Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1927)

January 29, 1927 MOVING PICTURE WORLD HOLLYWOOD OFFICE 343 H arrison Ford An Actor PH ho Is Humble In Success By TOM WALLER West Coast Representative /5jfN actor for twelve years who has been featured opposite more female stars than any contemporary we can now think of would be considered quite unusual it he were heard to mais.e a statement that he did not think nimself actually “discovered” until the twelfth year of a vast and profitable experience. That, however, is the way in which Harrison Ford went on record to us in his dressing room in the Metropolitan Studios just the other day. We had found it literally necessary to coax from Ford a few highlights in his numerous appearances before the camera which might be entered as exclusive in this issue of Moving Picture World. Then out of a clear sky in the little dressing room, although it was pouring its heaviest outside, Mr. Ford told us that he felt his most worthwhile effort, the one which lie liked the most and the one which gives him his greatest opportunity to display his wares as a leading man, came to him not in 1914 when he first commenced to strut before the camera but in March 1926. Ford was about to let it go at that. In fact he is an unusually quiet sort and though his hair is well groomed it glistens not from the use of any hirsute balm or vaseline. We had to tell Ford that years of newspapering about police headquarters and supreme courts made our mild-mannered and awe-strickened exterior just painful affectation and that we would lapse back into the good old blunt way of "firing” questions unless he came through with his story. Ford thereupon set down very firmly the small preserve jar from which he was drinking his coffee. He had gallantly insisted upon our taking the one tin cup in the place which boasted a handle. He had given us the pick of the buns and had been extremely apprehensive for fear of any of the sandwiches possessing a mouldy exterior. All of this had tended to cramp up both of us mentally as well as physically. Then the niceties ceased and we proceeded to get at the root of what had happened in 1926. “A1 Christie really gave me my start last March when he picked me for his farce comedy, ‘The Nervous Wreck.’ In that picture I have a chance to show what I can do. Before then I was more or less in the rut of appearing in nice roles opposite nice ladies.” Ford then emptied the preserve jar and proceeded to tackle another bun. We found that by “start in 1926” Ford meant that ever since he finished work in “The Nervous Wreck” he has been getting farce leads similar to this one. He likes that type of role so well that Producers Distributing Company realized that Ford as a free lance was a dangerous proposition so they signed him up to a long term contract. Since the Christie special Ford has captured more of what he considers the best roles of his career. A few of these pictures in which he waxes farcical are DeMille’s “Rubber Tires,” “Almost a Lady” and “The Night Eride.” In the last two Metropolitan productions he plays opposite Marie Prevost. We should say about “The Night Bride” that he IS playing opposite Marie Prevost since work on that picture just started. The contract that has followed Ford on the Metropolitan since “The Nervous Wreck” has established for him a kind of precedent. They don’t list him any more as just the straight leading man type. His name is in another part of the Metropolitan files now. It is true that his winning personality is the same, as are his five feet ten, 155 pounds, brown hair and brown eyes. All of these essentials were necessary for his original classification. But now, even though his physique hasn’t changed the slightest and his hat band hasn’t been elongated a fraction of an inch, Ford, since “The Nervous Wreck,” has just stepped into that circle so coveted in Hollywood and proximity to the final target being shot at by so many excellent actors. He is now known as “a comedian of the higher type. As such a comedian Ford is moving rapidly. He feels that since 1926 he has covered more worthwhile territory in the land of real fame than at any other time. So far those who maneuver the checker board and can practically tell how the game is going to wind up are concerned, Ford is going to hit the mark before the close of 1927. In other words sharp-eyed outsiders don’t have to be on the inside of Metropolitan’s well-walled enclosure for a very long time before they get a line on who’s who, and who isn't going to be who, and who is slated for the big who. Ford is headed for a share of moviedom’s figurative sky, unless the oldest citizen’s “unless all signs fail” fails. Ford, in all of his twelve years as an actor, hasn’t been out of work for any particular stretch of time longer than four months. This period occurred only once and was the cause of his own selection. Everyone knows that in itself speaks volumes for a man who has been a free lance during most of his career — especially the career of an actor. And free lancing when he has free lanced has been also of his own volition, the record shows. Because, Ford still has among other things the remnants of an executed five-year contract with Famous. Ask any of the many directors who have megaphoned Ford and they will give you one of the reasons. There is no hesitancy about their telling you that not only is Ford “A damn good actor” but that he is never a minute late on the set where his picture is being made. There are a number of other reasons. Ford has a great li brary in his home here. It includes many first editions. Libraries are common enough in homes where people can afford them. But Ford hasn’t his for interior decorative purposes. Talk to him in his dressing room or while he is hurrying out through the rain to get to his set on the dot — even if he gets there to be stalled by a couple of belated extras — and you’ll know that Ford uses his library. Another thing about Ford and one characteristic which makes a success of a man in any line of business is the fact that they talk about him in the right way. And “they” in this case mean the people about a lot who many persons in Ford’s status would be inclined to frown upon or utterly ignore. The little fellow as well as the big fellow knows that Ford’s friendship gives him more than a handshake or a “Howdy, Pal !” When Ford says “Pal” he says it in the voice of the average Hollywoodian. It starts on high and ends low. But “low” with Ford doesn’t mean the “Stop” signal. It means the lowering of his right hand to his pocket — if the “Pal” needs the last payment for his car or a series of “coffies.” And at the same time the recipient doesn’t leave with a smirk and the satisfaction of having squeezed a soft heart. If he should, he learns that Ford can only be burned once and that the burn means for the burner gain at the greatest loss — the loss of a worthwhile friend. And as to such burnings Ford wouldn’t be where he is if he were — charred. The Narrative Of A Striking Career