THE ANSWER CORNER.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 75, 30 March 1929, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE ANSWER CORNER.

REPLIES TO INQUIRIES.

TOM.— Margaret Morris and Raymond Keano played the leads in "The Magic Ga,£en."

CURIOUS.—Laura La Plante is twentyfour years old and married to William Seiter, the director.

BAMBo.— Norma IShearor has no children. She was married to Irving Thalberg on September 29, 1927. J.W.—Fay Wray is a Canadian—born in Alberta, September 13, 1907. Gary Cooper is a great big fellow with broad shoulders. J.F.—Monte Blue is very much an American; he has Indian blood. He is 38 years old and married to Tova Jensen. Leila Hyams is married to Phil J. Berg. Roliins is nineteen years old. The boy who appeared with him in "Win That Girl" was Tom Elliott. ', Barry Norton was the lad you liked in "The Legion of the Condemned." JlM.— Dorothy Mackaill was born in Hull, England. She is twenty-four years old, five feet five inches tall, and j weighs 112 pounds. Write to her at i the First National Studio, Burbank, California. C.T.—Lupe Velez was born in Mexico City, July 18, 1909. She has black , hair and dark brown eyes and is five I feet two inches tall. Her weight is I 112 pounds. Write to her at the United Artists Studio, 1041, N. Formosa, Hollywood, California. BERTHA.—In writing to the stars for photographs you are advised to enclose twenty-five cents to cover the cost of picture and postage. The stars, who receive hundreds of such requests, cannot afford to comply 'with them unless you do your share. A.N.—Lars Hanson played the Rev. Dimmesdale in "The Scarlet Letter" and lie was leading man for Greta Garbo in "The Divine Woman." Mr. Hanson is now in Sweden. It was Einar Hansen who was killed in California. 8.0. (Ponsonby).—Lois Wilson and Bebn Daniels also played in "Monsieur Beaucaire." Gladys Brockwell played the old meanie of a sister in "Seventh Heaven." William Boyd's hair Is very blonde. He is a young fellow ■nd his hair won't turn white for years and years. As for the lady whose age you question, she is thirty years old. 4ITTY.—Here is a notice for your ecrap book. Mrs. Milton Sills (Doris Kenyon) was born in Syracuse, N.Y. Clara's birthday is in July, not August. James Murray is twenty-six years old, has light brown hair and brown eyes, and is not married. His •ddress is the Universal Studios, Universal City, California. Ramon Novarro is twenty-nine years old with dark brown hair and brown eyes, and eingle. Write to him at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Culver City, California. Richard Alien is about twenty-nine years old and has dark brown hair and blue-grey eyes. He is married to Jobyna Ralston. Write to him at the Paramount-Famous-Lasky Studios, Hollywood, California.

Colleen Moore has finished making her •nappy new comedy, "Why Be Good," •nd has already started on "Early to Bed," a peppy story of college fraternity life.

Lupe Velez, who plays a co-featured part with Gary Cooper in "Wolf Song," » a Mexican, and played for eome time en the musical comedy stage. She will fce heard in a number of songs in the •ound version of the picture.

"The Wedding March" is an epic of •Id Vienna, produced by the famous director, Krich von Stroheim, who, in addition to directing the picture, also •tarred in the main role. He was ably •upported by Fay Wray, a gifted young •ctress.

The next Esther Ralston picture, The Case of Lena Smith," will be Released in New Zealand this year. The locale of the story is Hungary, in the J>eriod just preceding the World War. James Hall plays the male lead, and ether featured members of the cast are *red Kohler and Gustave von Seyffertitz.

"The Man of the Moment," a fast-mov-ing story of society life has been chosen ■• the new vehicle for beautiful Billie Dove. Written by Elinor Glyn, it can *ell be imagined that this outstanding •tory has all the essentials for colourful entertainment. Eod La Rocque takes the leading male role opposite Miss l>ove, while Gwen Lee supplies the "dizzy Wonde element, the "vamp" portion of What is sure to prove unusual entertainment.

Excellent atmosphere, fine pictorial •Sects, sincere and moving performances b f all the star artists, and excellent direction by Alfred Hitchcock, characterise "The Manxman," which »vas inade in its entirety in the Isle of Man. it i» an adaptation of Sir Hall Caine's well known etory, and stars Carl Briseon, "well remembered for his fine performance in "The Ring," together with • 4nny Ondra, who could not ty™"*" tailed upon to interpret a more difficult Me than that of the unhappy heroine, *&te Gregcen.

