BETTER ACTRESSES

Taranaki Daily News, 16 November 1935, Page 20 (Supplement)

BETTER ACTRESSES

IMPROVEMENT THIS DECADE. Richard Barthelmess, who has the advantage of a' long career at Hollywood,- recently compared the screen actresses of a decade ago with those of to-day and. found the balance: to be heavily weighted in favour of the current favourites. • “They are more intelligent, better educated, and . have greater talent,” Barthelmess declared. “There has been a constant improvement in the type of player appearing on the screen—and that improvement is still going On. “The demands of motion pictures are much greater to-day, and a type of player has been found that can fill ..these demands. The artist of tp-day is better equipped from the educational standpoint, and hence is more intelligent. “A decade ago a pretty face and curls went a long way toward making a girl a star. That is no longer true. In fact, de Maupassant’s contention that a woman’s station in life is determined by her beauty does not hold true at Hollywood. While the screen star of to-day is generally a very beautiful woman indeed, in almost every studio there'are extras more beautiful than the star. Th® star holds the ’more elevated position because of her talent and intelligence.

“When I first came to Hollywood the situation was different. The star- was generally the most beautiful woman in the company. Beauty, aw". beauty alon®, was probably the dominating factor at that time,”