Screenland (Dec 1933-Apr 1934)

for April 1934 29 American production since the memorable "Berkeley Square," he had slipped over to his manager's office to visit with me while his associates at Radio went into a huddle to decide how to wind up the plot. "If it wouldn't sound facetious or be a bad pun, I might confess that I myself learned much about women from Hollywood !" Now I was getting somewhere. I urged him to elaborate. "Well, you see the leading ladies here are superalluring. Stage heroines, for instance, climb to the top strictly on their acting merits. In the theatre a girl need only be passable as regards her face. The audience's distance automatically endows her with sufficient glamor. You get what I'm driving at? While one may admire a fine technician, one isn't struck giddy by her knack for acting. "Here in Hollywood, surface sex appeal reigns triumphant. The heroines, thanks to the close-ups, must be positively appetizing. Delectable ! The public must literally see why the lady is so enchanting to the hero. More and more sheer ability is counting, but a beautiful personality has so far been an adequate substitute." His blue eyes sparkling with that constant intensity which is so exclusively his, he warmed to his subject. Alternately he lounged lazily behind a massive desk and then strode vigorously up and down the room. There is a charm about him which is as evident in person as on screen or stage. "It's all very well and diplomatic to declare that working in movie love scenes is purely business. But if you are a sensitive, emotional person — and you have to be to be an actor— you are predisposed for romance. You remind yourself that you're acting, but the pre Here, below, is the lovely Howard residence in Surrey, England — a four-hundred year-old Tudor home. Leslie's appealing little daughter, named after him, is his constant playmate and the apple of his eye. Here are the two in a characteristic moment , during Mr. Howard's recent sojourn in old England. tense can start you guessing about your partner's reactions — if you are bold. "You say to yourself, 'Now here's a person capable of feeling the ardor she pretends for the sake of the story.' The director orders you to put enthusiasm into your scenes. Ah, it's a problem — whether you're single, or married and in peaceful relationship with your own wife !" Where high-pressure film affection has frequently led, we know. Few dare to be as frank as Leslie Howard. But Hollywood's history is high-lighted with cases of screen thrills that wound up in real flame. Offscreen friendships become more serious when the two friends are cast together in love sequences — often. Joan Crawford and Franchot Tone currently, as Garbo and Gilbert in the silent days, exemplify this tendency. But to return to Mr. Howard's revelations. "English screen girls are not so troublesome to the actor," he continued. "The British fans haven't been educated up to the high standard of beauty Hollywood has achieved. In London, when they cast a film, they just hire a competent actress and turn her loose on the set. She shifts for herself. The infinite pains taken here to enhance a lady's looks are not taken there. Consequently, it's easier on the actor's conscience in Britain ! "I should interpret this variation thus. In America the film stars have established themselves as the supreme Leslie Howard leads the field when it comes to subtle masculine charm. He's now in "Of Human Bondage." influences. The average girJ (Continued on page 95)