Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1927)

56 Hollywood High Lights tinctive personality, Ramon is rather difficult to cast. He is at his best in a role of deep spiritual appeal or renunciation. "Romance" offers him just such a role. The mood is somewhat similar in "Old Heidelberg." During the past year or so, since the completion of "BenHur," Ramon has not been faring very well in the matter of roles. One picture that he made was shelved, because he was so badly miscast. So it is all the more gratifying that he now has two films which should prove worthy, of his exceptional talents. At the Mayfair Club recently, Ramon made his debut, under much protest, as a singer. He was unexpectedly called on to perform by one of the studio officials. He was terribly embarrassed, because he is very modest about his musical attainments, but he sang the Spanish "Clavelitos," playing his own accompaniment, and won an enthusiastic ovation. Miss Swanson Seems Sad Gloria Swanson's return to Hollywood, after an absence of two years, was celebrated in terms of fire. That is to say, a few days after her arrival, a . blaze broke out in the cellar of her home, but the flames were extinguished with little trouble. Gloria is looking slender and wan. An attractive air of sadness hovers about her. She and her husband, the marquis, held a reception at their home shortly after their arrival. The marquis, incidentally, has gone into business with an agency for foreign automobiles. An Old Favorite Reappears Do you remember the picture, "Tillie's Punctured Romance ?" That's going back into the dim and distant days of the past, of course, but then "Tillie's Romance" was one of the first feature comedies and was therefore a great novelty. Along with Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand, Marie Dressier was one of the principal players in the film, and made quite a hit. But after the completion of the picture, she went back to the stage, and has not been seen on the screen since. Now, after a lapse of fully twelve years, Miss Dressier has returned to Hollywood, and has been playing in "The Callahans and the Murphys" in the role of Mrs. Callahan. And that old-time favorite, Polly Moran, is cast as Mrs. Murphy. She and Miss Dressier are tremendously amusing together. Miss Dressier, on the strength of her performance in the film, has been signed up by Metro-Goldwyn, so you may see much of her funmaking from now on. Good Teamwork The team idea is becoming very popular. By "team," of course, we mean any two players who are co featured in a succession of films. Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton formed a team when they played together in "Behind the Front" and "We're in the Navy Now." And now, Karl Dane and George K. Arthur are to be teamed together in a series of films, beginning with "Rookies." Occasionally, too, a man and a girl form a team — as Jack Mulhall and Dorothy Mackaill, for instance. They played together in "Just Another Blonde" and "Subway Sadie," and will again be seen together in "The Road to Romance" and "The Crystal Cup." A Cute Newcomer A second Clara Bow ! That's the way that little Alice White might be announced to a waiting world. It's generally bad luck to be a "second" to any one in the movies but not in Alice's case. This young girl, whom First National allowed to slip from a contract some time ago, scored a big hit in "The Sea Tiger," with Milton Sills. Her role happened to be a nice fat one, because her chief duty was to speak a lot of funny subtitles. Besides which, she looked so cute that theater owners commenced to make inquiries as to her future pictures. Whereat First National hastened to send for her and put her back under contract. Monocles, Monocles Everywhere What with the large group of foreign actors now in Hollywood, the monocle is becoming quite au fait. So far, however, most of the American players have remained immune to its attractions. Conrad Veidt, the German actor who played Louis XL in Barrymore's "The Beloved Rogue," wears a monocle, and insists that it is not an affectation. "I have trouble with my right eye," he asserts. Andres de Segurcla, the former opera star, who played in Gloria Swanson's "The Love of Sunya," is another who is never seen without a monocle, except when it's out of keeping with whatever role he may be playing. Charlie Mack's Tragic Death Charles Emmett Mack's death in an auto accident deeply affected the picture colony. As you probably know, he was killed instantly when his car crashed into another at Riverside, California. He was driving at a rather high rate of speed, as he was hurrying back to location after'having had lunch with his family. Curiously enough, the picture on which he was at work was called "The First Auto," and it seems to have been ill-fated, because a few days later a girl playing a small part in the same film was killed in another accident. Hold it, Mary Ann! Mary Ann Jackson, diminutive comedienne of the Mack Sennett studio, takes an unexpected flight into the clouds.