Modern Screen (Dec 1938 - Nov 1939 (assorted issues))

MODERN SCREEN very dangerous place I did not mean it as it sounded. It is dangerous because one is apt to become mentally lazy, restricted to knowing only people who are doing the same thing as one's self, because one is apt to sink into the creature comforts and forget the discomforts of an earlier ambition and struggle — of the spirit, if you like, the discomforts which make for growth." I said, "Are you sorry that you ever came to Hollywood?" "I am sorry that there ever was such a thing as motion pictures," Mr. Boyei answered, slight amusement in his sombre dark eyes, "for if there had never been invented the motion picture, I would have remained on the stage. Without many of the things I have now, that is true, but owning many of the things I have not now, a sense of doing only the work I believe in. I would have been living contentedly in my little two-room apartment in Paris, still believing that such 'commonplaces' as frigidaires and built-in showers and heat that goes off and on with buttons belong only to the Croesuses of finance. But since there are motion pictures and since I am only human I am glad that I am in Hollywood because if I were not here, I am sure that I would be envying the money of Hollywood and the chance to attempt something new in a great new medium. I would feel that I was missing something, that here was a chance I hadn't taken." I said, glancing about the beautiful rooms, "But you could live more simply if you wanted to." "I built this house," said Mr, Bciyer, "not only as my home but also as the place where I create my own vacations and my own solitude. And it has fulfilled both purposes. I take my vacations here. I do not need to go to the desert, to the moun A sweet armful for any man — that's Anita Louise. Bob Abbott is the lucky chap here. tains, to the sea. All are here. I do not leave my house to play because where is there to go in Hollywood, what is there to do? I do not care for the races. I do not care for the night club life. So I stay here on my mountain. "Also, in Hollywood people know how you live. They entertain you in their homes and you must entertain them in your home and there must be something equal about it. In Paris you can have one room and a little kitchen and it does not matter. Either people do not know where you live or else they live the same way themselves. But in Hollywood everyone sees how you live and knows what money you make and when in Rome, I think, one should live, at least on the surface, as the Romans do. The Chinese call it 'not to lose face.' Besides, there is the advantage in living like this of giving employment to many people, to several servants. In this time, that is good." I said, "Do you think you will ever leave Hollywood now? Not caring overmuch for the gifts it has to give, why do you choose to remain?" "In my case," said Mr. Boyer, "I am a little stubborn. I failed here once. I do not forget that. I want to prove to myself that I do not fail again. I have now, for the first time in all my comings and goings between Paris and Hollywood, finally given up my apartment in Paris. Most of the furniture in these rooms is from my Paris apartment. I have a sentiment for old things, old associations. I have had my library built here, an exact replica of my circular library in Paris." He explained that the books are arranged on the circular shelves precisely as they were arranged on the shelves in Paris, and I liked the way he handled the rare old first editions. His sensitive fondling of them showed how much he valued them because he loves them. "But I also live much as I lived in Paris," Mr. Boyer was saying. "A little less gaily, perhaps, because there are fewer places to go and fewer things to do. But for Pat and me, we live as we would live anywhere in the world where we happened to be." "You mean, on a mountain top ?" I asked. And Charles Boyer answered, smiling, "Yes, that is a way to put it — on a mountain top." Tlte Hew IXmH" CewteUtficn IvWk in 4 EASY STEPS ^ook how easy it is for you to make the Unit Complexion Mask at home: *Simply mix three tablespoons of Unit (the same Unit so popular for the Bath) and one teaspoon of Cold Cream with enough milk to make a nice, firm consistency. Apply it to the cleansed face and neck and relax during the twenty minutes the mask takes to set. Then rinse off with clear, tepid water and pat the face and neck dry. Why not try Linil Complexion Mask NOW? All Grocers Sell UNIT and here's SOMETHING NEW! UNIT ALL-PURPOSE POWDER for every member of the family. Delightfully different. TRY IT TODAY! 95