossip. [ COXTINUED ON PAGE 94 ]
By Harrison Wainwright
Strictly Business Sir Bendy Bingham has an adventure thirty-five minutes after he reaches the capital of Moviedom
THE Right Honorable Sir Bently Bingham Avas not exactly what one would term an oil painting. He was not handsome, but he was one of those tall, clean-cut, well-groomed Englishmen in the near thirties who radiate masculine attractiveness, culture and aristocratic applesauce, and for whom the ladies in general fall with sickening thuds.
His type is prolific in the more exclusive clubs of the West End of London, and is usually to be found prop- ping up the mantelpiece in his favorite club.
There he will stand for hours with his hands in his pockets, his legs stretched apart, holding forth, with perfect assurance, on the merits of his favorite actresses, horses and dogs.
How this particular specimen of the genus, Sir Bently Bingham, happened to be in Hollywood came about in this wise:
Somebody had informed him that travel was broad- ening and further, having a deep-rooted conviction that moving pictures were all wrong, he decided that a life of uselessness might be turned to constructive account by taking a trip to Hollywood and telling these movie blighters what was what.
This cherished scion of an ancient and useless English family had only been in Holl>'wood thirty-five minutes, during which time he had checked into his hotel, walked three blocks down the boulevard, and received three sets of glorious glad eyes from three passing maidens.
SIR BENTLY BINGHAM had preened himself con- siderably on this ac- count, but his limited experience of the movie metropolis had been insufficient for him to recognize a well- known lady bootlegger, and two impecunious extra girls, who were out gunning for an in- vitation to lunch.
Luckily for him he hadn't the temerity to take advantage of the optical invitations to conversation,or later he might have found him- self to be suffering from woodalcohol poisoning, or, in a luckier phase of bad luck, merely out the price of two lunches, for the two extras were down to their last fifty cents.
However, a fourth lady, who looked so ravishingly beauti- ful and bewilderingly classy, gave him no
HOW do you do, the rlassv one ha
time nor chance to grow timid. Her glorious blonde curls swung jauntily across the alabaster smoothness of her fair brow as she flashed a fascinating smile of recognition.
"Egad!" fervently said Sir Bently. "What a stun- ner!" But aloud he merely said,"Er — er — " as he cau- tiously looked behind him to assure himself the smile was not intended for somebody else. Now it should be distinctly understood that Sir Bently Bingham was not foolish about women. He was one of the exceptions, but like all exceptions he was liable to his weak mo- ments.
In the light of his greater Hollywood experience, the English baronet was wont to describe this particular weak moment as a "bloomin' hallucination," and would lucidly explain the reason he had not got wise to the lady was because she looked like a dashed movie star of the bally first magnitude, and her supremely classy air, and the foreign make of her long, gray road- ster had somewhat heightened the illusion.
Mister Sir Bently Bingham," ■the classy one had greeted him. Then with out- stretched hand she had said cordially: "Welcome to Holhwood, Mister Bently. I saw you up at the hotel and I'm glad you have come."
"I'm dashed glad you did and are," responded Sir Bently warmly. " Are you staying at the hotel by any chance?"
"Nix on that hotel," replied the maiden. "You can't have no fun there. The man- ager's jealous of every girl you take in there." "'Pon my soul! What a silly ass! He must be paying ali- mony," ejaculated Sir Bently Bingham, with feeling.
The ravishing blonde A-ision who had accost- ed the Englishman laughed heartily at the joke and as she con- tinued to smile archly, Sir Bently said:
"Er — what does one do there then? Er — that is to say, with the girls, I mean?"
"Well, the best way, Mister Bingham," advised the classy maiden, "is to check out of that hotel and take an apartment. You can get some swell ones for about a hun- dred a month." [coxtinuedonpage92]
51
"How do you do, Mister Sir Bently Bingham," the classy one greeted him. Then with outstretched hand she said cordially: "Welcome to Hollywood, Mister Bently. I saw you up at the hotel and I'm glad you have come"
THE NATIONAL GUIDE TO MOTION PICTURES
THE GORILLA— First National
YOU are certain to be convulsed with laughter at the antics of Charlie Murray and Fred Kelsey as a pair of ivory-domed detecti^•es who were assigned to solve the mys- terj^ of a series of murders. Comedy is the dominant note in the screen version of "The Gorilla," which was a success- ful New York play. The mystery and the suspense are main- tained through the entire picture, but the comedy engulfs it. The episodes in which the gorilla chases Murray through the house, over the roof and down the chimney, as well as the battle in the cellar of the old mansion, will rock any audience. It wouldn't be fair to the story to divulge the mystery here, but rest assured that if laughter helps the appetite, you will drop into the nearest cafeteria on the way home. Al Santell directed and made a picture well worth while.
SHE'S A SHEIK— Paramount
IF YOU think you have already sounded the depths of Bebe Daniels' versatility, guess again. As Zaida, the adopted daughter of an Arabian chieftain, she decides a handsome captain in the French Foreign Legion is her proper mate, liepulsed in her advances, she kidnaps him, and proceeds to tame him in her own way — ^and interesting it is. Richard Aden is the captured man who learns to like it. In this picture, Bebe has made a unique place for herself as an athletic heroine. James Bradbury, Jr., and Bill Franey afford much amusement as a motion picture company that strolls into Bebe's camp. They are also a good excuse for some of George Marion's cle\er titles. William Powell, as Kadal, has a comedy ^•illain role that he enacts beauti- fully. Don't play bridge the night this picture is shown.
The
Shadow Stage
A Review of the New Pictures
THE CIRCUS—Vnited Artists
CHARLIE CHAPLIN turns circus performer in a story which teems with spontaneous humor and yet maintains the plaintive heart interest we have learned to expect from Chaplin. Here is the same old inimitable Charlie of the baggy pants, the well worn derby and the capable shoes, who wanders penniless onto the circus grounds hungry for just one hot dog to allay his several-day famine. He gets his first bite at the hands of a baby hanging o\-er the shoulder of an unsuspecting father. This is a gag, of course, but a typical Chaplin gag, touched with humor and humanness.
A pickpocket complicates the situation by disposing of his loot in Charlie's pocket. In escaping the police the comedian • is forced into the tent where he saves the one ring circus from the boredom of its audience by his unintentional humorous antics. The cries of the crowd for "the funny man" gi\'es him his chance to play in the show.
In doubling for the tight-rope walker, who is his ri-\al for the petite equestrienne's affections, Charlie finds a splendid outlet for not only his funmaking, but hisdarede\il stunt acting. A fortune teller re\eals that the girl fa\-ors the rope walker and Charlie — but that is the secret of the human interest plot which will hold your attention to the end of the story.
Merna Kennedy, a find of Charlie Chaplin's, makes a screen debut which augurs well for her future. Harry Crocker as the wire walker and Alia Garcia as the circus owner, give splendid interpretations.
But the story is all Charlie's, and it's for the whole family.
