Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1920 - Feb 1921)

40 Her First Love Affair "Oh, yes, so I was," he replied. "Well, here's an example. I had to play the part of that repressed, finished villain in 'The Fighting Chance.' I wanted to make up just as readers of the novel had pictured that man. Beyond knowing that he wore a Vandyke beard, I had no conception of his appearance. I could not secure a copy of the book at public libraries or local book stores, for the fact that it was to be produced shortly had made people buy or borrow copies. My wife ordered one for us, and meantime I studied the script. I said to myself that there is some source which reveals every idea to every man. The right idea of this characterization had appeared to the novelist, and would reappear to me if I'd think it out. So I thought hard. Then I made up for the part while my wife was downtown shopping. I had let my beard grow for two weeks, but outside of that I had a good deal of study on make-up, the question of neckties, collars, and suits. When Mrs. Grassby arrived home late that afternoon, she said, 'Why, Bert, when did you receive your copy ?' I was rather abstracted and said, 'Copy of what?' "Mrs. Grassby answered, 'Of "The Fighting Chance" — Fve just brought you one from downtown, too.' I explained that I had merely made up according to a conception which had just come to me, and when we scanned the illustrations of the novel, we found I was the very counterpart, in every detail, of the man whom I was to portray. "I am sure that the character lead will supersede the handsome leading man. Notice the success Bert Lytell is attaining since he plays widely diversified characterizations. We have seen a half dozen handsome male 'stars flame in the cinema heavens and die out. Mr. Lytell is willing to sacrifice everything for his role — that is why he is so tremendously successful. I would rather play that sort of part than be a handsome star with a fabulous salary. "After I had played Rafael, the author gave me a copy of her book inscribed very gratefully to me, 'For making her Rafael come to life.' It was a great change from 'The Fighting Chance,' for Rafael was fierytempered, always gesticulating, showing what he felt. The other man's efforts were all toward showing the beholder what he thought without betraying himself outwardly by any unguarded action. It isn't what you do — but what you feel that counts on the screen. You may feel nothing but do a lot — on the stage. "Suppose some one comes to you with a piece of very good news. You don't think 'how shall I express my joy?' Your face simply lights up without effort, you may step forward impulsively, clasp some one's hand — it's all unaffected, without effort. That is all there is to screen technique, but you have to think you are the man for whom you are cast — not act like that man. "To my mind Mae Marsh was greater than 'The Fall of Babylon,' with her little, nervous finger motion, her hide-and-seek smiles and tears. And I believe that Ann Forrest, unaccustomed to tense emotional roles, has given us perhaps the greatest picture of a tortured young girl ever seen on the screen. 'Dangerous Days' will soon be forgotten, but little Ann will live in the thoughts of all who saw her in that picture for many years to come." "But won't all this require a new kind of director?" I inquired. "So many of them seem to make their Continued on page 93 an Her First Love Affair Bebe Daniels tells all about it, and also about her second one, to an old friend. By Grace Kingsley iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii WHEN you look into her big, soulful, luminous, Spanish, brown eyes, you feel you are gazing backward into the romances of centuries. I wrote that sentence down, and she looked over my shoulder. "Bunk !" she observed with a shrug of disdain. "Oh," I exclaimed, "is that the way for a new Realart star to talk? Besides," I went on crossly, "that is how I feel. I can't help that, can I ?" "Well, you can try," she laughed. I was talking to and about Bebe Daniels, and I was trying to write down bits of notes between bites of strawberries and cake and sips of tea. She's quite statuesque, is Bebe, with wonderful eyes and red lips, inherited from her Spanish ancestors. But her looks are all a misfit. She doesn't talk in the least like a statue. She's full of Spanish vivacity, with a big Yankee sense of humor. Since I knew her before she was born, as it were — I played with her mother in a brook at the back of our house when we were both seven vears