PICTURE PAGE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21992, 16 January 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

PICTURE PAGE

INTRODUCING LIGHTNING

„ Shirley Temple and Jackie Cooper are not the only child stars. Oh dear, no! You would like to meet Lightning, wouldn't you? Lightning is just three and one-half years old.' Shirley Temple may have curls, but Lightning has the softest of fur coats. Shirley may be able to sing in several languages, but Lightning can only bark in one he can let you know what he wants without, any language at all. Lightning, as you will have seen by now, is a dog screen star. He Is the grandson of a dog screen star—Strongheart who acted in silent pictures. So, perhaps, the acting talent runs in the family.

Lightning played in the picture, "Wings in the Dark" which was recently seen in a Christchureh theatre. He was specially selected for this picture. The man who trains dogs for the screen, Mr Johnson,

quick-witted. Not one of them had quite the amount of animal intelligence that Trainer Johnson believes a dog must possess to master the language of signs. Lightning is every inch an actor. He knows when he has done well, and when he hasn't. A little applause makes his eyes shine. Things have changed a great deal since the days of the silent pictures when Lightning's grandfather, Strongheart, acted for the public. Then the trainer could shout directions for the dog to spring at the villain or lick the feet of the hero. But sound pictures have silenced the voice. To-day the trainer must depend on sign language to give his commands. In "Wings in the Dark," Lightning plays the part of the dog who leads the blind aviator about. And Lightning, if you please, is a really great actor. Some day you'll see him in another picture.

Do You Know ?

That those cobwebs you sometimes see in pictures, when the scene Is of an old and dusty house, are all made by a man, who spins cobwebs with the aid of a chemical mixture and an odd electrical machine? He is known as the "Human Spider."

gave the screen test to nearly 100 dogs before he came on Lightning. Some of these dogs were larger, some better-looking than. Strongheart's grandson, but none was as

Jane Withers* Hobby

Jane Withers has a new hobby. She peels potatoes, and carves figures out of the peelings. She has carved a figure resembling an Aztec figure, and a complete cutout of a baby. She has made others, too. Have you ever tried making potato peeling figures? • Why is a little pig like a fortnight? Because it says "week-week," and two weeks make a fortnight. MARGARET GRAHAM (aged 7). Brookside.