SAVES YOUR PICTURE TIME AND MONEY
The Best Pictures of the Month
THE CIRCUS SORRELL AND SON
THE GORILLA SHE'S A SHEIK
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HELEN OF TROY THE GAUCHO THE DEVIL DANCER
GRANDMA BERNLE LEARNS HER LETTERS MAN, WOMAN AND SIN UNCLE TOM'S CABIN
The Best Performances of the Month
Charlie Chaplin in "The Circus"
H. B. Warner in "Sorrell and Son"
John Gilbert in "Man, Woman and Sin"
Gilda Gray in "The Devil Dancer"
Charles Murray in "The Gorilla"
Warner Oland in "Good Time Charlie"
Margaret Mann in "Grandma Bernle Learns Her Letters"
Jean Hersholt in "The Symphony"
Esther Ralston in "The Spotlight"
Casts of all photoplays revieued will he found on page 124
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SORRELL AND SON— United Artists
APRODUCTIOX so touching, so beautiful, so genuinely human that pen picture cannot do it justice. Dedicated 'To My Father and Your Father." Perhaps this one line of Director Herbert Brenon's, which introduces the storj', tells more eloquently than any other words the spirit of the production. For it interprets the loA'e of a father for a son from childhood to manhood and the return comrade- ship of son throughout the life of parent.
H. B. Warner, as the father Sorrel/, rises to heights he did not hint even in his interpretation of the Christ in "The King of Kings." Little Mickey McBan paves the way, with his natural childish lo\-e, for his father, for the convincing playing by Nils Asther of the adult Kit Sorrell.
Anna Q. Xilsson, as the wife who spurns the father as he returns to his home, after being decorated for distinguished service in the World War; Mary Xolan, the new screen personality who plains the girlhood sweetheart and bride of young Kit; Alice Joyce, the woman whose love joins that of the son in bringing ultimate happiness to the father; and Carmel Myers, the \amping hotel mistress who is rejected by Sorrell Senior — all do their parts in a spirit of harmony which makes for perfection. This picture proves that carry- ing the actors to the nati\e locale does pay — when the right director is sent along. Herbert Brenon dissolves the last doubt as to whether a storj' of real life, which brings out the best of human nature, can be woven into a successful motion picture presentation. E\'ery man, woman or child should see this engrossing and inspiring entertainment.
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HELEN OF TROY— First National
THE producers would not have needed John Erskine's book for this picture, except, possibh- that they wanted the title. The picture is nothing but the burlesquing of the events of Trojan history, with the titles putting o\ er the humor. Maria Corda as Helen has given the screen a new type of vampire and the country is going to rave o^•er her. Lewis Stone as Menelaiis is really remarkable in his charac- terization. One cannot say as much for Ricardo Cortez, who played Paris with rather too hea\y a tread. Whatever fault one can find with the picture, is in the direction. Alexander Korda failed to rise to the lighter satirical touches. Yet it is going to rank with the distinct screen achie\'ement3 of the }-ear. A picture distinctly worth while.
THE GAUCHO— United Artists
DOUG is with us again, this time as the bandit chief at the head of an arm^' of liberators in South America. But he isn't the Doug of old — not the lovable bandit of "RobinHood," nor yet thedashing, charming Latin-American of either "The Mark of Zorro" or "Don Q." It is an older Doug. "The Gaucho" will, howe\-er, take its rank with the box office hits of the year. Lupe Velez, Doug's leading lady, actually o\ershadows him as far as their respective per- formances are concerned.
The Gaucho is the terror of the Andes. He rides the country at the head of his army, taking and looting town after town until he comes to the Miracle City. Then comes his regeneration through the lady of the shrine and his wedding to a wildcat mountain girl.
53
Photoplay Gets Its Reviews Months Ahead
GRANDMA BERNLE LEARNS HER LETTERS— Fox
MORE poignant in its grief than "Over The Hill," more tear compelling than "Stella Dallas" is "Grandma Bernle Learns Her Letters." Even as the two preceding pictures created a new screen mother, so does this picture present us with a type that will rise to stardom because of her characteriza- tion of the war-torn, grief-stricken old German woman who loses three of her sons in the toll of war and who has to prac- tically start life all o\er again in a strange country at the home of her sole remaining offspring. Margaret Mann is the new mother, who finally achieves screen success after eleven 3'ears of waiting in the ranks of the "atmosphere people." No matter what they eventually name this picture, it is going to go down in film history as one of the screen's best. John Ford, who directed, has achieved a real picture.
THE DEVIL DANCER— United Artists
IT appears as though Gilda Gray will never cease surprising her admirers. No one expected great things of her in "Aloma of the South Seas" but she gave a cle^•er performance in it. Then in "Cabaret" she once again gave us something we didn't suspect she had. Now in "The Devil Dancer" she proves that she is an actress. The story tells of the child of missionaries to Tibet that has been reared by the lamas in their monastery, finally decreed to be the sacred dancer — "The Devil Dancer." An ad\-enturing Englishman decides to take her back to ci\ i- lization. The story in itself is commonplace, but the colorful settings, and the fine direction of Fred Niblo make the picture. The dancing performed by Gilda Gray and a group of ten girls in the picture certainly aids. Cli\e Brook, playing opposite the star, helps bring her performance to its point of excellence.
64
THE
SPOTLIGHT — Paramount
ANOTHER story of the theater, and after seeing this, you will know that Esther Ralston is a full-fledged actress. The transition from the country girl, Lizzie Stokes, to the famous Russian actress, Rostova, is made right before our eyes. The Russian characterization is beautifuU}' and gracefully done and Esther Ralston will add numerous followers to her long list of admirers. Neil Hamilton is a satisfactory lover.
GOOD TIME CHARLIE— Warners
HERE is a decidedly different screen tale of stage life that you are certain to like, if for no other reason than the really tremendous characterization that is contributed by Warner Oland. It is a tale of stage ambition on the part of two men, Oland and Clyde Cook. Helene Costello is the girl, while Montagu Lo\"e supplies the menace and Hugh Allen the juvenile. Michael Curtiz directed.
THE SYM- PHONY— Universal
J U.ST an attempt to produce another "The Music Master." The task has not been particularly well carried out. The story is that of a German composer who comes to America to gain fame and fortune, but first serves as a comedy offering in a midnight cabaret. Later the father's symphony is played in the gigantic Hollywood bowl. Trite and somewhat stilted. Jean Hersholt is starred and gives a great performance.
of All Other Magazines. Check Up and See
THE
CHINESE PARROT- Universal
I
A PEARL necklace and reason for this colorful, picturesque, thrilling mystery melodrama. The locale is Hawaiian Islands, a lonely desert hacienda, and San Francisco Chinatown. A m> btery story must not be divulged, but this has been somewhat changed from the original story by Earl Derr Diggers. Acting honors go to Sojin, who does four distinct, excellent characterizations.
A TEXAS STEER— First National
THERE is many a laugh in the screen \ersion of "A Texas Steer," in which Will Rogers appears as star, for which he wrote the titles, and maybe he might even tour the country with the film to sell exhibitors. But the titles that he wrote do get laughs. In the cast one finds Louise Fazenda, Ann Rork, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Sam Hardy and George Marion. Richard Wallace directed with a fine sense of comedy.
WILD
GEESE—
Tiffany
MARTHA OSTENSO will be pleased with the screen version of her story, for the spirit is all there. The dominating part is that of Caleb Gare, ably portrayed by Russell Simpson. Eve Southern establishes herself as one of the most striking, unusual types on the screen. Donald Keith, Anita Stewart, Belle Bennett, Wesley Barry, Bodil Rosing, Jason Robards and Reta Rae do excellent work.
