Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1930)

"I Never Choose Beautiful Women" I COXTINLTJD FROM PACE 31 essence in their nature, some quality in tiieir charm, appealed to me. I have taken girls, £.ncl by accenting this precious and hidden essence, by dressing them in accordance with the vision of them I saw in my mind's eye, I have given the world of fans what they have been pleased to call beauties. " It is noteworthy that many of the girls so selected and put forth by De jNIille have had their big successes through their careers in the tN^pe of personality' with which he first supplied them. The hidden something that De jlille saw and dressed forth for all the world to see, has been their secret of charm and success. ONE feature alone De Mille has accented always in his selection of bets for success. That has Ijeen the eyes. He considers them of paramount importance — the windows of the soul. "It is amazing how few beauties have really beautiful eyes," says De Mille. "There are many with charming eyes, which, however, have nothing to offer the screen. A woman accustomed to repression, a woman of refinement and background, is most hkely to have interesting eyes. Her eyes pour forth all her repressions. Such ej-cs have definitely something for the camera. '' Pretty feet and trim ankles are something De Mille has always admired in a woman. He believes that the feet tell as important a storjas the hands. If one goes over the list of women that De Jlille has given to the world as screen celebrities, one will find not always tiny feet, but all dainty and well made feet. When quizzed about this, De Mille says with a smile, " Ves, I guess I have always considered pretty feet. It is the proportion, however, not the actual size, that makes a pretty foot. Our modern feet are inclined to be verj ugly, due to misshaping l)y improper footwear. The shoes of modern children are helping build health and beauty in feet for the future. I think the modern shoe, the open sandal for instance, copied after the Greek, is most beautiful. Modern shoes flatter the feet. As a nation, we have become foot conscious. " About this matter of feet: there is an amusing incident told of the days when Cecil and his brother William de Mille were working at the old Lasky studio on Vine Street. The cafeteria was upstairs. One day the two brothers were just far enough behind a girl on the stairs to get a tantalizing view of some verj' beautiful anicles and feet. " Whose are those? " Cecil queried, peering to get a look at the owner of the feet and ankles. "That's a girl out from New York, from the 'Follies,' named Nita Naldi, " answered William. Right there the pretty feet and ankles were cast for the rcMe of the modem vampire in the picture, "The Ten Commandments." This gave Naldi her start in the roles that made her famous. r^LORIA SWANSON is perhaps the most '^Joutstanding success of all the women De Mille featured in his pictures. De Mille first saw her as a little sister in a Sennet t comedy, receiving a pic full in the face. Not suggestive to most people of the majestic and dramatic actress of later years, was it? When he sent word to his financial backer in New York that he had selected this pie catching damozel for the big role in " Don't Change Your Husband, " there was a terrific uproar. The thought of this unknown, who did not look any too prepossessing with the pie in her face, as the central figure in a big, expensive production was terrifying to the financiers. " I chose Swanson for the dynamic emotion she possessed, which she could turn in any di rection. The objections all quieted down after the release of 'Don't Change ^'our Husband.' Swanson is not in any sense a beauty; her nose, which is one of her chief assets, departs from any standards of sculptors. Yet she has a remarkable power of projecting the illusion of beauty." Swanson has the beautiful and expressive eyes De Mille always demanded; too, the dainty, well formed foot and ankle. Bebe Daniels was running around, wa\ing her legs and arms in a Harold Lloyd comedy when De Mille selected her. De Mille sensed the basic exoticism of Bebe Daniels and so presented her for the first time as an exotic draped, alluring woman with Wallace Reid in "The Affairs of .Anatol. " Her greatest screen successes have followed the hne laid down by De Mille. Does this face evoke memories? It's that ol Molly Malone, a few years ago a popular movie leading woman. Disappearing from the screen, she suddenly turned up in the photographic department of Metro-Goldwj'n. Molly intends to become an ace portrait photographer, and it looks as though she would, and soon Leatrice Joy, says De Mille, he selected for her innate gentiUty and breeding, as the perfect lady with, of course, emotional possibilities, for "Saturday Night." This went on through "Manslaughter" and others of her greatest successes. Her eyes and dainty feet are again notable. Vera Reynolds he selected as the exponent of the flapper. Wanda Hawley, in former years, was presented as tj-pical of the youth of her time. Lila Lee, selected for the r(ilc of the serving girl in "Male and Female," he chose for her quality of wistfulness, the victim of unrequited love, a ZaSu Pitts type. Jetta Goudal was dubbed "a cocktail of emotions" by De Mille, who put her in her greatest successes, "White Sand," and "Paris at Midnight." She proved to be a heady one, and later sued De Mille for a broken contract. Florence Vidor in "Old Wives for New," De Mille chose as a type of aristocratic lady. Florence took this so seriously that she has since become one, with an English accent and a famous concert violinist for a husband to help ob scure any memory of the vulgar days when she was a motion picture actress. "Katherine MacDonald was the only really beautiful woman I ever chose for a leading role," says De Mille. "I used her for only one picture, 'The Squaw Man.' and her career in films was not long or notable. "I consider Agnes Ayres the nearest to beautiful of any other women I used in my productions; many will disagree with me and name Gloria Swanson. It is a personal preference, one that ever\-one must decide for himself. Lois Wilson in 'Manslaughter' did her first dramatic work. Up to then she could get nothing but gaga roles. "Personality, the soul that looks out through the eyes, is the true individual; beauty is merely phj'sical. It is the mobile countenance full of expression that I prefer. None of the Venuses would get by for a moment in Hollywood. Personality, charm, intelligence; these things are at a premium. Nature has done a strange trick in evening her scores. There are few instances of perfect beauty and strong personality combined. '■ A LICE TERRY was unknown before 'Old ■* *-Wive3 for New'; in her I found a striking personality. She had a soft, gentle, feminine beauty and charm that made her unlike any other. "Julia Faye I noticed one day when I was walking by Wally Reid's set; she was on tiptoes, plajing a scene. The trimness and swankiness of her caught mj eye. The brightness and effervescence of her is stimulating. She is a good comedienne, but she must also have a touch of character in her rnles. I consider her greatest one was that of Mariuslin, the guttersnipe of Old Russia swept into luxury by the Revolution, in 'The Volga Boatman. ' " Julia Faye, too, has the dainty feet and ankles, perhaps the daintiest of all' among De Millc"s leading women. "The birth of the talkies," De Mille went on, 'has brought still another factor into this matter of beauty on the screen. Beauty as such is worth less than ever before. The new beauty on the screen is the beauty of personality conveyed through the voice. "In the old silent days, a producer or director could afford to take a flyer on a girl who had little education or background, but who showed a real desire to improve herself with books and study. She got a year's contract during which to flower. Now this is impossible. .Vt least a high school education is necessary. Ignorance betrays itself at once in the voice. "The difference between the voice of Kay Johnson and that of the ordinarj' untutored voice of a possible silent film heroine is the difference between an organ and a harmonica. "Lack of education shows in intonation at once. Proper intonation can only be produced by education and breeding. "TN talking pictures, we of the industry are •''Still far from realizing true beauty in tlie tone of the voice, for there is individuality in a voice as well as in a face. "It is both harder and easier to select people for talking films. It is harder to find the right ones, but they are easier to determine on, because of the demand for beauty in the voice. One must be a pantomimist and a great voice actor for the talkies. "I would say to any young person desiring a career in talking pictures, educate yourself as far as you can at school; then continue to educate yourself with books and in every possible way, for you will need it all for the proper background in the talking films of the future.''