The talking Screen

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 329, 23 January 1932, Page 24 (Supplement)

The talking Screen

TAc Christchurch “ Star” is New Zealand’s Official Film Newspaper

GENERAL FILM GOSSIP. GOOD COMEDY TEAM. Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, who are featured in “Cracked Nuts,” heading the new bill at the Theatre Royal, first attracted attention when they appeared together in. the Ziegfeld ** Follies.” Since then they have been I teamed in Radio pictures, which include “ Rio Rita,” “ The Cuckoos,” “ Dixiana,” “ Half Shot at Sunrise ” and ** Hook, Line and Sinker.” Bert W 7 heeler is not only a comedian, but plays romantic parts convincingly. Robert Woolsey commenced his working life, as a jockey, and achieved considerable success, but a broken leg put an end to this career. After being a property boy with a touring theatrical company he went on the stage. Picturesque Figure. His vivid red hair and his impressive physique have made Charles Bickford, who has the leading role in “ East of Borneo ” at the Regent Theatre, one of the most picturesque figures of American drama. Bickford was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied construction engineering. He joined the U.S. Navy as a youth and during the World War was a lieutenant in the Engineers, serving with the United States troops at home and abroad. Charles Bickford went on the stage before the ■war, and resumed his stage career after, becoming well known as a dramatic actor in New York. He went to Hollywood during Christmas, 1928, and made his screen debut in “ Dynamite,” in a leading role, soon after. Bickford played the leading male role in “Anna Christie” (with Greta Garbo).

Outstanding London Actor. Harold Huth, the brilliant Londor actor, who has the leading role in “ The Outsider,*' which is now in its second week at the Plaza Theatre, was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1892. He is a nephew of Eva Moore, the distinguished English stage actress. After eighteen years in the motor industry, and with no amateur theatrical experience, Huth made his debut as an actor at the age of thirty-six ii “ The Truth Game,” at the Glob< Theatre with Ivor Novello. Harolc Huth made his screen debut in “ Oni of the Best/* and has since played im portant parts in a number of othe: British productions.

Varied Career. Ivan Lebedeff, who is seen with Genevieve Tobin and Betty Compson in “ Kisses By Command,” at the Crystal Palace Theatre, was virtually born into a military and diplomatic career which would have carried him to great heights, but for the Russian Revolution. A Lithuanian by birth, Lebedeff received his education in the Russian Emperor’s court, and subsequently at the University of St Petersburg. He performed signal service during the World War when he captured a German general single-handed. His acting career dates from his entry into Hollywood, and he has appeared in several successful pictures. Played in British Filins. Evelyn Brent, who has the major role in “ Pagan Lady,*’ co-screening with “ Up for Mur der! ” (with Lewi: Ayres and Gene vieve Tobin) a the Libert: Theatre, was chris tened Betty Riggs After some experi ence as a dance she made he screen debut witl the Metro Com pany in 1914. Sh< went to Englan< after the Armistic< and played at th< Comedy and othei London theatres. Later she became the star of the Stoll Film Company and played in many British pictures. After that Evelyn Brent returned tro America and has since starred in many productions made there. Among her best-known British films were “ The Law Divine ” and the “ The Shuttle

e m m ® m si m ® is m ® m m hi m ® ® hi m in s of Life.” “ Interference ” and “ Darkened Rooms ” are accounted among her best American films. Versatile Actor. He can play any sort of role, from a border bandit to a suave medical man, from a reckless adventurer in the French Foreign Legion to a Basque sportsman or a cautious German financier—and do them all equally well. In all Hollywood, there is but a handful of actors who can be cast in any kind of role with full assurance on the part of the producer that they will give a smooth and convincing performance. And of that handful, Warner Baxter, who will return, with Janet Gaynor, in “ Daddy Long Legs ” to Everybody’s Theatre on Monday, is without question one of the most out--1 standing. Versatility is Baxter’s most : notable characteristic. Other players, perhaps, can give equally good por- : trayals of roles for which they them- • selves are especially suited, but none of them can handle such a variety of parts with such realism. iEiieisisissaissiaiiisasgnijsiiii®

