Motion Picture Classic (Jul-Dec 1928)

SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONTH What We Hear From the Hollywood Press Agents Domestic footnote from United Artists studio: "VW'hen she isn't cooking or mending in her sunny California bungalow, Camilla Horn likes to curl up in a big chair and read." Hereditary genius as displayed at Universal City: "The veil of secrecy that has surrounded details concerning the new type of motion picture perambulator invented by Carl Laemmle, Jr., has been lifted. The new perambulator is similar to a three-wheeled bicycle. A person sitting in the bicycle seat propels it by means of foot pedals that transfer the power to the rear wheels through a shaft. Airplane tires prevent vibration." Hollywood's great work of converting the world to the gospel of sex appeal proceeds to the realm of science at United Artists studio: "Love scenes between amcebas will form the novel introduction to D. W. Griffith's new film, 'The Battle of the Sexes.' They are to be employed in an allegorical sense, illustrating the fact that love exists in even the lowest forms of animal life." ikjT\^ What is Wrong in this Picture? "Tiny Vera Reynolds is a 'bookworm.' She likes ing better than the privacy of her own back yard she may peruse her favorite books during her leisure When asked the kind of books she preferred, Miss Reynolds replied: 'I do not like suf)er sex stories or those of a morbid nature, although an occasional ghost story gives me a thrill.' " (From the persistent Nancy Smith, private press agent.) "Only middle-aged ladies do the Cleopatra act in flowing tea-gowns beneath rose-shacFe lamps. This business of not being a hothouse plant is the stuff that wins. The girl who can go hiking with a man in the right sort of shoes, go fishing with him and put her own bait on her hook, and go skating with him without getting tired — that's the kid who is his real pal." (Item received a few days later from the De Mille Pictures Corjwration under the heading "Men Like the Out-ofDoor Girl," by Vera Reynolds.) nothwhere hours. Illuminating sidelight on the unemployment problem among professional extras, from Fox studio: "Henry Lehrman is busy shooting 'Mister Romeo,' utilizing one of the finest theaters in Los Angeles as his background. The extras were supplied gratis, as Lehrman was wily enough to have placed a one-sheet in front of the theater inviting folks in to see a real motion picture company in action." Daring fashion sally "" '^ from . United Artists studio, luider the name of the pious Norma Talmadge: "Trousers are unbeautiful, no matter what may be said of their greater convenience, and women, as a rule. wilKnot relinquish their present aesthetic apparel for the mere sake of utility. It is worthy of note that well-dressed conservative women have left this bizarre innovation strictly alone, not because they shun the trouser as immodest, but becau.se its adoption would rob them of their greatest possible quality — charm." Brilliant grasp of the meaning of words displayed in ■ United Artists studio broadsheet: "Gilbert Roland's wavy locks have been sacrificed for the sake of art ! "Which means that Norma Talmadge's dashing leading man had to visit the barber before he started work in 'The Woman Disputed,' '/ Saving yet another day for Art at MetroColdwyn-Mayer (from a studio announcement): "Henrik Sartov was shooting a scene in Marion Davies' new picture when he heard a click. The magazine of his camera had sprung a leak, admitting light to the film. The cameraman took a wad {Continued on page 73) 35