Picture-Play Magazine (1933)

iu What the Fans Think Continued from page u An Open Letter to Marion Davies. West Is West, Praise de Lawd. DOUBT that in all the realms of fandom you have TTTHY is a Hepburn? Why does she strain and a more devoted admirer than 1. Because of my in VY/ strive for exotic effects? The screen has more terest in you and your career. I want to speak quite T than its quota of imitation Garbos. The main reason Mae West went over like U1V frankly about a subject vital to your success. Jt has been announced that you are to play Elizabeth Barrett in ••The Barretts of Wimpole Street." I hope you won't play this role. With the exception of Katharine Cornell. Helen Hayes and Norma Shearer are the best-fitted actresses for the part. You have never been better than you were in "Peg o' My Heart."' a whimsical comedy-drama which suited your talents perfectly. Your charming performance as Peg proved that you are at your best in this type of role. 1 sincerely believe that no other actress could have portrayed Peg so beautifully. But "The Barretts" requires an emotional actress who can portray heavier drama. You don't excel in this type of characterization, and since many other lesser actresses could do as well, your qualities as a comedienne would be wasted. Please, Miss Davies. won't you reconsider before you undertake this role? Stick to the parts we like you best in and leave heavy drama for those who can do it well. We need you as a light comedienne, for there is no one like you. Bertram G. Knowles. 470 North Grove Street, East Orange. New Jersey. Stars Who Mispronounce. WHY do producers who spend tens of thousands of dollars on stories and sets and stars allow glaring errors in speech to destroy illusions? In seeing "When Ladies Meet" 1 had a rude awakening from the spell of Miss Crothers's smart people when Alice Brady came out with a very plebeian "despic'able" for "des'picable." And later with the lower middle-class insistence on the "refined" nominative, she said something "about he and I." If she was a Mrs. Malaprop. these would be explained, but obviously they were due to ignorance and not to intention. Another actor of another American royal family of the theater mined his attempt to play an Knglidi gentleman by a most disconcerting "hospit'able" for "hos'pitable." To an;, one accustomed to hearing word-* as they should he. the prevailing carelessness is not infrequently exasperating. It is also disconcerting to hear an actor mix English and American pronunciations in his line-. Xori ti BlGBl i . The Dallas News, Dallas, Texas. Bertram G. Knowles begs Marion Davies not to play "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" for the good of her career. a tidal wave was because, praise de Lawd, she doesn't copy Garbo ! We want more personalities like Elissa Landi, Miriam Hopkins, and Jeanette MacDonald — vibrant, electrifying, fascinating persons, many-sided as diamonds, and with a sense of humor. Oh, how bored I am getting with languor and long eyelashes and dramatics ! Ladies like the four mentioned above are the really glamorous personalities. They were born that way, and they don't need to strive for glamour by weird eyebrows or lying in the street to read their fan mail. That isn't glamorous — that's just sillv. L. B. Drake. Fort Worth, Texas. To the Feminine Taste. PERUSAL of the fan ravings spilled from the sticky pens of he-man-crazy American women, in praise of Clark Gable and George Raft, prompts wonderment in the hinterland of my brain box. There was a time when artistic ability was rated an absolute essential in the faculties of the successful movie hero, but feminine whims and fancies have rudely shattered tradition. Messrs. Gable and Raft have naught to offer in the way of honest-togoodness emotionalism. With annoying persistence, we are repeatedly informed that producers cater to meet fan preference, but that statement is not exactly accurate. However, it cannot be refuted that the female contingent is given film fodder to taste. The striking success and popularity of Gable and Raft is sufficient proof, yet such men can be found plentifully in almost exact duplicate in the surge of humanity that swamps the city streets. I should like to see immediate reversion to casting only players of unquestionable talent in worthwhile parts. DUGALD McALPINE. 140 Alderman Road, Knightswood. Glasgow, W. 3. Scotland. B George Raft is on the screen in answer to the cravings of he-man-crazy American women, Dugald McAlpine observes from Scotland. Who But Bob? ,OH MONTGOMERY can't make love? Says who? Who could resist his wholesome individual manner of acting? Haven't I heard a saying that goes, "A sincere actor is always himself." That describes Bob to a T. He is just himself. He doesn't find it necessary to mimic the slushy actors, but has climbed the broken ladder of fame as himself, not as a crude Continued on pag? 57