The New Movie Magazine (Dec 1929-May 1930)

The New School for Stars i ( 'ontinued from page 114) rirls around five feet five, are usually used for graceful dancing, waltz numbers, kicks, and soft shoe dancing. High kicking looks too easy when a small u i rl does it. Pearl Eaton uses no pony girls, and Madame Rasch prefers them about five feet five or six. They feel the smaller type is becoming passe. Child ballets are popular. Gus Edwards recently produced a child version of the Passing Show, Fox used a child scene in "Sunny Side Up" and in another forthcoming revue. The money side of talking shows versus Broadway shows leaves the talkie girl ahead in her bank balance, as her usual contract calls for forty weeks a year. Twenty-five weeks on Broadway is a good run. Chances for advancement in talkies are good, though the grade is harder to make. The competition between stage girls and screen girls is keen in the talkies, as many girls appreciate the chance to live a regular home life, with their evenings for fun, to go to shows, and see their friends. Living in one place with a real home, with a yard and a pet dog is possible, with roses in the garden, or perhaps a tiny romantic place hung like a bird's nest on the side of a mountain, is a real thrill to a New York girl. If the stage girl screens well, and passes the voice test, all right. REWARDS for success are great in talkies, for a girl with talent may be selected for a specialty number. She may even get some lines. Lita Chevret, one of the most gorgeous show girls in Hollywood, who graced the Underseas Ballet in the Fox Movietone Follies, is now under contract at RKO and has Mary Brian and her perfume cabinet, in which she keeps varied scents in a modernistic case. Gayly colored bottles and atomizers create a sight to delight any woman. been given a talking part in "Radio Revels." With these ambitious girls, there are lessons, lessons, lessons — dancing lessons, voice lessons, dramaticlessons. The old rhyme: "The elephant worked all night, The elephant worked all day; And every cent The elephant earnt Went to buy the elephant hay." That was the case with Lita, and is with others. The gals must make hay while the sun shines. The Fox studio has instituted an interesting system; the girls are given free lessons in everything, and make weekly screen tests showing their progress in singing, acting and dancing. This system has already brought aid to Raymonda Brown and Helen Mann, two contract dancers, who are now advanced in specialty numbers. All Fox players are given dancing lessons and voice lessons. You just gotta be able to pick 'em up and lay 'em down and agitate the knees gracefully to stay on the Fox roster. One is moved to picture Will Rogers and John McCormack in a snappy toe dance number. Tryouts are held at some studio every week. When Pearl Eaton was assembling her company, she spent ten months and tried out 2500 people. The net result includes specialty dancers, adagio teams, and solo dancers, thus RKO never needs special troupes. They hire special numbers like a colored troupe, or extra men for some needed scenes as in "Hit the Deck," but they have practically everything they need right under the roof of their $12,000 rehearsal hall. An interesting thing about talkie dancing is that it is not possible to copy stage routines always. Many of them are not effective on the screen. A solo dancer, who uses a series of steps in a circle is a poor screen subject, for his face is away from the camera too long. Stationary tap dancing is also not satisfactory. The routine has to be pulled out sidewise, so to speak, to satisfy the eye. Hence new routines must be created with screen needs in mind. THE most effective dance scenes for pictures are the chorus formations. As Eddie Tierney expresses it, in these numbers, "the steps don't mean so much, they just get 'em into their place in the formation." The screen can gain effects with chorus formations not possible on the stage. This is because of the vast number of technical tricks, including camera angles. A group of girls moving in graceful unison leaning back simultaneously and photographed from above, is always good in films. The Albertina Rasch dancers specialize in such things; an example is in "The Rogue Song." This simple trick with all its variations would be impossible on the stage. Other camera tricks make possible terpsichorean effects that are going to make stage managers turn slightly gray about the temples. What makes it great for the public is that any small town can now see something that Broadway cannot offer. 116