American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1931)

TheM an on the C over An Intimate Glimpse of a Professional Amateur by JOHN PARKER HE PORTRAYS perfect gentlemen in pictures — but in real life he is a rough and ready outdoors sportsman. He was born in London and educated in the conservative halls of an English university — but he prefers ranching in the wild and woolly American west to the life of an actor or cosmopolite. He was noted as one of the finest young actors on the London and New York stages — but he likes California so much that he has been a permanent resident ever since his arrival five years ago. He first came to Hollywood to play one of the featured roles in "Beau Ceste," and recently he portrayed the title role in the sequel, "Beau Ideal." He is married to one of the most celebrated actresses in the world, Ruth Chatterton — but he is also a star in his own right. He is one of the finest hunters, fisherman, all-around sportsman and amateur photographers we know. He is the man on the cover. His name is Ralph Forbes. And, just to prove to you that he is a really clever amateur photographer, we now inform you that he made the unusually striking picture of himself on the cover this month himself, using an automatic device to work the camera. No more fitting picture of "the other side" of this man could be revealed than this cover. Fated by birth, breeding and education to portray the character of the perfect gentleman in pictures and on the stage, Forbes presents the most amazing anomaly in Hollywood. To the picture world and the theatregoers, he is the beau ideal, the Chesterfield, the epitome of gentility. While he undoubtedly possesses all of these blue-blooded attributes, there is another side to his real character which is known only to his few intimates. The picture on the cover, made in the high Sierras, gives us the real Forbes. Here is one of the least-known actors in the public eye. How many people, even in his own profession, know that Forbes enjoys every vacation between pictures hidden far off from civilization in the wilds of the high Sierras, hunting and fishing and photographing? He is one of those rare humans, of this effete world, who honestly gets his biggest kick our of life in roughing it. Packing in over the back trails to some choice and secret spot to both photograph and hunt wild game, enduring whatever hardships come with the fun — this is Forbes' idea of the proper life for a man. Give him a gun, rod, camera, pipe, horse and dog, and strange as it may seem to those who follow his screen roles, he is far more at home than he is in the drawing room. In his private opinion, the only place for the drawing room is the screen or stage. In his study and workshop, amid his collection of guns, rods, tackle, trail maps, trophies, cameras, complete sports equipment and an amazing array of surgical and medical "firstaids," I found him one of the most "different" of actors. "I was educated as a lawyer, and later trained as an actor," said Forbes, "but I would have preferred being a doctor. That is, providing I could have been a good one. To my way of thinking, physicians and surgeons do more good for the human race than any class of scientists." "See this instrument. I had to perform a minor operation on one of my guides while on a hunting trip, to save him from possible effects of a serious injury. You see, I have always had the natural bent." This chap is full of such surprises. "I have no desire to live in New York or London," he frankly admitted. "Yes, I was born in London and I love my native England, but I much prefer to live in California. Not this California, penned in close city quarters between the mountains and the sea, but in the real California where the old west is still unspoiled by civilization. Not very far from here, in fact less than a hundred miles, I could show you a large ranch where the west is still the west. There are many such places back in the Sierras, and I am now negotiating the purchase of a thousand-acre ranch where I can enjoy life to the utmost. Being monarch of all you survey, isn't a bad idea, is it? My profession is acting, but for pleasure give me ranching. Nothing will suit me better than to be able to run cattle on the place and to stock it with a few fine horses. Outside of the stock and new quarters, it will remain just as it is — the primitive." Forbes is that type of English sportsman who was born to the outdoors, horses, guns and dogs. He could never be happy without this life. He has found it in southern California. In my opinion, "Beau Ideal" fell short of "Beau Ceste" as a story and picture. However, Forbes said he welcomed the opportunity to change his evening clothes for the rough prison garb and colorful Foreign Legion uniform He even grew a beard for the prison sequence. He won praise from the critics for his fine characterization, even if the picture proved a bit disappointing. "Talking pictures?" he smiled at the usual query. "Although I shall never cease to be grateful for the opportunity the movies gave me five years ago, I must say that the talking picture has progressed more in two years than the silents did in ten. All one has to do to fully realize the tremendous advantages of the new form over the old, is to see Ronnie Colman in The Devil To Pay', and to hear Frederick Lonsdale's priceless lines." In 1923 Forbes was recognized as one of London's most promising young actors. He came to New York to appear in a war play, 'Havoc' He never returned. Here he met Ruth Chatterton in 1924, and they were married after a whirlwind courtship. Before coming to Hollywood he appeared in three plays, which led to Herbert Brenon selecting him for one of the three Ceste brothers, along with Ronald Colman and Neil Hamilton. Local theatregoers have had fine examples of his stage ability. He appeared opposite his wife, Ruth Chatterton, in Michael Arlen's 'Green Hat,' and with Edward Everett Horton, Lois Wilson and his mother, Mary Forbes, in 'The Swan'. Interesting people always present strange contrasts. This stalwart, blonde, blue-eyed young Englishman may be fated to continue playing drawing-room roles in pictures. But, after seeing the other side of the man, one can't help wishing that fate will soon bestow upon him a rough and ready role into which he can sink his dramatic teeth. WP 33