Picture-Play Magazine (1936)

se Through all the years, more letters have been written about Ramon Novarro than any other star, his admirers extravagant in their praise. Fans told the great Nazimova that her glamour provided no excuse for three-foot cigarette holders. This was in 1920. Do the Fans Think? lady received verbal spankings from severe zr.s becouse I lessed that seeing Ramon in person had sent her to bee -eart attack. ] the Novarroites thrive on opposition. Their love — that's the word — for Ramon survives I it has even followed him into retirement. -e asks with Madd Glass, What is his mystic power? " Another question which never grows stc .r of fan letters to the sJ Many a heart has been broken by favorite to respond to 1 ters of praise, but even forget to send photogre I advance. "Who gets the quarters?" was for . cry of i which rose to ask if this was a new st and to remind the si the fans who made them popular could c on. Artificiality is never countenanced by ai it seems, at least fc ago as 1920. various correspondents took occoJ to inform the supreme Nazimova that her unc glamor ~d r.o excuse for three-foot c holders. The fans of 1925 at first thouc Murray's pouts :ses cut« enough, end What the Fan s Think" eventuc istered protest. Mc paid little heed. ' added soft-foe. togrophy to the ities of her pi Malcolm H. Oetting? unsympathetic interv'i with Pola Negri stir-' up more strife amcij fans than anything e* published in Picture Pis sides, with Gloria's legion decidedly in the majority. Later, when Garbo's reign was challenged by the vibrant Dietrich, a similar wordy battle raged. Garbo's proud adorers icily patronized the newcomer, while Miss Dietrich's fans rudely parried with the implication that the Swedish star's fabricated mystery would soon pale when compared to Marlene's ruddy reality. Or, as one fan vividly put it, "Garbo will soon be just another number on the phone-booth wall." The issue died when Dietrich became just a part of the background of Von Sternberg's mystic films, but it may be revived now that she has returned to the type of role she played in her early pictures. Even longer-lived is the endless discussion of just which male star rules the hearts of feminine fans. This one has been going on continuously since the archaic days when "Francis X. Bushman versus Maurice Costello" was the battlecry. And if statistics are trustworthy, Ramon Novarro is the masculine idol supreme. For over ten years he has been the target for a measure of condemnation and an avalanche of passionate praise. As one correspondent shrewdly sums it up, "At first it was Novarro versus Valentino. When Valentino died, it was Novarro versus Gilbert. When Gilbert faded, it was Novarro versus several others. Now it seems to be Novarro versus Gable. When Gable goes it will be Novarro nebody else." The last prediction is perhaps obviated by Ramon's momentary absence from the screen, but it's certainly true that he has always had the greatest number of loyal Ions. In fact, more letters are received about him than any other player, Hmirers are more extravagant in their adoration. For several years they launched a concerted, untiring demand for "sin Ramon" at MGM, and why the studio did not relent sooner is si mystery. Some were even converted to Catholicism becouse it was the religion iol, not to mention studying his native language, Spanish. One young The fans of 1925 at fii thought Mae Murrc* pouts and poses ouj but eventually protest against her artificial I