Son of a Clergyman. Jack Holt, who comes to the Majestic Theatre on Monday in “ Fifty Fathoms Deep” (Richard Cromwell, Loretta Sayers and Mary Doran) is the son of an Episcopal clergyman. Holt became a civil engineer and then a cowpuncher. He made his first screen appearance, after some stage experience, in Western drama in 1916. For many years he played “ heavy ” roles, chiefly in Western drama, but lately has been playing the role of hero. Jack Holt’s pictures include “North of the Rio Grande,” “ The Lone Wolf,” “ The Blind Goddess,” “ Forlorn River,” “ Man of the Forest,” “ Flight,” “ Sunset Pass,” “ The Border Legion ” and “ Vengeance.” He has a small son named Jim, who appeared with him in “ The Vanishing Pioneer.” Born in New York. Nancy Carroll, who has the feminine lead in “ Personal Maid,” featuring Pat O’Brien and Mary Boland, at the Civic Theatre, was born in New York of parents born in Ireland. Nancy’s real name is La Hiff, and she is one of twelve children. Her stage experience included an engagement at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York, in “ The Passing Show of 1925.” Nancy left for Hollywood late in 1925, and leading roles in many recent American productions followed. DOING SECRET WORK. Tragic Actress Curses her Beauty. Mary Nolan, the most unfortunate beauty Hollywood has ever seen, has gone into seclusion in Los Angeles, to live down the ill-fame and ill-luck that she says her beauty brought her. She is still ethereally lovely after ten years of ups and downs and scandals. She is one of the few women in the world who ever regretted being beautiful, and looks as if she meant it, says a correspondent. Mary Nolan’s present retirement—it is real, and a desperate one—is the end of a scandal begun ten years ago when Mary was Imogene Wilson, the youngest and loveliest of the Ziegfeld Follies girls. Then she was involved with Frank Tinney, famous black-face comedian, in a liaison that resulted in his divorce and precipitated Imogene’s hurried flight from America to England. That is the first of the troubles that her beauty caused her, and, according to Mary Nolan, never left her alone. Now she is living at an unknown address—even her telephone number is a secret. But she has not given up her moving picture career. She is now working in a new film in which she will play the part of Becky Sharp, Thackeray’s heroine. Mary Nolan tells a tale of beautybegotten woes very nearly calculated to m* a cross-eyed girls congratulate themselves—very nearly. “ I'really believe,” she said, “ that my kind of beauty is a handicap rather than a help to a career. Sometimes, instead of being blessed with beauty I have been cursed by it. “ It has led men to annoy me since I was a girl. It has made life a succession of tragedies. For years I have been followed around by undesirable people. I was proposed to about every other day. “ I am anxious to return to England and have an opportunity to show the English public that things they have been hearing about me are not true. Malicious people have kept up a persistent attack on me for the last ten years. "I have even given up Little Hollywood. Henceforth I am going to devote myself to work and home. I, was very beautiful when young, and that was when my trorbles started. I think I still have some beuty, but now I am determined to make it serve me instead of betraying me. Everyone makes mistakes, and I have made mine.” Mary Nolan was born in the slums of Louisville, Kentucky.

TO GROW CURLS AGAIN. Mary Pickford Seeks Her Old Popularity. Mary Pickford, who is now nearing forty, wants to be “ The World’s Sweetheart ” again, with all the long curls that the role carries. “ Kiki,” her last picture, portrayed her as a madcap chorus girl addicted to gold-digging; but the picture did not score a great success, and, recently, Mary was reported to be contemplating retirement from the silver screen. Now apparently she has changed her mind. She is convinced that as “ The World’s Sweetheart ” she has a chance of regaining her old popularity, and she is letting her hair grow in readiness for the scheduled come-back.

Meanwhile Mary is said to be negotiating for an original story that will permit her to appear wearing those long curls again. She is insisting that the story must be simple and innocent. No gangsters, no murders, no bedroom scenes. Just a pure romance woven round a flapper.

