Pictures and the Picturegoer (Jan-Dec 1924)

30 Pierre s and Pichure p&er APRIL 1924 ove and 5,trice Jov/i VI NT DE SOLA blamed iss Joy's typical role is, I believe, that of the wise and patient wife who suffers in silence, and whose devotion regenerates in the end her erring husband. Producers, both of the legitimate theatre and of the screen, are often for casting players because they look a type. However unfair and limiting this may be to histrionic ability, there is no doubt that it is a sensible course. No more convincing method could b e invented, and in the case of Miss Leatrice Joy this is a clear example. She embodies, her face tells me, most of those characteristics which she is called upon to portray. Her face is deeply maternal and domestic, capable of long and enduring love for one man rather than a lighter love for many. There is much gentleness present, and the lips speak clearly of her deep understanding, her tolerance, her readiness to forgive transgressions in another. Her instinctive sympathy for human nature seems deeply grounded, and is mingled with a whimsical humour. She is a grave but not a sad type. But she is clearly a romanticist, and it may be deduced that she likes to believe herself possessed of a greater fund of sadness than she actually has. While not a poseur, her dramatic ability is so definite as to cause her to assume a variety of attitudes which arc often illusory. She has some feminine curiosity. I note in the rounded chin and firm yet flexible lips the contradiction of the person who is at once compliant and obstinate. Compliant she would be to a marked degree where her affections ruled her, but in matters concerning herself alone, she could summon a kind of obstinacy which would be difficult to overcome. She lives by intuition rather than by analysis, and while she is a keen judge of motives, she is by no means a cynical observer. Rather she is inclined toward a sentimental acceptance of situations and character. It is easy for her to admire others, and to see in them elements which win her quiet affection. Although she is not a leader, nor an individual of executive or planning abilities, she has a surprisingly large capability in anything delicate or small. There is a love of order in the face, and a tendency to distrust anything: that is noisy and raucous or even pompous. I mark the signs of a quick temper in her, and the ability to be easily irritated. But this temper must appear rarely and prove of short duration, causing her to make up for it by a renewed tenderness. There is nothing vindictive in the nature. Her dramatic abilities, as I have said, are marked, and she has a definite turn for comedy indicated in her face. The face is sensitive and is marked by the ability to suffer deeply and brood upon a wound. Due to her affectionate nature, she is one who could very easily be wounded by .the callousness or bluntness of others, and signs are not wanting that through this she has developed the protective trait of caution in herself. She can be wounded so deeply, I would say, that it is in this that she lives most truly, touches the mainsprings of feeling most really. She is driven, as by a perversity, to inflict such suffering upon herself to a minor degree. Some of her faint spirit of sombreness is due to this. There is much patience indicated; and great loyalty. She would be loyal in the face of any difficulty. In fact, her loyalty would be heightened by an acid test. She is able to forgive almost anything, even the wounds which she has suffered inarticulately. Therefore in Leatrice Joy's character with its overtones of tenderness and gentleness, its ability to sacrifice greatly and suffer deeply, the films have a note that thev could ill afford to do without.