MAN. WOMAN AND SIN—M.-G.-M.
ASIDE from being a Jack Gilbert picture, this has interest in that Jeanne Eagels, star of "Rain," plays opposite. Miss Eagels has been in pictures before but here every effort is made to put her over in a Greta Garbo way. Possibly there is more interest in President Coolidge's dramatic debut in J\Ir. Gilbert's support. In "Man, Woman and Sin," too. IVIy, my! The story is one of Washington newspaper life and the early part has a lot of inky authenticitj-. I)irector — and author — -Monta Bell knows his citj' room. After that the film disin- tegrates into cheap melodrama. An innocent young reporter falls in love with the society editor, maintained in luxury by the newspaper owner. The cub kills the boss but, in the end, is saved from hanging or whate\"er is done in such circum- stances. Miss Garbo needn't worr}- oxer Miss Eagels.
UNCLE TOMS CABL\—Uniyci sal
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE'S story finally has come to the screen as a super-feature. Universal is responsible for the picturization. They, however, have undertaken to rewrite the story to cover a period of from 1856 to 1864, so tluit they would be able to include a number of Civil \\'ar battle scenes and Sherman's march to the sea. For the pur- poses of screening the \o\e affair of El/'ca and George Harris, both slaves, the parting at the hands of cruel masters, and their subsequent meeting through the fates of the war gods, is made the principal theme on which the entire story moti\ates. Tills is a new "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and not the one that we ha\e all read. The outstanding characterization is the work of James B. Lowe, a negro, as Vncle Tom.
{Additional reviews on page 121 )
55
heir Business
Some stars put motors and expen- ones invest the
Ruth Roland, one of the smartest realtors in Los Angeles — and that's saying a lot. Here is Ruth outside her office on Roland Square, ex- hibiting the models of her newest building enterprises
Katherine MacDonald is no longer on the screen, but she has capitalized her reputa- tion in this beauty shop where she personally super- vises the making of creams and lotions
IT'S no disgrace, my dear Lord Cholmondeley, to be "in trade." Russian princesses, Park Avenue matrons, English women of title and even movie stars all find it convenient to garner a little extra spending money. You'd be surprised at the stars who have side-lines that make them independent of the fickle camera.
Conrad Nagel and Jack Holt both have stock ranches at Fresno, California. Tim McCoy confesses to a dude ranch up in Wyoming.
Besides her interest in her sister's beauty parlor, Viola Dana owns a garage. Pola Negri is building a six story apartment house near the Ambassador Hotel and she intends to be both landlady and super- intendent. The tenants will have to kick to Pola if the hot water doesn't run.
Bebe Daniels supervises the building and renting of her bungalow courts.
James Hal! runs a doughnut shop on the Venice Pier. Pauline Garon owns a cleaning and dyeing es- tablishment. Lon Chaney has an apple orchard. Robert Gordon finds it more profitable to be known as the Orange Juice King of Los Angeles than con- tinue as a picture actor.
56 2
Cide-Lines
Viola Dana transferred the ownership of her beauty shop to her sister, Edna Flugrath, who is seen supervising a bob. The shop has a large clientele among the pro- fessionals
their money in imported sive houses, but the wise surplus in a paying trade
HUNTLY ACORDON SIIK HOSIERY MILLS
Noah Beery made his hobby pay him money. He conducts the Paradise Trout Club and sells memberships. He gets all the fishing he wants and nice dividends besides
Huntly Gordon found that Los Angeles women spent $12,000,000 a year on silk stockings and promptly started to manufacture them. His plant turns out 1,500 pair a month
/Tre You Giving A
Holiday partyj)
You probably are giving a part}-. And very likely you are wondering what you are going to ser\-"e your guests for refreshments. Nearly ever3-one serves sandwiches, ice cream, cake and coffee and you want your party to be different.
Why, then, not make it a movie part}? I have selected a menu from Photoplay's Cook Book that may be served for supper after an evening of bridge or dancing. The beauty of this menu is that all the dishes may be prepared ahead, leaving the hostess free to enjoy her own party for a change. Here is the menu :
Swedish Salad a la Greta Garbo Cheese Straws (Florence X'idor)
Peach sherbet (Mav McAvoy)
Hot Coffee
Miss Garbo dictated the following recipe for her salad:
4 oz. cold roast beef
4 oz. boiled potatoes
4 oz. apples
4 oz. pickled herring
3 anchovies
1 tablespoon chopped gherkins
1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon chervil
1 hard-boiled egg
24 olives
12 oysters
oil and vinegar
Chop beef, potatoes, apples and herring into small cubes. Chop anchovies. Mix all the ingredients together except the oysters. Pour over mixture of oil and vinegar to taste. Place oysters over the top. And there you have it ! Men, naturally, will love it.
For Florence Vidor's cheese straws, mix together 1 cupof flour, J^cup grated Parmesan cheese, J/^ teaspoon salt, a dash of cayenne and the yolk of one egg, then add enough water to make a paste sufficiently consistent to roll. Place paste on a board and roll to }i inch thick- ness. Cut it into narrow strips and roll so each piece will be the size and length of a lead pencil. Place them in a baking tin and press each end on the pan. Bake to a light brown in a moderate oven.
May McAvoy's peach sherbet : Boil 2 cups water and 1 cup of sugar for twenty minutes; let cool and then add ^ cup peach pulp, juice of 1 orange and juice of 3^ lenion. Freeze the mixture and serve with slices of fruit. You may use canned peaches.
Of course, Photopl.w's Cook Book, with its 100 favorite recipes of the stars, contains material for any number of attractive menus, for luncheons, dinnerpar- ties, teas or suppers. If you follow the directions in the little coupon to your right and send for the Cook Book today, you will receive it in time to plan your holiday entertaining. Carolyn Van Wyck.
58
XK
Photoplay Magazine
750 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, 111.
Please send me a copy of Photoplay's Cooic Book, containing 100 favorite recipes of the stars. I am enclosing twenty-tive cents.
/'"^AN this be the girl who wanted to be a school teacher? Oh, Hollywood, what have
^'-'you done to Thelma Todd, who once planned to advance the cause of learning in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts !
•"THIS is Mary Nolan, who refused to be licked by the Ogre of Public Opinion. As
-*- Imogene Wilson, the studios were closed to her. Adopting a fighting Irish name and
a spirt to match it, the girl won out.
A NOTHER girl who found it lucky to change her name. As Katherine Hill, she was
■* *-merely just another pretty girl. As Kathryn Carver, she's a promising actress and the
fiancee of Adolphe Menjou.
IV/rO wonder First National finds Dorothy MackaiU one of the most useful members of ■*- ^ Its organization. Dorothy can play anything from tragic heroines to pert flappers — and make 'em like it.
News Reel
in
^ hy me
Item
Charles Ray and Aileen Pringle, Are enjoying frosty weather
In New York (no, don't be silly — Of course they're not together!)
Notice!
Irving Thalberg and Norma Shearer (Yes, she is Mrs. Thalberg now),
Are visiting Europe's ancient shores, On a honeymoon — and how!
The Old Window Game
Lya de Putti fell out of a window.
(Windows in Berlin are not built for speed! Lya has met with the same fate, remember.^)
We're sorry, indeed!
