Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1929)

Photoplay Magazine — Advektising Section No quicker way of commanding public attention is offered than to be announced as a "discovery. " But it is a dramatic pitfall with oblivion lurking in its depths. When Andre AJaltoni, son of a European bottling baron, was brou{;ht to this country by Universal some three years ago he was looked upon as a "discovery" with success assured. He had won considerable recognition in foreign films, and the powers that be at the "U" believed he could add to that standing in America. So great was their enthusiasm that they paid him $275 per week, a large stipend for one untried, even in the Promised Land of Pictures. l-"rom the very beginning Andre Mattoni was doomed, the victim of psychological defeat. He was completely baffled. Not only Hollywood but all .\merica puzzled him. He seemed unable to adapt himself to our ways. So he went home, a "wash-out," and if he has since succeeded, that gladsome news has never percolated to America. LYA DE PUTTI was another brilliant European "discovery" of whom much was expected. She had achieved a phenomenal triumph with Emil Jannings in "Variety" and on the strength of that showing was imported by Paramount. Her first picture was "Sorrows of Satan," filmed at the Long Island studio. And in it de Putti was disappointing. Some said she was miscast, others claimed she lacked the spark. She clung on for about a year, then began to drift. Pitiful in the extreme for de Putti. A vibrant actress with the Hollywood "breaks" against her. Now she finds her only demand in the quickies. But some day perhaps that will change. There may come, even in the quickies, another magnificent role like the sensuous part she played in " Variety." Then de Putti will again be a dramatic queen. -\ topsy-turvy town, this Hollywood. High estate in poHtical circles means nothing in picture circles. Royalty that was becomes democracy that is in "The City of Broken Hearts. " That, perhaps, is why distinguished Russians fare so badly. Natalie Golitzin, protege of Elinor Glyn and a Russian princess with everything at her command during the reign of the Czar, has been unable to get a "break" in Hollywood. With her family she lives in the film colony, appearing only in the most obscure roles. To a large degree, Josephine Borio, another Russian, has suffered a similar fate. Good fortune seemed with her when John Gilbert made "The Cossacks." She was given a promising part but, in the end, it was discovered to have little bearing on the story, and went finally to that purgatory of all players — the cutting room floor. Miss Borio's golden opportunity may yet come to her. Two other great Russians who were stalked by failure were Viatcheslav Tourjansky, a director eminently successful in Europe, and his wife, Natalie Kovanko, a splendid actress. Tourjansky did a picture called "Michael Strogoff, " starring his wife and released in this country by Universal. It was a brilliant thing, somewhat "arty" as all Russian efforts are, but on the strength of it Tourjansky and his wife were both acclaimed "discoveries" and brought to Hollywood. TN America, however, Tourjansky could not -'■accustom himself to sw-ift action. To M.-G.M., who had bim under contract, he was a thorn in the side. Their treatment for this affliction was to assign him, sensitive artist that he was, to a Tim McCoy horse-opera! (Jf course this did not work, so they wished him on United Artists and he became a charter member of that gorgeous battalion of directors that undertook to direct John Barrymore in "Tempest." In the end he left, another defeated "discovery," his wife with him. She is a talented actress who never got a chance to act. The last of the foreign "discoveries" to depart was Dita Parlo, sent back untried by Paramount to Germany whence she came. 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