Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1927 - Feb 1928)

33 Publication" discussed some of those deep, dark secrets time hidden behind that pat phrase, "Not they really ought not to be told to you. Sylvester he refused to pose for a picture of himself because he feared it would be published without his permission. Lately, however, he has rather relaxed his vigilance, and a few photos of him as himself have found their way into papers and magazines. But Chaney doesn't like it ver)^ much. "I want to be known for the woi"k I do on the screen," he has been heard to protest on numerous occasions, "not for my personal likes and dislikes, or for what I eat for breakfast. I shouldn't care if the world never heard of the real Lon Chaney, so long as they kept on being interested in the actor, Lon Chaney." Louis Ik Mayer had the same idea of protecting a player's standing when he called Joan Crawford into his office one sunny California morning for a little chat about her dancing activities. Particularly about the number of items that were being printed about her terpsichorean talents. He tapped a little bundle of clippings that told all about what a good dancer the young lady was. He also indicated a raft of pictures showing her doing the Black Bottom and the Charleston and receiving dance trophies and other testimonials to her toes. Then he asked her if she wanted to be known as a (lancer or as an actress? \ He told her that she had an interesting future as a dramatic player but that she was jeopardizing it with frivolous publicity. A little of such publicity, he said, was all right. Too much of it would be detrimental. He said that from that time on he wanted to see less jazz notices about her, and that he would notify the publicity department to that effect. And that is how it came about that you don't now see so many pictures as you used to of Joan Crawford kicking her feet in the air. They're no longer for publication. An insurance company For a long time Lon Chaney kept the fans in tlie dark as to what he really looked like, for he allowed no pictures of himself to be published unless they were in character. thought it best to put a stop to the numerous stories and pictures of Mrs. Tom Mix's jewels. The rich cowboy's wife has probably the most costly collection of gems of any one in the film colony. Her jewelry is so magnificent that a popular magazine had it all photographed several years ago with the idea of giving their readers a thrill. The idea was all right, and probably did give the readers a thrill, but the insurance company felt that the risk was too great. Unfortunately, they pointed out, the world is full of crooks as well as sunshine. So now, though it is of course impossible to keep people from mentioning Mrs. Mix's jewels, bold publicity about them has been eliminated. Cecil DeMille, for a very novel reason, objects to having his personal charities written up. It isn't that he thinks that the public wouldn't like him so much if they knew he was kind to the blind, the lame, and the halt. DeMille has never been afraid of the public. It is just that stories of this kind-heartedness interfere with the idea of himself that he likes to build up. His close friends have told me that he resents being caught in a S3?mpathetic mood. He once sent a ten-dollar bill to a beggar by way of a prop boy while he sat back in his canvas-backed throne and pretended to be annoyed that the man had found his way onto the lot. Continued on page 100 A stop has been put to the numerous stories and pictures thatwere for awhile published about Mrs. Tom Mix's costly collection of jewels— it was considered too risky to publicize them so much.