Picture-Play Magazine (Sep 1927 - Feb 1928)

Please Don't Quote Me 21 f^iis, accoV^^ ^^S^' across the street there Sid Gr*'^'^ latest amazing contribution to the ^orld of rtecture, a theater designed to make the hangiijp^ Jns of Babylon look like a Universal backdrop. 1 Hollyv^ ^ flowing over with milk and ^onej a»-iokum. Thir are done because they should be done, and thirig-cj e done for effect. Picture people go places to u, n. Other people go there to see them. It is a vicious circle. When you serve the public you have little time for yourself. Much has been written of the beauties one sees in Hollywood dotting the cigar counters, cloakrooms and cafeterias — beauties alleged to surpass the stars, but unable to break into the charmed ranks. I found none of these occasional pippins half so lovely as the stellar bodies themselves. There were no blond manicurists to compare with Claire Windsor, or Greta Nissen, or the breath-taking Garbo, none to outshine Phyllis Haver, Esther Ralston, or Dorothy Mackaill. And among the brunettes the following sights were unparalleled in barber shop, beanery, or bathing-beauty contest : Florence Vidor, Kathleen Key, Billie Dove, Gloria Swanson, Dorothy Sebastian, Dolores del Rio. It is such scenery that the Chamber of Commerce should use to popularize Hollywood as a vacation i^esort, scenery to be found nowhere else on earth. Bunk is glorified in the film belt. Aware of how far hokum goes toward making a picture a success, the natives apply it to their business as well as their pleasures. Lemonade stands become icy igloos, and ice-cream cones are dispensed from giant freezers, stationed along the principal boulevards. Each freezer is fully fifty feet high, with a handle automatically revolving at its side. Even advertising is picturesque. Statues at every other corner announce the perfection of some one's milk — statues of three happy-looking cows. At different vantage points Janet Gaynor, in bronze, calls your attention to "Seventh Heaven." At one of the grander cafeterias you are saluted as you enter by a major-domo in braided regalia, suggesting a cross between Emil Jannings of "The Last Laugh" and DeMille in a thought Tlie threatened salary cut put many a star in a flutter. ful moment. At a pseudobohemian retreat well out toward Beverly Hills, an artist will ask your permission to sketch the beautiful lady with you. Close your eyes and you are at a histro on the left bank of the Seine. Is not the Califilmia version christened La Boheme? I should say so! The town peddles beauty, commercializes charm, bottles personality. In one shop window sits a pretty creature, reading. The window sign notes that her hair has been treated to a De Luxe Shampoo. Even the public dancehalls advertise contests that bring the winners facial massages and henna transfonnations, whatever they are. Women in Hollywood concentrate on beauty. Socially, Hollywood puts its best foot forward. One blond star, rapidly sliding into oblivion, wears a fixed, ghastly smile whenever she is in public. Why? To hide the sagging corners of her mouth in repose. Another fading favorite has gone through the mill with a set of false teeth. In addition to the matrimonial wave and the economical streak, I found Hollywood undergoing a face-lifting such as it has never experienced before. New faces are being lifted into places hitherto occupied by old favorites. Unheard-of young beauties and handsome youths are crowding their way into leads on every lot. All the way from Mexico, by way of Hal Roach comedies, comes Lupe Velez, who will startle \ ou with her vigor and flashing vitality when she appears opposite Fairbanks in "The Gaucho." Another leading role in that picture has fallen to the lot of Eve Southern, a promising belle sponsored by the astute Edwin Carewe, Columbus of Dolores del Rio. There is Mary Byron, an extra girl deployed to provide the heart interest in the next Buster Keaton comedy, an ambitious affair drafting the talents of Ernest Torrence, no less. And Shirley O'Hara is another extra tasting the sweets of success, doing a lead opposite Adolphe Menjou in "A Gentleman of Paris." Of Shirley more anon. High-salaried people are being eased down the chutes in favor of promising unknowns — new faces commanding modest remuneration. This policy, in addition to bringing forward the new faces mentioned above, has served to advance Clara Bow, Billy Haines, Gary Cooper, and Joan Crawford. It is giving Alice White her chance to flap, and it is inspiring all of the boys and girls on the waiting lists. These are restless days in the picture foundries. It did not surprise me to find sex having its fling. It usually does. Gilda Gra}' was tossing her hips about in a little thing called "The Devil Dancer," Gloria was temporarily Miss Sadie Thompson, looking as seductive as necessary, and Maria Corda was appearing in public without stockings, preparatory to becomContinued on page 98