GENERAL FILM GOSSIP.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18149, 7 May 1927, Page 25

GENERAL FILM GOSSIP.

i A peculiar bit of psychology is contributed by the heroine of Love ein an d Leave ’em/’ a Paramount production, featuring Evelyn Brent, Lawrence Gray and Louise Brooks. ou ve got to love ’em and leave ’em. If he decides to walk out, beat him to the pate. When one leaves, get another. , Aim for the man higher up and if_ you can’t take an elevator —walk. A. ou’ll get there iust the same!” Lcuise Brooks plavs Janie, the flapper who fools and forgets. In fact, she fools her sister, Marne to such an extent that Marne's sweetheart forgets her and falls for Janie. Then, Maine wakes up. “If one can play, so can two. A- n d if two can get away with it just watch number three. The future will \~-id her lovin’ and leayin ! «>2r-ording to Fred Datig, casting fcirector at Paramount’s Hollywood studio, titian-haired beauties are iesa prominent by far than any other type of actress seeking screen fame, IJatig declared that, of the 2450 girls listed in the records of the casting office, only 20 are entered as having red hair. Others are listed as followsßlonde hair, 1022; light brown hair, SIS; daik brown hair, 421; black hair, 4,9. Records show that, out of the host of players appearing in leading ro.es .111 pictures, but four at present stand out as possessing fiery tcp-pieces. Lney are Clara Bow, soon to be seen m Kiel Boots” and starring in “It,’ by lilinor Clh-n- Mary Astor, appearing in Faramount's “The Rough Riders;’ Dons Hill and Jocelyn Lee. In the space, of a fete short months, Ilclores Del Rio, the lovely C.hiirmame of Fox Films’ big production, \\ hat Price Glory." has emerged from a Mexican society girl to one of the most tnlked-of screen actresses of the day. Miss Del Rio was discovered by a motion-picture director at a fashionable gathering in her native town, and he was so impressed with her beauty, that he persuaded her to go to Hollywood for a screen test. As a result of this she was given small parts, till Raoul Walsh, the director, saw in her the embodiment of the type for Charmaine. Her work in this role proved outstanding. and with the release of the film Delores Del Rio found herself a sen-, sation overnight. She was signed to a long-term contract by Fox, and her next picture will be “Carmen.” Olive Borden has completed “The Secret Studio,” for Fox Films. The film is the story of a spoiled younger sister who has had all the privileges which have been denied the other children. The girl is a carefree modern miss, who has taken all the' sacrifice? of her parents as a matter of course. One day. she overhears her sister condemning her mother for the manner in which the baby of the family is being spoiled, and realisation comes to her of what her mother has been doing for her. She then resolves to go to work, and succeeds in finding employment in the Bohemian section of the town, where her beauty and attractiveness make her a favourite with the artists. The story then speeds along to a surprising conclusion, with the girl’s path beset with all sorts of adventures, dur ing which she finds herself in love w T ith two men. Supporting Miss Borden is Margaret Livingston, Earle Foxe, Kenneth Harlan and a big cast. ?: k The Chicago “Journal of Commerce” •makes a prophecy concerning motion pictures of the future. “ With moving pictures universal and firmly established in American life,” the writer says, “ three great changes in them are certain before long. They will be projected in three dimensions instead of two; in natural colours, and they will talk. Actors, their voices and their physical appearance will be put in durable form so that coming generations may know them as we know tfiem today in the flesh. Then movie stars will have to have voices.” These things have all been done, but not yet in combination. George K. Spoor has created a “ natural vision,” three dimensional picture, which will soon be on the market commercially in “The American,” made by J. Stuart Blackton. Pictures talk now; witness the .Vitaphone, owned largely by the Warner Brothers, aqd Phonofilpi, in which William Fox has a controlling interest ; and they are in colour. Douglas Fairbanks made “ The Black Pirate ” entirely in colour, and there were as pioneers. “ Wanderer in Wasteland,” in which Billie Dove, Jack Holt and Noah Beery were featured, and an even earlier, “Toll of the Sea,” with Anna May Wong, the Chinese picture actress, as its star. A tale of 3*oung love and its charm- j ing outcome is the plot of “ The Midnight Kiss,” a Fox production to be released here shortly. A'oung Tommy Atkins (played by Richard Walling) dabbles in experimental chemistry, and finally compounds a mixture which he guarantees to cure any sick animal in existence. No one has much faith in Tommy's concoction but Mildred Cushing, who privately adores the boy. Tommy tells her of his plan to buy up a quantity of pigs going cheaply, dose them up with his medicine and resell at a good profit. Mildred tries a little gentle blackmail on her elder sister, with the result that she obtains the necessary cash for the purchase cf the

pigs, and the fun commences. lheir respective parents become alarmed when they do not put in an appearance that' night, but Tommy and Mildred are so engrossed with doctoring the animals that they work right on to the wee small hours, being rewarded Lv the fact that the pigs (really suffering from cholera) recover, and they sell them at a good price. Mildred suggests to Tommy that they might seal the partnership by getting married, and lie figures that “ he might as well,” though he is not quite sure that he loves the girl. Their arrival back home causes much excitement, and brings a splendid climax to this human little tale. Janet Gaynor plays Mildred. The story of how New Zealand came Into prominence at a country race meeting near Hollywood recently, was related by Miss Eva Novak, American film actress, who recently passed through Auckland en route to Australia. “When I was through Wellington, on my way to Sydney last year, I purchased a small greenstone emblem,” said Miss Novak. “ I never thought anything more about it until one morning at Hollywood recently, when a day at a nearby race meeting was suggested. I wore my piece of greenstone on my dress, and, much to the amusement and enjoyment of my friends, it brought me the greatest luck.” Miss Novak said she backed horses with names sounding like those of some New Zealand horses. In the first race she chose an outsider and was laughed at by her friends. However, the horse won. “After that, they all tame and touched my piece of greenstone for luck,” she said. “ I am sure that piece of greenstone brought me luck. In another race I backed a horse that came in third, but the first two horses were disqualified, and my horse was given first place.” Miss Novak, who last vear look the leading part in the Australian production. “ For the Term of His Natural Life,” has been engaged by an Australian company to play leading roles in six pictures. The first will be produced in Queensland. “ I have reason to believe one of the pictures will be produced in New Zealand,” she said. " J

