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The Dumb Speak
You know yourself how you've wished for a materiaHzation of your favorite shadow star. ' You've wanted to see how he or she really acts, walks, looks, and, above all, talks. But unless the star happens to have made a personal appearance in your town you haven't had your desire fulfilled.
While you might be disappointed in some of your favorites, many of them are capable as stage performers. In fact, I've seen them achieve remarkable success at times. Not so much at benefits, perhaps, as in play productions.
At one theater in Hollywood — a unique little art theater it is —picture stars take part in plays for the experience and for the love of the thing. The theater isn't so much bigger than a movie projection room or a bandbox playhouse. It holds no more people than will pay overhead expenses and royalties. It is known as the Hollywood Community Theater. There is also another even smaller, but that is of later origin.
One of the first playlets ever given at the Hollywood Community was written by William De Mille, the director. The actors were Wallace Reid, Louise Huff, and Raymond Hatton. Quite a brilliant little star cluster for a starter, wasn't it ?
The director of the theater, Miss Nelly Dickson, formerly a high-school teacher, but a very keen judge of plays and production, has a list of players who have signified their desire to take party in the spoken drama that comprises some of the foremost cinema players. She has already presented such people as Florence Reed, Ann Forrest, Vivian Martin, Clyde Fillmore, Conrad Nagel, Harrison Ford, Helen Jerome Eddy, Betty Brice, Mabel Julienne Scott, William Worthington, the director, formerly with Sessue Hayakawa ; Richard Tucker, Winter Hall, Betty Blythe, Thomas Chatterton, Henry Walthall, Charles Meredith, Lionel Belmore, Wedgwood Nowell, George Hackathorn, and others, all of whom you have probably seen in pictures. They have appeared in plays by Barrie, Shaw, Maeterlinck, Lord Dunsany, Stephen Phillips, John Masefield, and other intellectual dramatists of the day, and
William Desmond and his wife, Mary Mclvor, appeared in the stage version of "Slippy McGee."
Photo by Stage
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Wallace Reid and Kathleen Clifford made a big hit in "Sick Abed."
the community-theater performances are real events. The plays could sometimes run for weeks were it possible to make them remunerative to the players.
One of the most artistic recent presentations was of "Paola and Francesca," with Conrad Nagel and Helen Eddy playing the title roles. You can imagine what an x\pollolike figure Nagel makes on the stage. I doubt whether there has ever been a more type-perfect portrayer of the Paola role.
Every once in a while picture players will briefly engage in leads at the regular commercial theaters. Remember Wallie Reid's feature, "Sick Abed?" Continued on page 103