STAGE AND FILMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22429, 27 May 1936, Page 5

STAGE AND FILMS

VIEWS OF FORMER ACTRESS Visiting Auckland in the course of a two years' tour of the world, Mrs. Thelma Cohnan, former wife of Mr. Ronald Colman, the well-known English film actor, arrived by the Niagara yesterday en route to Vancouver, after a five months' stay in Sydney. Mrs. Colman herself has had considerable experience of tho stage and several times has visited New Zealand with tho J. C. Williamson companies. Her last visit fifteen years ago took her to most of tiie main towns of both the North and South Islands, when she played in a revival of "Our Miss Gibbs" and several other well-known musical comedies. She was also a member of the "Tivolies," which were widely featured in Australia some years ago. During her stay in England and the United States, where she has spent most of the time since she left Australia, Mrs. Colman has played various roles in musical comedy, "straight" plays and comic opera. Although .it is now seven years since she left the stage, Mrs. Colman said that while she is glad to be free of the exhausting work that stage acting entails, at the same time she misses the perpetual interest and education of her work. Comparing stage work with that of the screen, Mrs. Colman said that screen work was far more exacting and demanded more of the performer than did the stage. On the stage the actor or actress had to win his or her audience in one performance. They were practically in immediate contact with the audience. In films, however, one small part could be played over and over again until perfected before it was presented. The staee actress, moreover, made sometimes two or three appearances a day for several weeks in the same part, whereas the film actress' work on one picture was finished with the first screening of the film. Discussing the much debated topic of the dress of Australian and New Zealand women, Mrs. Colman said that, in her opinion, Australian women compared very favourably, not only with the women of the United States and England, but also with those of Paris. "The Australian and New Zealand women possess natural beauty, grace of carriage and good complexions, whereas the American's and the Parisienne's beauty is all in the art of dress and make-up," said Mrs. Colman. She thought that imported clothes were a drawback rather than an advantage to Australian and New Zealand women, and said that she expected soon to see women in this part of tho world designing their own particular and distinctive style of dress as did those of England, France and the United States.