Screenland (May-Oct 1934)

72 SCREENLAND actor who has failed to pocket the money, however filthy ! "I'm not a wealthy man," Rich continued. "The stock market hit me hard, as it hit many others. I've got enough to live in moderate comfort for the rest of my clays. Yet when I come back, I'll work in pictures again. You see, I'm so darn fond of this game I'll probably die in greasepaint— at least, that's the way I want to die. "But meanwhile I'm going to have a vacation. I'll be gone six months to a year, maybe longer. There's always the possibility, of course, that I may get homesick and cut it shorter. Now wouldn't that be hell, after all my plans? "I've been promising myself this jaunt for a long, long time and if I don't go now, I never will. We all have that bad habit of postponing pleasures until, first thing we know, we have forgotten how to enjoy them. That's real tragedy and it's not going to happen to me. I'm footlose and fancy free and I'll take my fun where I find it as long as I can. "Remember the hero in 'Holiday' who wanted to play while he was young and work when he was older ? That's the right idea if you can afford it. Play while you still have the capacity for enjoyment. "There are vintages I've never tasted, food I've never eaten, places I've never seen. It is obviously impossible to drink, eat, and see everything in the world, but I'm going to shove up my batting average as far as possible. "So many travelers lose the real pleasure of traveling by taking their accustomed habits with them. They seem to believe that the expression, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do,' applies only to Rome. They regard the cuisine of a leading European hotel as inferior just because there are no Boston baked beans, California artichokes, or Milwaukee beer on the menu. "Great guns, that's not the way to travel ! When you are in any foreign country, taste of every thing the land provides. You may find several items distasteful before you hit something you really like. But try them all. Incidentally, eating and drinking as do the natives is the very best way to safeguard your health. The English thrive on mutton chops, heavy puddings, and rich sauces. The same diet would kill a South Sea Islander. Edible foods grow the places the good Lord intended them to be eaten. "I plan to taste everything I see that I Dix Dares to Desert Continued from page 25 Acme Dix marries secretary! Pretty Virginia Webster, employed for the past six months by the star, became Mrs. Richard Dix at a surprise wedding in Jersey City, N. J. on June 29th. have never tasted before. The experience may put me upon a doctor's diet for the balance of my days. But I will eat, drink, and be merry while I can ! "There is a little town in the South of France for which I am heading first of all. No, I'm not telling the name of it until I return. I haven't any too much resistance when it comes to a fat part in a big picture and I don't intend to have my holiday disturbed. "I am going to this town because several friends have described its charms to me. The hotel is small and comfortable without being ostentatious. The piece de resistence on the bill of fare is snails, quite the most gorgeous snails in all of France. The cellars are magnificent, one of the few great cellars that escaped looting in the War. Every bottle comes to you with the cobwebs still upon it. There is ocean bathing in the Mediterranean and all the sunshine you can sop up. Did you ever hear of a more desirable spot? "How long I will stay in one place will be dictated entirely by how much fun I am having. The moment boredom threatens, I'll find a new town. I won't be rushed and I won't be hurried about by a guide, bent upon showing me more than can be intelligently crammed into a single day's sightseeing. "What sightseeing I do will be done without a professional guide. Those fellows show you only the surface of things. I'm interested in essentials. Sightseeing like eating and drinking, must be approached in foreign countries with an uninhibited mind. You can't look at the Taj Mahal in India and liken its dome to the Capitol in Washington. You can't dismiss the Leaning Tower of Pisa because it doesn't lean as far as you thought it would. You can't compare the height of London buildings with New York skyscrapers. Yet many tourists commit these grievous errors of good taste, just as they complain because they can't get beefsteak in a town noted for its sea food." Rich paused. "I hope I'm giving you a story. I know what I'm saying isn't very definite, but my trip isn't very definite, either. I can't hand you a time-table or a tourist guide with all the places neatly underscored and the dates of arrival and departure charted to a split second. That isn't the kind of a trip I'm taking. It's a drinking tour around the world and I intend it to be just that. If I change my mind and go one place instead of another, I don't want to have to offer explanations even to myself. Whatever I do, wherever I go, it will be for no other reason than it seemed like a good idea — at the time." "Are you going alone, Rich ?" "Of course not. Any trips I take from now on will be in company with my wife. Mrs. Dix has tastes which coincide with my own with respect to the desire to travel and see things. "Don't expect to see us until you do ! Doubtless this will be my last as well as my first real vacation, so I'm going to have all the fun I can. I'll be back when I get homesick. Try not to forget me altogether." A veteran of nineteen years and sixtyseven pictures, Richard Dix deserves his vacation. As far as forgetting him is concerned, he would better have said not to envy him. Rich is too firmly established in the hearts of his fans ever to be forgotten, but his plans for a vacation are to be envied. In fact, it is just about the swellest vacation of which I have ever heard. It makes my mouth water. Bon voyage, Rich. "Take keer of yourself!" Her talkie wage wasn't set by any crazy Hollywood producer, either. She is under contract to a British company and the conservative English pay only for value received. Fox got her for this one film by effecting an arrangement whereby she was borrowed in exchange for Warner Baxter. But this isn't all, as regards the income of this British star. Actually, London studio executives had to do quite a bit of chasing to persuade her to sign on their old dotted line. Indeed, where Madeleine Carroll is concerned, expense is no object! They had to guarantee that her pictures would be so scheduled that she'd be free to do at least one play a season on the London stage. Moreover, they had to promise she'd have time to continue her brilliant private life as a Mayfair socialite. Wouldn't you suppose it from her obvi Expense No Object Continued from page 24 ous gentility? Aside from being Box-Office, this lovely English Carroll has something which comes to amazingly few actresses, abroad or in this country. I refer to her social prestige. As the wife of a handsome Blue Blood, she moves with the Strictly Select in London circles. By now I'm sure you're muttering something about certain women having all the luck, darn 'em! I've met this bewildering Madeleine Carroll ; I've done considerable checking^ up ; and I honestly believe her extraordinary success is deserved. She merits her fame and her happiness. Bear with me and I'll explain why I say this. The first reaction that whipped through my brain when I was introduced to her, in her bungalow at Fox, was that she is pretty. Truly so. Heretofore the imports from Europe have been shy on sheer beauty. Madeleine Carroll isn't. A blue-eyed, patrician golden blonde, she can compete with any movie actress on looks. (And I wouldn't try to kid you ; physical attractiveness is an advantage in pictures, always ! ) Next I was impressed by her refinement. She is poised, gracious, thoroughly feminine. But, most of all, she has class, and it's not the kind that's spelled with a capital K. Which is the sort generally displayed in Hollywood. She is glamorous without being gaudy, no mean achievement. Using little makeup, dressing smartly rather than startlingly, she speaks in a tone that is cultured and clear — and not half so broad-A as some of our pseudo-ladies. I asked her about her family and what she'd done before going into pictures, and