INTERESTING VISITOR

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXI, Issue 10920, 21 September 1932, Page 4

INTERESTING VISITOR

VIEWS ON HOLLYWOOD. An interesting visitor to Wellington at the present time is Dr A. L. Lewis, of Hollywood, California, governing director of a chain of commercial education schools stretching from Los Angeles as far south as San Diego and El Centro, which is only 18 miles from the Mexican border, and president of the Hollywood City Club. Dr Lewis comes with credentials from the Governor of California (Mr Jas. Rolph), and during his visit is to deliver a number of goodwill lectures, study the Maori, and see all New Zealand has to offer in the way of scenery. He will make a stay of three months in New Zealand, and will then visit Australia, New Guinea, the East Indies, Strait Settlements, Colombo, South Africa, and Europe before returning to California.

“Travel has been marvellously speeded up by the aeroplane in the States,” said Dr Lewis. “Distance received a blow when the steam locomotive and much later the motor car came along, but it Is being annihilated by the aeroplane and the airship. There is now a regular daily service of six-passenger aeroplanes between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which do the journey in 1 hour 5S iriinqtes, Instead of 10 hours by railroad. The fare is about 15 dollars. These aeroplanes land at Alameda, across the bay from San Francisco, and there passengers tranship to amphibian planes, which do the ferry trip across the harbour in seyen minutes. From Alameda one can now journey to Sacramento, the capital of the state, in 22 minutes. A Cltangin g Hollywood, “When I first went to Hollywood over eighteen years ago,” said Dr Lewis, “the streets were unpaved and there were only two restaurants in the place. The studios were all in town, and you could bump into the screen people at any time, particularly in those two eating-houses. Now it is all changed. Most of the studios are out of the town, and the place has become a dignified and beautiful extension of Los Angeles with fine buildings, some magnificent hotels, • beautiful homes, and the best-lighted boulevards in the world. “The coming of the talkies has wrought remarkable changes,” Dr Lewis continued. “It has put out of business a lot of people who were merely types. That is to say they had nothing behind their personal appearance to qualify them for roles in pictures, where they had to memorise their parts and speak them in intelligible English. I’ll give you two opposite instances. There was a very poor carpenter who was so good with the tools of his trade that he got the sack. He then tried to get a job as a studio carpenter. A director who was looking for a certain type saw this long, angular, vacant individul and asked him had he been on the stage. No, he had not, but he was willing to try anything once. He tried and succeeded. That man was Karl Dane. When the talkies came along It became difficult for such people to make good; whereas skilful actors like George Arliss and the Barrymores came into their own.” Rush to Improve Speech, "When the talkies came the wise folk of Hollywood rushed the teachers of elocution and voice production, eager to improve their speech and correct faults in intonation. Mr Rowdan, an English teacher, did wonderful work, and many of the players joined up with the stock companies to get experience in part memorising and stage speaking. “Conrad Nagel was one' of the lucky opes. His father, Dr Frank Nagel, formerly of Des Moines, lowa, had always been interested in the dramatic art, and had transmitted his knowledge of good English and enunciation to his son. Another fortunate one was Neil Hamilton, who happened to come from Boston, where the accent is the nearest to good English in the States. “Of course, the talkies drove a lot of young women out of the pictures,” continued Dr Lewis, “and many of them have attended my schools to pick up commercial education and business training. On the other hand, some of my students made good on the screen. Janet Gaynor joined my bookkeeping and typing class when she was 18. Others who passed through the school included Lita Gray Chaplin, Lolita McMurray,, Jobynna Ralston, Alice White, Sally O’Neil, Molly O’Day, and Gladys McConnell.

“Girls, beautiful girls, come to Hollywood from all parts of the world, hoping to win out on their looks. The tragic part comes when they fail and all their money disappears. Many of them go straight along the downward path, and it Is this class of women, more than the genuine screen players, who have, through their wild parties, helped to give Hollywood a bad name.”