Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1926)

Photoplay Magazine — Adyehtisinu Section were lagging from the monotony of the desert. It was Bill who wrote the notice and posted it prominently in Brenon Square. And wrote it with his tongue in his cheek, as Bill would. But first one must introduce "Pardner" Jones, old plainsman and sharpshooter. He did the expert rifle work in "Beau Geste." Tom Mix permits "Pardner" to shoot at a watch over his heart and Harry Carey lets him shoot apples from his head. Can more be said? "Pardner" is clever at shooting cigarettes from lips. Of this Bill was aware when he wrote the following: Rule No. i. Look out for whereabouts of "Pardner" Jones. Rule Xo. 2. Do not step on empty cartridge shells at fort with your bare feet. Rule No. 3. Disregard Rule No. 2 if you wear shoes. •Rule No. 4. Look out for whereabouts of "Pardner" Jones. Rule No. 5. Do not sit at the end of the mess table so you will not have to pass the food. Rule No. 6. Look out for the whereabouts of "Pardner" Jones. Bill is such an affable man-of-the-world. Yet he was born in Pittsburgh. And educated in Kansas City. Such is the power of environment. And don't forget the famous chirrup that "travel broadens one." The family decided when Bill was six months old that he was to be educated for the bar (legal) . This because of a raucous yell and a few bellicose syllables given from his highchair. Undoubtedly accompanied by the beating of his pewter mug to emphasize the roar. In high school Bill took a public speaking course and won the part of Captain Jack Absolute in "The Rivals." The bar (legal) faded from his vision when he read the critics' reviews. Blackstone was not for him. The family objected, so Bill penned a twenty-three page letter to an aunt in Pennsylvania requesting $700.00, temporarily, for rail fare to New York and tuition in a school of drama. Thus the potent Powell power was exercised for the first time. Today it stands as a living monument to the school system of Kansas City. Bill got the money and spent half of it on railroad fare to New York. The other half went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. What he lived on during his school davs we leave to your imagination. Haunting his diploma he secured his first stage engagement in "The Ne'erDo-Well." The play lived up to its name and in its short life Bill played five roles, adding whiskers and what-not as the acts grew. Then six months in vaudeville which gave him much experience and little else. For another six months he was jobless. He walked the streets. Perhaps that explains why Bill would rather motor now. He met Ralph Barton, now a nationally known illustrator. They pooled their funds and sauntered forth with twenty-five cents between them for the evening meal. But the quarter was bum. Their only hope was a near-sighted delicatessen proprietor. They found one and purchased a nickel's worth of candles to light their little room, ten cents' worth of lemon wafers and ten of apricots. After they ate them they drank water. Plenty of it. It's surprising how apricots and wafers expand. So did these. Bill was usually flat broke in those days. Two jumps ahead of the landlord, whose tenants were actors and artists waiting to "make good." In 1914 his luck changed. He played English Eddie in "Within the Law" with a company touring the country. He played in stock companies in Pittsburgh, Portland, Oregon, Buffalo, Detroit, North Hampton and Boston. Always villains. Always bad men. Then Broadway and an engagement with Leo Dietrichstein in "The Judge of Zalamea." His luck flopped again for a time and his next good role was in "Spanish Love" and Bill became a figure on Broadway. It's been a topsy-turvy path to eminence. Up one day — down the next. And I often wonder how far Bill would have gone if he had taken himself too seriously. That indomitable sense of humor must have been springs to the one-hoss shay of success on many an occasion. Now Bill is in pictures. Playing villainous roles with an air that makes fair heroines cringe. You've seen him in "Sherlock Holmes," "When Knighthood Was in Flower," "Under the Red Robe," "Romola." With Richard Dix in "Too Many Kisses." Paramount felt the potent Powell power, first demonstrated (to our knowledge) in the instance of his aunt, and signed him to a long contract which placed him in "Aloma of the South Seas," "Beau Geste" and now "Tin Gods." Close'Ups and Long Shots CONTINUED FROM PACE 42 The first evening I saw a sweet soul named Mother Goddam, who murdered her child in "The Shanghai Gesture." The second evening I was entertained by a refined lady in "Bride of the Lamb" who, after a petting party with the pastor, proceeded to poison her husband with shoe polish. And on the third gay evening I beheld a colored boy throttle his high yeller gal in her own bed in " Lulu Belle. " It was too much for one reared amid the happy endings of Hollywood. And so, as soon as my physicians would permit, I boarded a train back to the land of purity, where it is still a sin to kiss for more than a hundred feet. HPHE best way to win movie converts is to ■*■ send people to New York shows. If these spectacles don't win them to God and the movies they are hopeless and will go straight to what the censors call "the naughty place." A GIRL should bring her baby pictures to -*»• Hollywood. They usually tell all. There was a time when we were ashamed of those infant portraits which revealed our more personal dimples to a gaping world. Now we know mama was right — there's nothing to be ashamed of in earning a living. "DUT it takes a Broadway show ■*-" to reveal Eden as it was before the hiss of the dressmaker. Can you remember the days when depraved old bald heads sat in the first row to catch a glimpse of ankles? But now nobody, however low, ever thinks of looking at ankles. In fact, you can't tell what they're looking at from where they sit. A TIP TO CUT PICTURE PUZZLE FANS! The awards- $5,000 in all — will be announced in the January Photoplay, out December 15. THIRD SET OF PICTURES IN THIS ISSUE MakeYourSkin Ivory-white in 3 Days! I have the honor lo announce the most important beauty discovery of the age ... a wonderful new-type lotion that clears the skin of every blemish and makes it as smooth and white as ivory. Every woman who wants a glorious complexion can now have it in three to six days. NOW . . . a New Kind of Lotion Skin Whitener NOW you can have the smooth, flawless complexion you have always longed for ... the exquisite white skin you see only infamous beauties. The kind of skin that powder cannot givel The skin itself must be soft, smooth and white. My marvelous discovery now gives you this striking complexion in just three to six days. It smooths the skin to soft, silky texture. It whitens the skin to ivory whiteness. Freckles and Tan Vanish! All trace of freckles, tan, blackheads, roughness, and redness disappear almost as if you had wished them away. Never before have women had such a preparation! Mild, gentle and guaranteed safe and harmless! Apply it in just three minutes at bedtime. Every woman should have it. There is not one complexion in a thousand that will not be clearer, smoother, more radiant through its use. Test It . . . Whiten Your Neck Test this preparation on your arm, hands, or on your neck where the skin is usually much darker than on the face. See what an amazing improvement three days make. Use my Lotion Face Bleach any way you like for six days. Then if you are not simply delighted, I ask you to let me refund your money. Large Bottle . . . Low Price . . . Guaranteed ! Send no money — simply mail coupon. When package arrives pay postman only $1.50 for the regular large-size bottle. Use this wonderful cosmetic six days. Then, if not delighted, return it, and I will refund vour money without comment. Mail coupon today to (Mrs.) GERVAISE GRAHAM, Dept. P-8, 25 W. Illinois St., Chicago. GERVAISE GRAHAM JjptiOtl FACE BLEACH (Mrs.) GERVAISE GRAHAM, Dept. P-8, 25 W. Illinois St., Chicago. Send me, postage paid, one Lotion Face Bleach. On arrival, I will pay postman only $1.50. If not delighted after six days' use I will return it and you will at once refund my money. Name. .. Address. PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE,