Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1926)

63 Turns Reporter of a star's impressions "Picture-Play Magazine." Nothing else would sat Myers provocation, usually while interviewing some one for work. Once, after speaking to Mr. So-and-so at Lasky's, who was really very kind to me, I managed to hold back Niagara until I reached the gate, and then the poor doorman got the full benefit of my pent-up emotions. I never pass him now without stealthily looking out of the corner of my eye to see if he recognizes me. "At last I landed a job at eighteen dollars a week as a typist, and sang 'Te Deums' of joy. A review I wrote on 'Man, Woman, and Marriage' was printed in a small magazine. But my goal was PicturePlay, isfy me ! "For a year I bombarded that magazine with copy. For a year that copy was returned to me. It was like having checks returned, marked 'Not sufficient funds.' You can't draw on what you haven't got, so I kept adding 'knowledge' to my bank account. And lo ! at last they accepted my check. But I'm getting my metaphors a bit mixed — I accepted their check. I suppose the editor was tired of returning my stuff, and he finally gave in." The last sentence I discount entirely, as just a pretty speech. When Myrtle told me she had rewritten one story seven times before it was accepted, I understood why she finally found herself in print, why she has a firmly established place in the hearts of the movie fans as well as on the staff of the magazine, and why she gets more fan mail than any other magazine writer in the world. Once, in a weak moment, she told the fans she would tell them about Hollywood. Her mail got quite beyond her after that. She was simply deluged. To hear interesting bits and pieces about Hollywood is always a treat, but to have them recounted by Myrtle Gebhart — that is complete. "And of future ambition?" I suggested. I did not have to do much suggesting though. Myrtle knew that a certain amount of information was necessary to every interview, and she volunteered admirably. "Of course, there's an unfinished novel tucked away. I had never met Rupert Hughes, but I courageously sent it to him in hopes he might look it over and be kind enough to tell me of its merits, if any. He, bless his heart, rang me up and invited me to lunch, and went into a detailed criticism of it. He liked the first part, but said I should lay it aside before finishing it, to wait until my viewpont changed — so I am waiting." Myrtle has had a struggle (haven't we all?). She is only now getting the thrill out of parties and smart clothes that she could not afford before. We were at a beach party together a few weeks ago, and Myrtle wore orchids ! Her little gray-haired mother was with her, Myrtle Gebhart smiles to-day to think how much she has accomplished since the days of her early struggles. and Myrtle's constant worry was that Mrs. Gebhart might not be dressed warmly enough. Which reminds me, that once when my mother and myself met Myrtle and her mother at lunch somewhere or other, Mrs. Gebhart said to my mother, "Our daughters are good to us." So you see why the heart interest i«i all of Myrtle's articles is there — because she dips her heart in ink and pens her story with it ! Now, how can you interview some one who is just starting out on a trip around the world? Particularly if that some one happens to be a decidedly attractive girl, who is about to journey with a girl chum to parts unknown to them — to the Orient, Paris, Berlin — and free as the wind, alight wherever fancy drops them. Mona Gardner was in such a state of hectic excitement that I was entirely unable to pin her down to facts. Our conversation ran something like this : "And where were you born?" Bravely enough I started out, holding her by force at the studio, where we had met by appointment. [Continued on page 105]