Screenland (May-Oct 1930)

for May 19 3 0 127 constant efforts to scale the heights, a virile rather than an effeminate character. "In the same way, I should like to do Romeo in a vein that's different from the accepted one. Usually. he"s presented as a young Nordic. I should like to make him a true Latin type, fiery, impetuous, ardent. The great difference would be shown in the tomb scene, when Romeo takes the poison himself beside the bier of Juliet as she lies supposedly dead. This could be made a much more dramatic and tingling moment than it generally is. Ordinarily Romeo is shown taking the poison in a spirit of utter dejection, baffled and beaten. I should like to depict him leaping with gusto for it, because this would re-unite him with the women he eternally loves, and he would run to this life in the hereafter as a man runs forward to something happy and compensating." King paused, while a deprecating smile circled his face. "You see, I'm essentially a man of the theater. I'm not really much good at anything else. I ride a bit, yes. But my real absorption is the world of acting." To do him justice, he is much better at his recreational hobbies than he acknowledges. He is a good swimmer, an accomplishment which started his day regularly at the Hollywood studios with a plunge into his swimming pool, giving him that vital energy which shows so brilliantly in his work. Likewise, since he took up fencing for the sword play of "The Vagabond King" and "The Three Musketeers" on the stage he has become an admirable expert with the foils, one of the first duelists of the theater. And like so many Englishmen, he plays a good game of tennis. It was likewise the spirit of 'take a chance,' characteristic of so many roving Anglo-Saxons, which set him off on his histrionic career. It was while he was a schoolboy in England that he decided to run away and hop into a theatrical career before old age overtook, as the years were passing fast and he was then sixteen. So he scampered off, unknown to his family, and made his way to the repertory theater which John Drinkwater. who was later to win stage fame with "Abraham Lincoln" and the current "Bird in Hand," was conducting at that time. He interviewed Drinkwater. who told the very aspiring youngster that he had nothing for him in the way of an acting engagement. "We can, however, use you," said Drinkwater gravely. "We have a position open as callboy." King heard Destiny's voice speaking. "I'll take it," he said. He guessed at a possibility of possibly squirming his way into a part in that fashion. So for two years he gave a very active impersonation of a call boy about the theater. And sure enough, he was able to tuck himself away in several minor roles. Thus he entered the theater by 'wriggling under the tent," so to speak. But his was the unquenchable spirit that would not be kept out. And he was gaining valuable experience. All this, however, was rudely terminated by the war. His adventurous spirit forbade him to stay safe at home, playing at heroics while other men were doing them. So he enlisted by the simple process of adding several years to his age. In this way he went to the front, saw action and was wounded — very severely. His face was badly torn, the worst place of all for an actor to be injured. But by the miracles of modern surgery evoked by the war it was patched together so that it was not noticeable. King himself makes light of his war wounds and his services, but he was decorated for valor. Undaunted by his war experience, he kept from showing signs of either the moral or physical shell-shock which other soldiers sometimes displayed, and plunged again into theatrical work. But his dynamic spirit seemed for a time to be check-reined. Engagements were hard to find, especially in view of the parlous state of English theatricals following the war. It was only when he appeared in a special performance of "Pygmalion and Galatea" that he won enough notice to achieve a London hearing. After a short period on the English stage he came to America, and here his success has been unquestioned. He even received the distinction of being included in a Theatre Guild presentation, that of "Back to Methuselah," which stage stars now regard as an accolade. It has taken him an even shorter period, to judge by the acclaim given to "The Vagabond King," to achieve an even greater accolade on his first bow with the talking screen. Jazz, Gershwin and Me Continued from page 19 for the stage. The ideal Vitaphone light opera when it is written will be, in my judgment, exactly like the ideal stage light opera, save for the wider scenic scope afforded by the motion picture camera. That, of course, is a difference of considerable importance; but it does not affect the composer's share in the matter. The thought that constantly amazes and delights me is that these operettas of mine which I shall write in the future will not be confined, when produced, to six or seven of the great cities of the world, but will go literally everywhere. It is the greatest of modern miracles. Two years ago, I saw the United States for the first time. I was here only for a fortnight, in New York and its vicinity. Now I have come again and have crossed the continent to that unbelievable center of production whence have come so many pictures that I saw in Europe. To find myself in California, in Hollywood,) is like a dream. For I have always been what you call a fan. I have regularly gone to the cinema since the early days, before the Great War. And. as the motion pictures are unquestionably Americanizing the world, they Americanized me years ago. Thus, I do not feel that I am in a foreign land. There are only two things that I wish were otherwise in the United States — and both these matters are quite personal. I wish that people would not spell my name with two esses at the end; and I wish they would not compliment me on "The Blue Danube Waltz," which was written by Johann Strauss, not by me. At a luncheon which was very kindly given in my honor in New York a famous bandmaster and composer made a graceful reference to this celebrated work. I could only blush in silence. The Loveliest \TOTION picture di rectors have said that Katherine MacDonald has the loveliest eyes in the world. For years she has used her own lash cosmetic. Absolutely waterproof. Will not stiffen or break lashes, but leaves them soft and natural. Makes your eyes alluring pools of loveliness. JKATIHERIINE Mac DONALD'S L^XSH (waterproof) COSMETIC At most Toilet Goods Counters Katherine Mac Donald, Hollywood, Calif. Here is Si. Send me □ Brown □ Black full-sized bottle of your Lash Cosmetic. 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