PAUL MUNI'S CANDOUR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21763, 31 March 1934, Page 10 (Supplement)

PAUL MUNI'S CANDOUR

NEED FOR GOOD STORIES PREFERENCE FOR THEATRE Everyone knows Paul Muni—the protagonist of " Scar face " and " 1 Am A Fugitive," the star of the Yiddish Art Theatre, one of the most powerful actors of the American stage and screen. But Muni the man is an unknown quantity. A Loudon interviewer found liim the most candid and most modest, the most fearless and uncompromising, ofi all the actors he has known. They say in Hollywood that he is difficult. He admits he is. But, strange to say, he does not quarrel with Warner Brothers, over the issues raised by most temperamental stars insistence on greater prominence, more money and bigger parts, for instance. Mr. Muni is difficult only because (a) he really prefers plays, (b) he fought against being starred, and (c) he dislikes the usual starring story (what is described as a vehicle ") "on the ground that it is generally unbalanced and unconvincing. " The' greatest trouble with picturemaking is stories," he said. "Hollywood is making 500 or 600 pictures a year. It is absurd. There are not half that many suitable stories or talent to see them through production. I am looking for stories all the time. Some days I read five or six; in Moscow I saw sixteen plays in a fortnight; I am seeing all the "plays I can in London before leaving for New York. But so far 1 ve found nothing to suit me. " I am hard to suit because I do not belong to any special type. I am not a handsome juvenile. I am not a ' heavy ' or a comic. I refuse to be ' typed ' and play a succession of gangsters or fugitives. I just want to be an actor, and do the best that's in me. If I can't I won't act at all. The stage has taught me half a dozen tricks. If ever I find myself relying on them, if I have nothing else to give, I'll get out. My present contract with Warners is for a —ii irr=S<S=C3lZ ~IC=

picture and a play, alternately, but I have told them that if I can't 'feel ' the stories I won't work. I can earn a good living on the stage, and if I had to retire altogether T still wouldn't starve. " Why should I do things I am not interested in? Why should 1 try to earn £50,000 a year, of £SOOO a year, when my wife and 1 can live comfortably on £1000? f have been on the stage 28 years (ho is 38) and I confess to feeling bewildered by life, uncertain as to what 1 am heading for and what T want to get out of it. But certainly not just a lot of money. Neither do f want to earn quick success in a dull way. Ft has been' suggested that I could come to London and do 'Searface' or 'I Am A Fugitive,' and make some easy money. [ would rather do something new and have a flop. Success is good, and i have enjoyed it, but I believe that an occasional failure is good for your work and for your soul."