The World Changes (Warner Bros.) (1933)

Ciurrent Keatures "Stage and Screen Acting Differ Vastly’ Says Muni Noted Star, Playing In “The World Changes,” Frankly Prefers Stage Work to Pictures BY FRANK DAUGHERTY N interview ?”’ Paul Muni looked out from under the grizzled eyebrows he wears in ‘‘The World Changes,’’ his latest First National picture, now playing at the Theatre. In contrast to anything that might have been expected from the protagonist of ‘‘Scarface’’ and ‘‘I Am A Fugitive from a Chain Gang,’’ his eyes were kindly, wise, and faintly amused. ‘‘Can there be anything that hasn’t been said about me in the twenty-five years I have been on the stage?’’ The question went unanswered, until he spoke again. “Well, then, anything except) where I was born and all the things I did as a child and all that stuff. an or when you do them for your own sake, to become stale even in pic That’s pretty old now.’’ He smiled. tures. ‘‘And remem‘Yet I prefer the stage. That ber you asked : isn’t politic to say, you think? But FOrsit. Lt: snot. what do I care about that? what I think. People make what they please of it. And if they like the sort of things I do, they think what I say is all right. If they don’t—they don’t. | Prefers the Stage | “*T could tell you why I prefer I say hard for me to & talk about the § theatre, about | acting. It’s all¢ I know. When § I get through you’ll probably § think I haven’t said anything everyone doesn’t know the stage to the screen, but why already — and PAUL should I? I could name actors and that’s true too. MUNI actresses in both mediums and comWhat is there Mat No. 58 pare them. But with what justice? to say? Price 5¢ One, on the stage, becomes a Cornell. ‘¢ Acting? For the stage? For the Another, on the screen, becomes a sereen? They’re not the same, you Garbo. How are they to be comknow. But everyone knows that, too. | pared? On the stage you build as you go ‘“Popularity? Yes, that is a great along; you are like a violinist who|deal, It means much to any actor, practices and practices, and finally, when all the elements are in their proper place, he plays the piece and it is perfect, or as nearly so as the individual can make it. for when he has reached that, he has gathered behind him all the powerful forces of his art. They are on his side after that, where before he has been fighting them. After popularity is reached, the actor can do as he pleases. Until it is reached, he never knows. ‘¢Pictures are hardly like that. But they have not the same danger for the actor of making him stale. Though it is possible, in a great ‘“What I would like to do now many instances, when you are asked that I am popular enough? But I to do things over and over again,'am not popular enough. When I am, who knows. Comedians always want to do Hamlet. I suppose I shall want to do something skittish. But I never think of that. Every day, every new part, is for me an adventure. In twenty-five years, I have realized that I don’t know a thing about either the stage or acting. Don’t think I am being modest. I’m not. When I know I know a thing, I am never falsely modest about it. But I never know whether a new vehicle is going to be good or bad. Some that I think are going to be good turn out very bad. Some that I am sure are bad, become, through what agencies I don’t know, good. ‘You see,’’ he finished, as he was called back onto the set, ‘‘There is absolutely nothing new to say about me.’’ Glimpsing Mrs. Muni, the former Bella Finkel of the stage, sitting on one side, in the fringe of workers, I went and sat down by her. | Is Very Intense | ‘“He’s very intense,’’ I said, as I watched Muni work. The scene was one in which he was being accused by his son of the death of his wife, the boy’s mother. ‘¢VYes, Muni has to work that way,’’ she said. ‘*He can never compromise. He can never do any thing halfway.’’ I saw him throw a quick glance in our direction as the scene was finished and a retake was called for. I saw the faintest gleam come into Mrs. Muni’s eye. ‘Did he ask you how that was?’’ I asked. ““Yes, We have little signals. I am on the set so much, I don’t want people thinking me a nuisance. I don’t want to get in anyone’s hair. But he always asks me.’’ ‘“Could you tell me,’’ I asked, ‘‘a little about his life outside the studio? Has he friends among the other actors? Does he go to parties?’’ She threw up her hands. ‘*When?’’ she demanded. ‘‘ When he’s on the set, in a picture, he goes to bed the minute he gets home, or he studies his lines for the next day. When we are in New York, he is in the theatre all evening. We do not know any of the other actors. In five years, we have been to the Cocoanut Grove once. In New York Aline MacMahon One of the 26 stars of Paul Muni’s “The World Changes,” now playing at the Mat No. 44 Price 5c I go out, but he very seldom does. He dislikes parties.’’ ccAnd “yous? -saids ——“ Will_-_-you go on the stage again, or into pictures??? ‘“Not pictures,’’ she answered. ‘Perhaps later on the stage. But I know almost nothing about pictures.’’ The scene was finished. Muni joined us, and Lobel, his wardrobe man, came running up with a menu in his hand. Muni ordered smoked fish and a salad. He gave but one order. Later I saw Mrs. Muni in the lunch room, having lunch with someone else. It was apparent that even lunch time demanded of this actor more and yet more time in which to improve his performance before the camera and microphone. As he walked from the stage, I asked him about make-up—about its possibilities for pictures. Muni laughed. ‘“‘T use it like a wardrobe,’’ he answered, ‘‘as a necessary adjunct. Not for itself. It is like a crutch. You use it because you must, not because you want to. I had rather do without it. But that is not possible.’ Mrs. Muni caught my eye. ‘‘They used to compare him to Chaney, when he first came into pictures,’’ she said. But Muni was determined to be fair. ‘‘Chaney was a master of makeup,’’ he said. ‘‘He knew many wonderful tricks. But I do not use make-up that way. I am not interested in make-up for itself. I use it because I must.’’ Mrs. Muni caught my eye. ‘«There’s no use comparing him,’’ she said. ‘‘Muni—he’s not like anyone else.’’ I looked after his departing form as he walked on toward his dressing room. In the bowed and thoughtful head, the strong stride, the determined swing of his body, power and determination spoke. It wasn’t difficult to believe that he was like himself alone. It wasn’g even difficult to believe that in him the screen and stage both have found a new figure of the first magnitude. Time alone will tell that, of course, but already authoritative opinion hints at it. ‘The World Changes,’’ which is said to be Muni’s greatest picture, is a powerful drama by Edward Chodorov, based on _ the novel “America Kneels’’ by Sheridan Gibney. It is a picture of American life, beginning with the pioneer days of the West and coming down through the most colorful era in American history to date. There is a large and talented cast of players, which includes besides Paul Muni, Aline MacMahon, Mary Astor, Donald Cook, Patricia Ellis, Jean Muir, Margaret Lindsay and Guy Kibbee. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy, who directed Muni’s last masterpiece, ‘‘I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang.’’ Paul Munis Latest Movie “TheWorldChanges Coming Paul Muni Coming in New, Dynamic Drama, Epochal in Its Sweep HEN Paul Muni, undeniably among the greatest of all es actors, appears in a new motion picture, fans know they are going to see a different sort of picture— one far removed from the average type of screen entertainment. His last picture, ‘‘I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang,’’ was received enthusiastically everywhere and hailed as a screen masterpiece. And now his first picture since ‘‘I Am A Fugitive,’’ is the current attraction at the Theatre. This picture, “The World Changes,’’ a sweeping epic of America and its last four generations, produced by Warner Bros.-First National with the true Muni skill, is hailed as giving the most thrilling drama of American life through the most interesting stages of American history, ever shown on the screen. So the panorama of America et = rolls in “The World Changes.” And } have entered the scene. You will re the film makers have spared nothing to make it impressive according to advance reports. The story of America is told in the life of 4 generations of one family. Orin Nordholm (in the person of Paul Muni), son of a pioneer leaves his family home in Dakota, and starts his career by driving the first longhorns from Texas to Omaha. He is seen a driving force in Chicago industrial life. He amasses an immense fortune through hard work and the vision to foresee coming developments. But his offspring are of a different breed. Jazz and easy living member for a very long while the picture of this disintegrating generation when you see it visited by the first of the pioneer stock — Nordholm’s mother, ninety odd years of age, and played by Aline MaceMahon! Paul Muni and Aline MacMahon are not the only outstanding names in this remarkable cast—one of the longest and most memorable since the days of Griffith. Mary Astor, Donald Cook, Patricia Ellis, Jean Muir, Margaret Lindsay, Guy Kibbee, Theodore Newton, Gordon Westcott and Alan Dinehart are only a few of them. Performances are among the most Mat No. 26 spectacular in many years. Muni enacts a role covering more than five decades. Aline Mac Stars of “World Changes” Price 10c Paul| Mahon one covering nearly twice that. Mary Astor is said to give the outstanding performance of her ¢ca reer. Others are said to be equally impressive. Anna Q. Nilsson, remembered for her work in silent pictures appears in some of the earlier scenes —. which, by the way, are taken in country more pictorially beautiful than any since “The Covered Wagon.” Omaha and Chicago of the seventies and eighties, and the later Chicago of the nineties and up until the years before the war, are said to be faithfully and colorfully depicted. It is said that Mr. Muni has waited for ten years to find a suitable vehicle in which to depict the life of a pioneer American who returns again to the turmoil of life in the east. A role that would also allow him to utilize his sheer genius for characterizations. It wasn’t until he read the script of “The World Changes” that he was satisfied that at last he had the vehicle he bad been looking for. Scenes in which he plays a man of seventy are declared to be among the most remarkable in the whole history of the motion picture. The direction is by Mervyn LeRoy, who was_ responsible for Muni’s last picture for Warner Bros., the memorable “I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang.” The story is based on Sheridan Gibney’s novel, “America Kneels,’ and the § screen play is by Edward Chodorov. Others in the long and remarkable cast, besides those named, include: Henry O’Neill, Arthur Hohl, William Janney, Philip Faversham, Sidney Toler, George Meeker, Mickey Rooney, Douglas Dumbrille, Jackie Searle, Marjorie Gateson, Osear Apfel, Alan Mowbray, William Burress, Wallis Clark, Clay Clement and Willard Robertson. Page Thirty-three