Modern Screen (Dec 1931 - Nov 1932 (assorted issues))

Modern Screen he smashed into a million pieces. The thing dynamite is best known for is that it blows up. *TpHE warm glow of confidence and * cocksureness which seemed to come out from the screen, when John was at the height of his success, was that which comes from a man with limitless faith in himself. The incredible part of it — and these things are very delicate, and very hard to comprehend — was that it was not his own faith in himself, but ours. We had faith in him, and he felt it; and it was from that borrowed reservoir of strength that he drew his power. Remember the charming, jaunty chap who swaggered through "Twelve Miles Out?" Or the gallant, alert gentleman of "Flesh And The Devil?" That was the John Gilbert who was sure of himself because he sensed that you and I were sure of him. That was the John, in short, which you and I manufactured, with our own hands, by lending faith to a man who never in his life had had faith in himself before ! He was our creation, as surely as Hamlet is Shakespeare's ! We made him, with our admiration and confidence and love. We broke him, with laughter. And that we took away, with one sweep, the happiness and success we had given this man Gilbert, is one of the saddest things ever to happen in the cruel town of Hollywood. Neither John nor the studio will like our telling all this here. John will think we are maliciously disclosing his weaknesses. If only he would realize it, such weaknesses are nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone has them. No one can help what he was born. The real truth is, he has had a terribly heavy dose of the hardest luck in the world. He received a foul. John 1 thinks the public is still laughing at him. He would be surprised if he knew how many people are sorry for him, and think he got a dirty deal, and wish him all the luck in the world. John can come back. What we want from him is the old self-sureness, the little swaggering walk, the twinklingeyed wink at life. To give that to us once more, all John needs to do is build up a little confidence, a little faith, in himself ! There are only two people in the world who are able to give him back that faith. You, and I. There's No Such Thing as Luck ( Continued from page 51 ) ingly impossible. Finding it, too, more often than not. She did in this particular instance. It was wearing her mother's hat and shoes and aping some of her mother's older ways that she acquired a semblance of the necessary additional years and was signed to play opposite Harold Lloyd. A ND that wasn't the only crisis in her life when Bebe needed her courage. For, about a year before her old Paramount contract expired, Bebe was cast in some of the worst pictures ever produced. Perhaps you remember them. Even those who loved Bebe most frankly agreed she was through ; that no one could survive such unmitigated twaddle. Through, at twenty odd, with practically all of her adult life before her ! Not Bebe ! "The only trouble," I remember her saying at this time, "is that the public think the star is to blame when a picture is bad. And if they've gone to the movies because you were billed they can't help but feel you have let them down." Of course, when her contract was up the executives of the company told her, oh, so politely, that they weren't renewing. And Bebe smiled at them just as politely, packed her things, and walked off the lot that had been her home for years. It must not have been easy. Her future, after all, was uncertain. But Bebe never showed what an ordeal she found all this, never admitted to a living soul that it had been difficult, until it was long over. So much for Bebe's courage. Now for her foresight. Her perseverance, too. During that pride-searing, discouraging year, Bebe had kept her eyes focussed on the future. It was this, undoubtedly, that kept her professional life from becoming insupportable.. Bebe had been studying singing. Hours every night, no matter how exhausting the day in the studios, she had practised. Scales. And more scales. She had learned how to breathe, how to command a fuller, richer tone. Gradually she had overcome all the tenacious little habits accumulated through all the years when she hadn't been concerned about her voice. Bebe, you see, anticipated the talkies. And, what is even more surprising, she foresaw the demand for musical productions which so quickly followed. Undoubtedly it was by being one lap ahead of almost everybody else at this stage of the game that Bebe made possible her comeback. As a star Bebe was reborn. It hasn't been luck that has put Bebe where she is. And it isn't luck that keeps her there. 'TP HE last time I saw Bebe, she was A in New York for a radio appearance. We had breakfast together in her suite high above Fifth Avenue, a suite that cost her in the neighborhood of fifty dollars a day. Bebe was glamorous in a coffee colored lace negligee, caught at her slim waist with a cluster of tea roses. Her hair, with the fascinating widow's peak, was like a golden cap. She didn't look THE SAME AGE eAj&nce: Hands need not age rapidly. You can prove Ihis to yourself — within a week, by using Italian Balm. This famous skin softener is guaranteed to banish the blemishes of housework, office work and weather quicker . . . than anything you have ever used before. Invention of a world-famous skin specialist, Italian Balm is scientifically correct. Sixteen separate ingredients go into It — many of them imported for the reason that no such soothing, softening agents are made In this country. Remember this — when you use Italian Balm, you are using winter-loving Canada's largest selling skin protector. 10c, 35c, 60c and $1.00 bottles. Or send the coupon for free Vanity size. 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