Film-Lovers Annual (1933)

Ifi TARS w and their dT OST of the stars could, if their film fame faded, earn a living in other ways. CHILDHOOD, schooling and early occupations, sometimes forgotten by people who become famous in films, often follow them and are manifest in their work before the camera. For instance, Myrna Loy, the fascinating “vamp.” Every movement she makes is full of graceful poise that seems to have been studied in all its detail. Miss Loy was educated in an art school, and started out as an illustrator. Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Valentino persuaded her to go on the screen. But to this day, in every role, she uses her composition and pictorial effect learned in school. Buster Keaton studied mechanics, and, in fact, still holds a licence as an engineer on a Great Lakes steamer. His comedy is worked out just like mechanical problems. He knows the mechanics and scientific facts behind every “fall” he takes. He works out a “gag” list as he would fit and time an engine. Jean Hersholt was a portrait painter before he became an actor. In his dressing-room at the MetroGoldwynMayer studios he applies complicated make-ups. Each is based on a face he once saw. He just uses his face as a canvas on which to draw a portrait. Today he is famous as one of the best make up experts. Wallace Beery’s characterisations come direct from his early training in a circus, where everybody he met was tough. Clark Gable, who has been everything from oil driller to advertisement salesman, takes his “types” from men he knew in the many jobs he held. That is the reason the characters these two men play are real men with no artificiality. But while nearly every motionpicture actor and actress can boast of some particular accomplishment other than their acting ability, they Clara Bow, who is an expert with a rifle and gives exhibitions of marksmanship that amaze the hands on her ranch. 92