FILM FAME

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 May 1936, Page 2

FILM FAME

DRAMATIST’S -WARNING. Mr. John Drinkwater, the poet and dramatist, gave a warning to wouldbe film stars when he presented examination awards at the London Academy of Music recently. Referring to the desire to go on the stage as the commonest emotion of mankind, Mr. Drinkwater said: “Never has the situation been so difficult as it is at the present. “The new element of difficulty is due to the extraordinary phenomenon of the cinema. Hitherto, even with talent and the necessary appearance, it meant that actors had to cover considerable ground before they saw any hope of success. “Now unhappily—very unhappily — you got a pretty girl of IS with looks and intelligence who is taken into a film studio and over-night can be made internationally famous. “It is very nice to make enough money when you can and to achieve International fame—or call it notoriety—but if you look hack over the past few years you may well ask what has happened to some of the reputations that have been made. “They have endured for three or five years. There is scarcely one which has endured for 10, with the exception of people with personality and genius like Charles Chaplin.

“Think of the heartbreak. While you are still young success passes on to somebody else. The film face that is seen in the picture house has become lined and cannot face the camera any more.”