Screen Stars and Films

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 25, 30 January 1926, Page 28

Screen Stars and Films

MOVIE ASTRONOMY.

j PREDICTIONS FOR THE '^STARS. , ' (By 11AG>TUS.) It is Interesting to look back over the yep.rs that have passed and to note ; the and fail of different screen i star;. One of the unfortunate features \ about farce on the staze and in the ! ■■incvir-s."' is that you have to fight hard ! to retain public fancy and to ward oil 'tie attacks of other a.mbitious p]ayers J whoa> you EC-* to the top, slowly j liv snrclr, to the imminent dancer of i your o—r. position. (Jne can bring to ' niind niany Ftars of the days gone by, ; who tvere forgotten by the lirkle public j when others became the vogue ard who ■ are '.o-iay but dim memories, or. perthacc?. forgotten altogether. Of the re:g-T-.:r,tr stars of to-day, who j will be the first to fall, and who will j continue longest, the idol of the fans? ! That :?. c: course, n-.ainiy a matter of , opinion, but Tamar Lane, a well-known j American film writer, has endeavoured \ to rr.ake a very accurate prediction. WTiat do you think of his fore-cast? He predicts that Norma Talmadge, I Gloria Swanson. Mary Piekford, Liliian I Gisb, Douplas Fairbanks. John Gilbert and Richard Barthelmess will either liold their own or advance during the 1 fire years, and. in the sarr.e j breath, he says that Pola Xeeri. Thomas j Meighan, Milton Sills, Mcnte Blue and i Cor.way Tearle will go into partial j cdi] ?e during the ?arr.s period. That there will he several new screen idols in 1030 goes without saying, asserts Lane in an article in the "Classic.' , That the new faces wiil have pushed the old favourites back into oblivion by 1930 i= far from likely. He predicts that in five years' time, the really stars of to-day will still he at the top. with perhaps but two or three exceptions. Mary Piekford and Gloria Swanson. In spite of the fact that Mary Pickford has been somewhat dislodged from

of his going forward, ' Lillian Gish, hs describes as another seemingly blessed with the bloom of eternal youth. She will be among the ringleaders five years from now, although there are many theatre-goers to whom she never had. ard never will appeal. So far as the ■Westerners are concerned, Lane expects to see Tom Mix, Buck Jones and Hoot Gibson still as popular as ever, even whe.r, he is led away to the Home for •be Old and Feeble. Fred Thomson is the rising comet in cowboy ranks. The rrale favourites, who, at present, appear destined to be the most popular idols of 1930, are Jack Gilbert. Ronald Colman, Ramon Xavarro, Ben Lyon, John Barrymore and Georg-e O'Brien. Reginald Denny, Xeil Hamilton, William Boyd and Rieardo Cortez have good prospects, while Wallace Beery and Lon Chancy are two character mea gaining ground rapidly. Among the younger generation of actresses, Xorma Shearer. Eleanor Boardman, Betty Bronson. Lillian Rich and Mary Philbin appear to be the most likely contenders for l? 30 honours. The Comedians. As for the comedians, there should be but minor changes. Chaplin will still be the greatest, while Harold Lloyd should still be making the most money. Buster Keaton and Douglas McLean should occupy the same positions as they do at present. Raymond Griffith has come forward very rapidly, but it is doubtful if he will be able to maintain a fas; comedy pace until 1930. Local Opinions. This is Mr. Tamar Lane's opinion. In contemplating it, we must remember that he is basing his judgment from the point of view of the American picture public. Taking local feelings into consideration, I do not agree with his remarks about Fairbanks. There seems to be a personal prejudice against him, and, as one manager says. "He is far from being a 'draw.' : ' Richard B°rthelmess, too, I consider, has no appeal to the greater movie public here. As for Meighan, Sills and Conway Tcarle. they are certainly as popular as ever.

Virginia Valli and Eugene O'Brien, two great film favourites, are co-starred in the Universal attraction "Siege." shortly to be released in New Zealand. In addition, there are no less than 23 wellknown scren stars. '<The White Outlaw," Universal 7 * latesx Jack Hoxie feature, is an unusual type of western, by reason of the fact that, the outlaw in the story is a. horse of wonderful intelligence, which is shown I opening stable doors and knocking down j corral bars. A stampede of hundreds j of wild horses is a unique epic in the • picture. As soon as Pveginald Denny, whose j fame in "Oh, Doctor" is being so widely i heralded, finished his production "I'll i Show You the Town," by Elmer Davis, i he embarked upon another comedy- , drama. The new one is en:itled "Where j Was I," by Edgar Franklin. It wa» directed by William A. Seiter. Lewis Milestone and Melville Brown adapted ! lie story to the screen. Announcement oi a gigantic expansion { programme to provide facilities for one i of the greatest production programmes ] in all motion picture hist-ory. came : recently from Jess* L. Lasky, first vice- : president of the Famous Players-Lasky ! Corporation. Plans were made public ' for immediate construction of new huge i stages at the Famous Players-Lasky ; studio in Hollywood, which embrace two ' square blocks, and for the reopening of , the Realart studio on Beverley Boulc- I yard. Mr. Lasky returned to Hollywood j after four months absence, to personally ; supervise the expansion and production : activity on the West Coast. He ! declared himself pleased with the results of :he revent reorganisation. I Great Fuccess to date has greeted the ! presentation of "Scararnouche," the big j Paramount -Metro production. Those I who remember the "Four Horsemen of j the Apocalypse"' do not have to be reminded of the merits of the production genius of Rex Ingram, who also made "Scaramouche." It is claimed that this I i≤ the greatest story of the French Revolution that has ever come to the screen, and the cast will bring back a number of I very great favourites. Ramon Novarro I is in the lead, and is a comparative newcomer to screendom. Lewis Stone and Alice Terry are co-starred opposite Novarro. "Scaramouche" has enjoyed great popularity as a novel, and its adaptation to the screen has been one of the most successful efforts of producers in the last decade.