Lady of the Pavements (United Artists) (1929)

Biographies Editors Want IS BLUFFING SECRET OF JETTA’S FAME? Jetta Goudal, the famous screen star, ‘whose latest appearance is in D. IV. Griffith's “Lady of the Pave¬ ments,” which comes to the . . theatre on .. tells the story of her life, how she ran away from home at sixteen, played leads without ever having been on the stage and how the great love of her life was shattered in the World War. By JETTA GOUDAL I had to steal away from home to have a theatrical career. My parents were very strict and decidedly conventional. I must be like the other little ladies in our town of Versailles, France, prim, restrained, pattern-like. But I delighted in being different. When a chance came to join a travelling troupe and I could see from the questions I put to my parents that they would rather not hear of such a life for me, 1 simply ran away. Many sleepless nights followed. I had “bluffed” the manager of the company into giving me leads in the repertoire. Parts I had professed having often played, which in reality I was hearing of for the first time, were assigned to me. I had to spend endless, weary hours in my room memorizing the lines and making good. France, Belgium, Holland, we “barnstormed*’ them all. And then came the war and love. A refined young Frenchman was introduced to me and we were mutually at¬ tracted to one another. My parents had never forgiven my running away and our constant travelling prevented me from being able to make friends. I was terribly loneW and this handsome youth was like a balm to my tortured mind and heart. ^ The happy hours we spent to- Igether terminated all too soon when he was called to the front. At Verdun he gave up his life for his country. It was as though a curtain had shut me off from the world. I came to America to forget. The gift of confidence and assurance so helpful at the start of my career again served me in good stead. The Hero, * The Elton Case” and Simon Called Peter” were among the plays in which I appeared. My entrance into, pictures came as a shock. Sidney Olcott called me up and said that an actress for a very important “bit” had dis¬ appointed him. Would I play the part—a tubercular slum mother- The picture was “Timothy’s Quest.” I had never faced a cam¬ era in my life. But I went through with it, and it really wasn’t so bad. Then came “The Bright Shawl,” “The Green Goddess,” “Open all Night,” “Salome of the Tenements” and “The Spaniard.” * And now I’m a grand lady of France in D. W. Griffith’s “Lady of the Pavements,” just as I might have been had I been less independ¬ ent. JETTA GOUDALD.W.GRJFFITVlS 'LADY OF THE PAVEMENTj" 3 —One Col. Player Scene Head (Mat Sc; Cut 30 c) George Fawcett Actor for Over Forty Years George Fawcett, who plays the role of the Prussian Ambassador in D. W. Griffith’s new production, “Lady of the Pavements,” coming to the.theatre on .. is called the “grand old man” of pictures, not because of his age, which is mellow enough, but because of his more than two score years of dramatic experience. The veteran stage and screen ac¬ tor created many original stage roles, among them Rob Dowd, in “The Little Minister,” with Maude Adams. A Baltimore theatre leased by Faw¬ cett housed a Shakespearean reper¬ tory company which presented such favorites as “Othello,” “As You Like It,” “Much Ado About Noth¬ ing,” "Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” Stock, a country-wide tour with “The Man of the Hour” in which he played the politician, and an ap¬ pearance here and abroad in “The Squaw Man,” preceded his entrance nto the movies in 1914 via “The Majesty of the Law.” His next ven¬ ture was a star part in a Thomas Ince picture, followed by a leading role in Douglas Fairbanks’ "The Habit of Happiness.” Fawcett worked two years for D. W. Griffith, as a player mostly, but in one case as a director. Ever since he has been a free-lance actor with a record of steady work that no other character actor in Hollywood can equal. Fawcett’s most recent pictures in¬ clude “The Enemy,” “Captain Sal¬ vation,” “Tillie, the Toiler,” “The Wedding March,” “Helen of Troy,” “Tempest,” with John Barrymore, and now “Lady of the Pavements,” with William Boyd, Jetta Goudal, Lupe Velez, Albert Conti, William Bakewell, Franklin Pangborn and Henry Arme'tta. AMATEUR WORK GOT LUPE VELEZ START Lupe Velez may well be con¬ sidered one of the next great stars. For sheer personality and fire no other screen figure of recent years is like this young Mexican actress who plays in