Screenland (May-Oct 1930)

112 SCREENLAND Louis Bromfield's Hollywood Impressions Continued from page 27 movies. Yes! And I would have no feeling about making changes in them. I realize this would be necessary. If they were to be made into plays for the stage, changes would be made. That would be expected because they are different mediums. But I think that in the end the best pictures will be made not from adaptations but from original stories written for the screen. Because then you are writing directly for your medium and can take into consideration the technique of that medium. I am now working on a story for Evelyn Laye. This young English actress should be a sensation in the talkies. She has everything! She is beautiful, has a lovely voice, and is a splendid actress. Of course, it has been difficult to determine on just the right story for her — but we hope to have it finished soon, so that she can begin work on it as soon as she returns from her vacation in England which will be about the first of July. Rudolph Friml will do the music. After that, I'll probably do a story for Ronald Colman. I expect to help with the direction of the pictures. Not the technical part, ot course. But it is one of the policies here and a very fair one, because, after all, an author knows better than anyone else the most important occasion of his life. Incidentally, Mrs. Whiting and her daughterin-law Joan are great pals. Claire Luce, who tells us she is considerering offers to make talking pictures, is one of the most glamourous personalities I have ever met. You know that the golden-haired Claire used to be a Follies girl. But she is far above the average type. Despite the fact that she is married to an exceedingly wealthy young New Yorker, Miss Luce has kept persistently at her career. Only last year she scored a tremendous success in "Burlesque" in London, and returned to America where she played in "Scarlet Pages," receiving fine notices from many of our hard-boiled New York critics. Miss Luce is an unusual woman in many ways. Born in extremely humble circumstances, she has worked her way to the top. And now with the world at her feet, she still looks ahead. Strictly speaking, Claire Luce is piquant rather than beautiful, but she has a distinction of appearance worthy of an empress. She is a fine conversationalist, a good linguist, and possesses a more than surface knowledge of music, politics, art, and architecture. It seems to me that both socially and professionally, there are few heights to which her talent, her appearance, and her personality do not entitle her to aspire. ^ ■ Is Adolphe Menjou going to stay on this side or will he return to France? This is the question which is agitating all the fans who love his sophisticated, man-ofthe-world personality. We hope he stays effect he has imagined. I understand Fannie Hurst was pleased with the way they handled "Lummox" and she worked closely with Herbert Brenon, the director. They say the movies were still in their infancy when the talking pictures came along. Now. I believe they will virtually have to begin all over again. Everything changes so rapidly. In two years more, great strides will have been made in the technical side of the talkies. It's quite true that America leads the field in the film world. The influence of American pictures abroad is colossal. There are practically no stars of importance in foreign films, that is, with any great following. They produce some excellent films in Germany, but they have no stars who are as popular as ours. Even in the tiny French villages you will find old chapels converted into movie houses, showing films of Charlie Chaplin and Gloria Swanson! So many have criticized the architecture here; but I find it charming and quite in keeping with the climate and the mood of the land. It is much like old Spain: the Spanish, the Basque, and the Provencal houses are quite right for Hollywood. The west, and particularly the southwest, however, is an entirely new country; a new civilization really. The east is different, In New York Continued from page 91 here — for many reasons. But foremost among them is the fact that it would be exceedingly difficult to find anybody to fill just the niche that he has filled so admirably for a number of years. We have all heard that it is easier to recruit women for the movies than it is men. Most girls' natural inclination is toward the dramatic, whereas, most young men's fancies turn to business. And it is extraordinarily difficult to find male stars who possess the suave charm which has brought Menjou fame. Because of this, we hope we have not lost him to the foreign films. When Menjou returned from Paris the other day, he reported that all Europe is much excited over talking pictures. He claims that one single American film made four hundred thousand dollars in France alone last year. Try that out on your wallet and remember that every Frenchman thinks three times before he parts with a centime! "In three years," says Menjou, "I believe our Hollywood producers will be making sixty percent of the European talkies. Naturally, they will either have to import foreign artists or establish studios in Europe. I intend to stay three weeks in New York to negotiate for a very successful play to make a talking picture of it in French, German, and English. Then I am going to Hollywood." Menjou said that his own picture, lately completed, was the first all-talking picture made in the French language in France. He also made an English version which will soon be released in London. Lucile Gleason, wife of Jimmy, mother and Europe is decidedly different — they are as far apart as the poles. I don't know much about the night life of Hollywood, if any. I haven't seen much of that. I have been to a few dinner parties, but it was much the same as it would be anywhere else! Familiar faces, familiar talk. I have met some of the moving picture actresses whom I did not know on the stage. I found Eleanor Boardman and Colleen Moore charming; and Kay Francis. And June Collyer is, I believe, the prettiest girl I have ever seen! To get back to the beauties of California, and you may judge me a booster if you wish — but I consider Beverly Hills one of the most beautiful, in fact, the most beautiful suburb to a large city anywhere. And I can think of few things that can quite compare with the ride along Sunset Boulevard out toward Beverly overlooking the vista of all Los Angeles and down to the sea, particularly at sunset, and then later when it becomes a sea of lights. Perhaps I've been too busy to encounter any real orgies — I may catch up with a few yet, I've only been here three weeks, after all! But certainly, although this is my first trip west, I am already completely sold on Hollywood! of Russell, dean of feminine vaudevillians, came to town. She brought her charming mother with her. Russell's grandma is spry and snappy. One of the first legitimate players to go to Hollywood, Lucile alternates between stage and screen, spending more and more of her time in Hollywood where she can stretch out in her chaise lounge, kick off her shoes, and lie down to quiet sleep without any thought of trains to be caught, new acts to be tried out, or lumpy hotel beds and stringy roast beef. Lucile has always been one of my pets. Her jolly personality, her fine stable character, and her really excellent artistic interpretations have been great contributions to our variable talking picture industry. She was to have returned to vaudeville at the Palace here in a new act with husband Jimmy, but instead she was called back to the Coast by Jimmy's illness. Nothing serious, but the vaudeville act has been postponed. My dear, she actually did, that is, I mean, Ruth Taylor was married! Yes, the blonde Lorelei Lee, of "Gentlmen Prefer Blondes" is honeymooning with her nice, new husband. Paul S. Zuckerman is the lucky man. He is a wealthy New York stock broker — which means blonde stock is preferred right now. They were married in Phyllis Haver's Greenwich Village pent house by none other than Mayor Jimmy Walker of New York City. Billy Seaman, Phyllis' husband, is the Mayor's best boy-friend. Adolphe Menjou and his wife, Kathryn Carver, were at the ceremony. Best wishes to you, Mr. and Mrs. Zuckerman!