Motion Picture Classic (Jul-Dec 1930)

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CLEANLINESS I NSTITUTE Established to promote public welfare by teaching the value of cleanliness I CLEANLINESS INSTITUTE, M.P.C.-2 1 45 Eail 17lh Street, New York, N. V. i by 12 Name Addreii.. Ple»e eend me free of all cod, "A Cleiner Honie j 2 O'aock". i Imporlant: Perhepi you alto would be inlereited in "The Book •bout Bathi", or "The Thirty Day Lovelineia Teat." Theae, loo, ere free ... a part of the wide aervice of Cleanlineaa Inatitute. Is the Devil a Woman? {Continued from page jo) not because of the joy of neatness, but because she may make her home a private hell for her husband. In her hands the dust-cloth is a far more treacherous weapon than the pitchfork, as she wipes away the casual cigarette ash and "tidies" after the comfort-seeker. Though she smiles often, there is no real humor in her soul. To her, life is a serious affair of trivialities. Firmly and insistently she points out deficiencies in her husband's men friends. Charlie is too fond of cards. Harry smokes too much, and the fumes stay in her curtains. As for that girl that Tom goes with, you can actually see through her bodices and the body is an evil thing. God made it for beauty — but the Lady Devil clothed it.' Beautifying Vice SHE does not go to see risque shows or read improper books, but she is fast to concoct fiction that will blast a reputation, over her afternoon -bridge table. She is a hypocrite because, while her purse is generous to her favorite charities, real sympathy has no part in the giving. She is a liar, because she knows only the words and not the substance of truth. In short, she is the Devil because she makes X'irtue so hideous and X'ice so attractive. This thoroughly correct, efficient, socalled "Good Woman" Devi! has driven more men from^the paradise of happiness to the roads of philandering and drink than all the collective sirens of history. It is such a character as this that I portray in the first part of "Madame Satan." She is stupid and uninteresting to the point where she drives her husband into the arms of a friendly little vamp. Later, in an attempt to win back her man, she becomes wicked herself and she does a thoroughly excellent job of it. Good women have so much more imagination for evil — than the naughty ladies. They can be ten times more shocking. Her Own Reputation AFTER my denunciation it will probably . amuse you to know that I have labored through life under the title of a "good woman." That is, good in a sense of the conventions; not, I hope, in the drab virtues I have just outlined in my favorite conception of a Lady Devil. I was not particularly crazy about the reputation, but somehow I could not escape it. Because I kept fairly decent hours, and did not fall under cabaret tables from an excess of liquor, because I married the man I loved in preference to a moderne experience with him, Broadway branded Kay Johnson a "good woman" — and there the matter stood. It even affected the type of stage rftles I played. I was never more than politely indiscreet, and usually 1 was an example of all the stage virtues. It became rather irksome. Though no one else would believe it, I felt in my heart that I had interesting possibilities in the line of misconduct; at least, 1 felt I could successfully portray a painted lady. It is a strange quirk in the make-up of good women that they inevitably feell their hearts they could be a most attracti influence for evil — if they cared to. It ijl saving grace. Show me a woman who f« that she could not break up some maj home if she cared to — and I will show yo\( rarity. She argues the point in her mindj naturally she would not stoop that low, si tells herself, and usually she is quite satJ fied with her own husband. But the fa| remains that it could be done — and thl satisfies her. If it doesn't — Heaven sax the pieces! For there is nothing mo dangerous than a good woman on a rar page. By very contrast with her form virtues, Evil becomes more emphasized a" apparent. Good Enough to Be Naughty I REMEMBER a certain show 1 did fc Al Woods. It was quite naughty. Th part I played was even naughtier, and had won it only by prayers and beggin When 1 first presented myself for the rSI Mr. Woods merely shook his head am dismissed me with the words, "You can' do this thing, Kay. You aren't experienced You're a good woman." There was mj reputation again ... a reputation I hac been trying to live down in the mind oi producers for years! "But I can," I insisted. "Really, I can. Please give me z chance at it." At that time, the part was being rehearsed by a lady of . . . what shall we call it? . . . experience. Certainly she had lived, and the part she was studying wai not far removed from her actual experiences. I sat in the darkened theater and listened to her speak the frequently risque lines. Coming from her, they did not sound particularly startling — they were words she ' might have spoken in casual conversation. Suddenly I was struck with an inspiration,' "That doesn't sound naughty when she speaks the lines," I whispered in the ear of Mr. Woods, "because they sound too natural. But if I said them ..." Her Shocking Experience BY jove," he whispered back, slapping his knees, " I see what you mean. If you said them, they would sound ..." "Awful!" I finished triumphantly. Which is exactly what happened. For the best part of a year we were on the verge of having the show closed because of certain speeches of mine. My mother was horrified, but secretly I was very pleased with myself. It rather verified my private idea that I could be quite a Devil if I cared to be. I believe Mr. de Mille felt somewhat the same reluctance Mr. Wood experienced with me. When he, Mr. de Mille, outlined the plot of " Madame Satan " to me, he said there was no doubt in his mind as to my doing the "good woman" part of the story — but later, when the character becomes a Devil — well, he didn't know. I am just waiting to show him the fruits of my imagination along that line — and I will show him. He has yet to learn what devils we "good women" can be when we set our minds to it. Have you ever thought of going to Hollywood — perhaps going there to live? Do you realize who your neighbors would be? K. C. B. is telling you, back on page 12, and, moreover, telling you in his own unique way what they are Uke. Still another new feature in the perennially new CLASSIC. 84