, The all-dialogue picture, 'The Doc- **'■ Secret," based on the successful ■tage play, "Half an Hour,", by Sir Jamee Barry, was recently previewed in Sydney. It is said to be a revelation, Wα in regard to the perfect enunciation of the actors and the power ot 'the drama. The voices were subdued, Jet they could be heard clearly, even at the farthest portions of tho theatre, me .tenseness of the drama was heightened 5J ability of the camera and micro■Wβ* to travel from ecene to §een§.

A peerless comedy team, Louise Fazenda and Chester Conklin will heac the cast of "The House of Horrors," a mystery thriller of the most intriguing type.

Colleen Moore, piquant and always humorous, is more so than ever in "Synthetic Sin," her latest picture. Clever subtitles, amusing situations and some splendid character acting on the part of the principals makes the photoplay an outstanding comedy.

William Powell gives one of the finest performances of his career in the character of Philo Vance, the detective who solves the problems surrounding the mysterious death of the "Canary," a well-known chorus girl. The story is taken from the novel by S. S. van Dine.

The story of "The Lily of Killarney," is based on the well-known opera, which in turn is adapted from the stage play, '"Colleen Bawn," by the well-known actor Dion Boucicault. Pamela Parr plays the leading female role, supported by two well known legitimate stajje actors Cyril Landeau and Dennis Wyndham. The natural and beautiful landscapes of Western Ireland are a strong feature of this production.

Ukeleles of all nationalities comprise the prize collection in Bessie Love's home. Miss Love, who is one of the grid's best uke spankers, gives players a treat by bringing a different instrument every day to the studio. Incidentally, every one of the eighteen ukuleles were given to Bessie by friends and film fans from all corners of the globe.

Corinne Griffith's biggest celluloid spectacle to date, "The Divine Lady," is soon to be released. Telling the immortal love story of Lord Nelson and the beautiful Emma, Lady Hamilton, it is one of the most costly and masnificent pictures ever produced, containing some amazing reproductions of old English scenes and unbelievably accurate reenactments of the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar. The sequences showing the death of Nelson, were copied from worldfamous paintings.

Intriguing Ailecn Pringle, daughter of one of San Francisco's richest men, and wife of Sir Charles M. Pringle. whose father was once governor of Jamaica, and is one of the largest landholders in the world, preferred a screen career to a life of ease and idleness. Since her first theatrical experience, which was made on the London stage in 1915, she has risen rapidly in her chosen profession. She began her career in motion pictures in 1923, and is a popular star. Miss Pringle is a true cosmopolitan. At present she has three homes; Sme in Jamaica, one in San Francisco, and her professional home in Hollywood.

"The Wolf of Wall Street" is the tale of a man who ruined himself in order to revenge himself on another. The principal role is played by George Bancroft, while Paul Lukas and Baclanova have featured parts.

Dynamiting a Government arsenal furnished the major thrill in "Morgan's Last Raid," a vivid historical romance starring Tim McCoy. It is a vivid historical romance of the Civil War, with Dorothy Sebastian as the heroine.

Warner Oland, who plays one of the principal parts in "Tong War," is a well-known character actor. Wallace Beery and Florence Vidor have the leading parts in the picture, which centres around gang wars between the Chinese "tongs" or secret societies.

The story of "The Wedding March" is from the pen of Erich von Stroheim, the star and the director of the production. It deals with pre-war glory that was Vienna's when that city was "in the heyday as the gay capital of Europe, under the late Emperor Franz Josef.

Harold Lloyd, who is now engaged in the production of "The Butterfly Chaser," announces that there will be two distinct versions of the picture. The first will be all-silent, and the second will have talking sequences, and also a full musical synchronisation and effects.

Lon Chaney, who is an ardent amateur cameraman, boasts of having the last word in amateur cameras. His new camera, taking the small amateur film, has three lenses, colour attachment, super speed motor for "slot motion" and, in fact, every detail any professional camera has.

Here are seven star names often mis-pronounced:—-Lupe Valez is pronounced Loo-pay Val-ayz. It is bee-bee, not Bay-bay, Daniels. Joan Crawford's first name is all one syllable, not Jo-an. Ramon Novarro is Ray-moan Noh-var-ro, with the accent on the "var." Clive Brook is Cl-eye-ve, not Cleeve. And Brook, not Brooks. Nils Asther is Neels As-ther. And Clara pronounces it 80, like beau not bow like a bow-wow.

Hollywood Las at the present time a large number of foreign players under contract, who are engaged in the biggest sound picture programme that has yet been announced. Maurice Chevalier, the French star, is working on "The Innocents of Paris," and in addition to being heard in dialogue sequences will also sing eight songs in English. He has a slight accent, which fits in perfectly with the role he is playing.

