Screenland (May-Oct 1929)

106 SCREENLAND YOU may know some ambitious man or woman who desires to make extra money this Summer. If so, you will confer a favor by telling them to write us at once. Perhaps some boy or girl over sixteen has told you they hope to find work dur' ing their school vacation. We have a definite sales plan that is simple and easy to follow, by which intelligent effort will produce sub' scriptions to Screenland. We do not know of any other magazine using a method that makes similar work as pleasant, easy and profitable. Please advise your friend or acquaintance to write us fully about their age, and business experience if any. How much time they would have to devote to our work, also if they would like to continue permanently at the work if they make a satisfactory sum of money each week in commissions. The most successful of our representatives will later be given an opportunity to work in different sections of the country, if they so desire. Address: — SALES MANAGER Screenland Magazine 49 West 45th Street New York rattle, both here and in the subway sequences. A clever property man invented a machine which revolved on sand paper to make the realistic ss-sh-zh-zzh of the train wheels. There are more ways of killing a cat than skinning it. This old adage seems to apply to pistol shots in the talkies. The real thing would blast the delicate microphone. In "Bulldog Drummond," they put it in afterwards — shooting a gun a hundred feet away and 'dubbing' it into the finished scene. When Mary Pickford's screen daddy committed suicide in the courtroom sequence of "Coquette," a blank cartridge was shot into a barrel. However, a real machine gun was used in "Alibi" where the crook is cornered by the police in the skyscraper bungalow. During the filming of this, studio police kept a constant patrol to see that no one came within range of the deadly hail. The magician's hand was needed here to find the type of door. First they tried an ordinary one and it sounded like battle, murder and sudden death, all at once. The precise sound required for the situation was accomplished by constructing a door of two thicknesses of compo board, so that when the bullets struck the first piece, a dull echo brought just the sinister note needed. Movie animals are not always what they seem. There's the chamois John Barrymore lugged about in "Eternal Love." It appears that chamois flourish only in the Swiss Alps and parts of Asia. A young sheep was therefore substituted and its wool treated with a special preparation to make it resemble a chamois. The mouse which runs up the screaming female's lower appendages is not a mouse at all. He's a baby white rat dipped in lamp black. A rat moves slower than a mouse. Do you remember the ferocious condor from whose cruel clutches Rin Tin Tin saved the curly-haired baby in "Night Cry?" He was an ingeniously manufactured affair, operated by a motor inside and suspended on piano wire. Black swans are very rare. In a recent production, since the sable variety were demanded by the director, white swans were painted the proper shade. But not being extras from Central Casting, they stood in no awe of Mr. Director and, as soon as they were put back in the water, dipped and picked until the paint came off! A bit of commonsense magic is used in making these animal actors 'do their stuff." If Mary wants her little lamb to follow her, she must carry salt in her hand and stroll toward food which lambie can smell or see. The bloodhounds who bayed so viciously on poor Eliza's trail were lured on by raw meat. These tidbits were buried at intervals along the river bank and were just large enough to engage the attention of the dogs the length of time to make them appear to be sniffing the trail. No. Hollywood doesn't need Mr. Aladdin! Helen Twelvetrees— continued from page % No wonder Helen is puzzled. But she likes it. Hollywood is nice, says Helen — as long as it doesn't make puns on her name. And from now on she is going to show Hollywood that she can speak as correctly as an English duchess and act as intensely as a member of the Russian art theater. There was a title at the end of "The Ghost Talks" in which the leading man asked: "Do you lisp all the time?" and the heroine replied: "No, only when I thpeak." As a matter of fact, often during the filming of the picture Helen would entirely forget the lisp and the scene would have to be re-made! She is interested in everything — talking pictures, silent pictures, the stage, California, President Hoover, the Mexican war, men — ah, yes, men. Right now she is getting her greatest kick out of fan letters. She started reading every letter that came to her. She had to stop that when her fan mail mounted to several hundred letters each week. Now her secretary separates the particularly interesting letters and Helen reads just those. Helen Twelvetrees was born on December 25th, in Brooklyn, New York. As a child she 'played theater' constantly. Her parents observed her talent and sent her to schools destined to bring out her dramatic ability. Her final training came at the Brooklyn Heights Seminary. After school days were over, she apprenticed herself to the stage and for three years she was a member of stock companies in and around New York City. Her marked ability soon made itself known and she was given leading roles in plays of importance. Her rise since then has been meteoric, culminating with a rich offer from the Fox Film Company to travel to Hollywood as a contract member of the Fox group of actors and actresses. Perhaps Miss Twelvetrees is the only actress in history who found herself in the position of being offered more money than she wanted. In fact, her agent was asking a price for her considerably below what Fox officials were offering her in person. And while the agent was accepting the lower offer (without her knowledge), Helen was in another office of the company affixing her name to the larger offer! The smaller salary offered her was equal to what she had been receiving as a stage actress. The salary she actually signed for is considerably greater. The Spanish Conquest— continued from page 23 be made. He gathered together a dozen or more of Rio's social leaders and they are now in Hollywood engaged in the making of their first production. A year ago, Senora Julio de Moraies — Lia Tora — won the Fox prize for being the greatest beauty in Brazil. With the victory was the offer of a free trip to Hollywood. A free trip to that young aristocrat was, however, a joke, and she graciously passed the prize on to one of the other girls. Now, however, with her dashing husband as producer, she is here with all her charm, jewels and gowns. If there ever was any prejudice against Spain it has been utterly erased by this joyous band of Brazilians, for they are making their picture work one grand lark and to the joy of the studios, technicians, cameramen and costumers, they pay in gold — every night! ^