Screenland (May–Oct 1925)

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72 SCREENLAND and we all looked toward the place where the spotlight was resting. That is, it was resting as much as anything can rest where Viola Dana is. And that march was being played for Viola and Lefty Flynn, who had been married just that morning. A waiter brought in some rice, and Patsy Ruth Miller impulsively tossed her shoe at them. But Lefty gallantly retrieved the shoe and gave it back to Pat, because really you see it belonged to Pat's best gold pair. Charlie Chaplin came in for a few minutes, but didn't stay long, as he was tired, he said. He had just come home from a trip to San Diego. He told a joke on himself. He had speeded all the way through the trip, going down — sat next his doctor in the machine, driving himself, and telling the doctor if a cop tried to pinch him for speeding to say that he was sick. They drove all the way to San Diego that way, Charlie admitting he had hoped to get a little thrill out of the cops. But nothing happened. "Then on the way home," he said, "when I was driving twenty and a half miles, instead of twenty, and hadn't my doctor with me, I was fined for speeding!" Rudolph Valentino was there, but not Mrs. Valentino. "Mrs. Valentino asked me to get Rudy a girl for the ■ party, as she couldn't go herself," Patsy explained. "My goodness, that sounds reckless!" I commented. "Oh, well," said Patsy, "she told me just who to get!" A funny thing happened to Harold Lloyd. Harold hardly looks like himself at all, you might say — I mean like his celluloid double. A visitor with one of the big parties told Harold — thevisitor hadn't caught Harold's name when he was introduced, "You look a little like Harold Lloyd. I suppose that in a minute you will be telling me that you are he!" Poor Harold blushed, but recovered himself before anybody else did. "Oh," he laughed, "I often do!" THE most easily informal and popularwith-the-stars cafe is the Montmartre in Hollywood. The management permits no introductions nor notes to be sent to the stars. But how the tourists do foregather and gaze, to be sure! One night I saw Charlie Chaplin come in. He was tired and harassed from his work on The Gold Rush. Suddenly he disappeared from view. In a moment or two, while we were wondering what in the earth had happened to him, he came up from beneath a table about five yards away. He had scrambled under all those tables to prevent being stared at! A lot of charming outdoor parties are given at private homes and at the Beach Club at Santa Monica. This Beach Club has a portion of the beach roped off for its use, and many leading social lights as well as many picture stars go down there to play. You won't see any fancy bathing suits there. The picture stars leave the fancy stuff to the extra girls in the bathing girls' parades. Nearly all the actresses are fine swimmers, and they wear the one-piece bathing suits. There is a hand-ball court on the beach here, too, and here Phyllis Haver, Marie Prevost and Viola Dana all play a good game of handball. Lefty Flynn, Lionel C[ Marie Prevost as a lady porch' climber in "The Easiest Road." Belmore, Jack Holt, Tom Mix, Harry Carey, Ricardo Cortez, Rudolph Valentino and others are crack players. There is a little concrete swimming pool on the beach for the children, and here Jack Holt directs the water sports of the little ones. Irene Rich has a summer cottage next door to the Beach Club, and her two tall, sunbrowned daughters are both amateur champion swimmers. Betty Bronson, Mary Brian, Kathleen Key, Ann Cornwall, Ena Gregory, and others of the younger set give nice little dancing parties at the Beach Club house, which is an unpretentious looking frame structure, but fitted up comfortably with wide verandahs — one of them serves as a dining room in summer time — with wide dancing halls, big showers and dressing rooms, and a large lounging room. Last time I was down at the Club, Miss Rich's eldest daughter pulled another little girl out of the surf. The child had been taken with a cramp while swimming. Parties at their homes are^ really the chief delight of the picture stars, however, despite the patronage given to the cafes and clubs. Most of the stars have beautiful homes with wide grounds, and garden parties are all the rage this summer. Mrs. Ernst Lubitsch and Mrs. Clarence Brown, directors' wives, give the most charming garden parties at their Beverly Hills homes, and there one meets all the choice spirits in filmland. Not that these parties are in the least stiff or formal, and if you want to be frivolous you are at liberty to be so. Ernst Lubitsch takes a boyish joy in playing jazz on the piano and in telling funny stories in his broken English. Charlie Ray and his wife give pleasant swimming parties in their garden swimming pool at their Beverly Hills home. Gloria Swanson entertains at tea almost every day when she isn't working. Anita Stewart gives such pleasing parties at her beautiful Hollywood home! This is a wide, rambling concrete house, surrounded by gardens, lawns and orchards. Anita stepped out into her own orchard to gather the fruit for our fruit punch one summer night not long ago. She is entertaining Marie Callahan of "Kid Boots" fame at this time. George Stewart is supposed to be engaged' to Marie, though neither will admit it. Anita has a lovely voice, and charms her guests with her singing and piano playing. Rarely do Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks go out at night, but they entertain a good deal at their Beverly Hills home, and still more at the studio bungalow. Here many famous people meet at the luncheon hour. The last time I was there, the Duchess of Sutherland and Burton Holmes were guests. Doug and Mary toss the ball of light talk back and forfh, and it is great fun to hear them. "I'm going to play an extra in Doug's picture," Mary declared. "I'm going to put on a mask in the ballroom scene and pinch Doug's arm in the crowd. If he pinches back — well, you can imagine what he'll get when he comes home at night!" Other guests dropped in — members of English nobility, too. Luncheon was just finished. It was then that Mary demanded, with a sidelong comical little glance at me, that the waiter remove the onions! Wouldn't that be a hit in a picture? Holmes has a wonderful collection of ivory Buddhas at his flat in New York, and was telling us about ~ them. "I'll bet you bought some of them at Woolworth's!" kidded Doug. "Well, as a matter of fact, I did get one of my best ones there!" Holmes laughingly admitted. The Duchess of Sutherland is staying with Douglas and Mary while she writes a book about the motion picture people, and what a sweet, brilliant, charming lady she is! "But of course when it comes to appearance, according to tradition Elinor Glyn is the real movie duchess!" grinned Patsy. Speaking of the nobility, Vicky Mix. Tom Mix's wife, told a funny thing that happened to Tom in London. "A certain English lord was entertaining us at luncheon one day at his home," explained Vicky. "Tom had to leave early to visit some of the soldiers' hospitals. He had been the guest of honor, and as he arose to leave naturally everybody was looking at him. He made his apologies and farewells, prepared to exit, opened a door— and stepped right into the butler's pantry!" Bess Meredyth and Agnes Christine Johnston, scenario writers, give wonderful parties, entertaining many stars a: their homes. Miss Johnston lives in a picturesque ok English house in Santa Monica. Out then one evening at dinner were King Vido and Eleanor Boardman — who are to b< married soon, I believe — Norma Sheare and a number of other guests. After din ner we played charades, with the writer in the party naturally doing much bette with the words and the actors naturall doing much better with the acting. ^Frani Dazey, playwright, is Miss Johnston's hu; band, and a jovial host he is, with a lin of humor that keeps you wondering ho\ he ever happened to write such a tragi play as Peter Weston. Out at Bess Meredyth's one night listened to Mabel Normand play the pianc I had known that Mabel could play, but nc like that, ^he ;s going about quite a 1<