Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1930)

Brickbats & Bouquets YOU FANS ARE THE REAL CRITICS Give Us Your Views $25, $10 and $5 Monthly for the Best Letters Sez You ! TO make this department a true expression of the fan viewpoint we would have to devote at least half of it to Garbo. 'What a woman! We have read so many raves about the Glorious One in the past month that we arc getting a kind of Garbo fixation. Scratch a movie goer and you find a Garbo fan. Altogether it's the old favorites who are topping the list — with the exception of Ruth Chatterton, who continues to build up a strong following. Bow, Shearer, Crawford, Gaynor, Asther, Column and Gilbert still rate top of the heap, with Boles and Powell following close. Stage stars who are going over big with the fans are Chevalier, Jolson, and the late Jeanne Eagels, who, judging from the bouquets received, was bidding fair to become as big a name in pictures as on the stage. There was a deluge of "what-has-becomeof's" this month. Fans would like to see some of the silent favorites — both stars and pictures — brought back. The phonoplay continues to increase in popularity, although many bewail the fact that movies no longer move and would like to see less dialogue and more action. An astounding number of letters telling of improvement through films has been received this month. Fans say that the phonoplay is teaching them how to talk, walk, dress, think and act. That hardy perennial "The Desert Song" continues to flourish, and the more recent "Bulldog Drummond" is skyrocketing this month. The Church Speaks The $25.00 Letter St. Petersburg, Fla. I am an ordained minister of the Gospel, educated in the old school of religion that teaches any diversion outside of church-going is sinful and destructive to the soul. But I have found that my education was narrowminded and bigoted. I am a patron of the movies because I believe 8 This is your department. Come right in, hang up your hat and pat or spat the players. Just plain spiteful letters won't be printed, and don't spank too hard, because we want to be helpful when we can. Limit your letters to 200 words, and if you are not willing to have your name and address attached, don't write. All anonymous letters go straight into the wicker. We reserve the right to cut letters to suit our space limitations. Come in — you're always welcome ! them to be a power for good and a stabilizer of the moral code of Christianity. Who could witness "Ben-Hur" without a true sense of the living Christ, or the "King of Kings" without a deeper feeling of obligation to Him, or who could fail to see the folly of sin after seeing Emil Jannings in the "Street of Sin"? The usual flaming youth picture is designed to show the modern youth the folly of such living, and is not intended to be prediction or picture of our youth as it is. I have attended many a movie performance and gone back to my study and built a sermon about the theme of the picture. Usually, my congregation are free with their praise of these sermons. I not only believe in and attend the movies but I urge my congregation to do so. C. Leslie Conrad. Let 'Em Marry The .00 Letter Portsmouth, Va. The reason that nas inspired me to write this is that I couldn't let this question, "Why do motion picture actors get married?" asked by Violet Hopwood go unanswered. Why shouldn't they marry? There is no law against it, I hope. Haven't they the right to pursue love and happiness without the permission of this narrow-minded, jealous and fickle public? Why shouldn't John Gilbert marry Ina Claire? I can't see where it spoils his popularity. Hasn't he the right to choose his own private life without your interference? The actors give the best hours of the day working hard to give you just two hours of entertainment, yet you are so selfish as to demand their private hours. When are you public going to realize that the private lives of the actors are their own and not yours? Rosalie Tedesco. Hands Across the Sea The $5.00 Letter Devonshire, England. Now that the talkies have come, all our English schoolmasters and parsons have got up on their hind legs, and in loud voices are telling the world that all our poor little kids are going to learn the horrible American twang. If the talkies teach our people to speak American in preference to some of our own horrible dialects they will have done a very good thing. Another thing your films have done is to teach the girls on this side how to dress and groom themselves. Whereas only a few years ago clothes slung on anyhow, untidy heads and wrinkled silk stockings were as common as the roses in June, all that is altered now, and why? The movies, of course. "A Devonshire Voice." Canned Culture Greensboro, N. C. Count Keyserling has made the remark that Virginia holds the only semblance of culture to be found in our United States today. Virginia culture has long been associated with the broad "a" and the broad "a" in turn is now associated with the talkies. The broad "a," as interpreted by Mrs. Chcyncy and Bulldog Drummond, is doing new things to us. Time will tell, and Count Keyserling will swallow his words. The movies have long since dictated to Dame Fashion, but just watch Dame Culture bowl over. Walter B. Smali.ey. Some Like 'Em Silent Santa Cruz, Calif. The present talking pictures will never outdo the old silent pictures. Granted that tbose like "Madame X" and "The Last of Mrs. Cheyncy" are perfect examples; but fine as they are the four walls close in on the audience, and the silent outdoor beauty of the old days is gone. Most of us are tired of too much noise in the funny old world of today, and two hours of silence, with some good music (when it was good ) seemed a tonic or a sedative as our case demanded. Lucille MacDonald. Old Plots for New How is it that the directors and what-nots of the movie industry are wearing out shoes and brains trying to find new plots for talkies? Has no one thought of a few pre-war stories? By that I mean: stories that have no booze, no detectives, no backstage dramas, no jazz or aeroplanes? Take "Hamlet" — there's a good murder plot, some mystery, some comedy and some heavy drama. Why not preserve Barrymore's wonderful performance for posterity? For those who prefer anyone but Shakespeare, how about Rostand and his "Cyrano de Bergerac"? There's some more pathos, love, comedy, anger, fear — every emotion. Why not import Walter Hampden to Hollywood? George L. Baulig. Spare Our Blushes Denver, Colo. I should like to give my opinion on Elizabeth Norvell's letter in the October Photoplay. [ PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 117 ]