Picture Play Magazine (1938)

Continued jrom page 4 interested in girls of fourteen? As stars, particularly. They ought t<> be in the schoolroom learning the tilings they'll need to know when they are older. Psychologists probably would say the widespread interest in children as heroes and heroines of movies was a very unhealthy business for obvious reasons — unhealthy for the audiences and for the poor kills, too. Shirley Temple, for instance, gives me the saddest mixture of feelings', sorrow for her as a child without a childhood, pity for her when she is made to stand up and go through her little paces like a pony on display, wonder as to her problematic future, and amusement when she actually comes through with a good hit of acting and sways the audience — poor, pathetic baby earning luxury for her family at eight! Some of the other children of the film-; are horrible; that bumptious show-off, Bobby Breen, for instance. Not that he is to blame. Blame falls on the parents or guardians of these children, and on the foolish audiences who applaud them as si ars — Heaven save the mark! — and What the Fans Think listen to their prattle as if it were worth listening to. which at their age it could never be. Think of the absurdity of it. a breathless world applauding the posturing of mites like Temple and Breen! They may be charming children: many people say they are: but how long can they possibly remain so? What will they feel when they become adult and find that the cruel world no longer bows down to them as it did to their baby precosity? One of the most pathetic sights I ever saw was a one-time child "■genius" grown up and unhappy because through no fault of his own be was discarded and unwanted at the age of twenty. 1 -..-. . let u stop applauding children on the screen, and turn our attention to adults. It is s;lid that all movies are made for the "'average intelligence, which is from twelve to fourteen years of age." When I see these child stars grinning at me from the pages of every newspaper, I believe those ages are too high by some three or four years. Alvah Brown. New Albany, Indiana. Looking charming in winter suits are Virginia Grey, left, who will be in "Rosalie," and Priscilla Lawson, who played in "Double Wedding." What Is Eddy Afraid Of? WELL. I must declare I'm thoroughly disgusted with movie fans who are stupid enough to put faith and exaggeration in so inferior a voice as Nelson Eddy's. Miss Elizabeth 1). Murphy has nerve enough to call Tibbett and Thomas Nelson Eddy's equal. This young lady as well as a number of others should be informed as several other readers of Picture Play have written: "Nelson Eddy's voice is flat and unemotional." And as for the maiden who stated that Nelson Eddy should never have left the concert stage, I wish to say this: We concertgoers don't want Nelson Eddy! It was my misfortune to hear Mr. Eddy in concert in Philadelphia last season. There be was in his home town (well, it's practically his home town) and he should have at least taken them over. But no. I can't really describe our party's dismay at bearing him sing. He sang as though he were just being given a sum of money to do so. None of us fell as though he enjoyed singing. One thing was certain — Nelson Eddy depended entirely upon his comedy to put him across! Do you call that the work of a concert artist? I can only say he gave the appearance of a movie star on a personal-appearance tour. And his audience was comprised mostly of school children. Nelson Eddy's singing is the very simple type. Force as he may, he cannot command his vocal apparatus (he has a very small range; I should say about one and a half octaves, if you want to be technical) to grow into an exhilarating crescendo with the brilliance and ease as does Charles Igor Gorin. Whatever power Nelson Eddy's voice possesses, it is of such quality that it should be limited to radio, where, with the help of the technicians, it may amount to something. But then it's still unemotional. Ami Miss Murphy would compare the Eddy voice with Tibbett and Thomas. What an insult to intelligent musiclovers. Here we have world-renowned artists who have been widely acclaimed bj Metropolitan audiences. But did Nelson Eddy ever sing at the Met? And come to think of it. why doesn't he give a concert in New York? Is he afraid the critics and audience will laugh at him? I'll name you a singer who is as good if not better than Tibbett and Thomas. He's Charles Igor Gorin, whose programs I have been listening to ever since he came to sing on "Hollywood Hotel." I also had the pleasure of seeing and hearing him in "Broadway Melody of 1038." Gorin's got a voice and a grand personality. He's the one who should sinopera on the screen. Gl \ni s Johnson. New York. N. Y. What About Jeanette's Acting? CAN \ou tell me why one so seldom nails anything regarding the histrionic abilities of .leanette MacDonald? We read much of her sparkling beauty, her charm, and her lovely singing voice. And that is all as it should be. She is i 'ontinued on page 8