ADOLPHE MENJOU. His Film “ Affairs ” do not Worry his Wife. There are many worse fates than to be the wife of a sophisticated screen lover, says Mrs Adolphe Menjou, who arrived in London with her famous husband last month. Adolphe Menjou is to appear in three British talkies featuring Margaret Bannerman. On the screen, as all his admirers know, Adolphe Menjou is the great lover, the supreme cynic, the man who breaks hearts as ah omelette chef breaks eggs. But at home. . . . Wellj listen to what Mrs Menjou (who - was Kathryn Carver) has to say about her Adolphe. “ It’s difficult to make people believe it, but Adolphe is just an ordinary normal husband, with all the virtues and all the faults that characterise that species. Jn fact, I think we’re just a normal married couple. We’ve been married now for more than three years, and here we are still jogging along together—perfectly happy. “ In some minds marriage in Hollywood to a famous lover of the screen carries all the perils of juggling with gunpo-wder and matches. What a silly notion. I can see no difference in being the wife of a great lover or the wife of a great stockbroker. A man has to make a living some way, and what he does in his working hours need have no bearing on his home life. “ I suppose if I went down to Adolphe’s studio I would find him locked in the arms of a lovely blonde or a devastating .brunette. I shouldn’t worry. I’ve been in the show business long enough to realise that such embraces mean nothing. “ Half an hour after a big love scene Adolphe will be sitting at home with me—his job done for the day. “ Incidentally, he comes straight home from the studio every night. Then, like every other wife in the world, I have the anxiety of wondering whether or not he will like the dinner. Still, I know by now how to play for safety. Give him any sort of chicken dish and up come the smiles. Trust a wife to know these things. “My Job.” “ Perhaps the success of our marriage is traceable to some extent to the fact that on becoming Mrs Merijou I retired from film work. My job is to run the home—and it’s a full-time job. “ Tell me a secret, Mrs Menjou,” the interviewer asked. “Is our friend always good-tempered in the morning? ” At that moment a head appeared round the door. It was Adolphe’s. Mrs Menjou registered an embarrassed cough. “ Have you ever heard of a husband who was sweet tempered in the morning?” she countered. “Is there any husband in this world capable of knowing where he left his studs the night before? Well . . . Adolphe Menjou made a silent exit from his position near the door. Now an American. The foreign colony of Hollywood lost one of its most famous members last month with the granting of American citizenship to Norma Shearer. She has lived in the United States for seven years and is twenty-nine years old. Her husband is the producer, Irving Thalberg. Norma was born in Montreal, Canada.

POLA NEGRI ILL Condition Still Critical After Operation. A message from Santa Monica, California, states that Pola Negri, the famous motion picture actress, underwent a serious operation on December 18. A bulletin issued that night stated that Pola was still in a critical condition. Her temperature was 100, her pulse 120, and respiration 18. She was operated on for an acute intestinal obstruction. Only a few days prior to her illness, Pola Negri completed her first talking picture and her first film in four years. The Polish star returned to America last June, after three years in Europe, where she lived in her chateau, just outside Paris. During that time she improved her English and played for three months in a vaudeville sketch in England. After starring in several pictures made in Germany, Pola was brought to America in 1921. Her salary, after half a dozen successes, grew to 9000 dollars a week, making her Paramount’s highest-salaried star and one of the few in Hollywood getting that much. Pola was, during her previous residence, Hollywood’s most noted “ front page personality.” Her romances with Charles Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Rod la Rocque and Prince Serge Mdivani (her second husband) were extremely colourful. Her first husband was Count Dombski, a Polish count, whom she married soon after the war. She “ ran away ” from his castle, so the story goes, one midnight because he objected to the continuance of her career on the stage. She and Mdivani were divorced after she left Hollywood in 1927. Once a Stage Dancer. Doris Kenyon (widow of the late Milton Sills) t was a stage dancer prior to her debut in American films.