Picture-Play Magazine (Sep 1928 - Feb 1929)

54 anhattan Photo by Hesser Mary Pickford made her brief visit to New York incidental to a trip to Washington, to argue over her ; -. income tax. BETTY BLYTHE has raised her pretty, jeweled hand in final farewell to Hollywood. And like Tosti's song, it's good-by forever. _ Miss Blythe, you know, is the girl who made the bead a valuable adjunct to a siren's life on the screen. Give her a box of beads and a few necklaces, and she could vamp her way through the most tragic situation. The noblest hero who ever trod the lot could not withstand her. That was a few years ago. But since beads went out of fashion, and tinsel has come in, Miss Blythe finds herself without a vocation. Her type is out of style, and Betty understands the writing on the wall. In all her regal splendor she has taken possession of quaint quarters in Sniffen Court, the. Photo by Studio Lorclle Maurice Chevalier Intimate glimpses of players new and old, who are haunt of writers, authors, and painters. Daily she sallies forth with all the ardor of the neophyte, in quest of a job. And moreover, she likes it. She's thrilled about it, good sport that she is, and she is bringing to the quest all the enthusiasm she first bestowed upon the bead. She's bent on a new profession. Would you like to know how a star feels when her day is done, when for some reason or other, the men who produce pictures look over her head when casting time comes around ? When she finds that younger girls, new faces, and fresh fads and fancies have taken the place she once held so royally ? Let Miss Blythe tell you. She's outspoken, not too timid to look a situation in the face, not anxious to throw dust in your eyes lest you suspect the truth. "I'm through with the screen," says Miss Blythe in her clear voice, "because the screen's through with me ! Not from choice, mind you, but from necessity. I've loved everything about it, and I'm going to miss it, of course. But I'm no longer in demand, and I don't want to stamp around like an old war horse till some one takes pity on me, and puts me out to pasture. "I'm not old, of course, but I'm not in my teens. Extreme youth is one of the greatest assets on the screen, and we older ones have got to admit that cheerfully and stand by. I'm no longer in demand, and I must submit gracefully. "The screen doesn't owe me anything. It's given me everything a girl i could ask for from her profession — financial security, recognition, fame, travel. I've made pictures in every part of the world and loved every moment of it. Why should I weep and wail, because the younger set has come on? It's not in the cards to have your day forever. I'm still young enough to conquer other worlds. I've ten or fifteen years left of the prime of life. And I can do other things. I'm going to begin all over again on the stage. It will be adventure for me — the daily adventure of something new ; a step forward, perhaps, one day, a step backward, perhaps, the next, but always marching on. "I couldn't sit by this fire\ side, cozy as it is, and twid dle my thumbs after years of activity. So I'm not only ready, but eager, to begin at the bottom, if need be." Thus Betty Blythe, bedecked in furs and jewels and slinky gowns, goes merrily about the task of getting a job, and the last we heard of her, she was in vaudeville. "Just a stepping-stone," she told me. "I'm going to act on the legitimate stage. You'll see !" Sophie Tucker's Confidences. Sophie Tucker heaved a mighty sigh and threw heridol of the Paris music halls, self prone upon the dressingroom floor. charmed all who saw him on his way to Hollywood.