Pauline Frederick : on and off the stage (1940)

Madame X 107 Louise Dresser remained one of Pauline's closest and most cherished friends for the remainder of her life. But this good film was followed by several others that were poor in quality. Whereas Pauline had hitherto made several fine films each year, now she only made about one a year, for she turned down story after story. Was her less frequent appearance on the screen due to lack of box-office appeal? Had her ability to act lessened and, if so, why? Her fans clamored to know, and so loud and so persistent did this clamor become that an answer to the question was sought. The number of inquiries for more pictures starring Pauline Frederick was proof in itself that she had not, by any means, lost her appeal to the public. To find an answer to the question, one of the best known film magazines sent one of its writers to interview Pauline. The answer was contained in an article which that able writer, Adela Rogers St. Johns, wrote for the Photoplay Magazine. It speaks for itself: " Pauline Frederick's fame was not founded upon mere beauty, nor upon a dazzling personality, though she had both. Public and critics considered her one of the finest actresses the silver sheet had ever known, many considered her the finest. Some of the pictures Pauline Frederick made, directed by Robert Vignola, have never been topped by anybody." " From tremendous popularity and acclaim on the stage, she brought with her into pictures a breadth of training, a poised and distinguished manner, a warm love of acting, that no one else has ever given us. Then, suddenly, at the very height of her success, in the very prime of her beauty and genius, she slipped into a series of unworthy and inadequate pictures and has practically disappeared from the screen.