We should suggest, in the spirit of friendship. That Lya buys her an old fashioned net,
That she may spread when a window attracts her. It's her best bet!
Marilyn Gets Her Decree
Marilyn Miller — she says she'll not marry. Now that her romance with Jackie is o'er;
"Now to my Art I'll be wedded," she murmurs. All men get the door!
But, oh, there are rumors — Ben Lyon's behind 'em — That she'll reconsider, as many have done;
For Art is a chilly companion to live with. When youth's scarce begun!
And yet — some have faith in our Marilyn's stories.
She sets doubt a-flyin' ; And they — who are true to her — tell us with anger,
That Ben is just Lyon!
CHARLIE CHAPLIN
in the Leading Rble of
"The Circus"
A Sonnet Impression of the Month's Best Performance —
With all the pathos, all the wist- ful yearning Of broken dreams behind a
Pierrot mask — With all the genius that is ever
burning Within his soul, he hurries to the
task Of making people smile whose
souls were weary, Of making people laugh whose
hopes were dead. . . . There is a something that is more
than cheery In every gesture of his hand,
his head.
The calling of the sawdust ring, the wonder Of high trapeze and riding and romance, The tinsel — and the heart-break that lies under The tanbark floor on which the troupers dance. Oh, he has caught them all — the joy, the pain — .^nd brought them close, to make us young agaii
Ramon Novarro Has Other Plans
When Ramon said he'd leave the screen. We wondered what the boy could mean ; And then what do you think we heard? That (promise not to breathe a word!) He — oh, no matter where and how — Is taking singing lessons now!
The screen perhaps will bid goodbye To one who made folk smile, and cry. To one who played young love, who played Those parts of which nice dreams are made. But — though we'll hate to see him go. We'll have him on the radio!
Contract — MarriageP
Buster Collier wanted to wed.
But now he's waiting four months instead.
You see the girl of his choice had made A contract to cover the part she played On the stage — and her manager wouldn't let Her get away with the word "forget"!
And Buster, too, had a contract straight. That read that he mustn't take a mate 'Til the picture he's working on is through — So what's a couple like that to do?
Why all they could do was face about — It'll be four months 'til the things run out!
2 Q3
A Beautiful Christmas Story of Twin Brothers, a New Wife, and a Mother's Memory
THE first Christmas after the little mother's going, they lighted the candle together. And together they placed it in the widest window. And then, with the warm tears clouding their eyes, they strung the silver tinsel across the green branches of a tree. Not because they were gay at heart — oh, no! The tears told how heavy were their souls. But because the spirit of the little mother stood beside them, urging them on. Telling them that Christmas and happiness went together. Telling them that, when Christmas had gone, youth had also been banished.
She had loved festivity — the little mother. Gift days had been more to her than just days of giving. They had been ceremonials. They had been occasions. When the boys were small — round eyed twins with worn knickers and stubby shoes — she had actually
6i
sufTered to give them gala Christmases. Suffered the wind, in a thin coat, so that they might have bags of pink and white popcorn. Gone lunchless, so that they might have twisted canes of sugar candy. A widow — frail and not very efficient — she had done sewing to give her boys the fun of life. Perhaps she was not able to give them, alwa^'s, the necessities — but she never stinted them when it came to pleasures. What though their shoes were shabby — so long as there was a flower on the meagre dining table? It was the little mother's creed !
And — although there were those who criticised — the little mother's system was extremely successful. Where other boys left home early to live their own lives, her sons stayed beside the fireside, of an evening, to read to her. They did not go out with the young, vivid girls —
T
ree
By
Margaret Sangster
who eyed them from the houses that lined the street on which they lived. With a laughing jealousy they fought instead for the attentions of their mother. And the fact that they were stay-at-homes did not mean that their lives, in business, were either starved or cramped. For when the twins were thirty they had earned the right to sign their names to large checks and to return, gravely, the almost subservient bows of the vice-president of the local trust company.
The boys — they were glad that the little mother was able to have fur coats in those later years. And fresh roses, both winter and summer, to make sweet her rooms. And that when Christmas came — and her old cheeks grew rosy with excitement — there was always a tree to be trimmed. Always stockings to be hung. Always a candle to set in a window !
Standing in the doorway, in her pretty negligee, Winifred was cry- ing. Crying great tears that ran down her cheeks. Great tears that were not in the least angry tears. "I've been so stupid! How was I to know that a tree could mean — so much — "
MARGARET SANGSTER has written many beauti- ful stories, but she never wrote a finer one than this. If you can neglect a Christmas tree after reading it, there's a stone where your heart should be.
But it was hard — the first Christmas after her going — to keep up the gallant gesture. It was hard! Once Ralph — the blue-eyed twin — turned suddenly, away from the tree. And:
"What's the use of pretending?" he questioned. " She's go77g.'"
It was Jerry, the grey-eyed twin, who answered. Somehow Jerry's jaw had a firmer line than his brother's. Somehow Jerry's e^^es were just a shade more deep.
"She'd feel hurt — " he said, and he spoke with a conscious effort — "she'd be hurt to think that we'd forgotten, so soon, the things she spent her whole life teaching us. Mother — why, she gave us beauty. She gave us — " he choked, here — "the joy of things. I — I can't help feeling that somewhere, up in heaven, she's trimming a Christmas tree this night. . . . For the little angels. ..."
Ralph's blue eyes were lowered. But his hand was steady when it clasped his brother's hand. "We'll always have a tree, old man," he said. "Always. In memory — " He didn't finish the sen- tence.
Perhaps he couldn't!
so, year after year, they had their Christmas ■trees. One year, two years, three years. And — if the memory of the little mother grew more faintly etched, at the passing of the months — it grew no less fragrant. And though they were able to chuckle, some- times, over the pink popcorn and sugar candy of their youth, the mirth was always tender. And there were still roses blooming in the rooms that had been the little mother's home— still blooming, although she had gone on.
But the rooms knew only the gentle phantom of
65
AND
Christmas — and a Shining Tree of Memories
To a restaurant they went. And although Ralph was just a trifle sulky above his thin slab of white meat and his spoonful of soggy dressing, Winifred didn't seem to notice. She talked just as cleverly as ever
ss
w
a woman's touch — for all that. Uniil Winifred came. It was Ralph who brought Winifred home to the house in which he and his brother lived. He brought her, quite without introduction, when the twilight was creeping across the place — and the lamps were not ^ct lighted. He had been on a business trip — Ralph. He had been away for nearly a month, out of the home and the office that the brothers shared. And so, when Jerry heard the rasp of a familiar key in the lock he came hurrying through the dim places of the hall. With a word of welcome that died swiftly from his lips when he saw two figures, instead of one, silhouetted against the fading light. A word of welcome that died away into an awkward silence.
TT was during this momentary stillness that Ralph ■•-found himself remembering, suddenly, how close a twin brother can come to one's heart. It was then that Ralph found himself wishing that he had sent, at least, the explanatory telegram. Winifred spoke. Taking the first step.
" You're Jerry — " she said, and her voice was as crisp and as cool as organdie that has never even been made into a frock — "you're Jerry ! I'm — Winifred. But- — of course — that means nothing to you. I'm — " she reached out a slim, friendly hand — "I'm Ralph's wife!"
Jerry found himself stumbling forward. Found him-
self touching the slender fingers. They were as cool as the voice had been.