hope this will be the case, for I would like to thoroughly tour 3’our wonder- | ful country. Australia, with its clear atmosjjhere and wonderful scenery, is an ideal place for producing pictures.” HAROLD LLOYD. . AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY THE PARAMOUNT STAR. In the confusion of the youthful ambitions of any bo}', it is frequently extremely difficult to outline just what he visions himself in his later days. These ideas are always too shifting, and kaleidoscopic. When I was a youngster most boys anticipated themselves more great baseball players than presidents; great prize fighters than bankers or business men. In my own case, I think as far back as I can recall, my greatest longing was to become ail actor. Frequently I have heard my mother assert that I inherited this ambition from her. Sort of parental influence,

I -would judge. In her girlhood days she aimed for a career on the stage, and did quite a bit of amateur theatrical work, but when she Attempted to enter the professional field, her parents never would countenance the move. They were of too ’ strong a religious trend. I was only about twelve years old when I was first permitted to indulge my theatrical ambitions before an audience. It all came about _in a peculiar fashion. We were living in Omaha, and with my great longing for the theatrical life, I frequently found myself drawn toward one theatre or another —usually to where the Burwood stock company was playing. This afternoon I was one of a crowd gazing into a window where a fortune teller was displaying his horoscope chart to the entertainment of a good sized crowd. Even as a lad this interested me, and it still does for that matter. While this performance was going on, a fire broke out nearby, and half a dozen fire engines tore past the building where the soothsayer was operating. I was too wrapped Tip in his chart to pay any attention to the fire, but virtually everybody else had scat- ; tered with the approach of the fire engine. After several minutes I felt someone touch my shoulder, and as I turned around I received the thrill of my life. It was none other than John Lane Connor, leading man, of the Burwood Stock Company, whom I immediatelv recognised, having seen him a number of times with the Bur wood organisation. , V His interest in me was aroused by my failure to follow the fire engines: We were soon engaged in conversation, and it developed that he was preparing, to change his living quarters, and I 1 suggested that perhaps my mother would find accommodation for him at 1 our home, inasmuch as we had. a big ! house, and could take care of him very 1 comfortably. It developed that he 1 did come to live with us. and to him ’ I owe my earliest stage training. : Through his teachings and his in- : flusnee with the Burwood Company, I was engaged to play in a number of stock shows, first of which was “ Tess ' of the D’Urbervilles,” in which I portrayed little Abe. In this same company was the late Frank Bacon, who I also became deeply interested in me. When the stock season closed, Mr 1 Bacon was taking a company out for a vattdeville tour, and he offered me 1 a "part in his unit'. But my mother. 1 couldn't see it that way. and insisted that I remain in. Omaha and keep up my schooling. Later we moved to Denver, which put a temporary damper on my stage ambitions. About this time I had a desire to become a great prize-fighter and took up amateur boxing. At sixteen I had earned my way into the semi-finals for the Colorado State championship, all unknown to my mother. But when she learned that I was boxing, she again interfered, and put the quietus on that ambition. My interest in the stage never died, however, and when at eighteen we ! moved to San Diego, I had the good 1 fortune of again meeting John Lane . Connor. He was conducting a dramatic school and he engaged me as an ! assistant instructor. ! I also played with a local stock - companv, but being at that awkward

company, uuo age where I was neither flesh nor fowl, too old for kid parts and too voung for juveniles, I took to character work, and played most everything from a skeleton to an aged Chinaman. It was a wonderful training. From San Diego I drifted into the motion picture business in Los Angeles. But I must say that throughout my entire early days I had the one thought in mind—to become an actor. Mv latest production for Paramount is “ For Heaven’s Sake.” “Photoplay” says:—Not so long ago vast mobs fought for the merest glimpse of her. To-day few people res member she is still alive. She is Clara > Kimball Young, who m the early ; Yitagraph days was considered the 1 most beautiful woman on the screen. L She still has her beauty but very little - else. The story that the papers pub- - lished last year about her losing her h jewels in a taxi-cab was not a Press * yarn. It was tragically true for. - Clara. The jewels represented the I savings of her entire career. She has never been able to get any trace of [ them. She lives to-day in a small New f York hotel and is trying to stage a > come-back via vaudeville. ti The film test, nightmare ordeal to 1 the most experienced actor, will soon 2 be a thing of the past, according to 2 Marshall Neilan. It has been the cuss tom at studios to try out a candidate for pictures in a solo act, registering 1 emotion before the very critical eye of a camera, with the director as an 2 exacting audience. Even the man or s girl accustomed to acting, to movie a make-up and to the glare of the studic t lights, finds this a very trying experi Y cnee. It is almost impossible not to s appear self-conscious and ill at ease. g Neilan. who is credited with more 1. screen finds than any other director in ” the business, prefers to make his n choices in natural circumstances, while k. the actors are unconscious of his specu 1 lative eye. lie has made a number of o selections of jiromising screen materia 1- in this way, and his judgment is said J to be invariably sound.