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SCREENLAND
Basil Rathbone brings his voice and his technique to the Hollywood studios. Welcome to our talkies!
Don Juan from Broadway
A 'Great Lover' of the Stage Succumbs to the Screen
By Bradford Nelson
PERHAPS the talkie invasion has brought Hollywood no more interesting figure than the man who has been known for eight years as the 'Great Lover' of the stage.
Gilbert, Valentino, Novarro et al have all had their adherents among the followers of the screen. Stage devotees, however, have been unswervingly loyal to one man, Basil Rathbone.
Over six feet tall, with flashing black eyes and a real profile, Basil Rathbone has brought 'ohs' and 'ahs' from his audiences without stint during the runs of such romantic successes as "The Swan," "The Czarina," "The Captive," and "The Command to Love."
The silent pictures didn't intrigue Rathbone at all. Contracts from movie producers were sent back untouched. He continued to give his services as a great lover exclusively to the stage.
Talkies came, however, and the highly capable Basil, with many others, succumbed.
Where once he kissed before the footlights, today a microphone records his romantic interpretations. And already movie fans are showing great interest in his por
trayals. Unknown except to followers of the New York stage, his first picture, "The Last of Mrs. Cheyney," has given Basil Rathbone a picture following over night. The 'great lover of the stage" has 'clicked' on the screen!
Now he is playing his second talkie role, the lead opposite Kay Johnson in William C. De Mille's picture, "This Mad World." Day by day fan letters pour in asking, "Who is this Rathbone? Where did he come from?"
When I visited the gentleman in question he handed me a big batch of these letters and gave me that very delightful grin which is so much a Rathbone characteristic.
"This movie thing is certainly a great cure for any one with a tendency to egotism," he said. "After playing for years before big houses, I thought a few people knew me. Now, however, I realize how very few people the speaking actor really reaches. 'The Last of Mrs. Cheyney,' for instance, has only been out a few weeks, and yet I've received letters from every State in the Union. On the stage such communications were always confined to the states immediately around New York.
"I'm enjoying every minute of this movie experience, and I hope they'll like me well (Continued on page 109)