"Why," he said foolishly — "why — to be sure — "
It was Ralph who spoke then. In a ^•oice that he tried vainly to make easy and conversational.
"Winifred and I were married yesterday," he said. "We — it was very sudden, Jerl I — I hadn't time to let you in on it. You see, it wasn't until I knew I was leaving her that I realized how much — "
All at once his arm was encircling his new wife's shoulders.
Jerry — I said before that the line of his jaw was firm and that his grey eyes were deep! Jerry had recovered himself. Almost.
"That's the way it happens," he heard liimself say- ing— ''suddenly."
Winifred was speaking again.
"Ralph met me only a few weeks ago," she told her brother-in-law. " I was secretary to a man he did busi- ness with. He took me to lunch. He — " she laughed — "he hadn't the remotest idea, at first, that he cared. Really," the laughter was bell-clear and charming, "he would have come home without knowing, I think, if I hadn't told him. But — I understood. And yester- day, when he took me to luncheon, again — "
Ralph, his voice excited and vital, was taking up the story. [ continued on page 113 ]
Amateur Movies
By Frederick James Smith
PHOTOPLAY'S $2,000 Contest Nears End — The Problems of Winter Photography — Movie Club Activities
THIS is the last call for films in Photoplay's $2,000 Amateur Movie Contest! The contest closes at midnight on December 31st. All films mailed before that hour and fulfilling the other contest rules will re- ceive the careful considera- tion of the judges.
Photoplay is asking all amateurs to send in their best films. There is a very real purpose behind the contest. Photoplay, act- ing with the Amateur Cin- ema League, wants to study the best international ama- teur films, thus developing an amateur standard for the future.
Since this contest is the first amateur movie compe- tition ever held anywhere in the world, it has nexer been possible heretofore to study and analyze non- professional films in suffi- cient numbers to make possible the development of an amateur standard.
Then, too. Photoplay wants to teach amateurs that the most interesting part of film making is the editing, cutting and titling. Shooting is just a minor part of the fun.
The contest judges are Hiram Percy Maxim, president of the Amateur Cinema League; S. L. Rothafel, managing director of the Roxy Theater in New York ; Nick- olas Muray, the well known photog- rapher; James R. Quirk, editor and publisher of Photoplay and the managing editor of Photoplay.
JANUARY is a month of winter action and picture possibilities galore. One can hardly step out- doors without finding a tempting photographic scene.
But January is a month when the movie maker must look to his diaphragm openings and study his exposure guide carefully, if he is to avoid that bugbear of winter photography known as under-ex- posure.
Many a beautiful and valuable shot has been spoiled by the ama- teur's failure to following the ex-
Try out the screen personality of your pet dog in your home made movies
Paul Poiret, the famous Parisian
costume designer, experiments
with an amateur camera
posure guide's admonition to "use the next largest opening when in doubt."
January light is very deceptive indeed. The glare of the sun on the white snow, often so bright as to almost blind one, seems to be suffi- cient reason for the ama- teur movie maker to "stop down," despite the warning of the exposure guide. It must be remembered, how- e\-er, that this seemingly intense light is only par- tially the direct light of the sun and that the greater part of it is reflected from the white snow. As we all know, reflected light is not nearly as productive of good pictures as direct sun- light.
Topping this condition is the fact that the picture- gi\-ing quality of the sun is very much less in winter than it is in mid-summer and these natural condi- tions combine to deceive the amateur who, naturally enough, is tempted to believe his own eyes rather than printed advice. The amateur gets his shock when the reel of supposedly perfectly exposed films is returned from the finishing station and found to be badly under-exposed.
It is a simple matter to expose properly. The amateur has but to lollow the ma.xim : when in doubt use the next larger diaphragm opening.
npHE movie amateur always can •^ add to his equipment. For in- stance, a cheap monotone filter, such as in daily use in professional studios is now being marketed. W hen held to the e>'e this reduces color values to terms of black, white and halftone, thereby reveal- ing the exact effect the amateur will get. Amateurs need no longer guess how colors will photograph.
Another feature for the amateur who owns a Filmo projector is a small pilot light, easily adjustable, which provides illumination for operation, but does not detract [ coxTixuED ox page 98 ]
Full Rules of PHOTOPLAY'S $2,000 Contest on Page 98
W^hat Does Acting
Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford are interesting examples of players who have taken on something of the roles they usually play
HOW do you suppose it feels always trying to be somebody else, always pretending to be some- thing which you are not?
What do you suppose this continual shifting of personality does to the actor?
One week he may be a rough, gun-toting Mexican
desperado. A few weeks later he may be a silk-hatted society dandy, smashing the hearts of admiring young women. The actor's contract may call for the part of a coal miner in one film. For another he may be asked to do a white goods sales- man in a department store.
Actresses as a rule are per- haps not compelled to display so much versatility. Still, when a woman must be a vamp in one picture and a sweet, un- sophisticated young wife in another, the change of emo- tions required amounts to the same thing.
Even type parts are like that.
The actress who was born with frousley red hair may al- ways appear a quick-tempered frousley redhead in every screen production in which she appears. Nevertheless, here again the emotional range of the artist must be wide. The type may remain identical for each film, but the different stories and plots necessarily call for different kinds of acting.
68
Says Dr. Bisch:
" A LWAYS being somebody
XlLniakes the actor lose his own per- sonality.
"My work with actors has con- vinced me that a screen villain's viewpoint of life is so strongly in- fluenced by his villainous acting that he automatically watches himself lest he display villainous tendencies in his everyday personal associations.
"Sometimes this reaction — and of- ten it is entirely unconscious to the actor — takes the form of what in psycho-analysis is called a 'defense reaction.'
"In a defense reaction you do ex- actly the opposite of what you fear you may do or be suspected of doing, and you do it in an exaggerated way.
"I have seen it affect men and wom- en of the screen so much that they lose their sureness and force. They allow the feeling of the moment to dominate them. Their will power weakens. They vacillate and change. They become passive. Often they are undependable."
A scientific explana- tion of what actually occurs to an actor as the result of contin- ually submerging his Real Identity
The point, however, is not how often actors — and I shall use this term to include actresses as well — must shift their viewpoints and feelings from one type to another. For the higher they climb the more likely are they to become identified with a certain general type of character.
The point really is this. The acting profession never allows its members to be themselves, to reveal themselves as they actually are.
What effect does this constant make-believe have upon the actor?
I am reminded here of the stor3' of a famous clown who went to consult a doctor because he complained he felt "so downhearted and melancholy."
After making a thorough ex- amination and finding nothing wrong, the physician said:
"My man, all you need is distraction and amusement. The circus happens to be in town. Go and see X. He will fix you up all right. He will make you laugh."
"But," replied the clown sadly, "I happen to be X my- self!"
else
THIS story really sums up the effects of acting upon the actor. It has been my expe- rience that comedians are very serious persons off-stage while actors who do a lot of hea\'y drama are likely to possess quite a sunny disposition.
Charlie Chaplin is an ex- ample of what I mean. You have "probably read enough about him to have learned that he is anything but a funny man outside the studio. In reality he is quiet, sober, reserved, re- fined, sensitive, philosophical.
Do To the
Actor:
By Louis E. Bisch
M. D., Ph. D.
The psycho-analyst explains why players may become unreli- able and neurotic — why they deserve all the money they get
Were you to meet him and not know who he is, you would never guess that he is our greatest living screen buffoon.
