Photoplay (Jul - Dec 1919)

An Invincible Violet Burton Holmes knows he is a bum actor, hut he keeps right on — for business reasons. By Delight Evans i ELF-CONFIDENCE is a wonderful thing. Youd think ^^ that Burton Holmes, discouraged by his wife and by his ^ friends, would give up. Admitting he isnt much of an actor, he sticks to his art. And we are bound to verlook his shortcomings because — although he has made r\-eral dozen world tours — in fact, he is our most widely raveled actor — he has not yet announced that he is 'about ) embark upon his farewell tour." You have probably thought that Burton Holmes, a eritable \-ioIet if you know him — edges his pointed fofile into scenes of out-of-the-way places for his gues. merely for the glor>' he can gamer. This ■i. It is just because he wants you to know been there. He acknowledges that the majority •ion picture patrons are like the mythical Mis• ns in that they, too, have to be shown. The ; ~.es profile in a travel picture is the globe-trot ■rr 5 personal guarantee that what he is showine on is real; he has been there himself, and he news. It isn't often that one can interview a mo\ne dor in his dressing room after the performance, 'Ut I did it. At Orchestra Hall in Chicago, after ** of Holmes' motion picture lectures. "I reoember." he said — he was in the khaki uniform k^^ch he \nsited the war zone and took ^Ktic pictures of the biz scrap— "the first Hmple-reel picture I e\er saw, 'The Prissier of Zenda.' The next day a paper came 'Ut with a most entertaining interview ob Mr. HolinoB, a ni<>il<-m Ulysses with a motion picturp canirra, in to jjo abroad a^ain soon for pictures of Kurope in the reconstruction era.