MOST POPULAR ACTOR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 178, 30 July 1932, Page 18 (Supplement)

MOST POPULAR ACTOR

HOLLYWOOD SIDELIGHTS. * 1 Contrary to the general opinion, fully one-third of tho actors and actresses in the cinema world of Hollywood are English or of English descent, and if a vote were taken as to the most finished actor on the American screen to-day the would undoubtedly be for George Arliss/* said a personality of Hollywood, Dr. A. L. Lewis, who arrived at Auckland on the Mariposa on Monday. Dr. Lewis is the proprietor of a chain of commercial schools and president of the Hollywood City Club. Dr. Lewis said 2000 pupils a year attended his schools, and quite a number have graduated to world fame in tho films. Among those who took courses at Hollywood were Janet Gaynor, Lita Grey (Charlie Chapjin *s former wife}, and Joby.na Ralston, who for four years was Harold Lloyd’s leading lady. Dr. Lewis spr ac of the groat gathcring in the Hollywood Bowl, an am-

phitheatre, controlled by the municipality, which is capable of accommodating enormous crowds. He said there were often attendances of 30,000 to listen to orchestral performances and concerts in the summer. The most impressive assembly was that which attended the Easter services, which took place at sunrise. As many as 50,000 people had been present, and they arrived in the small hours of the morning to secure favoured positions. Barbara Weeks got her first job on the stage because of her captivating laugh.

Carole Lombard recently signed a new contract as a film actress with Paramount. Eighteen months ago, Miss Lombard, a free lance actress, was given a role in “Fast and Loose,” at Paramount’s New York studios. This film resulted in Miss Lombard and Miriam Hopkins being given contracts by Paramount. To-day the two blonde actresses rank among tho most important screen discoveries of the past year. Miss Lombard now is working in a leading role with Cheater Morris in “Sinners in the Sun.”

An ornately designed and constructed “shoji” used in Tallulah Bankhead’s “The Cheat” is an authentic reproduction of the original in the ancient Royal Palaeo at Pekin, China. “Shoji,” pronounced “shogee,” translated from the Chinese, means “reception room.” In 4 ‘The Cheat,” this particular room serves as tho background for many tense scenes between Miss Bankhead and her sinister would-be lover in the screen drama, Irving Pichel.