Motion Picture Classic (Jan-Jun 1929)

^he zy^len behind 'The Stars Old \Joc oantell Al Keeps Falling Stars From Falling Qy HERBERT CRUIKSHANK BETWEEN nine and five you'll find director Al Santcll doing his stufF at the studio. But between five and ( nine — ah, that's something else again. And tar less simple. Never, for instance, say " Believe it or not, I'm waiting for a street car to take me to .Al Santell's house." Because there is no street car within miles. However, there are ways of reaching him. You may walk from Hollywood. About thirty miles north-west. Or you may fly. On a warm day a fifteen-mile swim from Santa Monica may allure you. If you sail due east from Japan, you'll land right at his doorstep. But perhaps you're pressed for time and would prefer to motor down. Drive to the Pacific Ocean and ring door-bells until one is answered by a Filipino butler whose fierce mustachios and imperial make him look like Louis Napoleon. Al's here. Surrounded by books and beer, you'll find him loitering a'bout his rambling Malibu home clad in white ducks of sea-going cut. All year round he spends here those hours which are his very own. Plumed waves spray his front porch with foam. Which suggests more beer. And the sorrowful sobbing of sea-gulls emphasizes the comfort to be found in a huge chair before a wide l)lazing hearth, with an ancient book for company. Iclephones are taboo in Malibu. The beauty of the spot IS its inaccessibility. No raucous messages to report for a story conference, or what-have-you in the conference line, can crash into its quietude. F^ven Sam Goldwyn is unable to sputter telcphonically that he's amazed at someone's stupidity. Sam seems in a perpetual state of amazement at the dumbness of the world and its people. But when the cause of his surprise is safely ensconced behind Malibu sand-dunes, even Sam must hold his peace until another day. Either that or talk to himself. So far from the madding movies in the restful environment which he and nature have created. Al Santell philosf)phises on life and love — as they do 'em in pictures. In many a prod u c t i o n A 1 Santell plays not only the part of director, but one in the picture as well. The lower picture shows him in make-up Neither Rotund Nor Rollo SANTELL is short and broad. There arc ridges of muscles stretching from shoulders to wrists. None of his fuel goes to fat. It is either burned up with the intensity of his being, or it is transmuted into sinew. He is physically active. And physically fit. Hi? brown face is topped by a mop of crisply curling black hair. It's probably quite a trial to him. But he manages it fairly well. He'd be an ideal subject to pose for one of the stay-put hair-drcssing advertisements. His eyes glow with a genial sophistication. They relieve a facial contour which might otherwise create an impression of cynicism. For Santell is no Rolto Boy. He's not the Pollyanna of the picture business. Nor does he believe in oil-stock prospectuses. On the other hand, there" is little bitterness in his make-up. His humor may be tinged with sarcasm, but it is the gentle sarcasm of one who has learned to appraise life, and those who live it, at proper values. A somewhat robust, roughand-ready, back-slapping manner seems worn as a cloak to cover a certain fineness, an innate culture. Qualities which have small value in the hurly-burly of movie making. His use of words is especially exact. His pronunciation of them unusually pleasant. His blue, for instance, is never bloo; nor does lute become loot. Santell is one of the many who got in on tin ground {Continued on page /p)