Chaplin is influenced by the parts he plays. So is Lillian Gish. So is Menjou. So is Gloria Swanson. So are Doug and Mary. So are the>- all.
I have not psychoanalyzed any of these particular celebrities. I have, however, analyzed a sufficient number of other movie actors to have gathered very unusual and inter- esting information. What acting does to the actor's personality is something you could not possibly suspect from your screen acquaintance with them.
Here is Miss B, for instance.
She usually takes the part of a bold, reckless, flirtatious, gold- digging divorcee. She does it ex- ceptionally well, too.
"T POSITIVELY detest women -^who continually have a keen eye to the main chance," she con- fided. "They pick on me to do these parts because I happened to be given that kind of a char- acter the first picture I was ever in. I wish I had not done it so well. Now, I am doomed. I'll never be able to get away from it."
"What difference does it really make?" I asked her. "You have no difficulty about getting work. Being a gold-digger spe- cialist may have its advantages after all despite the fact that it tends to hamper the develop- ment of your acting abilities."
"Oh, I wouldn't mind that so much," she replied. "I gave up hope of playing parts I like years ago. I must do what I'm told to do. That's part of the game. It isn't that. The thing is that playing this particular kind of
Perhaps the lack of success in private life encountered by John Gilbert and Ronald Colman is due to their defense reactions
role so often is actually changing me. That's what is getting on my nerves.
"The other day I met a man at a tea whose acquaint- ance I would have liked to cultivate. We were making fine progress. We were talking about places we had visited abroad, about the beautiful jewelry designs one sees o\'er there, finally about a collection of jade ornaments he has made. And then, all of a sudden, the thought popped inlo my mind, 'What if he thinks I'm fishing for something? Maybe I am giving him the impression that I want him to give me a piece of jade for a present!'
"And, do you know, doctor, I shut up like a clam. I got so self-conscious and embarrassed and fussed! The man naturally lost interest in me and left me flat. I haven't heard from him since. And I liked that man, too. See how it is?"
"In other words," I continued, "you have acted the gold-digger part so much that you're afraid you actually appear a gold-digger in private life?"
"Exactly," she answered. "I'm not a gold-digger. I hate that sort of woman. But I think people think I may be one just the same."
To be sure, this actress' sus- picions were unfounded. Her friends considered her anything
[ CONTINUED ON PAGE 104 ]
CtioJki
Comedians are usually serious folk off the screen. Charlie Chaplin is a shin- ing example
Personal and Household
Now Clara Bow's bag, but formerly an evening dress, a hat and a cast-off rhinestone pin
^ I 'HE dressing table at the right is cur- -^ tained with taffeta and lace from old evening dresses. The powder box is a plain compote jar. The picture frame and glove case are of cardboard tricked out in silk. All from articles cast aside.
Showing how many a snappy vaged from the remnants
By Lois
THE By-Products of the Wardrobe Department" of the Paramount studios might have been a good title for this story.
Although there has always been some use made of the remnants and left-overs from the gorgeous — and the plain — creations made for the motion picture people, it remained for the economy wave among the producers to develop a regular "by-product factory" in connection with wardrobe, drapery and set depart- ments.
Between thirty-five and forty women are employed regularly in the wardrobe.
Naturally, there are moments during a lull in produc- tion activities, when not every one of these young women are busv.
A complete dressing table, all made from the by- products of the costume department
Two handker- chiefs made of scraps of geor- gette, chiffon, and lace
The waste basket was once a lamp shade; the telephone cover, Mary Brian's dress
•HO
r
>
Ccrap Knick-Knacks
costume accessory may be sal- in the lowly rag-bag
Shirley
"Turn them loose on the scraps ?nd see what they \\-ill do!" was the command of General Manager B. P. Schulberg.
So Travis Banton, wardrobe commander, turned his women loose during their "rest" moments.
Some startling knick-knacks and money saving de- vices for both the personal adornments of the stars and the decoration of the homes have resulted.
For example: Handkerchiefs, dressing-table ac- coutrements, scarfs, etc., have ordinarily been made from new material or rented from costume houses.
Note those in these pictures, which were made by these women from remnants and discarded dresses! Even pocketbooks and evening bags, a parasol and a Spanish fan !
Mary Brian's scarf is two yards of chiffon edged with pearls from a Leatrice Joy headdress
'T'O make Mary Brian's headdress shown ^ above : Cut a leaf pattern from heavy brown paper, trace it on buckram and cut out. Then cover with heavy metal cloth. Below: The gold brocade in the wall covering was worn by Greta Nissen.
Shadow lace from Leatrice Joy's wedding
veil in "The Dressmaker from Paris" forms
the cover of this night table
A purse of green satin, em- broidered in gold by a ward- robe girl in spare moments
Pleated black satin bag with an or- nament worn by Clara Bow in "Man Trap"
A heraldic wall covering from the rag bag and pillows cut from old fur coats
11
Some useful tips from the Paramount Studio's sewing circle
Josephine Dunn's parasol — an umbrella
frame, enameled pin, and covered with one
of Esther Ralston's costumes
The old framework of the fan was about to be thrown into the wastepaper basket when AHce, just "one of the girls," ex- claimed, "Why throw that away? I can paste a new cover on for you."
"Go ahead," was the order.
Alice dived into the old dress department.
In this group are the gowns which were originally designed for the stars and feature players, then made for the "atmos- phere" extras, and finally relegated as useless, but kept from the incinerator on general principles.
Alice seized upon the black chantllly worn by Nita Naldi in "The Ten Commandments." At first she thought it was hope- less, but finally, in the front of the skirt, she found a piece large enough for her purpose.
True, it took her several hours to ^lue the fine lace on the old framework, but today [continued on page 86]
The inside of black envelope bag shown on the preceding page. Even the chiffon handker- chief was made from a costume headed for the in- cinerator
Evening bags rescued from cast-off finery
Nita Naldi's gown in "The Ten Command- ments" now is a fan for Shirley Dohrman
(iT / 7HICH do you prefer, the pert, sharp prettiness of the flapper or the calm, ^^/^/ modelled perfection of the classic beauty. Maria Corda, Europe's idea of the Eternal Feminine, is due to revive an interest in the classic type in her first American picture, "The Private Life of Helen of Troy. "
By
de Bru
ho's
no in the Hollywood
1 — \^ictor McLaglen
2 — de Bru-Xavier Cugat
3— Billie Dove
4 — Lionel Barrymore
5 — Lowell Sherman
6 — Buster Keaton
7 — Renee Adoree
8 — Marion Davies
9 — Mae Murray 10 — Anita Loos 11— Milton Sills 12 — Bebe Daniels 13 — Ramon Novarro 14— Harold Lloyd 15 — Norma Shearer 16— John Gilbert
17 — Robert Frazer 18— May Allison 19— James R. Quirk 20 — Betty Bronson 21— D. W. Griffith 22 — Louise Brooks 23— Clive Brook 24 — Pauline Starke 25 — Joseph Schildkraut 26— Monte Banks 27— Richard A. Rowland 28 — Douglas Fairbanks 29— Mary Pickford 30— Pola Negri 31 — Charlie Chaplin 32— Karl Dane
33— Tom Mix 48-
34 — Jack Dempsey 49-
35 — Estelle Taylor 50-
36 — Louis B. Mayer 51-
37— Will Rogers 52-
38 — John Barrymore 53-
39— Lillian Gish 54-
40 — Norman Kerry 55-
41 — Don Alvarado 56-
42— Gilbert Roland 57-
43 — Norma Talmadge 58-
44— William Fox 59-
45— Cecil B. De Mille 60-
46 — Eric von Stroheim 61- 47 — Marquis de la Falaise 62-
-Gloria Swanson -Jaime Del Rio -Dolores Del Rio -Wallace Beery -Noah Beery -Adolphe Menjou -Ned Sparks -Lon Chaney -Lewis Stone -Ben Turpin -Jetta Goudal -Antonio Moreno -A. De Segurola -Dolores Costello -Olive Borden
V ocial Qf Wwim
More Sheiks than the Sahara. More bathing belles than a beauty parade. To be of the elite every day in Holly- wood you have to be all wet in the Swimming Pool of the Hotel A bassador
Picture of a totally imaginary occur- rence. Do you think the gallant lads of Hollywood would let Joan Crawford lan- guish under the mistletoe? Or do you think they even need the encourage- ment of the little plant?