Long hair is doomed, according to Esther Ralston, who is now working on "The Case of Lena Smith." Miss Ralston gives as her reason for this statement the fact that fashion has still decreed the small, snug fitting hat for the coming season. Cut hair is much more suitable for this type of hat than long hair. Miss Ralston has a charming head of blonde curly hair, which she arranges in many different ways to suit the type of picture in which she happens to be appearing, and states that she could not possibly go back to the long hair vogue again.

The best picture I have seen is "Glorious Betsy," with Dolores Costello and Conrad Nagel. The beautiful scenery in this picture makes it appealing to our sense of beauty; the acting of Dolores Costello is just as wonderful as herself. In the scene where she waits for her husband to return she acts so naturally and appealingly that a friend of mine with whom I visited the theatre swore during this scene never to see another picture in all his life again if Betsy would not get "him" back, after all. Besides, this picture has a lot of action in it— most pictures nowadays lack that—so that it is interesting from the beginning to the happy ending.—"New York Tribune" Critic.

Myrna Loy is to play the coveted role of the tempestuous gypsy in the picturisation of the famous Broadway success, "The Squall." As the beautiful gypsy who invades the home of her benefactors, Miss Loy has a peculiarly distinctive role, affording her a great chance in her first venture into stardom.

It is said that no English picture yet produced can come up to "Piccadilly," in which Gilda Gray, Anna May Wong, Jameson Thomson and Cyril Richards are co-starred. Camera work, acting and technical qualities are outstanding. The story is an original one by Arnold Bennett, whilst the direction is in the hands of E. A. Dupont, whose composition is brilliant and the detailed work polished in the extreme.

The production of A. E. W. Mason's well-known novel, "The Four Feathers," which was completed recently at Hollywood, includes many sequences actually filmed in the territory immortalised by Kipling. Merian Cooper and Ernest B. Sehoedsack, the adventurers who were responsible for the jungle melodrama "Chang," spent a year in the wildernesses of the Soudan, among fierce tribes in order to get the right atmosphere for the sequences.

Gladys Belmont, an unknown "extra" girl, was selected from 400 applicants for the role of the Indian girl in Richard Dix's latest picture, "Redskin:" The production has been filmed entirely in natural colours, amid some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Bebe Daniels* starring picture, "What a Night," in which the vivacious star has the part of a girl newspaper reporter, is a production set for release shortly. Neil Hamilton is featured in the male lead, and William Austin has another important part.

Prairie dogs were transplanted to the Mojave Desert as "local c*oJour" for '"The Wind," Lillian Gish's new production. The exterior ecenes were filmed in the desert; the story deals with the pioneer plains, and the prairie dogs were necessary. This is a strong dramatic story of an outcast girl's soul lashed by the fury of Nature and the cunning of men in a desert wilderness. Lars Hanson and a strong cast support Miss Gish.

Men and women who achieve stardom in motion pictures behave very differently Pβ far as their physical characteristics are concerned, if the analysis of Dr. Anderson goes for anything. "For example," says Dr. Anderson, "as soon as a male player becomes a star he loses weight, while a feminine player who becomes a star promptly proceeds to add a few pounds of avoirdupois, probably on the theory that now she has arrived, she can cat what she wants to at least once in a while.

The arrival in New York of four talking machine records that Bill Hart has made for an eastern company was occasion for a dinner party at his Xewhall ranch home. The records are "Just Dog, ,, "Laska," "Pinto Ben," and a classic, Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabelle." Hart, who* broke into stage work as a young man, along with John and Ethel Barrymore, William Farnum and others of that era, and trained under such men as Dion Boucicault, so far had no chance to give his motion picture public the benefit of his remarkable stage voice. But with the coming of talkies and especially the release of the records, he bids fair to reclaim a prominent position in tht. motion picture industry.

Newspaper articles, the advice of friends, dreams, amateur theatricals and coincidences—these are but a few of the circumstances that have given stars and players their first ideas about a motion picture career. For instance, Eleanor Boardman saw an article in a newspaper announcing the fact that Louis B. Mayer was looking for new screen faces. She presented herself at the office, secured a film test and was given a contract. At the same time William Haines was chosen. Lew Cody, the popular partner of Aileen Pringle in a delightful series of co-starring comedies, was studying to become a physician when the school he was attending produced a play, and he was chosen as the principal player. This decided Lew— he gave up medicine and became an actor, and later a motion picture player. Norma Shearer had no idea of allaying herself with the motion picture world until her friends in Montreal insisted that she would be a good screen type. This made her decide to go to New York and try her luck on the screen, with the result that she is one of the most popular stars in motion pictures to-day. While Dorothy Sebastian was dancing in George White's "Scandals" in New York, she dreamed one night that she was playing an important role on the .screen. The dream was so vivid that she considered it an pmen, and securing letters of introduction from her friends, arrived in Hollywood to try her luck. Miss Sebastian is much, in demand as a leading lady.