SMILING LEO CARILLO

Hawera Star, 13 January 1930, Page 8

SMILING LEO CARILLO

VIEWS ON TALKIES. CERTAIN DRAMA WILL SURVIVE. Leo Gvtrilio, the star comedian of “Lombardi. Ltd./’ who has been making all Sydney laugh for six months on cud, arrived at Wellington this week to initiate a tour of New Zealand. From the success which has attended this actor one l would imagine that audiences prefer brunettes; in any case, no one who meets Mir Oaiillo can help liking him, on account of his pleasant, easy, natural manner, his urbane smile, and his vivid mental deftness in seeing the humorous side of anything. • He oozes geniality and good fellowship of a man to whom the world has been kind. Laugh and Mr C-a-rillo laughs with yo-u —for he would sooner laugh than do anything else, says the “Dominion.” With refreshing candour lie told a reporter that ‘Lombardi, Ltd./” is a play on which nine or ten winters have lowered without dimming the lustre of its intrinsic humour. He played the comedy for four years on end in the United States and Canada, and then put it. by for a time. Then when out AVest it was suggested by Henry Duffy (of the Duffy Players)'' that it might revive. So they brushed the dust off the well-thumbed script, read it, doctored it up to date and decided to try the modermished version on Portland, Oregon, for three nights. That three nights extended to five weeks. Then they took it to Hollywood for a week, and it rain there for four months. One little memento of that experience in Mr Carillo’s possession is a very handsome gold match box, presented to him by Syd Grauman, the same being a lifepass to the famous Chinese Theatre, of Hollywood. A real dyed-in-the-wool American comedian always measures his success by the number of laughs in each act. Mr Canto said that- there are 250 belly laughs in the first act—'and said it without a blush. 1 THE ’.'ALKIES.

Talkies! Uvery actor talks of the talkies, but. few of them who happen this way can speak with the authority of Air Ca-rillo. He has made talkies. “I was one of the first, to make a talkie short in the world,” said Mr Oarillo. ‘ ‘ The; others were At Jolson, the Howard Bros., and Van Schenck. We made them for Warner Bros, three years ago. Aline was a patter turn — just talk, WLseevacks, we call the m in the States, but they went over ip, good style. ‘There's no need to worry about the shorts, nor -about talkies,’ said Sam Warner to me after the show; ‘they’re a. winner!’ But poor Sam wasn’t—he 'died -scion afterwards. ‘‘ We made those first shots- on an •improvised stage in the old Alanliuttan Opera House in New York. We were •all very much interested in how they would turn out, but as soon as we heard them we all knew that something big had happened. “Last year I made a. big talkie, ‘Alisher Antonio,’ for the Tiffany people, in Hollywood. Worked right up to the last .moment, before catching the train that was to make the first section of the journey to Australia. Since then 1 have received the reviews of the picture, and they all agree it is a first;-rale success. It has clicked everywhere. The best evidence that such is the ease is that the Tiffany folk have exercised the 'option they had on my services. So after my return season in Australia I have not played in Melbourne’ yet— I return to Hollywood to make more talkies. Aly first vehicle, I am told, will be ‘Signor Manana’ (‘Alisher Tomorrow ’). ” TALKIES VERSUS THE STAGE. . How do you like playing to the microphone? “Oh, it is very interesting indeed. I have- to confess I like it, though, of course, you miss the big waves of laughter breaking over the footlights.”

Do you think it will kill the real flesh and blond drama? “Not in a. thousand years! I know it has got them a little 'hysterical in the States, but that is only for the time being. There will always be audiences for a good play and a good: talkie. But it is going to mean that both will halve to be good. .1 mean to say that the competition will, I think, mean, better plays and less junk in the theatre. ‘All the really good plays submitted last season in New York succeeded. If the supply of the quality show ean be kept up, they will survive the talkie invasion. You know what Abe Lincoln said: 'You can’t fool all the people ali the time. ’ ’ ’