Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1923 - Feb 1924)

60 Babes in the Woods of Filmdom The Warner Brothers have high hopes for little Bruce Guerin. tion period, for they have wisely cast him in a series of two-reel costume pictures, the first being "Robin Hood, Jr." These little gems of childhood playing at grownup drama will carry him until he reaches the juvenile age. when I look for him to do something in the line that George Hackathorne portrays so well. Philippe de Lacy, who supplied the tear motif for many hapless sob plays, suffered a waning day but now is commencing all over again, rising above the handicap of his golden curls. They tell me that lie does especially fine work in Mary Pickford's "Rosita." He is plaving in "Ponjola" now, with Anna O. Nilsson. Partly to Mary's interest in him, mostly to that kindly soul, Miss Edith de Lacy, who adopted this little war-waif, is credit due for the new Philippe, who runs hoops around, plays marbles* asks innumerable questions and is a realistic portrait of that bewildering quantity: A boy. Of the new crop of little kids, some of whom are destined, perhans, to take the places left vacant by the Lucille Ricksens and Wesley Barrys, stands out Bruce Guerin, half-past three, who has been signed on a long-term contract by Warner Brothers. They are grooming him, so A youngster of real promise is Marv Kornman,leadingladvfor"Our GailO ." Photo by Gene Koinman it is said, with the hope that he will step into the kid roles that Wes filled so capably until he reached the awkward age. I doubt if Bruce is a logical successor to the particular type of Wes' characterization. For that matter, I don't like that term "successor" anyway ; imitators invariably fail. Bruce is individually himself ; his talent is a sort of cross between Wes' boyishness and Jackie's pathos. His work in "Love in the Dark" with Viola Dana and1 in "Brass," though the latter was only a bit, was that of a youngster gifted beyond the ordinary but, above all, of an absolute naturalness. Muriel Frances Dana is not a beautiful child, but she endows her roles with a certain quaint charm all her very own. It is my belief that, given the proper parts and the exploitation that has been Baby Peggy's, she may yet make a p'lace for herself, for she is decidedly different and unique. I'm afraid the possibilities of the rest of the baby crop are rather sketchy. Arthur Trimble, aged six, is making short comedies for Century — following the ■. ■ lead of other beauty contest winners ! The ?ifts of Pat and Mickey Moore — in which I am a firm believer — seem going to waste in small roles, probably through lack of efficient management or a too serene contentment with the present's even tone in those who have their careers in tow. Betsy Ann Hisle showed promise a year or two ago — another case perhaps of lack of parents' initiative. "Peaches" Jackson, an embryonic Helen Jerome Eddy, lays no claims to beauty but is a real trouper. Much could be done with Peaches, and also with seven-year-old Mary Jane Irving, who appeared recently in "An O 1 d Sweetheart o f Mine." Both have just that grain of quaint dignity that a girl-child needs to be natural ; both are splendid little actresses. Winston Miller, Patsy Ruth's kid brother, is forging ahead rapidly in his real-boy characterizations. To mv mind, it was his naturalness alone that saved "The Little Church Around the Corner" from floundering in its bogs of saccharine inanity. But Winston and Jackie Davis, Mildred's brother, who is more Continued on page 96