Movie mirror. (1933)

MOVIE MIRROR Hollywood’s Only Regulars ( Continued from page 33) then shrugged his shoulders and said, “Maybe he’s right. What’s it all about, any¬ how?’’ Not knowing, I could not answer. We never heard from our friend again. Jack Gilbert, whose fracas with me created a furore some years ago, might easily be included in my list of the square shooters of Hollywood. After the trouble, I was engaged to play a part opposite Gilbert in “Way For a Sailor.” A story of three musketeers of the sea, Wallace Beery comprised the remainder of the triangle. When I stripped for action on the boat, Gilbert laughingly said, “Good Lord, did I tackle that?” He remained my friend all through the picture, and I am proud to list him as such today. I feel further that Gilbert will become one of the leading directors of the screen, as in the past few years his mind has been turning in that direction. Barbara Stanwyck is of course without a peer as one of the squarest women who ever came to Hollywood. Utterly without pretense, she is as natural as a leaf, and full of consideration for all. THE daughter of a Brooklyn brick¬ layer, Barbara was early the child of tragedy. A drunken stranger pushed Bar¬ bara’s mother off a street car and killed her. The stranger was never found. The father of the future actress took to drink after the tragedy, and was unable to sup¬ port his four poverty stricken children. Barbara’s two older sisters taught her to dance and act, and thus unconsciously laid the foundation for her greatness. They have since died of tuberculosis. Barbara’s father went to work at the Panama Canal, where he remained six years. At the end of that time he wrote to his children that he was returning to Brooklyn to make a home for them. Elated, the four children went to meet the boat. The captain, in gold trimmings, went forth to meet the children. As they stood, expectant, he told them quietly that their father had died on the boat and had been buried at sea. With this background of sorrow, the young girl struggled until at last she ar¬ rived at fame and fortune in Hollywood. While early suffering alone cannot make a great actress, it can be the nucleus around which all might center. Barbara Stanwyck has an intensity of emotion equal, in the few times she has been given opportunity to show it, to Garbo’s. She can still go far on the screen. She can go no further as a loyal friend and square shooter in the opinion of all who know her. James Cruze, for many years the highest salaried director in the world, is again rapidly coming to the front with “The Washington Merry • Go Round ’ and I Cover the Water Front.” Stepping out of a Hollywood shadow into the full light of fame with “The Covered Wagon, Cruze has since remained a colorful figure and a loyal friend. His house, ten miles from Hollywood, is situated on twelve acres of ground. There the one-time Danish peasant from Utah has entertained literally everybody connected with the cinema. Even the great Mencken sought re¬ freshments under his roof. Cruze, wearing a red coat and a large sombrero, met the famous critic at the door, and said, “I’ve never read one of your books.” Mencken’s answer was, “I’ve never seen one of your films. That makes us both Elks.” When I first interviewed Cruze a dozen years ago, he was so frank that I could not print all he said. A great sombre personality, Cruze is a deeper man than the average director. For some time he read many of my manuscripts before they were submitted to producer or publisher. One was the play, “Black Boy,” in which Paul Robeson appeared on the New York stage. It was the pitiful story of a giant Negro pugilist who was whipped to death by the little lashes of life. When I called on Cruze after he had read it, he remained for some moments in deep thought, his elbows on his knees, his jaws buried in his hands in the manner of Rodin’s “Thinker.” Finally he rose, shook his head violently and walked swiftly up and down the room. At last as though the words would choke him if he did not spit them out, he ex¬ claimed, “God — what you did to the big beautiful man.’’ He seated himself again, his head buried in his hands as before. Of the younger group of colorful and square fellows in Hollywood, I would rate Jack Oakie among the first. Full of that hard-bitten wisdom that smiles at every cloud, he represents a care¬ free quality in America that is swiftly passing away. I recall an early morning in which we stopped at his Beverly Hills home. His mother was not yet up, but Jack, having a yen to hear poetry recited, immediately aroused her. The picture of his gentle gray haired mother reciting “The Shooting of Dan McGrew,” to her famous son and his writing comrade, is one that will long have a pleasant place in my memory. The chauffeur looked straight ahead, as we left Jack’s home, and no doubt won¬ dered why the vagaries of life had so shifted about that he must haul in a large limousine, two vagabonds of old time. And, if he pondered long enough he might come to the conclusion that, like the character in old Ibsen, we had never been so mad as to doubt ourselves. For Jack Oakie would not only blaze his way where angels fear to tread, he would soon be having the angels laughing at the antics of one of the greatest clowns the screen has produced. AND so, they walk down the hall of • memory, my favorite citizens of the cinema town. Like Meredith’s people — some are good and some are bad, and most a dash between the two. But they are all quite human, and warm with the turbulent blood of life. Also, they are gifted with infinite understanding. For — have they not — through the storm and the stress of the years — remained — my friends? Next month Jim Tally gives you another of his dramatic characteristic stories of Hollywood. It is called “The Hidden Hollywood’’ — the inside stories that have never been told before of the most ro¬ mantic place in the world. ere -th S SECRET' BEAUTIFY YOUR HANDS THE MOON GLOW WAY You may now have a different color nail polish to har¬ monize with each ensemble. MOON GLOW Nail Polish — the new Hollywood favorite — comes in five shades: Natural, Medium, Rose, Carmine and Platinum Pearl ... to harmonize with each costume. You will be delighted with the smartness of your hands when cared for the MOON GLOW way. So why not keep all five shades on your shelf? If you paid $i you couldn't get finer nail polish. So ask your favorite toe counter today for the complete set of five MOON GLOW shades. 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