Picture-Play Magazine (Sep 1928 - Feb 1929)

112 Advertising Section New Skin on Face Or Any Part of Body Cleared In 3 Days' 10 Years Younger! READ FREE OFFER OUPPOSE you awoke some morning, looked 0 in your mirror — and you saw a new, clear, smooth, youth-like skin where ugly pimples, or blackheads, or freckles, or surface wrinkles and other blemishes used to hide your beauty — what would you say? Naturally, you would jump with joy, just as legions of others do who learn how to perform this seeming miracle at home, harmlessly and economically — instead of paying a big fee to some dermatologist. it is all explained in a new treatise called "BEAUTIFUL NEW SKIN IN 3 DAYS," Which is being mailed absolutely free to readers of this magazine. So, worry no more over your humiliating skin and complexion. Simply send your name and address to MARVO BEAUTY LABORATORIES, Dept. 81-L, No. 1700 Broadway, New York, N. Y., and you will receive it by return mail, without charge. If pleased, tell your friends about it. IIIIIIIII!IIIII!!IIIIIIIIIII!!I!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIM For all around, good lively reading! A fiction magazine that specializes in variety On the news stands the 7th and 20th of each month Fifteen cents a copy IIIIIIII1IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH Just What Is Acting, Anyhow? Continued from page 52 step ahead a little slower. He lacks something of the hero's air, which Buddy has to an exceptional degree. He is a two-fisted type, with no nonsense in his ideas and his personality. Nancy Carroll, who came into popularity with "Abie's Irish Rose," is a girl who has an unusual personality, which pleases fans and critics alike. Nancy looks like all the wide-eyed baby-dolls in the world, but, unlike most of them, she is a vital person, and Paramount is planning far ahead for her. Then there is Sue Carol, who has swept like a fire through Hollywood and beyond. Much has been said about Sue's wealth, her social position and her education, but she has something else that is twice as important. I saw her during the filming of "The Air Circus," and thought her the most vital girl I had ever seen. With hair which had been cut wind-blown, but was blown by the wind into a standing-on-edge mass, with eyes that were alive with enthusiasm, feet which were always doing something, and a smile which broke out in all sorts of unexpected places, Sue radiated everything which was vital, interesting and charming in youth. She generates energy like a 'dynamo. There is one personality on the screen, who is to me the most fascinating, but who repeatedly has had bad breaks. Leatrice Joy has gone through various stages of vitality and negativity, and from it all she has emerged as vivid as a violet ray. She has been able to project her charm and personality in a series of undistinguished pictures. Her fans have remained amazingly loyal to her, and have shouted for better pictures for Leatrice. If she is the success in "The Bellamy Trial" we expect, she will step into popularity which has been waiting for her for a long time. A magnetic, vital personality, Leatrice ! It is a fast age we're moving in. The tempo of living is so rapid that by the time night comes our own dynamos have run down. The vaudeville houses used to be crowded with tired business men, and their feminine counterparts. Now they go to the movies to see girls like Clara Bow. to feel the thrill of their personalities— to get a sort of mental pick-me-up. Lillian Gish, splendid actress though she is acknowledged to be, does not prove the drawing card that Clara and Greta and others do. For Lillian is fragile, tired and exhausted ; she lets you down mentally. A quivering smile, a flutter of hands, a tremble of lips, may be art to the critics, but a stab between the eyes and a throb to the pulse are more in demand by the public. Mary Philbin is undeniably a good actress, and yet Mary hasn't the widespread popularity of others, because her energy never seems to be centralized. Now and then a director has seemed to magnetize her, and the result has been notable. Fay Wray still seems to be half-positive. There are many players who are positive, dynamic personalities when they are playing in that type of picture, but who drop down otherwise. Joan Crawford, given an interesting role, can sweep you like flame, but she is seldom able to rise above an ordinary type. Ruth Taylor came from Sennett's, with all the famed Sennett training, to play Lorelei in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." On the strength of her performance, she was given a contract. Yet, although Ruth was attractive in the role, little Alice White, as Dorothy, walked away with what honors the picture afforded. Ruth had had twice the training, but Alice clicked like castanets. Strangely, in spite of ability, an interesting personality and splendid pictures, Dolores del Rio has never swept the fans off their feet. They give her admiration, and she is popular, but warm, personal, glowing interest in her seems to be lacking. Madge Bellamy, after years of half-positive performances, has become amazingly popular, since she set about to change her personality and become vital. Charles Farrell is dynamically popular with the fans, because of his eager, boyish personality, and now Barry Norton, also with Fox, has seemed to catch hold also. He plays with Janet Gaynor in "The Four Devils." Nick Stuart is another comparative newcomer who "arrived" quickly by means of an irresistible personality. It all seems to be a matter of chemistry. The positive currents magnetize everything about them and generate power ; the negative currents sink into nothingness. Given a positive personality, plus an opportunity to reveal it, and stardom seems to result. Stardom and bulky fan mail ! Jack Gilbert's idea does work out. Just go through the card index of your favorite players, and do a little figuring. Two plus two equals four, even though everything else in this world may be subject to change.