Pictures and the Picturegoer (Jan-Dec 1924)

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AUGUST 19_4 Pictures and Picf\jre$uer MM r Ltfi : Doll //</ CM tht i,-;i " Foolish H ( ».-(i/ : 1 1 a r r y Myers; Right: Mahlon Ham i, 'ii and Blanch ! in " I lint 23 " Menjou'a skilful interpretation of Mr. So .111(1 So is the most interesting study that even 'ins fine actor lus ever given us." 1 make no claims for them. I just put it to you. (( 'ontimied mi f>agi character man — why. Wallace Beery, naturally ! And yet he's not a " star." Queer ! It is true that both Dorothy Gish and Leatrice Joy have frequently attained the dubious dignity of " co-stardom." (No, I don't know what it means !) Yon may run up against them at any moment heading an " All Star Cast," which if it means anything at all means a " No Star Cast." V/ou may find Dorothy sheltering under the wing of sister Lilian and sometimes catching the tail of Dick Barthelmess's honours. You will never see a bill stating emphatically and baldly, " Starring Dorothy Gish." Not to-day, anyway, unless by a printer's error. Dorothy is a " De-star." And yet when has Dorothy ever done any bad work? Only when the producers have given her bad work to do. Sh; is a pure comedy actress, and if they will try to make her play heavy dramatic roles . . . ! There aren't too many good comedians in this world. Please star Dorothy, .somebody ! If I were asked — which I am not in the least likely to be — to name the best actress in America I should plump unhesitatingly for Leatrice Joy. She is neither comedian nor tragedian. She is an actress. Nobody who saw her in the early days of her Goldwyn pictures, more especially in Ace of Hearts, can ever doubt that she is star-stuff of the purest. Che has done a lot of work with Paramount. She has had one chance with it — in Saturday Niqht. The other chances Leatrice has made for herself. She simply cannot be kept down. Some da"y there will come along a wise man who will have a story written especially for Leatrice, and who will take good care to boom her as one of the screen's greatest discoveries. Then people will discover a new star. We shall be the only ones who will realise that she has been a star all the time. I quarrel with THEIR treatment of Right : Adolphe Meujou, in " The Sheik," and William Collier Jnr., who stole honours acting in " Secrets of Paris." Milton Sills and Conrad Nagel. Not that these two have any shortage of work. They work overtime year in and year out — and incompetent players are not as a rule sought for with quite such avidity. THEY — whoever THEY may be — simply can't get along without Conrad and Milton. I can sec THEM in conference. " Shall we ' Star ' Sills and Nagel this year?" "Heavens! Why should we? Aren't they good enough to get ahead without it? Let's spend some money boosting some poor hoob who really needs a leg up. The public arc thickheaded aren't they."'' Shake Milton ! Conrad — put it right there ! "The two subtlest actors on the American screen are Ernest Torrcnce and Adolphe Menjou. They are so subtle that no producer seems to have realised how clever they really are except Chaplin, Lubitsch. and Henry King. And yet if you read the notices of all the pictures they have played in their names have been mentioned before those of anyone else in the cast " Ernest Torrence as usual carried the picture."