Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1920 - Feb 1921)

Right Off the Grill An assortment of observations, anecdotes, criticism, comment, opinions, and bits of news about the film world, flavored with frankness. By Herbert Howe iiiiiiiiiiiiiimii iiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiii i iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin i 11 milium H iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiini BBjjff^^ | THEIR TRUE TITLES. THIS is the way we'd cast them for titles off screen : Katherine MacDonald— "The Perfect Woman." Viola Dana — "Fair and Warmer." Betty B 1 y t h e — "A Daughter of the Gods." Mildred Chaplin— "The Misfit Wife." Richard Barthelmess — "A Manhattan Knight." Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton — "Partners of the Night." Wallace Reid — "A Regular Guy." Eugen-e O'Brien — "What Women Love." Antonio Moreno — "The Untamed." Syd Chaplin — ''His Brother's Keeper." Anita Stewart — "The Slim Princess." Lew Cody — "The Love Expert." The Mack Sennett Lot — "The Beach of Dreams." Hollywood Boulevard — "The False Road." Hollywood — "The Whisper Market." CARD OF THANKS. "THE Farm Hands' Fraternity of America wishes to express thanks to Mr. Richard Barthelmess for presenting a country boy who is not a boob in Mr. D. W. Griffith's production of "Way Down East." Mr. Barthelmess is the first screen actor to realize that such a thing is possible. "Way Down East" is said to have cost seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. As Fanny, the teacup hound, observes, after a hard summer in New York : "Why, the ice alone must have cost that much!" NAZIMOVA GIVES A BENEFIT. '"PHE loyalty of Nazimova toward her company was exemplified when the star recently presented a preview of "Madame Peacock," her new celluloid, as a benefit for the family of the late Gene Gaudio. You may recall that Gaudio was the Nazimova photographer during five productions. His death was sudden, occurling while he was at work on a Bessie Barriscale picture, "The Broken Gate." Madame personally presented her picture at the Iris Theater in Hollywood. The pill-box structure overflowed with celebrities, who paid from two to a hundred dollars for the privilege of being Madame' s guests. Among the stellar four hundred we observed Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Fairbanks, who sat with Nazimova, Viola Dana, May Allison, Mr. and Mrs. Sessue Hayakawa, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Holubar, Betty Blythe, Alice Lake, Colleen Moore, Antonio Moreno, William Farnum, and Mrs. Farnum. Many contributed who were unable to attend. In the rose light of the stage appeared a slender figure with an aura of swirling hair ; she bowed low several times as applause swept the house. Then came the fluting tones of Nazimova's voice. She commended " 'Gene of the big heart," acknowledged the service rendered by each member of her company in making "Madame Peacock," and revealed an anecdote or two. Of her director she commented : "Ray Smallwood, my director, calls me by different names. Sometimes he calls me 'Troupe,' sometimes 'Grandma.' And I call him — I will not tell you what I call him !" Then raising her arms, she rumpled the mass of dark hair. "Shoot !" she cried, and the operator obliged. Nazimova appears as mother and daughter in the picture. Personally I prefer her as the vanity-stricken actress, Madame Peacock, a character of droll satire, as subtle as her Hedda Gablcr of the stage. Incidents with which I happen to be familiar cause us to suspect that Madame Peacock is a composite of certain stellar contemporaries. There is a certain speech and manner of delivery that suggests Petrova, and a backstage moment, which, if we mistake not, occurred when Elsie Ferguson held the stage in New York. Knowing Nazimova's sense of humor I would not put it beyond her to satirize even herself. If the dramatic facets were as carefully wrought as the star's characterization I would catalogue this picture as a Tiffany. The diamond of characterization, however, has not a good setting. Much of its intrinsic luster is dulled by careless continuity. The effect of the brilliant acting-, a blend of varicolored nuances, is robbed of full appreciation because the situations are not properly devised. I feel that Nazimova needs aids who, in matters of direction, continuity, and photography, are as expert as Madame is in histrionism. Until the star is so surrounded her genius will never be realized in maximum, for not even the most gifted artist can achieve the greatest result unaided.