The Moving picture world (November 1925-December 1925)

December 19, 1925 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 659 EVEN YOUR "THRILLING" WESTERN MUST HAVE "HEART INTEREST" THESE DAYS, ond Buck lones, in "Durand of the Bad Lands," gives you lots of thrills and some tense, dramatic moments. In this William Fox production Buck luis beautiful little Marian Nixon to play opposite to him. "Durand" zuas zuritten by Mabclle Heikes Justice. Lynn Reynolds directed. Wants "Heart Stuff" Sentiment, Says Lewis 'HAT does the public want in motion pictures?" Ralph Lewis, well known character actor, says he knows, and to prove his case cites his own career of more than 30 years of stage and screen acting. Lewis has just come to New York from Hollywood to play the role of John Ward in "Glorious Youth," the picture Sam Wood is directing with the Paramount Junior Stars in the leading roles. "The public wants 'heart stuff', sentiment," he said. "My own experience, I think, proves that sentiment is the most powerful emotion in motion pictures. I've played every kind of a stage role since I left Northwestern University in 1894 to join a traveling stock company. I've played every kind of a screen role since I went into pictures with the old Reliance-Majestic company in 1912. "But, I'll admit — strange as it may seem coming from an actor — that I didn't make any great impression on the public with the characterizations I did. In the industry, to the casting directors, I was just another character actor.' Then several years ago, there was a change, which even I didn't realize at first. "I began to get more calls for my services. Writers began to call me up for interviews. I began to get clippings from all over the country. It took me by surprise, and I sat down and tried to analyze it. "My conclusion, which I think is a sound one, was easily arrived at : it was because just previously I had begun to do sentimental, human characterizations of -the average American home, in pictures that were laid in the average American home. It was what the public wanted, and, as in the case of many other actors, a certain series of new characterizations had popularized an old actor. "I had done harder work, probably, and more difficult roles in previous pictures, such as playing Stoneman, the carpet-beggar, in 'The Birth of A Nation,' and Pere Grandet in Rex Ingram's 'The Conquering Power,' but these characters, for the most part, had been unsympathetic. It was only when I consciously tried to direct my appeal to the heart rather than to the intellect of the pub "Million Dollar Handicap" Metropolitan Pictures have borrowed a bevy of the Christie Comedy beauties to add pictorial interest to "The Million Dollar Handicap," their picturization of the W. A. Fraser novel, "Thoroughbreds." "The Million Dollar Handicap" is a comedy melodrama and is being directed by Scott Sidney, who made "Charley's Aunt," "Madame Behave" and a number of other Al. Christie features released by Producers Distributing Corporation. lie that I made my greatest success. Call it 'hokum' or what you will; the public wants sentiment, 'heart stuff' strikes home." Mr. Lewis' work in such roles earned his starring roles in many recent pictures as a result, among them "Westbound Limited," "The Third Alarm," "In the Name of the Law," and "The Last Edition." The picture, incidently, is interesting for Mr. Lewis aside from the importance of the role, for it is the second time in his 13 year screen career that he has acted in Paramount pictures. He played a character role in "The Valley of the Giants," a picture directed several years ago by James Cruze. Don't Miss This! Two pages of Moving Picture World, issue of December 26, 1925, will be devoted to showmanship angles for NATIONAL LAUGH MONTH, set forth by Epes Winthrop Sargent, Exploitation Editor of Moving Picture World, in an interview wi-itlen by Charles Edward Hastings, Editor of the Short Features Department.