MORALS OF LOS ANGELES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 1639, 21 February 1922, Page 2

MORALS OF LOS ANGELES.

ELINOR GLYN'S IMPRESSION. CURSE OP ILLICIT DRINKING. As I am again on my way back to the Pacific Coast to continue the supervision of my screen stories, I welcome this chance to say something about those people who provide so much of the present-day public's entertainment —the cinema actresses and actors. It is the fashion for some part of the American nation (which must take up one fad after another) to believe that the capital of the moving picture business —Hollywood, Los Angeles, California—is a sink of iniquity, where such a thing as morality does not exist. Perhaps an echo of this attitude of mind has reached England; so it gives me pleasure to be able to tell the truth about it all. Every profession has its black sheep, but a whole industry should not be damned in consequence of one or two offenders—and the moving picture people ought rather to be praised for being as good as they are then blamed for badness.

Imagine a centre where hundreds of thousands of people are gathered together—all more or less beautiful, and all extremely young. Give them perfect freedom of action, unhampered by chaperones, and with work to do which entails their having several changes of stage love-partners in a year, and then picture what, in any country, would be likely to happen.

Filled with Affection.

Not steady work, either, but intermittent, and often in the most romantic surroundings and enveloped in the glamour of make-believe (remarks Elinor Glynn in the Sunday Express.) Of course, the rigid conventions of more stable avocations are not observed in the same measure, and life slips along in a holiday mood. Perhaps this produces their kindness of heart—for I have never come across so much charity or good fellowship among human beings in any other place. It seems as if existence had gone back a good deal to the primitive, and the mating is from inclination and not from mercenary reasons or ambition. The air seems filled with affection.

Imagine also a climate in the winter like an English June, growing a little warmer in the summer months, and with the air so clear that when one stands on the hills at night and looks down upon Los Angeles and Hollywood the lights appear like countless brilliant diamonds.

Imagine an immense collection of little bungalows, each pretty and spruce and up to date, with perfect electric appliances, so that labour is no difficulty.

Two Husbands Before 23.

Imagine wages so good that every family possesses a motor-car and can get- about—and all this combined gives you some idea of Hollywood. Hollywood is what might be called a suburb of Los Angeles, but is the real centre of the "movie" world — not Los Angeles itself. Every one works, so that there are no idle people to make scandals and mischief, and it is the custom to leave each other alone. The American divorce laws permit of people moving on from partners if they are unhappy, and you will find numbers of young women under 23 who have already had two husbands. In spite of all these aids to a lax state of fidelity there seem to be countless durable, serene marriages. The whole thing is happy-go-lucky, rather. Live and let live. The curse of the place and the real reason which causes these orgies to take place, like the deplorable Arbuckle scandal, is the illicit drinking of poisonous liquor.

Very Hygenic and Scanty.

Mexico being- so near, I presume the drink conies over the border too easily. But the wild people are few and far between, and always in the limelight. The rest of the community are kindly, natural, hard-working-beings, not consciously breaking any laws of convention, but rather livinglives more as nature suggests, undarkened by evil thoughts. It is quite absurd to judge one country by the standards of another, and different work produces different viewpoints.

Hollywood and Los Angeles are also the homes of every sort of new religion—branches from Christian Science and New Thought, and Theosophy, each sect with ideas of its own as to what is and is not right. The perfect summer days are passed "on the beach" as much as possible. The "beaches" are about 11 miles away from the towns, and all who can spare the time in the week and everyone on Sunday drives there, and basks in the lovely sunshine—going in and out of the warm, water, and resting on the warm sand all day, clothed in a regulation bathing suit —very hygienic and scanty—and the salt water soaks into all the young, strong bodies, giving them perfect health and vigour.

Gods and Goddesses.

Imagine a beach as thickly covered with humanity as Margate, but not noisy and vulgar. No niggers with banjoes, no horrid remains of yesterday's lunches lying about, but just everywhere groups of happy people, sleeping, or chatting, or reading, or walking, or running up and down for

exercise, all in the same costumes of tight stockinette of bright colours, with perhaps a fleecy woollen cloak

thrown over them to keep out the too great heat of the sun. As all heroes and heroines for the cinema must be young and beautiful, probably nowhere else in the world could such a sight be seen as at Santa Monica and the other beaches. The young people are like gods and goddesses at play. No one is self-conscious because of having so little on; it is the custom i of the country—natural. The young men become like bronze statues with , sunburn, but the girls all keep fair and unfreckled because, since beauty , is the essential thing for their trade, j science and art have been called in l to add to it. The "beachees" would , shock every prurient mind —and yet , I believe no more gaily innocent j places exist. Because of the fact that beauty is the essential asset, every known scientific process to obtain and preserve it is to be found in the town. There are "beauty shops" where skin is peeled off and perfect complexions without wrinkles secured. There are wonderful methods to curl hair permanently without the disastrous breaking known here. There are manicures and pedicures, fat reducers, and electric baths—in short, everything which the brain of man can invent to secure this Oim aimperfect physical beauty. Perfect Physical Beauty. The result is that it is a kind of disgrace to possess a single blemish. In the world it would be impossible to find such a collection of lovely girls as are gathered together every Thursday night at the dances of the Hollywood Hotel, where the "movie stars" are present in force. The faces are not chiselled like English people's; it is a round, baby prettiness, perhaps large eyes and tiny mouths, perhaps rather of the chocolate-box order —but, oh! so fresh and young and laughing! They are all very small, five feet is the average height! Tall women are no use in pictures!

The only thing which spoils them is that for many parts they have to be fluffy blondes; this end is secured by peroxide bleaching, and they have as yet no idea of hairdressing beyond ridiculous curls and puffed-out heads, which often makes them look vulgar when they would otherwise be exquisite.

Absolutely a Paradise.

The clothes are wonderful! Out of Pax-is T have never seen women so well dressed. This applies to their private garments, not to the impossible things they are forced to wear on the screen, chosen for them by the director or the costumier. There is not room enough for me to write any more about Hollywood, but I should advise anyone who wants to spend a winter in a climate which is absolutely of paradise, and would like a totally new experience in regard to point of view, to go out there and bank in the warm sun, among the most friendly, unpretenLious, jolly community on earth.