D. W. Griffith’s new production, “Lady of the Pave¬ ments,” now at the . theatre. Miss Velez, a Wampas Baby Star for 1928, was born near Mexico City, eighteen years ago and early in life showed an aptitude for dancing. Her first stage appear¬ ance was in a church festival at the capital city where she did a number of folk dances so effectively that she was engaged by a professional theatrical company as ballerina. She was in Monterey with the Mexican musical comedy, "Ha-ta- plan,” when her vivacious talents were brought to the attention of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Woodyard who placed her under their personal con¬ tract and brought her to Holly¬ wood. Hal Roach, the comedy maker, was the first producer to see possi¬ bilities in the girl. After a few appearances in Roach comedies, Douglas Fairbanks who was look¬ ing for madcap type to play op¬ posite him in “The Gaucho," gave Miss Velez her first screen test for a dramatic role. It is said that Fairbanks was so impressed with her then that he signed her to play the part before the tests were developed. As a result of her work in “The Gaucho,” Miss Velez although only two months in the country, was placed in the enviable position of being in constant demand by pro¬ ducers. She went to the DeMille Studio and played opposite Rod La Rocque in “Stand and. Deliver.” At the conclusion of that picture. Joseph M. Schenck, head of United Artists, placed her under a five- year contract to his organization. Miss Velez thus joins such noted stars as Charles Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, John Barrymore, Norma and Constance Talmadge, Ronald Colman, Vilma Banky, Dolores Del Rio and Buster Keaton in producing screen plays for release through United Artists. Miss Velez has lived in San An¬ tonio, Texas, and was educated at the Convent of Our Lady of the Lake in that city. Her selection by the Wampas as a Baby Star is in recognition of the work she has al¬ ready done and will do. Griffith Cameraman Voted Third Best of Profession Karl Struss, who photograohed D. W. Griffith’s "Lady of the Pave¬ ments” at the. theatre, has been named third on a list of ten best cinematographers in a poll of Hollywood directors con¬ ducted by The Film Daily. It is in¬ teresting to note that the four lead¬ ing cameramen, according to the vote, are all under contract to the United Artists, distributors of “Lady of the Pavements.” GAMENESS WON BOYD FILM LAUREL WREATH Hollywood calls William Boyd, co-star of D. W. Griffith’s “Lady of the Pavements,” showing at the .theatre, “The Man Who Stuck.” And that very quality of stick- to-it-iveness, that ability to weather storms of discouragement and fight back when the world gave him clout after clout on the point of the chin won for William Boyd his present popularity. There are those, of course, who call him “Lucky Bill Boyd,” who think that he just walked into the movies and leaped to sudden fame through his work in “The Volga Boatman.” Where has he been all these years, they say. Why haven’t we seen more of him? He is young. He is wholesome. And if they were told that they had seen William Boyd in every picture that Cecil B. DeMille has made in the last seven years they would probably laugh incredulously. William Boyd started with De Mille as an extra in "Why Change Your Wife?” And he has been everything, from butler to bystander, from carpenter to chauffeur. And all the time DeMille watched him out of the corner of his eye. When¬ ever he would get discouraged, his friends would advise him to stick. Finally, he was cast for a prominent part in “Fool’s Paradise,” but two days before starring the picture he broke his ankle and another actor appeared in his place. That was a terrific blow, but he stuck. Don’t call Bill an actor. He in¬ sists that he isn’t, despite what t the critics say of his work. “Anyone can be an actor,” he as¬ serts. “Give a man a gun and tell him the scene calls for him to kill a man. He will act the role mechanically. He is an actor. “But give a man with brains a gun and describe the same scene to him. This man will immediately visualize the scene. He hates the man he is about to kill. He has been wronged. There is nobody on earth he hates more. He wants to see him die. “You see? He lives the scene. He does not merely act it. It is part of his life. It is his crime. But he is not acting.” However, D. W. Griffith, who ought to know, insists that William Boyd is a very great actor. He is a great actor, the director states, because he doesn’t act.