Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1935)

The Voice from the Grave thai Guides Hollywood [ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 1 The fateful years 1924 and 1925 had gotten in their work. And what work! The months that followed told the story. In January, his pictures were howled off the screen in his native Italy. That same month, his wife won her divorce in the Paris courts. In July he ran into that "powder puffs for males" attack which threatened to wreck forever his popularity with the American public. On August 16th, he was operated on for gastric ulcers — and on August 24th, he was dead. You don't have to take my word for that one. Evangeline's exact words about Rudy were printed over her own signature in this very magazine three years before he died, and the facts in regard to Valentino are written indelibly on the pages of cinematic history. But to turn to more cheerful subjects, Evangeline always insisted that Grace Moore, who was at that time merely a musical comedy artist seeking to be a grand opera prima donna, would become "sometime in the early Thirties"— meaning the early Nineteen Thirties — a motion picture star of the first rank. I NEVER did know vdiat it was that led Miss Adams to have such absolute confidence in Grace Moore's success at this time, but I suspect that she saw in the opera singer's chart that the planet Uranus which rules the unexpected and thumbs its planetary nose at all rules laid down by men or stars, was coming into a favorable position which would open up a new road to popularity; and, inasmuch as Miss Moore had already tried the stage and the opera, that road must almost surely lead across the motion picture screen. P. S. and FLASH: I have checked this up with one of my astrological friends, and I find it to be absolutely according to the stars. Moreover, the particular kind of favorable aspect of Uranus which happened to the heroine of "One Night of Love" was one that indicated that the man in her life would have much to do with achieving this unexpected success— and those of us who think we know our Hollywood credit Valentin Parera, the dashing husband Grace Moore married in 1931 ("the early Thirties," you will note), with persuading his beautiful bride to forget an earlier unsuccessful attempt to storm the Hollywood heights, and once more to try her fortunes before the singing camera. Her most outstanding reading of this cheerful variety was, however, of a boy who had not then appeared on the screen, but who was becoming known throughout the land because of his intriguing failure to remember the words of the songs he sang to the ladies and gentlemen of the radio audience. "Bing Crosby," she told me in one of those intimate meetings, the minutes of which I kept as faithfully as if they were the monthly sessions of the board of directors of World, Incorporated, "is one of the few people whose charts I have read, who just cannot help having a happy marriage. He may not be so easy to live with. He's stubborn, Bing is. But he has the kind of chart that brings the right kind of wife and children — plenty of children." Of course, I asked Evangeline about Garbo. She foresaw even in the days when Greta was posing in bathing suits and sports suits to please the publicity boys, that she must inevitably adopt the policy of secrecy and mystery which is with her not a pose but a true 100 expression of her real character. She also prophesied that there would be no diminution of her financial fortunes up to the date of her death — which ought to silence some of the calamity-howlers who have been prophesying that Greta would soon go home for good. Evangeline also said that she did not see any romance ever in Garbo's private life. Regarding Dietrich, she was less committal. However, I find notes on one significant point affecting recenttHollywood history. The year 1935, so Evangeline said, was a time when people born under Marlene's stars should not test their popularity with the public, unless it was absolutely necessary to do so. Poor Marlene! I daresay she wishes she had followed Sally Eilers affects a new set of bangs in her latest for Universal. "Remember Last Night," which, you may recall, was tagged, "The Hangover Murders" that advice and waited until 1936, which looks so much more promising for her motion picture career. Incidentally, 1935 was one of those years in which Marlene's favorite director, von Sternberg, was due to take it on the chin. And, speaking of Garbo, Evangeline told me back in 1928, and later repeated the statement in print, that the other member of the famous "team," Jack Gilbert, would never attain in the talkies the same high position which he had achieved in the silent pictures for the very good astrological reason that in his chart, the sign Taurus, which rules the voice, was what astrologers call "afflicted." She also said that Jack ought to turn to writing scenarios — which is interesting in view of the fact that that is the way he started in the movies, as scenario man and assistant director. I suppose you would also like to know, too, if Evangeline said anything about a romance between Mary Pickford and Buddy Rogers. Well, I remember being in the broadcasting studio one night when she read the latter's horoscope on the air. Before we left, Buddy, who had been listening with a group of friends, called up on the telephone. He had never met Evangeline, but he wanted to right away. "Was what I said true?" modestly asked the great astrologer. "True!" exclaimed Buddy. "It was so true it was embarrassing." Well, you might as well know that the burden of Evangeline's delineation of Buddy Rogers' horoscope was that, according to astrology, he was the kind of person who would be attracted to a woman somewhat older than himself, probably a married woman, and that he would exercise a powerful influence over this woman — so powerful that it might bring both him and her into the limelight. As a general thing, Evangeline was a prophet of good rather than evil, but of course it was her duty to warn people. She told Norma Shearer in one of her broadcasts that although she had a most fortunate chart for success in the movies and in home life, it was almost inevitable that her husband would be unfairly criticized in connection with her work. It was interesting, in view of this statement, that of all of the producers in Hollywood, the highly intelligent and artistically ambitious Irving Thalberg was singled out for criticism in the recent censorship drive because he had permitted his wife to play the roles of divorced, and hence censurable, women. Incidentally, Evangeline told Freddie March — at least she would have told him if he had been sitting, as I was, in her studio one evening in the early days of the great March march to fame — that he should be careful at just this time, 1936, to see that Old Lady Grundy didn't throw a spoke into his matrimonial wheels, the said spoke being a married woman or a widow. This would be too bad because Fredric March, in spite of his attraction for women, has very little interest in them outside his own family, and is, according both to the stars and real life, a most devoted husband. Look out, Florence and Freddie, for the widow's mite! EVANGELINE always said that Warner Baxter's horoscope was such that he might never command as much critical acclaim as his really great acting deserved, but that with Jupiter and the Sun in conjunction, he would survive business earthquakes and cataclysms which would wreck the ordinary man. I smiled recently at the memory of this statement when I read that of all of the celebrities on the old Fox roster Warner Baxter was the first to be assigned a starring vehicle under the new 20th Century regime. Evangeline did a good job, too, on Bebe Daniels. Way back in the middle Twenties, when Bebe's movie star, which had risen at the age of seven, seemed about to go into permanent eclipse, Evangeline said that in 1928 she would again come into power in her chosen profession. We know now what '28, the year of the talkies, did for Bebe's glorious voice. And speaking of comebacks, which is always pleasant — especially in anticipation! — there is Clara Bow. Another voice from the grave, you say? Perhaps, since memory in the picture business is so short-lived. But it won't be long now — Evangeline placed it in 1937 — when the Bow may have produced an arrow that will be shot around the world. Alas! The great astrologer is dead. If she were here, we would ask her: "Is it another Shirley Temple?"