Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1927)

26 What I Think of My Wife— or My Husband— on the S Milton Sills thinks Doris Kenyan 's] greatest asset is her versatility, while Doris admires Milton's strength and power, both on the screen and off. his wonderful voice.' It doesn't seem right to waste a speaking voice like his, even though he is such a good screen actor. I'm happiest for him when he is on the stage. But, oh, dear" — ruefully — "it's terrible for me. It means he is traveling, and I get so lonesome I don't know what to do. I rush through pictures so I can snatch a few days and join him, wherever he happens to be playing. I don't know but what I'd rather have him a picture actor after all." "Claire," says her adoring husband, Bert, "is the perfect heroine for costume pictures. Any one so beautiful belongs in stories in which she is shrouded in illusions. If she must do modern things, I like best to see her in the light comedy-dramas she has been doing lately. But I shall never feel she is showing her best to the public until she does Elaines and Melisandes and Isoldes." And now listen to James and Betty Compson Cruze, who illustrate how to be strong-minded and impartial, though happily married. From Jimmy Cruze : "I do not think my wife is the best actress in the world. I do not think she is even one of the best. In an ordinary family, a statement of such a nature would form excellent grounds for a first-class quarrel. Despite the fact that I have directed her in some twelve or fifteen pictures, I do not and cannot look on her as an actress at all. Rather, she is Betty Compson, my wife. "I know she always gives an excellent performance, that she has never yet failed to please the audience and help the picture. But both Betty and I know that she has never been a sensation and never will be. At least, we hope not. Because, after all, sensations are like skyrockets. They rise to the heavens in a glare of splendor, remaining but a mo James Cruze frankly says that he does not consider his wife, ment, and then tumble to Betty Compson, an outstanding actress, while Betty says that earth even more rapidlv than Jimmy's work as a director is not nearly careful enough in its thev rose." details. creen And from Betty: "I have worked with better directors than James Cruze. And also, I have worked under worse men — far worse. As a director of subtle comedy, of fantasy, or of colorful historical photoplays, he is difficult to surpass. But his work will not stand careful analysis — he has an utter disregard for the finer details. "To me, there are two kinds of directors — those who paint their pictures in miniature and are absolutely meticulous, and those who work with a wide, rugged sweep. James Cruze is in the latter class." William Boyd and Elinor Fair have been married such a short time, one hasn't the heart to call them on their roseate enthusiasm for each other. Elinor, with her dark eyes glowing, says, "What do I think of Bill's work? Well, if all the movie fans in the country thought the same way I do, there would be only one star in pictures — and that star would be William Boyd ! Perhaps" — trying desperately to be coldly analytical — "the thing I like best in Bill's work is his repression. There is in his acting none of the Mailing of arms, the arching of eyebrows, the stagy posing that sometimes creeps into a screen player's style. Bill is definite about everything he does in real life, and that assurance is reflected in the strength of his screen characters. And then he has such a gorgeous sense of humor ! Of course, I liked him best in 'The Volga Boatman.' I can't even picture any one else portraying his role in that." Yes, Bill is a definite person in real life. No one could dispute the conviction in his voice and manner when he said, "To say that my favorite leading lady is Elinor Fair expresses just what I think of her work. "But despite the fact that her biggest role was that of the princess in 'The Volga Boatman,' I don't consider that picture her best. The role demanded a cold, almost lifeless portrayal, and that's so different from the girl I know in real life. She has such a happy outlook on things. It is reflected in her dancing eyes and animated face. I think that her performance as the drab mountain girl in 'Driven,' made several years ago, was the finest thing she has yet done — though I know the fans will love her in 'The Yankee Clipper,' the picture she has just finished making with me." Marie Prevost considers Kenneth Harlan such a splendid actor that she doesn't like to have him for her leading man — he steals too many scenes ! "I married Kenneth," she says, "because to me he typifies all that is finest and most appealing in the American man — and I think he symbolizes just such a ' character on the screen. I consider his work 'in 'The Virginian' the finest he has done so far. But he revealed a new side to his character — a stronger side, too — in 'Twinkletoes,' with Colleen Moore." While Kenneth says, "When a man watches his wife on the screen, there is one quality he appreciates most of all — that is naturalness. I. think he likes to see that in her, even more than technique. In the pictures Marie has done with Lubitsch, she has been the impish, humorous, human Marie I know. ConseContinued on page 98