Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1927)

72 Hollywood High Lights colony. The members meet once a month in the Biltmore Hotel ballroom for dining and dancing. There have been two dazzling parties already, one about the first of December and the other on New Year's Eve. The first one we can report on now. It was attended by many of the major stars, including Norma Talmadge, Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Norma Shearer, Conway Tearle and Adele Rowland, Conrad Nagel, Fred Niblo and Enid Bennett, the Antonio Morenos, Adolphe Menjou, Bebe Daniels, Irene Rich, the Jack Holts, the Douglas MacLeans, and many others of filmdom's most representative players, who are rarely seen at functions of this kind. Even Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, who almost never attend large social functions, would have been there if it had not been for the death of Douglas' brother, John Fairbanks. The board of governors of the club is also very imposing, containing the names of Charles Chaplin, Richard Barthelmess, Cecil B. De Mille, John Gilbert, Jesse Lasky, Will H. Hays, Ernst Lubitsch, Thomas Meighan, and others. The club is a nonprofit organization and all surplus money is to be turned over annually to a relief fund for players, directors, and others who have suffered reverses of fortune. The Garden of Alia Nazimova's name is to be immortalized in Hollywood — at least, her first name, which, as every one doubtless recalls, is Alia. Nazy's former beautiful estate, called "The Garden of Alia," where she resided while making pictures in California, has been leased for ninety-nine years and transformed into a bungalow hotel, consisting of twenty-five very beautiful villas of Spanish design. The hotel is also to be called Garden of Alia." Here they are — "Beau Geste," "Ben-Hur," "What Price Glory," "The Scarlet Letter," "Sparrows," "The Black Pirate," "Variety," "The Waltz Dream," "Don Juan," and "The Better 'Ole." Purposely we didn't include certain films, such as "Old Ironsides" and "The Flesh and the Devil," which were released late in the year. Of all the films we have listed, "Beau Geste," we believe, is our first choice. Too Many Homes Though two heads may be better than one, the recently wedded Lew Cody and Mabel Normand have decided that one home is better than two. So Lew is now. dwelling comfortably in Mabel's menage in Beverly Hills and, at this particular writing, the two are eating breakfast together every morning and two or three dinners together a week. Lew told us that they felt there would be no sense, at the moment, in building another home to suit both of them, as that would give them four homes between them. Lew already owns one in Beverly and one in Hollywood. He said that his Beverly home was much too mannish an affair to be satisfactory for a lady and that that was the reason why he had moved over to Mabel's house, though it is somewhat short of closet space. When he runs short of a dress shirt of an evening now, he has to make a hasty trip up to his own establishment to procure a supply. Otherwise, though, everything is as pleasant as can be. Ruth in a Quandary Hollywood loved its football this past season. There were a lot of big games on the Coast, and nearly all of them were attended by throngs of stars. Football goes on until late in the season in California, the last game being played on New Year's Day. We saw Ruth Roland and Ben Bard at the hotly fought contest between Notre Dame and the University of Southern California. Ruth was a wreck after the experience. "I'm never going to a game again under such circumstances as those," she said. "Being a Californian by birth, my patriotic duty impelled me to root for U. S. C, but every time I did I got a terrible twinge of conscience, because Ben had bet on the visiting team. Every time U. S. C. made a good play I started to yell, and then nearly choked to death when I remembered Ben." The Ten Best Pictures We recently had occasion to make our choice, for one of the trade magazines, of the ten best pictures of the past year and, just to see whether you like them, we are going to submit them herewith. Photo by Ruth Harriet Louise Here's a surprise for you. It's Renee Adoree made up for her role in "Mr, Wu." Cupid Keeps Busy That pretty little bright-eyed, birdlike girl, Edna Murphy, who returned to Hollywood for only a few months after having spent several years working in the East, may marry the handsome young Larry Kent. Neither has denied the report of their engagement, which fact may or may not be regarded as conclusive evidence of a forthcoming wedding. Anyway, they are seen much in each other's company. Another young couple whose romance proved interesting is Richard Holt and Florence Gilbert. They were recently married in Ventura. Miss Gilbert is with Fox. Gladys McConnell, of the same organization, was wed to Arthur Hagerman some little time ago and managed to keep the fact a secret until very recently. Janet Gaynor, the Fox company's most important recent discovery, is reported engaged to Herbert Moulton, a newspaper man. Ethel Shannon is to be married in March to Joseph Jackson, of the editorial staff of Famous Players-Lasky. A New Western Hero It's a boy! The arrival of an heir to the fortunes of Fred Thomson and Frances Marion was thus announced not long ago in San Francisco. The child is their first and, needless to say, both father and mother were overjoyed. Thomson is one of the most popular actors in Westerns, and Miss Marion is filmdom's most celebrated scenario writer. Miss Marion wanted the youngster to be born in her former home city, which is San Francisco. So she