When the Doctors Disagree
Read 'em and
you know as
much as you
did before
DRESS PARADE'
'THE HIGH SCHOOL HERO"
"Bill Boyd is superb as the wise-cracking small town boy who gets an appointment to West Point." N. Y. Even- ing World.
"... one Hugh Allan, who has hitherto been largely un- heard of, but who will be, un- less I am greatly mistaken, a high-salaried player before long." A^ Y. Sun.
"William Boyd, the star, does one of those imitations of William Haines that are suffi- ciently obvious to be called plagiaristic." N. Y. Sun.
_ "Hugh Allan plays Bill's rival and appears terribly con- ceited over the good looks that a munificent nature provided him with." A^ Y.Ai
'TEA FOR THREE"
"We have a personal super- stition that only a thoroughly disagreeable woman can be what is known as an inspired actress and this theory, if true, may explain why the otherwise astute and estimable Pringle IS here seen in a frankly second- rate performance." N. Y. Telegram.
" Miss Pringle is a clever ac- tress who has a calm, easy man- ner before the camera and she fits well into such roles as 'Tea for Three.' " A^. Y. Graphic.
'EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE"
"GeorgeO'Brien . . . givesthe best performance he has ever given — and that includes the one in 'Sunrise.' " A^. Y. Mirror.
"Miss Valli is amazingly good as Becka. She senses the ver}' expression demanded of her in nearly everj' scene." A^. Y. Times.
"George 0[Brien, who shone so brightly in 'Sunrise,' has dimmed his star somewhat in the current offering." A'. Y.
News.
"Virginia Valli is not at her best in this picture .... She does not screen well, and the part is not particularly suited to her talents." A'^. Y. Graphic.
"'The High School Hero' is filled with feeble gags and still feebler sub-titles, and is further handicapped by an amateurish cast." A''. Y. Journal.
"This reviewer . . . laughed longer and harder during the first half of the fray than he has laughed since the days of 'The Navigator' or 'The Strong Man.'" A'. Y. Evening Sun.
'THE FORBIDDEN WOMAN'
"Jetta Goudal as an actress is superb. Probably no one else on the screen, or on the earth for that matter, would dare to wear the clothes and the orna- ments and the coiffures which Miss Goudal wears." A'^. Y. Herald-Tribune.
"Jetta Goudal is prepossess- ing in the early scenes, but afterward she seems to be de- voting too much thought to her appearance. There are moments when she looks quite pleased with herself." A^ Y. Times.
'THE CRYSTAL CUP"
"Miss Mackaill is seen too infrequently on the screen of late. It is too bad she has to do things like this." A^. Y. Evening Post.
"This young actress (Dor- othy Mackaill) can look beau- tiful or unattractive as the camera catches her at various times, but 'The Cr>'stal Cup' is one of those films where she is shown to advantage and where her acting is on par with her appearance. "A^. Y. Graphic.
'THE ANGEL OF BROADWAY"
" 'The Angel of Broadway' ... is sadly bothered with wing trouble. She doesn't fly high in a cinema sense. Rather, she is a particularly sad sort of angel, patheticallv unsuccess- ful." A^ Y. News'.
"Lois Weber . . . has done a fine piece of work. It is an excellent picture, and though we are sent out with our lesson learned, we certainly relish it for its entertaining values." A^ F. Morning World.
When Marie Pre- vost selected a site for her beach cottage, she picked that sec- tion of the sands where first she romped as a bathing girl. Here are Marie and her girl-friend, Phyl- lis Haver, specu- lating on the vast benefits of the drama
For icinter sports the suit at left is ideal. The skirl is of corduroy and coat of Duro gloss leatherette faced with cordu- roij — the deep pockets add to its practicabilitij. May be ordered in green, red, blue or black. Si-cs U to 40. Price SO. 7-5
Shop Through
French Beret tarn ex- ceeds its popidarity if last year and is being worn by both and girls, young old. Fits ail sizes. In tan, navy blue, green black. SI. 7. 5
Abore is the ever Useful overblouse of white broadcloth trimmed with nar- row frilling icith either sports or Peter Pan collar. Xothing takes its place for sports, school or office. Sizes 34 to 42. Price S2.00
How to
'T'HOUSANDS of women -*- are delighted users of Photoplay's Shopping Service, which is at the disposal of every reader. It is simple to order.
Any article may be re- turned if not entirely sat- ined.
Shimniery negligee of bro- caded satin rayon at left comes in French blue, tur- quoise blue, orchid, rose, pink, gold or black with border of gold. Sizes small, medium or large. Price S9.9.5
t^\
-V^i
hft the two-piece
ti',l.'<Nil isthespnrts- irnirfaroritc. Skirt has invrrtcil pleats in front on bodice top. Sweater ' , urilh popular a-ew neck- ( \\ ^^ ^ line has stripes of co?i.-. Y ^ ;
trusting color on heather p^-p^. t- background of green, ^^^S^_, rust, blue, oxford grey or '^-
tan. Sizes I4 to 20. ■SS.9.5
m
■-^S^
Crepe de chine teddy at left answers the detna.nd for something neiv. Delight- fiillji embroidered with French knots and bound with contrasting color. In flesh, peach or nile. Sizes 34 to 38. Price $2.75
Above the lovers of winter sports uillfind real comfort in the knit- ted ^uool gauntlet gloves with novelty top in camel or beaver tones. Sizes small, medium or large. Price $2.25
The fastidious woman will find the printed linene house dress at right a real find. In attrac- tive design of assorted colors on white background tailored with hands of white linene. Sizes 16 to 42. Only S2.95
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Send check or money order, together with size and color of article de- sired. Stamps will not be accepted. No articles will be sent C. O. D. Order di- rect from Photoplay Shop- ping Service, 221 West 57th St., New York, N. Y.
