Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1927 - Feb 1928)

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22 An Actress Who Knows When to Quit "No, time is one game that you cannot beat. I shall not waste my energy trying to. When I reach an age when I am too mature for screen stardom, I shall retire. But I shall still be young enough to feel that I have my best years ahead of me, and I am planning to fill my life with interests far removed from pictures." On a recent trip to Honolulu, Miss Vidor arranged for the purchase of a house near Waikiki beach, where she hopes eventualh' to make her home. "For a part of the year, at least," she said. "The ideal life, to me, would be Paris for six months of the year, with the other six months divided between travel, Honolulu, and visits to friends in Hollywood. I should want, however, to maintain a home in Paris, as I dislilce hotel life." No, Florence Vidor does not belong in hotels. Despite the chic cut of her hair, the smartness of her g.own, the sophisticated lightness of her conversation, she has a homy air about her, the attribute of a wellbred Southern w^oman. "Why pick Honolulu?" I asked. "Why not your native South? Surel} you must have many old friends there." "Indeed, I have. But their attitude toward me would have changed. You cannot escape the movies in this country. The fact that you have once been connected with them sets you a little apart, as a kind of curiosity. In Honolulu, I should be judged for myself alone, rather than for m} movie reputation. "I do not mean to be idle after I retire. I think I shall study sculpture. No particular talent for it has evidenced itself as yet, but I enjoy it, and often one has latent talents. All arts are allied, and if one has a feeling for one of them, one can adapt that feeling to others. I shall alwa3'S be studying something. "And there will be tennis every day, and reading. And Suzanne will require more of my time as she grows older. A small child may be safely left to the care of a nurse, with only general supervision from her mother. But a girl growing into }-oung ladyhood needs her mother in a more personal way. She needs her companionship and constant interest. I am sure that simply guiding Suzanne's development Avill occupy much of my time." She turned again to Honolulu. "There is a set of young people there, mostly English, whom I found delightful. We used to play tennis and bridge together, and swim and dance. It was some time before they even knew of my picture connection. They had thought me just a yoiJng mother on a holiday with her child. Then, when my profession was discovered, it was relegated to its proper place in the scheme of things with the casual remark, 'Oh, you are an actress? How interesting!' And the talk turned into other channels. "One gets into an awful rut in Hollywood. You hear nothing but pictures, pictures, pictures. Perhaps it's just as well, while you are engaged in the work, though I believe that a broader outlook among the players would add both versatility and realism to the screen. Yet it is intolerable to live in this picture world and not be of it. I have seen that look of loneliness in the eyes of young wdves who gave up acting w'hen they married. They feel completely out of it when they see their chums all working, absorbed in the busy, selfsufficient world of picture-making. It is difficult to keep one's balance here in Hollywood, to realize that there is a world outside where pictures mean little or nothing, that there are many people wdio don't like us. The atmosphere here is too artificial, too unreal." "Will you marry again?" I asked ]\Iiss Vidor. I was wondering about her oft-rumored engagement to George Fitzmaurice, which was recently reported broken. She shrugged. "How can I say? If I do, I assure you of one thing — he must be a playmate. I have learned to play, and I love it." I mentioned certain actresses who had recentlv married men considerably younger than themselves, men Continued on page 108 She bv no means intends to remain idle after slie retires, and has already made many interesting plans for the fntiire.