Motion Picture Classic (1923, 1924, 1926)

Impressions of Hollywood (Continued from page 45) sort of church which was formerly occupied by the Theosophists, and it is very picturesque and quaint. Gardner is quite youthful and prepossessing— particularly in the costume and make-up in which he entered, just having come from a rehearsal of a scene in "The Amateur Gentleman," in which he is giving Dick Barthelmess a battle for the honors. He proudly showed me some of his old books and rare prints, which I enjoyed quite as much as viands and cigars. Drinking Tea With Jack Dempsey Pstelle Taylor ^* invited me over recently to meet her husband and you can bet I went, because I had not yet met Jack Dempsey, who is perhaps the most popular man on this little anthill of ours that we call the world. They sent their Rolls-Royce to take me there, and when we drew up in front of a pretty bungalow in a fine neighborhood I did not realize that this was the house that Jack built. It looked nothing like Jack, outside or in, but it did look like Estelle Taylor. Everything looked nice and neat and tidy, and there were no signs of boxing-gloves or sports. Estelle and a few other ladies were there, but no Jack — he was expected to return from his training camp at any minute. While we were talking, a green parrot walked in and joined in the conversation. He belonged to Estelle and soon proved that he did. Then a maid wheeled in a tea-wagon full of sandwiches, cakes, tea and other delicacies, and I was informed by one of the ladies that the tea-set (a very choice one) was a Christmas present from Jack to Estelle. And I thought to myself, Jack has mighty good taste. I partook of the delicacies slowly, because I was impatient to prolong things and see Jack. A Genial Host T could not imagine Jack sitting in that dainty drawing-room drinking tea 1 I simply couldn't get myself to believe that he was coming. But shortly we heard a car outside, then a key turning in the front door, and then a voice saying to the maid, "It's only me, the iceman." It was not a heavy, bass voice, as I had expected, but quite a boyish one. And then the young giant walked in. He was dressed quite like any other ordinary business man, not loudly, nor coarsely, but neatly. He kissed Estelle affectionately, smilingly shook hands with the other ladies and then grasped my hand. He did not look so big as I ex 72 The latest craze to hit the feminine portion of the country is the pastime of making hooked rugs. Here are Marian Nixon and her sister, Linda, at the new art — making rugs for Marian's new home pected. He seemed only three or four inches taller than myself and not quite so plump. His figure looked well formed and not overmuscular nor ungainly. He is not handsome but decidedly likable. He has personality and charm, and he talks quite like anybody else, using good language. Then he sat down by my side, took up a dainty teacup and saucer in his big hand and drank. Then he took an olive and two or three immature sandwiches, a couple of candies and a fancy cake or two, and behaved himself like a Beau Brutnmel. Not a word about sports and fighting. We talked about pictures some and he said that he liked to see them but believed he wasn't much of an actor. "I was in a picture at Universal and I was supposed to feel very badly about something — in fact, I had to cry, but they couldn't get me to do it, try as I would. They made me look at bright lights, put onions in my eyes, vaseline, and everything else, but I couldn't make myself cry." Touring the Dempsey Manse "VY/ell, I can make you cry, Jack," said I. " "You go down and see 'Stella Dallas.' and I'll bet $100 your eyes will moisten." Estelle doubted it, and so she took the bet, and we put up the money. We're all going together, and I'm hoping to get that $200 pot! After "tea" I was shown thru the house at my request. You just ought to see Jack's bedroom ! It is chuck-full of pink silk pillows, fancy dolls, perfumes, dainty laces, and so on, and the bed is ivorycolored with fluffy lace coverings. Of course, this is really Estelle's room, but I know that he bought a lot of the stuff himself, and that he likes it, and that he is just as fond of perfumes as she is. But in another room there is an athletic device that looks quite masculine, and a big clothes closet containing at least twenty suits of men's clothes hanging on a pole. Then they showed me a lot of small pet dogs — some beauties, too — and I wondered if these were Jack's. No, they weren't — they were Estelle's. Jack's are huge ones and he has them out in the country. Jack is running a hotel to keep him busy, and he likes it. He is very much like any other man — except he is the greatest fighter on earth. That Semon Chap I ran across my old friend, Larry Semon, the other day, and he took me over to the F. B. O. studio, where he is doing a five-reel comedy called "Spuds." Years ago I thought that Larry would by now be giving Lloyd, Chaplin and Keaton a hard run for first place, but he seemed to have gotten a bad break in the last few years and did not progress as he should. I am, however, still betting on him and hope yet to see him quite at the top among the first comedians of the screen. He showed me the first reel of "Spuds," and it is as good as anything I have seen by any of the comedians. If the other four reels are as good as the first, he has a sure winner, but — alas ! — he says that they wont give him enough money to finish the picture properly. And that is the way things go. His backers must be blind 1 In one of the scenes in "Spuds" is a sequence where Larry is hiding behind a couch near a steam-pipe, when a little monkey comes in and turns on the steam. This little monkey is very clever and gets twenty-five dollars a day — at least, his fat Italian master gets it. I watched them for two hours training this monkey to sneak in and unscrew the handle of the radiator, but of course they did not use the steam during these rehearsals because it would frighten the monkey. His master would make the motions of turning the handle, the monkey would look at him and imitate the movement, all the time cheeping his willingness to do the best he could. He was fastened to the end of a long, thin piece of black silken cord to prevent his getting away, because, I am told, in a previous scene he escaped and for hours had a jolly time aloft among the rafters, finally getting out of the building and quite losing himself several blocks away, much to the distress of his master — but Larry himself rescued him in the back yard of a bungalow. (Continued on page 85)