Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

104 Continued from page 34 quiet neighborhood, preferring to spend her leisure with a few friends. Occasionally she goes to the theater, principally to aid her study of the language. She reads the newspapers and her fan mail, and is graduating to books in English. She is engaged to Nicholas Soussanin, a clever actor already seen in many pictures. In Hollywood they renewed a casual acquaintance begun in Europe. She was married before, and is now receiving a Soviet divorce, a simple procedure which entails no accusations or scandal. With her marriage to Soussanin she will become an American citizen, since he has already taken out naturalization papers. She wishes to do a picture with him, and likes to have him near her in the studio. They converse volubly in Russian, and laugh a great deal with the spontaneity of children. When asked for the date of the nuptials she smiles and replies, "Soon." She intends to tell no one when they will be married. Perhaps they are married now. She goes to movies constantly, missing but few. She did not care for talking pictures until "The Singing Fool." She thought Al Jolson excellent. "It tawched me here"— indicating her heart — "and I cry." She clings to the Russian colony of Hollywood. Devoted to her compatriots, she is happiest in the local Little Russia. When requests are made for Russian benefits, she is tireless in expenditure of her time and BaclanoVa — As She Is energy. Obscure groups can always depend on Baclanova's support. And the support is not merely nominal. She will, after a grueling studio day, hurry to some dingy hall and sing or act, lavishing her skill on the dark, nostalgic faces of her countrymen, raised to her in adoration. Her principal interest, outside of acting, is music. She adores it, can never get enough, and is starved when work conflicts with a concert. Her father a violinist and her mother a singer, music was as essential to the household as dinner. Her own voice is a magnificent soprano, belllike, yet rich and powerful. First coming to this country three years ago with the Moscow group, she literally electrified New York with her modernistic Carmen. The original lyrics were, in the main, abandoned for new ones which had been especially written for Baclanova. The performance was in Russian and the Baclanova Carmen was one which, connoisseurs proclaim, has never been paralleled. Alternating this with five light operas, the visiting Russians were standing hard-boiled New York on its ear. Morris Gest asked her to play the nun in "The Miracle." When that spectacle reached Los Angeles, the movies claimed their own. Baclanova stayed, and the Moscow company went back minus its star, to the dismay of Europe. There is talk of Paramount starring her. This was inevitable and should occasion prayers that her ve hicles be selected neither to stifle, nor blatantly exploit, that brilliant flame. She is adult entertainment. Her acceptance by the public is a step forward in the tardy mentality of the cinema, and she requires an intelligent medium. She would love to do "Carmen" for the talkies, using the score intact. But she feels she is not entitled to make suggestions yet, is unconvinced by her present success that the public will really like her. Abroad she was a star of the first magnitude, yet she does not use this as a lever for making demands in America. Only when she is definitely established on the screen, will she consider herself entitled to self-assertion in the studio. Do you wonder that Paramount officials, battle-scarred from association with Negris and De Puttis, shed tears of gratitude at mention of Baclanova? She is content with any role, just so it is a "real voman — beeg love — beeg hate — beeg sorrow — beeg hoppiness." Triviality is anathema to her. Only in the sweep of big emotions can she satisfy her own tremendous urge ; and only in the expression of such emotions can her desire for expression be satisfied. Zeus, listen, Zeus ! Don't let this marvelous flare of light go the way of most cinema talent. Don't let Paramount standardize her, sweeten her, Americanize her, denature her. See that she remains as she is, with directors like Lubitsch, and roles worthy of her power. Please, Zeus — there's a good guy. Continued from page 53 Ray Develops Resonance. The peculiarities of the talkies seem to show themselves in diverse ways. There's Raymond Griffith, for instance. He has been off the screen for more than a year. Nobody had the least suspicion that it would be a sound picture that would bring him back. Griffith, as is well known, has vocal-cord trouble, which causes him to talk huskily. He is reputed to have lost his voice while in a stage play some years ago. Now it appears that notwithstanding this, he can record very satisfactorily on the microphone. He is playing in a short-reel picture for Christie. It is called "Post Mortem." He is cast as a burglar who, oddly enough, is named "Whispering" Smith. It is said that this doesn't mean a thing, because Griffith can register with surprising resonance. Florence and Jascha Attend. One genius pays tribute to another. While this may be a trite Holl^ood High Light: phrase, it just about describes the adulation which Jascha Heifetz quite evidently lavished on Yehudi Menuhim at a concert given by that child prodigy. Both are violinists, and Heifetz is, of course, the husband of Florence Vidor. Miss Vidor, looking svelte and charming, accompanied him to the concert. Heifetz. at the time, was on one of his visits to the Coast. Married life with the Heifetzes is a happy, if not a continuous union, and they look a most attractive couple. Heifetz's work of course takes him frequently on tour, while Florence's contracts naturally keep her most of the time in Hollywood. Affairs Contractual. June Collyer is to continue her sojourn with Fox. We heard for a time that she might be leaving that organization. However, her option was renewed, and everything promises to be quite golden for her. The first picture on which she is engaged is called "Big Time." It might be termed an auspicious title. Little Nancy Drexel, the goldenhaired, brown-eyed girl who showed decided promise in "Four Devils," is now free-lancing. Until recently she also was on the Fox roster. Loses Loved Adviser. Patsy Ruth Miller suffered one of the most bitter causes for grief, not long ago, in the death of her mother. Mrs. Miller's passing was due to a heart attack, and Patsy, to whom she was deeply devoted, was deeply stricken by the sorrowful event. Her mother had been genuinely a guiding spirit in her career, as those who know Pat well can amply testify. The sentiment between them was rare even in filmland, where motherand-daughter loyalty and union of interest and love is not unusual. Pat had just begun an engagement in a stage play in Los Angeles at the time of her mother's death, but had Continued on page 118