FILMS AND STARS

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXVI, Issue 96, 23 May 1938, Page 1

FILMS AND STARS

PERSONALITIES ON THE SCREEN COMING ATTRACTIONS. An actress doesn’t have to be a .clamorous clothes horse to gain recognition. In fact, it would seem that just the opposite is true. Claudette Colbert romped through “It Happened One Night” in practically the same outfit from start to finish. Bette Davis, another Academy award winner, lias a few pictures where she L permitted to wear smart clothes. , The latest in a long series of wardrobeless heroines is Snow White, in Walt Disney’s first feature-length !' 'Auction. “Snow White and the | Se*>-on Dwarfs.” This luvelv ravenhaiicd young girl, the product of the imaginations of Disney’s finest, artists, goes through the seven-reel Technicolor production in only two A esse- At the beginning of tilt* picture she is seen practically in rags. I a 1 er on, and for the*remainder of the picture, she fares slightly better, although her garb is extremely simple—a fitted bodice with short puffed sleeves, a full ankle-length skirt, and a cafe. Binuie Barnes studied nursing as a young girl. But when she fainted during her first operation, she changed her mind and turned to ballroom dancing. She had her first engagement at the Cosmo Club, a popular London restaurant and proved a big' hit. Success in vaudeville as a dancer and rope-spinner followed and she soon found herself in the legitimate theatre. It was her work as Fanny, the cabaret dancer, in the original production of Noel Coward’s "Cavalcade,” which led to her present long-term contract with Alexander Korda, in whose first technicolor production, “The Divorce of Lady X,” she is appearing in support of Merle Oberon. “The Divorce of Lady X ” is released through United Artists. Frieda Tneseourt’s interpretation of the role of Potria Merriman is said to he an inspired one—she lives, rather than acts, her part. The daughter of a famous Pressman and the wife of a literary rritie, who is also a solicitor, Miss Inescort was ably prepared for her role in “Portia on Trial.” ft is typical of the star that she also devoted many hours to «nn intensive study of the part. SnHi books as the I‘Laywers’ Handbook of Information,” “United States Court Rulings,” and “Criminal Court Porcedure, ” formed her main reading, and at the studio she went, one afternoon, into a long session with their Honors’ Judge Georgia Bullock, of the Los Angeles Superior Court, and Judge Joseph .Marche!ti. of tlie Los Angeles Municipal Court. Such things give an impression of a very . serious-minded, rather highbrow young woman. But this artist, who spent many years on the English and American stage, before embarking on her screen career, lias graciousness, charm in her every mood, and speaks the most perfect English, which is in itself an added joy. History repeated itself recently when, in a scene for RKO-Radio’s “The Joy of Living,” Douglas Fairbanks, junr., wa escorted-to gaol by Bolt Brennan, veteran extra, portraying a policeman role. Just ten years ago Brennan performed a similar “service” for Doug’s famous father when, as a member of the king’s guard, he escorted the senior Fairbanks to a dismal dungeon in a scene for “The Man in the Iron Mask.” "William Gargan is rich enough to retire to-morrow, but they’d have to pass a law to make him, he is too fond of film acting. This popular young actor, featured in Universal’s “The ‘Crime’ of Dr. Hallet,” is independently wealthy from the recent discovery of oil on his land. He could loaf for the rest of his days if he had a mind. Instead, he prefers to work hard in films. In “The ‘Crime’ of Dr. Hallet” this meant acting ten to fourteen hours a day on a steaming hot jungle set during the six weeks’ filming of this drama of love and hate in the Sumatran wilderness. Gargan held twenty-seven different jobs, ranging from salesman to racetrack bookie, before he made his first hit on Broadway, lie liked all of his present role. In “The ‘Crime’ of Dr. Hallet v he plays a satirical ton-ptu-d chemist who holds the key to the mystery. Other parts are played by Josephine Hutchinson, Ralph Bellamy, John King, and Barbara Read, in this drama with a background of science, directed by S. Sylvan Simon. William Powell, suave gentleman of (lie cinema, and Annabella, Europe’s must vivacious example of feminine charm, are co-starred in 20th Cen-tury-Fox’s “The Baroness and the Butler.” And they both prefer the movies to the stage. Annabella lias reason for her preference. “When I played Shakespearean repertoire,” she says, “I was thrilled by the footlights and the ‘touch’ with the audience beyond them. But after a few weeks I found myself reading the same lines over and over and getting the same laughter at the same mom- 1 ent; the same tears; the same tense

moments. In Hollywood,” Annabella continued, “perhaps one does the same scene over and over several times—but only for one day. To-mor-row is always a fresh adventure.” William Powell sees eye to eye with Annabella in her preference for the screen. “The stage,” he says, “particularly stock company work, is a great school, and I spent nine years there. It is true that there is the socalled personal contact. This enables one to gauge audience reaction to the actor’s mood or manner of presenting a' part. But we get our applause in pictures, too. Fan mail tells us 'both in quantity and quality whether we are satisfying the audience.”