Picture Play Magazine (1932)

38 HOLLYWOOD Recording and doings the passing whims of the screen folk. Joan Crawford was marooned on Catolina Island for several weeks while filming "a • " •Rain. rpHE best actor and the best actress of the talking screen are back in Hollywood again. Leslie Howard is now playing in "Smilin' Through," and if no changes are made in schedule, Helen Hayes will soon be seen in "Farewell to Arms." If any one wants to argue with us about their relative merits, comparative or otherwise, or tell us how good Gable, Garbo, Shearer, March, Robinson, and all others are, they can go ahead and shout their heads off. We stand pat. Leslie Howard is the best actor, and Helen Hayes is the best actress, and to heck with any arguments to the contrary — say we. And the best thing we could imagine is for them to appear in a picture together, and maybe they will before the summer is over. Royal Family Assembles. — The entire Barrymore family are in pictures, except one of the three children of Ethel, and the two of John. John has a son now, you know. The Barrymore congregation will be seen in "Rasputin." And the "congregation" means chiefly Lionel and John, and Ethel who has not worked in films for years. When he learned that Ethel had actually signed a contract, Lionel exclaimed, "And pray tell me what poor unlucky individual is going to direct the opus in which all three of us appear?" Now make of that what you will. Ethel Appraises Brothers. — We talked to Ethel Barrymore and discovered that she is a great fan of Lionel's. She nearly leaped out of her seat in the theater the first time that she saw him in "The Lion and the Mouse." She got shushed by the audience for exclaiming out loud at the lifelikeness of his voice in this early talkie. She admires John most in comedy. "I think it is a good thing for him to play comedy and get away from profiling his way through pictures," she said. Which shows that the Barrymores aren't such Pollyannas that they can't criticize one another. Not by any means ! The Shamrock Romance. — James Dunn seems very devoted to Maureen O'Sullivan, but there are still other girls on his broad horizon. June Knight, to whom he paid rather steady attention some months ago, is also coming back to the Coast, and that may add to the complexities. Nevertheless, Maureen and Jimmy are our notion of an ideal match. Cost of Stardom Increases. — Latest routine acquisition of Hollywood stars is official bodyguards. This builds up prestige, insures safety, and increases expense— the last always being a fairly important item. Even the newcomers want bodyguards, why, we don't know. Probably to look impressive. Marlene Dietrich seems to be responsible for the fashion, but with good reason, for she had various letters threatening kidnaping. Her director, Josef von Sternberg, was similarly bothered. An amusing angle on his troubles was that he was mistakenly referred to in one of the news accounts of the extortion threats as Josef von Sternbark. Speedy Studio Life. — George M. Cohan, newly arrived to appear in pictures, has a smart Japanese man who has been in the stage star's employ for years. The two often walk to the studio together, as Cohan likes the exercise. One day the Japanese appeared agitated about the l'lioto by Huncll Leila Hyams will soon be seen with Lionel Barrymore in a film reflecting Washington life. Fredric March is slated for several choice roles this season. Photo by Dyar