Pauline Frederick : on and off the stage (1940)

Talking Pictures — Fourth Marriage 157 when her mother didn't take her out, she tossed about and howled so desperately that her mother was afraid she would have convulsions. So Mrs. Reid bundled her up and went to the theatre. When Pauline saw her she was cross at first and remonstrated with the mother. Explanations followed, however, and Pauline realized that the baby's health would probably be better off if they gave way to that determined little will, than if they let her work herself into a fever by fretting. Pauline took the baby in her arms and sang to her and immediately she was all smiles and cooings. " The Scarlet Woman " centered around a woman named Agatha Marley, who, after her long-sick father finally dies, goes to New York for a well-earned spree and returns with a baby which she has adopted from an orphanage. The gossips of the little town spread the story via the grapevine trail that the baby is really Agatha's own and she has the time of her life refusing to deny the gossip. When asked a number of searching questions by the dear ladies of the village she is aggravatingly noncommittal and when, in reply to a question as to the name of the father, she remarks casually, " I really haven't the remotest idea," the ladies of the sewing circle almost have convulsions. Henceforth Agatha Marley is labeled a " scarlet woman." During the scenes with the baby, most of the time it was not Pauline Frederick playing " Agatha Marley " but Pauline Frederick have the time of her life playing the part of a mother. Mary Margaret Reid was the real star of the play, " The Scarlet Woman." The year 1928 ushered in the talking pictures and with the improvements made in this decade, it is difficult to realize how silent pictures could have been so enjoyable, with the lips of the players moving but making no sound and only subtitles to suggest the words. The advent of the " talkie " revolutionized the film world. Careers began to be shufHed