Screenland (May-Oct 1928)

SCREENLAND 99 ered "Wagon, Ernest Torrence has won the respect of his colleagues and a tremendous following among the men and women and children of America. Now Torrence is an important member of the band of character men who are bringing cruel, ruthless, elemental passion to the screen. Although he has never been actually starred as a lover, it is not at all impossible that he could be sue cessfully featured in a gigantic character role. I can well imagine him as an 'Elmer Gantry,' hurling his .sermons on Heaven and Hell from the pulpit, and making love to the pretty choir singer in the vestryroom after service is over. For, as I have said before, there is a magnificent bigness about him that attracts women. There is a warmth in his eyes and a quietly concealed sort of magnetism about his person that has a mammoth pull. Torrence spoke for a long while about the powerful sex appeal which Bill Powell, Emil Jannings, George Bancroft, Arthur Edmund Carewe, Noah Beery, John Barry more, Lew Cody, Conrad Veidt and the great Russian Leonidoff — as well as several others — possess. He explained their recent vogue this way: "Today intelligent women demand response and satisfaction from their screen idols. For their minds and spirits, as well as from their physical characters. It isn't sufficient that the actor has a handsome face and a well-knit figure. He must possess power. Menace. Tremendous personality. And that is where Jannings and the rest have their innings. "Jannings,". he continued, "is easily the finest character actor there is. But there are many Americans who are coming to the front. Bancroft particularly is outstanding. "But," he went on, "in addition to power, menace and personality, a character actor must have that human quality which appeals to all. They must not be perfect — beyond reproach as the hero always must be. But they must be so human that every small town bad man can imagine himself in the role for a night. "And don't forget, many a young screen actor would give a lot to have a chance at this character work. Since Twelve Miles Out, John Gilbert has been pleading for another opportunity to play the bully. But the producers won't have it." No, Gilbert must stick to his role. Give his honeyed kisses and hold out fervent arms to whatever film favorite happens to be playing opposite him. The same stories, the same roles, the same handsome dashing youth, the same happy saccharine endings. All quite beautifully satisfying up to a little while ago to the movie public. But now this public is aroused to the verities of life. And they are demanding something more from the films — less butterscotch, and more red meat. Or as the old Kentish phrase puts it: 'They are not satisfied with plain bacon. They must have some butter on it.' And now, sisters of the Cinema Jury, it is up to you to decide. For your decision presently becomes the decision of the director, the casting office and the producer. Now that your verdict is that villains have sex appeal, we may expect to see the bad men married off to the pretty girls in the seventh reel, and carving Sunday roasts instead of surly companions. Jannings started something certainly and Lya de Putti seemed heartily to approve of the first character lover in screen history. So a new reel begins. Ernest Torrence and the other character actors are following close in Jannings' steps. For they have learned their lesson. What lesson? Why, the lesson that any psychologist or psychiatrist might tell you if you asked him in confidence. And that is? That the man who brings lasting happiness to any girl has three decided parts to his character — since we are but human. And those parts are the hint of the beast, the hand of the man and the heart of a God. Jackie Coogan — Continued from page 23 ter-ducing the Mississippi Roustabouts — charlie chaplin (very small) and JACKIE COOGAN" (very loud) On another occasion, he expressed an even more subtle sense of humor. Charlie said to him: "Jackie, suppose you came to the studio one day and found another little boy playing your part; what would you do?" Jackie looked at his god for a long time, and then answered with just the suggestion of an impish twinkle in his eye: "I'd walk right out of that gate, and you'd have an awful hard time getting me back." Here's one showing his sense of drama. Every day the publicity department had taken innumerable stills until every possible composition had been apparently exhausted. Then one noon Jackie piped up: "I've got an idea! — set your cameras there. ■ Now come here, Mr. Chaplin. That's it. Now, you and I will come from behind the camera and start up the street, and when we get about here, have somebody behind the camera shout 'The Cops!' Then, as we both turn to look, scared to death shoot the picture!" It was by far the most popular still used in advertising The Kid. What is to become of this remarkable child? Is he to disappear into the oblivion which has swallowed up so many 'child prodigies?' Heifitz survived the trying period of his adolescence, and I think Jackie will. I met him the other day on the Metro-Goldwyn lot. Strolling along with_ Conrad Nagel I saw a fine-looking lad in military uniform playing ball with another boy. "You're not Jackie Coogan?" I said. "Yes, Mr. Wagner." Remarkable that he should have remembered me, considering the thousands and thousands of people he had met since those baby days in The Kid! Well, as we talked I could see that the boy had inherited his mother's beauty and character and his father's fine spirit and artistry. Furthermore, he was apparently going to pass through his adolescence without those ugly physical manifestations that make children of that period so distasteful. I left him, firmly convinced that he was about to enter upon a splendid and artistically successful manhood. It is fashionable for the parents of the thousands of 'Coogans' who have come to Hollywood to say that Jackie is a mere accident—that Charlie Chaplin 'made' him. Jackie is no accident, and though Charlie Chaplin gave him a grand opportunity, he is not responsible for Jackie's extraordinary talents. Aviation Booms f If You Want Thrills* Popularity-Big Ray LEARN AVIATION QUICK! /\ RE you a red-blooded, f\ daring he-man? Do you crave adventure, popularity, admiration, and the applause of great crowds? Then why not get into the Aviation Industry— the greatest adventure since time began — the greatest thrill ever offered to man? Think what Aviation offers you. The praise and plaudits of the multitude. And a chance to get in on the ground floor where rewards may be unlimited! Aviation is growing bo swiftly that one can hardly keep track of all the astonishing new developments. 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