Picture-Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1926)

65 1 11 P ictures haven't been in the movies very and tell how it affected them. Betty Bronson. It is funny how quickly one becomes accustomed to studio life. I recall vividly how strange it all was to me when I was chosen to play the lead in "Peter P a h." The studio seemed too large, and all the terms were so technical and confusing. It seemed like a wonderful land, with magic on every hand. I didn't have any idea about make-up, at first, Photo by Ricb(!e and it worried me terribly. I had heard how heavily one must paint up for pictures. I didn't like that, but I decided I must do it. I started in with the grease paint and other things, and made an awful daub of it. After I got all through, I iooked ill the mirror at the general effect — and I didn't know myself, and I am sure that most of the people who recognize me in pictures now wouldn't have known me in that make-up. I confess that I shed a few tears over the whole thing, and just then, Jim Collins, the make-up expert at the Paramount studio, came to my dressing room to see how I was getting along, for I had told him just a wee fib and had said I knew how to put on make-up. He laughed when he saw me, and then said, "You poor kid, why didn't you tell me?" Then he was awfully nice, and I took off all the daub I had on, and he explained to me that you really use very light makeup in pictures nowadays — just enough so that the glare of the Kleig lights doesn't make your face look entirely blanched white. It seems funny, that I didn't know all these things then — they are so simple. Greta Nissen. The cameras amazed me — bewildered me — and I had a horror of looking at the first rushes. I expected to find my American associates in pictures distant and non-receptive to one from a foreign country. But I found the reverse to be true. This delighted me beyond measure. Even the property men and electricians on the sets went out of their way to teach me. Their principal tutelage, however, was in slang expressions, which I thought smart but did not ' exactly get across at times. I love the picture work, but I'm not sure whether I like it better than my dancing on the stage, and I may return tO that.* Photo by Richee * According to latest reports, Miss Nissen has decided to return to the stage. Photo by ach Brothers Vilma Banky. America has made me very happy. I came here in fear and trembling. When I first arrived in Hollywood, dropped into the midst of a most unusual atmosphere, I was for a time terribly homesick. But every one was so nice and friendly, and I was included in so many parties, that I soon got over it, and began to feel perfectly at home. And now, I have formed so many pleasant friendships, and like both my work and Hollywood so well, that I hope I may stay for some time — if only the American fans like me well enough to want me to stay. Greta Garbo. When I first entered pictures in America, I was so new to American ways that many things happened to me that seemed tragic then, but seem funny now that I have got used to American customs. I believe that the most tragic thing of all was having to hurry. In Sweden, we take all the time we want. Usually the leading man is playing on the stage at the same time he is working in pictures, so every one sits around and waits until he is through with a matinee or a rehearsal. But in America, every one is always busy. Even when the players are not working, they are having photographs made and gowns fitted. I could not get used to this, at first. I wanted to take my time and rest. Now, however, I like the rush and hurry. Alyce Mills. I have heard it said that an actress or actor, whether for the stage or screen, never achieved success without a baptism of fire. After a year in pictures, I came to the conelusion that, having started in as a scared-todeath girl, and survived the terror of making my first films, I had been through such a baptism. The most terrifying experience I think I 1 j 1 i Photo by Richee have ever gone through was mustering up enough courage to take my hands from my eyes in the projection room and watch my screen test being shown on the screen. It was not only uncanny to me, it was gruesome. Continued on page 107 Photo by Ruth Harriet Louise