Screenland (May–Oct 1927)

80 SCREENLAND Favcrsham, John Golden, Laurctte Taylor, the Dolly Sisters, Florence Nash, Alice Joyce, Edith Taliaferro, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Morosco, Arthur Murray and Mary Miles Mintcr. An inquiry addressed to No. 66 West 85th Street, will bring you a catalogue and other information. The need for intensive training was never so great as to-day. The time is past when producers were willing to spend time, money and energy rehearsing and preparing raw recruits for success on screen and stage. Young people who aspire for honors in this age must know their business not indifferently but wholly. One of the surest cuts to a screen career is through the tips of your toes. This is how Gilda Gray, Ann Pennington, Mae Murray and scores of others made the pic turc grade. Ned Wayburn, widely known producer and teacher, will give you the training which will enable you to get your feet on a rung of the screen or stage ladder. In his studios at 1841 Broadway, any and all forms of dancing are taught at a reasonable cost and within a limited time. Always the word "money" is donging itself into our ears. From the cradle to . the crematorium, it's money, money, money. It costs money to be ushered into the world, and money to retire from it. One of the quickest ways to have a worthy pay envelope fall into your hands each week is by put' ting yourself under the tutelage of this really celebrated man. Let's just go over some of the figures earned by the Ned Wayburn pupils. . Take Evelyn Law, for instance. She was divorced, developed and managed by Mr. Wayburn. She has appeared as a dancing star in the "Follies" and "Louis the 14th". She began at $7? a week and is now earning $750. Ann Pennington is another internationally famous star who has received as high as three thousand dollars a week in vaudeville. She also was directed by Mr. Wayburn, as was Marilynn Miller who starred in "Sonny" and "Sally". While in the latter, she earned three thousand dollars a week for eighty weeks. Our own Gilda Gray, directed by Mr. Wayburn in the 1922 "Follies" recently earned the fabulous sum of twenty thousand dollars in a single week. And that's not all. Mr. Wayburn has achieved other results not far short of miraculous. If any of you happen to be like Ann Constance, hearten yourselves and get under way for Ned Wayburn's studios. Ann Constance, when she first came to this school of the dance, was a fat, funny looking girl. After a few months she lost sixty-five pounds and was transformed from a dumpy, undistinguished looking, female into a "Follies" beauty. Nor do Mr. Wayburn's efforts end here. For many people New York is out of the question. And for these this man has perfected a correspondence course which gives clearly and exactly the same instructions that you receive in his studio. This costs approximately fifty dollars and can be paid lor in instalments as low as five dollars a month. The list of Wayburn's successful pupils is too long to give here. It includes dancers in nearly every musical show in New York and on the road, as well as leading men and women in many of the dramatic productions and screen successes. It's not what you are now but what you are able to make out of yourself that counts. If you have real talent as a dancer, Albertina Rasch will give you a helping hand. You have, of course, often heard of the famous, colorful Albertina Rasch — internationally celebrated dancer and producer. About three years ago she realized that the continued expansion of her own producing activities depended largely upon discovering new talent. Therefore Miss Rasch established her own training school in New York. She is the creator of what is known as the American Ballet. This unusual dance combines the perfect grace and rhythm of the old-time ballet with the jazz music and freedom of movement which is so characteristic of America. In "Rio Rita", the new Ziegfcld show, Miss Rasch has a ballet of sixteen girls; in "Le Maires' Affaires" a second unit of sixteen; and in Mr. Dillingham's "Lucky" the same number. In fact, i so many calls does she have that she is | unable to supply the demand. For that rea1 son she is willing to issue scholarships to talented young girls from sixteen to twentysix years old who are willing and able to train for this ballet work — which is arduous. She needs a great many dancers for the C[ Eve Southern, the spirituelle gesture of "The Gaucho". forthcoming autumn productions and it will be to your advantage to get in touch with her immediately. Address Albertina Rasch, Incorporated, Steinway Building, 113 West 57th Street, New York. It's as astounding as it is comforting to know the innumerable openings a girl can find if she really wants to make the stage or screen her life's work and if she refuses to let obstacles make her bitter, pessimistic or hard-boiled. To the wealthy and the poor alike, this country is literally the golden land. Of course, we can't all have doting parents who are able and willing to expend the hundreds necessary for the successful completion of an artistic career. But I know many girls who work in offices by day and go to school at night. And I also have a number of acquaintances who are earning their living by chorus work in the various musical shows and who study with private tutors during the mornings and off afternoons. Like those of many famous men and women, their early lives have been full of struggle but these very struggles develop their fighting propensities and help them assert themselves. Nearly every dramatic or dancing or moving picture school has a night course of some kind where the best of instruction can be received. If a night course does not interest you, you can be prepared for the stage or the screen by Frances Robinson-Duff, the most eminent dramatic coach in America. To Miss Robinson-Duff, even the great David Bclasco bows. She was for eleven years at the Comcdic Francaise in Paris but now she teaches in America permanently. Nearly every professional actor and actress in New York studies with this great woman. Lconore Ulrich, Margalo Gilmorc, Clare Eames, Ruth Chatterton, Ina Claire — the list is inexhaustible. And they continue with her year in and year out. Personally I believe an hour with her several times a week will accomplish more than attending any dramatic school in the world. If not, why do the most celebrated professionals — actors, actresses, teachers, conductors, lecturers— who have already achieved international reputations — why do they go to her day after day, year in and year out? Her charges are most reasonable when you realize the value she gives. What does it matter if you can afford only one lesson a week? The thing is to start. If you are worried about living conditions, and fear to try your luck in New York, I should suggest that you write the Three Arts Club. If you are engaged in any artistic endeavor you can procure room and board from this organization for as low as eleven dollars a week. Their temporary headquarters are at 325 West 101st Street. Just now they are building a larger hostel to meet the demand of the greater number of girls who come to New York each year. The opportunities are here — yours for the taking. Single-handed you can carry your point and attain your heart's desire. As Sarah Bernhardt once said: "What docs it matter where I was born? What does matter is how and where I shall die." And those are the words upon which you should build the foundation of your artistic career. I haven't even scratched the top of the many ways which you can take to climb up the golden stairs of fame. But do not start your climb from the wrong end. Don't keep whispering to yourself: "I know I could play a screen part. How can I get the opportunity?" Then when you do get the chance you won't be prepared. You'll be like Shakespeare says in his twenty-third Sonnet: "As an unperfect actor on the stage, who with his fear is put besides his part." Rather face the truth and ask yourself: "What can I bring to the films — when I get my chance?" Cecil De Mille once told me that whenever a young hopeful girl comes into his office and asks him to give her a chance in pictures because she just k.nows she can act, he picks up a violin which he keeps there for the purpose and asks her to play him an aria from "Tosca" or the "C Minor Prelude" from Chopin. For a moment the girl looks startled and then she shakes her head and says: "I don't play the violin. I never studied it." And just as quickly De Mille replies: "Then how do you know you can act? You've never studied the drama either." Many of the girls who have written me are already in musical comedies or have tiny parts in dramatic plays. You seem discouraged because you are not able to bridge the gap between your small bit and a stellar role. The only advice I can give you — is more training. Frances RobinsonDuff would seem to be the answer. You don't like me to say that, I know. You would rather I would give you some magic formula. Tell you you are wonderful and that Cecil De Mille or Jesse Lasky are bound to see you or hear of your prowess. But that would be a lie. The world is so large, big producers are so rare, and embryonic actresses are so many. When Sarah Bernhardt first appeared on the stage Francisque Sarcey, the famous