Picture Play Magazine (Jul - Dec 1929)

What tke Fans Think Was "Coquette" a Success? I HAVE finished asking two hundred persons what they thought of "Coquette," and only eight enjoyed or even liked the picture. Alary Pickford has been "America's Sweetheart" for eighteen years. She was an ideal. Her pictures were clean, sweet, and inspiring. She was the type of girl every boy dreams of as some day having for his wife. A beautiful, sympathetic character, always portraying the lovable, protecting a suffering animal or helpless child. None of her pictures was ever clouded with sex stuff, poor casting, or any of the ills so common to most pictures. As one of the few fortunate fans, I have seen every film Miss Pickford made since the old Biograph days. The public depended upon her to give them such pictures as "Pollyanna" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm." But all of a sudden, Mary decided to "grow up." She made "Rosita," cast as a Spanish girl, Mary of the golden curls, a seiiorita ! Mary of the madonna face and praying eyes. Could any role be more unsuited to her? A role literally screaming for a dark-eyed brunette ! And even after this, she still felt the urge, and made "Dorothy Vernon," which suited her much better than "Rosita," but "Sparrows" was kinder to Mary and brought back memories of her former triumphs. When Mary Pickford cut off her hair she did something that would be very hard to define in mere words. Literally millions of her fans mourned the loss of those golden curls as sincerely as though they were their own. Mary cut off her hair — and for what ? Some say to become the popular flapper type, but does she make a good flapper? As one of her faithful followers, I believe her to be the least interesting flapper I have ever seen. In "Coquette" a very strange situation presented itself. Although Mary has the figure, mannerisms, and even the face of a child, and she appeared as a flapper, yet she suggested some one a little too far along for the wind-blown bob and kittenish vamping she tried vainly to accomplish. This is hard to explain, because in "Sparrows" she was the little girl of old, with no hint of maturity, and this fact is admitted by those who saw that picture. Can any one explain how Mary Pickford, who has been in pictures since their birth, could cast herself in a role so utterly foreign to anything she has ever attempted before, and one so completely unsuited to her? Did she believe that the public wanted something so different that she must bob her famous curls and transform her lovable self into a simpering flapper? And if she could so far forget herself, what were her family and friends thinking of not to dissuade her? It is almost unbelievable that our Mary should transform herself into an everyday, commonplace, young woman devoid of charm, considering the splendid masterpieces she has made. Now that she can select her own pictures and is not bound to a producer, she could do anything. After such masterpieces as "Tess of the Storm Country," "Poor Little Rich Girl," "Hearts Adrift," and "Little Lord Fauntleroy," "Coquette" was simply unspeakable — without moral or reason. It is true that times have changed, that we are living in a modern age, but men and women still love the beautiful in life. The public adored Mary Pickford for her sweet, sympathetic roles. They loved and wanted the old Mary, and most of them keenly resented the stranger who played "Coquette." QUEENIE DANCIGER. 1901 Grand Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas. As a Briton Hears It. No talkie was boosted more than "The Broadway Melody." and, considering the time and money spent upon it, one would expect to find it free from obvious faults. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as I shall endeavor to point out. Let us take the singing. The word "melody" should be sung without the singer pausing in the middle of the word to take breath. Charles King sings it "Melo-(long pause for breath) -d-e-e-e-c." Another serious fault is the slurring of two or more words together as one. For instance, there are words in one song, "For I'm content," which Charles King joins together and sings as "Fryme contint." In the dialogue he is guilty of the same faults. One phrase is "They were in," which he pronounces "They we — rin." Another occasion he speaks of "an agent" as "a nagent." Another sentence is, "You have not seen their act," which he interprets, "You have not sin the — ract." The description by Anita Page of a birthday cake as "elegant" is a misuse of a rather attractive word. Bessie Love also shouts, "Butcha yaller" instead of, Continued on page 10