Photoplay (1923)

£T'S all over at last. The suspense I mean. Charlie Chaplin and Pola Negri have formally announced their engagement. The wedding, according to Miss Negri, is not to take place until after she finishes her Lasky contract, which will be in a year. But Mr. Chaplin has dropped a hint that it may take place within sixty days. The new Chaplin mansion in Beverly Hills will be completed about that time, and logical conclusions seem that Miss Negri will open it as Mrs. Chaplin. The engagement has existed since about a week after Pola arrived in Hollywood, and though the plan was to keep it secret until after the knot was tied, the insistence of the public and the newspapers finally won from Pola the admission that "We are — how you say — some day we marry, eh? " Mr. Chaplin joined her at Pebble Beach, Del Monte, where Miss Negri was vacationing, and there on the golf links, both blushing violently, the famous pair admitted they were much in love and expected to be married soon. The romance began, though I neither recognized it at the time, when Charlie was presented to Pola in Berlin. They became friends at once, and Pola now declares it must have been love at first sight. Mr. Chaplin could not say enough about her wonderful charm and beauty when he returned, and as soon as she came to HoUy^vood, he hastened to renew their acquaintance. An irresistible force seemed to draw them together, they declare, and after Pola had been in the west a few days, they were inseparable. But, it is rumored, the course of true love did not run altogether smoothly. Two great temperaments were united in a grande passion, but there were times when they clashed and all was over. Only to be "made up " the next day. Charlie's attentions were romantic enough to suit even the continental Pola. He startled all Hollywood one day by dashing out of a cafe on Hollywood Boulevard, buying a whole wash basket full of violets and throwing them at Pola's feet as she sat at lunch. He would be seen driving down the street in Gossip her limousine, kissing her hand at every turn of the w-heels. And then — genius would flare and Miss Negri would be prostrated. However, all is well and the decision is reached. Pola Negri is to be ^Irs. Charlie Chaplin and love has united the great comedian and the great tragedienne of the screen in one of those world-famous love affairs that future generations will read about. And it is likewise rumored that as soon as her present contract expires, Pola Negri will be starred bj^ Charlie Chaplin. MARY PICKFORD is going to make "Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall." Marj' Pickiord isn't going to make "Dorothy \'ernon of Haddon Hall." jNIary Pickford is going to make "Faust." Mar>' Pickford isn't going to make " Faust." Dear, dear, what a time Our Mar>' seems to be having. .A.S a matter of fact, this is an extremely important and delicate time in Marj-'s great screen career. She is to bridge, in her coming production, a wide gulf. To abandon child roles and give herself for the first time to her public in the full dramatic character of a grown woman. We are going to weep, anway, when we realize that time has robbed us of the !Mary who made live such characters as Siclla Maris and Rebecca. And ]Mar}' is doubtless seeking a vehicle that will make us weep as little as jx)ssible. The empress of the European film studios has become the first lady of Hollywood — as Pola Negri's press agent u-ould say if she had one. Pola, in an American makeup and coiffure, is taking direction from an Irish-American, George Fitzmaurice, for "Bella Donna," said to be La Negri's greatest portrayal. She is soon to do "Declasse" 66