AN ACTOR'S MONOCLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21100, 6 February 1932, Page 10 (Supplement)

AN ACTOR'S MONOCLE.

FAME OF CLAUDE ALLISTER.

I'he English comedian, Claude Allister, whose monocle and " silly ass " expression have made him ono of the most soughtafter film actors in Hollywood, never wore an eyeglass until he appeared in his first picture. When ho strolled hopefully out of a louring company at Los Angeles and went to have a film test, he had no thought of specialising in these parts. In point of fact, the film test nearly went wrong through a misunderstanding. It was " Bulldog Drummond " that started the film companies in pursuit of him as a " silly ass." When he was asked if he knew this play he remarked modestly that ho was in the London company. Rather hesitantly, in view of •the circumstances, lie confessed that he had played the only American character. After the laughter subsided lie accepted the part of " Algy." Then he became marked, more or less, as the typical exponent of the languid Englishman. Now Mr. Alister has arrived in London to play "opposite " Margaret Bannerman the part in " Two White Arms " that Owen Narcs played on the stage. " Before ' Bulldog Drummond,' " says Mr. Allister, " I'd never worn an eyeglass in my life." Mr. Allister is the son of a British general, and he was acting on the NewYork stage in " The Trial of Mary Dugan when Hollywood captured him.