Screenland (Nov 1931-Mar 1932)

for December 19 5 1 105 "And suppose I were to say never mind the divorce?" Jim inquired, even though he knew it was useless to ask. "Still ten thousand. I need money, and you need respectability. It's a fair exchange. I could do you a lot of damage, divorce or no divorce." Jim wrote out a check and handed it to Alex, but he could not resist giving him a parting blow which made him stagger out of the room. Wanda found him in the room where he had had the interesting interview with Alex. "Jim, what is it?" she asked excitedly. "Everything," he replied, with incredible calmness. "It worked like a charm." "What did?" "They don't come cleverer than you. You've got them all stopped." "What did Alex say to you?" "Said and took plenty. You'll get five thousand out of the little deal." "He blackmailed you?" "That's an ugly word, dear. Just a little hold-up. But maybe you won't split it. Maybe you're so close, it doesn't matter who has it." "Jim, you must listen. I don't know what you're talking about — " "Never mind. Good-bye. I wish you luck for your next venture." Even if he had not left her then, she could not have spoken. She was stunned. How could it be possible that he believed such a thing of her? She never wanted to see him again. It was horrible ! That night she thought of one thing only. Somehow — some way — she had to get $10,000 to pay Jim. That she had to do. First, she would go to Alex. He wouldn't put a thing like that over successfully if she knew about it. She hit upon a plan. Next day at Alex's apartment, she found that this would not be so easy. In his absence a young girl came to the door and asked who was calling. "Tell him Wanda. I must see him." "Oh, Cousin Wanda!" the girl exclaimed. "Come right in. He's out now, but you can wait. I have so wanted to meet you. He's mentioned you often. I'm his wife." Wanda saw that this innocent creature could not be part of all his plans. From what the girl said, Wanda realized that she knew nothing about him and that he had evidently been kind to her so far. Wanda couldn't bring herself to tell this girl the truth. But — that ten thousand ! She must get it somehow. Wanda and Marie talked the situation over and came to the conclusion there was only one way to raise the money. They would auction off all their clothes, furs and jewels to "the girls" — gentle little golden girls who loved nice things — and could afford to buy them. The next day Wanda and Marie called on Jim and Thomas at their hotel. "The money I stole from you," Wanda said to Jim, handing him $10,000 in cash. Jim stood there shamefaced. "Wanda, I'm sorry," he said. "But why give it back ?" "Just the mood I'm in," she said bitterly. "My moods are funny that way. Sometimes I steal and sometimes I give it back. But blackmail merely bored me. It's beneath me. It's too soft. And besides, I'm through with my husband." "Don't call him your husband," said Jim. "I happen to know better. I happen to know you've got a divorce. And now you know it — you didn't know before. I'm convinced of that — and I've been a fool ever to doubt you." Meanwhile Thomas was confronting Marie. "Do you figure to keep all that jewelry?" he wanted to know. "I will unless you promise to give them to Mrs. Thomas," Marie told him. "But you see, Marie — " "You'd better promise, or I keep them !" "I promise," he said meekly. "All right, Daisy." Marie opened the door and admitted the woman who had a few days ago said so many mean things about Benjamin Thomas in court. "Why, Daisy!" Thomas exclaimed. "How did you get here?" "Never mind. Are these for me, Benjamin?" she said, fingeringthe jewels that Marie had put on the table. "For you, my love." "There's one ring here that I care nothing about/' She picked up the emerald and gave it to Marie. "Perhaps you can use this." "And by the way," Thomas said casually, "let me write out a check for that $3,000 I owe you." With the ring and the check, Marie started towards the door. She looked back to see if Wanda was coming, but she seemed to be comfortable enough in Jim's arms. "The torture you put me through," Wanda was saying. "I was jealous of him. I'd have believed anything." "I'll never forgive you, but I can't live without you," she said. "Honest, Daisy," Benjamin Thomas was protesting as Marie opened the door, "it's always been you — honest, Daisy !" He's No "Orchid Man!' Continued from page 51 the aristocratic Lithuanian. From the lowliest prop boy to the most important director every one in the studio seems eager and anxious to help make a success of pictures or scenes in which Lebedeff appears. Now they have their chance, as has he, because for the first time he is making a picture in which he plays the featured role. The story, moreover, is based on actual experiences in his own life during the war. His producing company, Radio Pictures, has been generous in doing its bit to make a success of Lebedeff's real motion picture debut. Bill LeBaron held the script for six months, but when he finally decided that here was, in the man's own career, a splendid vehicle for Lebedeff the actor, he went the whole way. For director, Richard Boleslavsky was selected. Possibly because he. like the star, has a Slavic ancestry and would be more understanding than would an AngloSaxon. His association with the Moscow Art Theatre, with Max Reinhardt, the German stage genius ; and his successful direction in New York of the outstanding musical hits, "The Three Musketeers" and "The Vagabond King," unquestionably also influenced LeBaron. The women in Ivan's film are Betty Compson, Genevieve Tobin, Ilka Chase, and Rita Le Roy, truly a pulchritudinous quartette. The male players supporting Lebedeff are Purnell Pratt. Edward Martindale and Arthur Edward Carewe. Formidable competition for a star, yet of the latter's own choosing. He would, had it been possible, risked even greater names in his support. He feels as Lionel Barrymore did, confronted with a similar Ivan Lebedeff knows how to wear a military uniform. And why not, after having served with distinction as an officer in the late Czar's Dragoons? Have you seen him in "The Cay Diplomat"? situation in one of his recent pictures: "I want the most competent, capable actors playing with me. If they try to steal my best scenes there is the greater incentive on my part to outdo myself and prevent them. It is the most inspiring sort of competition and should make any player work that much harder for his own sake and that of the picture." Considering Lebedeff's susceptibility to the attractiveness of women in reel or real life it was morally certain the feminine players in his first picture would be characterized by good looks and mentality. They have both and he is glad. "I am fortunate and realize it. But then I have always felt since I first came to America — and I am not saying this for effect but because I honestly think it — • that American women are the most beautiful in the world. I think I can say that advisedly, because it has been my privilege to know a great many stunning women in the various countries of Europe. I do feel this, and most observant men will agree, that the American man concentrates too much on the making of money and neglects other things equally worthwhile. In doing this, possibly rendered necessary' by the demands made on him by his wife, he is apt to delegate to other men the so-called social and mental phases. It is slight wonder so many American society women seek the companionship of younger men possessed of certain social graces. It is little surprise that so many marriages consequently fail. Yet I confess I do not know what to offer as a solution, when one figures the wife's monetary demands and the necessity for meeting these