GEORGE ARLISS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 20 June 1936, Page 9

GEORGE ARLISS

THREE NEW FILMS PLAYS INDIAN RAJAH IN FIRST George Arliss isn’t letting the Shepherds Bush grass grow under his feet, says a London writer. Recently he announced he was going to play in “The Nelson Touch’’ now that “East and West” (in which he plays an Indian Rajah) is finished. Now comes the news that his picture to follow that will be “Jim the Penman,” based on the life of forger James Saward. Arliss (68 years of age) stands head and shoulders above the rest as Britain’s G.O.M. among screen actors. Off-screen he is dignified without pomposity, knows what he wants — and gets it. He shares with the Duke of Wellington a healthy respect for punctuality. The first time I met him was after I had kept him waiting (through a third party’s mistake) for two hours. Mr Arliss was stiff and sticky but inexorably polite. The second time he opened up a bit, passed the cigarettes and talked very frankly. After that we got on to one of his favourite topics; his barn-storm-ing days at the old Elephant and Castle. Since then I have discovered that he has more charm than half a dozen ordinary actors put together.' He is conservative in politics, and practically vegetarian in diet. He explains that he doesn’t like to eat anything he might have wanted to pat while it was alive, and adds that he eats fish because (sly smile) “you can’t really pat a haddock.”

“The Last Outpost” Described as a successor, rather than a sequel, to “The Lives of a Bengal Lancer,” the Paramount production, “The Last Outpost,” is a story of British military valour, romance and sacrifice set in the wilds of Kurdistan, and in the deserts of North Africa during the Great War. To the minds of most people, the words, “Great War,” refer only to the conflict on the Western Front, and they forget that the struggle was fought out in many obscure corners of the earth with a heroism and determination easily the equal of that shown on Flanders field. One has only to rememI her the work of Lawrence of Arabia |to realise the truth of this state- ; ment; and it is round a character strikingly similar to Lawrence that the story of “The Last Outpost” centres. This character is John Steven - ' son (brilliantly played by Claude Rains), a British Intelligence Officer assigned to a most dangerous task in Kurdistan, where the enemy were planning to strike at the heart of the Empire—lndia. ¥ ¥ * ¥ ‘Exclusive Story” The fact that truth is stranger than fiction and oftimes every whit as exciting is fully proved in “Exclusive Story,” the new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture which stars Franchot Tone and Madge Evans. “Exclusive Story” was written by newspaperman Martin Mooney, one of the most sensational vice crusaders of the time, and it is a story shaped from the year’s blackest headlines. Primarily a dramatisation of Mooney’s own expose of the notorious “Policy Racket” practiced in New York and other metropolitan centres, the new picture weaves its plot themes from three major news events of the year. They are the “Policy Jrtacket,” the Morro Castle Fire and the front page activitives of Federal “G” Men.

Bass Quality in Your Voice Desirable

If you want a pleasing voice, keep it slightly on the bass side, says George Cooper, recording engineer at Columbia Studios. Cooper claims that the cast of Columbia’s “If You Could j Only Cook,” contains the most pleas--1 ing voices of any picture he has ever i recorded. “Herbert Marshall, Jean • Arthur, Leo Carrillo and Frieda Inesj cort all have voices in which the bass j component is larger than the treble,” i says Cooper. “Contrasting voices offer ‘ great difficulties for a recorder,” continues the expert. “The chief duty of a ‘mixer’ is to balance the voices of his cast much as a radio listener balances the output of his radio—throwing the accent on the bass or treble side. If two persons, one with a bass voice, and one with a treble voice are speaking lines before the microphone, the recorder must adjust i his recorder for each voice as it i speaks, or the natural quality of the voice will be lost. But with voices ! which are all on the ‘bass side,’ little | or no adjustment is necessary to reI cord their voices in their natural ’ tones.” j¥¥ ¥ ¥ i Western Films j Those films of the West, in which gallantry and villainy seem always to meet face to face, are well served by sound. They were exciting enough in < t the days when films were silent; they | pestered the imagination, even then, but they were not better for the luridI ness which was perhaps necessary to I heighten illusion. Their tone is quieter J now, since the attendant sounds leave less to imagination. And the direction j of this type of film has not been at a i standstill. There are shades of irnj provernent—not always noticeable until after, w„hen the film has been thought about—which may be found in “The Eagle's Brood.” ¥ ¥ y. :{. Gitta Alpar, the beautiful Hungarian nightingale, has the featured role in “I Give My Heart” the screen presentation of “Dubarry.” Miss Xlpar is at present the toast of Europe and will bring to the screen her beautiful voice plus a radiant personality. Owen Mares, Margaret Bannerman, and Hay Petrie who made such a hit with Nelson audiences as Quilp in “The Old Curiosity Shop” are in support of the star. ¥ * v- :{■ The English aren’t lazy. They just abide by tradition.—Fay Wray.