At right a j'asdnating nightroU of crepe de chine trimmed icith cream !j tinted lace. hi Jksh. peach, nile or orchid. Sizes Id. 16 and 17. At the unusual price of $3.75
Pajamas below are fashioned with new tie at side effect and are made of combined flowered design and plain novelty cotton crepe as illus- trated. In peach or honey dew. Sizes 36 to 40. Price $1.95
Below is one of thib season's most fashion- able pocketbooks. May be ordered in either velvet or moire in black or brown ivith frame of sinndated shell. Pnce S.3..W
Fifth Avenue Fashions for Limited Incomes
For holiday parties the frock at right is so smart and so inexpensive — only $15.75. It is dis- creetly trimmed with rhinestoncs and the skirt has two full circidar flounces. Comes in black, cocoa, white or nile. Sizes 16 to 40
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IF you are not satisfied with any purchase, return it and your money will be refunded immediately. Arti- cles for credit or exchange must be returned direct to Photoplay Shop- ping Service, 221 West 57th Street, New York City, and not to the shop from which they were sent.
Vrcpc ,'c chine, al- u-n,i, so ,,ood for in- J,.rnn,l wear, is used in the oni j)iccr dress at left in the new rose glow. Chin Chin blue, almond green, beige, navy blue, black or white. Misses sizes 1 4 to SO —Women 34 to 40. Price
In circle above the eol- Inr ayid cuff set of peeirl pins will also fill other needs. Price 95c. Fashion decrees rhine- stone jewelry — this choker necklace of rhinestones in silver finish setting is a charming requisite. Price $2.95
Bloomer combina- tion of crepe de chine with colored thread lace trimming is at- tractive as well as practical. Comes in flesh, peach or nile. Sizes 36 to 43. Price $3.75
The second step goes from the swing to a balance step with the right foot slight- ly before the left. Bend the body for- ward. Note the posi- tion of the arms
Turn about — like so — and come back quickly to a hoofing forward and cross step. It is stren- uous exercise, guaran- teed to reduce the waist- line and to shake the chandeliers on the floor below
Take up the rugs and
try Broadway's newest,
fastest dance
Untwist, glide and bend your knee. The last step, but not the finale. End the dance with lease- breaking stomp. The music is "The Five Step" from "Manhat- tan Mary"
Photoplay Magazine— Advertising Section
8i
The 'beautiful Henriette The King of Belgium's Sister
"A special enchantment emanates from the woman whose co7nplexion sparkles ivith youth!" declares this royal prin- cess of Belgium, who as the DuCHESSE DE Vendome maintains one of the most brilliant salons in Europe.
HER association with the brilliant minds of Europe has only intensified the Duchesse de Vendome's conviction that beauty plays a high role in the drama of modern life.
She says: "When one's salon is the scene of notable gatherings, one is conscious that a special enchantment emanates from the woman whose complexion sparkles with youth. For- tunate are we who know Pond's Two Creams and their accomplishments in achieving a perfect skin."
For your own skin apply Pond's Creams each day as follows:
Upon retiring and several times each day apply Pond's Cold Cream (^-enerously. Let it remain a few moments. Its f.ne oils will pene- trate the pores, removing all dust and powder. Wipe off. Repeat. Finish with a dash of cold water. If your skin is dry, leave some Cream on after the bedtime cleansing.
For an e.\quisite radiance, apply Pond's Vanishing Cream lightly after every daytime cleansing with the Cold Cream, always before you powder. It adds a glowing finish to your
The Duchesse de Vendome, sister of the King of the Belgians, is the wife of a Prince of the famous Mnison lie France. In her salon the aristocracy of Europe mingles with men and women who have won distinction in the field of arts and letters. The above portrait of Her Highness hangs in her Riviera home, Chateau de St. Michel at Cannes. The center photo- graph reflects the fair features characteristic of her fr.mily, the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Tico Delightful New Preparations by Pond's
And now two delightful new preparations are offered you: Pond's Skin Freshener and Pond's Cleansing Tissues. The Freshener, delicately fragrant, will bring new life to your skin, will refresh, tone and firm it. It has a special in- gredient which heals, softens and removes danger of harshening. See how it awakens your skin in the morning! And use it, too, after cleansing with Pond's Cold Cream to
Chateau de Tourronde on Lake Geneva is
one of five imposing homes maintained by
the Duchesse de Vendome.
remove every lingering trace of oil and dirt the Cream has brought to the surface.
Pond's Cleansing Tissues— also new — and softer than fine old linen, remove cold cream with indescribable gentleness. They will not roll into ineffectual balls, but absorb every trace of oil and moisture.
Newl I ±d Offer- ^'^"'^ "'" ""P°" '"•"'
^f^ JJ fourteen cents (ijc)
for lubes of Po>id's I'anishing Cream and Freshener and Pond's i, you a week.
Cold Cream and Pond's ■enough of Pond's new .fkin -■::• Cleunslng Tissues tu last
The Pond's Extr.a 114 Hudson Srr«t,
CT Co., Dept, Nlw York
Two fragrant Creams len enchantment to beauty.
special
Cily_
! mention PH0TOPL.VY MAGAZINE.
QUESTIONS ^ ANSWERS
Read This Before Ashing £!uestions
You do not have to be a reader of Photoplay to have questions answered in this De- partment. It is only necessar\' tliat you avoid questions that would can for unduly long an- swers, such as s>'nopses of plajs or casts. Do not inquire con- cerning religion, scenario writ- ing, or studio employment. Write on only one side of the paper. Sign your full name and address; only initials will be published if requested.
Casts and Addresses
As these often take up much space and are not always of in- terest to others than tlie in- quinr, we have found it ntcr s- sary to treat such subjtcts in a different way than otlier ques- tions. For this kind of informa- tion, a stamped, addressed envelope must be sent. It is imperative that these rules be complied with in order to insure your receiving the information you want. Address all inquirii-s to Questions and Answer^. Photoplay Magazine, 221 W. .57th St., New York City.
E. T., St. Louis, Mo. — Did you enjoy your trip to Europe? Or was that writing- paper just to impress a poor old man. Joan Crawford was born in San Antonio, Texas. She has brown hair and blue eyes and is not married, oh joy! Write to her at the Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Culver City, Calif. And tell her you want a profile photograph. Don't forget the quarter.
Jeaxnette C, Nashville, Tenn. — Jo- seph Striker placed the Spanish boy in "The Cradle Snalchers." Striker also ap- peared in "The Iving of Kings," "A Harp in Hock," and "The' Wise Wife." Patricia Avery played Enid in "Annie Laurie."
P. C, South r?EXD, Ind. — Are you in- clined to the occult and mystical? Your hand-writing tells me so. Victor IMcLaglen was born in London and he was a soldier be- fore going into pictures. Also he was a rather formidable heavyweight boxer. Not married.
I\L P., Winchester, Ky. — Tim McCoy was born on April 10, 189 L Write to him at Metro-Goldwyn-iVIayer, Culver City, Calif. Can that be all you want to know?
B. F., San Antomo, Tex.— Yes, I have talked with Ronald Colman and I think he is a very nice fellow. Only I am not going to commit myself on who I think is the hand- somest man on the screen. I am too young to die. The Mixes are not divorced but Bert Lytell and Claire Windsor are. Olive I'iorden is her real name; she was born in lUchmond, Va. Norma Shearer is married to Irving Thalberg. Write again.
Frenche, Madison, W'is.— "Buster" Collier is appearing in vaudeville at present, doing a turn with his Pa who is William Collier, Sr. Buster was born in New York City. Your handwriting proclaims a