Screenland (Nov 1934-Apr 1935)

for January 1935 Lee Tracy, who's pretty good at the banjo, and Eddie Peabody, who's wonderful at it, escort Helen Mack to the lilt of a lively tune on a studio stroll. uncomplimentary things. They would have gone home and told their friends they saw Muni and he's not so hot. They would probably have added that my performances are achieved by means of trick photography. I refused to make a spectacle of myself and declined to work until they had left the set. "On the stage I would have had four weeks of rehearsals and I would have been as good in the part as it is possible for me to be. When people come to see me there they are seeing me at my best. I wouldn't permit anyone to watch me rehearsing a play, either." "Well," I put in, "I've seen Helen Hayes kidding on the set, get a cue and jump right into a scene which called for hysterics, finish the scene, wipe her eyes and come off and take up her kidding again. And I've seen other actors do the same thing." "Some actors can do that," he admitted. "I can't. My mental processes are slow and they're not that elastic. Even in the theatre, when I've been in a play for months, I still have to go off by myself before a heavy scene and sit with my head in my hands, building myself into the mood before I can go on and play it. "I know tricks, of course. I can dip into the bag with the best of them. But I don't like to use them. I don't feel that tricks make for a natural performance. Some of them are effective — but not as effective as really feeling the part and playing it as a person would really live it. That's why I want time to study a part and try out different readings. Some of them are awkward and I realize at the time I'm awkward doing it. No one who takes any pride in his work wants to show it until it's finished. You wouldn't show one of your articles before you'd polished it up, would you? Well, / don't want outsiders to see my performances until they're as good as I can make them. "If I ever have that clause that gives me a completed script and a week's rehearsals before I start shooting, they can bring all the visitors on the set they like. I'll welcome them because it will be stimulating. I'll feel as though I'm playing to an audience. "As a matter of fact, I have never seen myself on the screen that I haven't cringed. I don't like anything I have ever done in pictures — or, at least, I'm not satisfied with anything I've ever done. And that goes for 'Scarface' and 'Fugitive,' too! I see my pictures once to see what they look like — and once is enough. "I prefer the stage to the screen but I'm not crazy about being an actor at all. I'd much rather be in the audience and enjoy myself. I have a catholic taste in amusements. I can enjoy Katherine Cornell, the rowdiness of Fannie Brice, and the humor of Willie and Eugene Howard. I don't care what kind of play it is so long as it's good." "Don't you ever lose patience when you're in the audience and see an actor misplaying a part? Doesn't that upset you?" I asked. "Sometimes," he conceded. "But then, you so often see an actor giving a great performance and it buoys me up. When I see a good play well done, it makes me want to do one, too. But after I've rehearsed it and brought it to life, I don't care particularly about seeing how long a run I can get out of it." Muni paused in his speech and devoted himself to the halibut again while I stared. He talks glibly, fluently — and intelligently. His ideas are mature and he doesn't say things just to be talking. You have the impression, despite his glibness, that everything has been carefully thought out. With all this there is a boyish quality about him. Something ageless. I commented on it. He nodded. "That's why I have played character parts almost exclusively. When I was twenty-four I could never play a juvenile of twenty-four because I always looked eighteen. If I played character parts, I could, with make-up, look any age." He also gives the impression — to me, at least — of morbidity. That was why I was totally unprepared when Archie Mayo, who directed him in his new picture, started kidding him about having jumped into his pool the day before with his clothes on. I must have shown my surprise as vividly as I felt it. Muni laughed. "Some people were out at the house for a swim and I said I didn't feel like changing into a bathing suit. Someone suggested I go in as I was, so I did." He smiled ruefully. "It's costing me $8 to get my watch fixed, besides the cost of getting my clothes cleaned and pressed." That was the topper — for me. Muni jumping into a pool, fully dressed ! You expect a thing like that of Max Baer. Say! Come to think of it, they're not o very different at that They both speak their minds ! AMAZING TYPEWRITER BARGAIN New Remington Portable only 10c a day^ 10-DAY FREE TRIAL OFFER Only 10(;a day buys this latest model machine. Not a used or rebuilt typewriter. Not an incomplete machine. A beautiful brand new regulation Remington Portable. Standard 4-row keyboard; standard width carriage; margin release on keyboard ; back spacer ; automatic ribbon reverse; every essential feature found in standard typewriters . Carrying case free. Big price reduction . . . absolutely the biggest typewriter value ever offered! Try it in your home or office 10 days free. If you do not agree that it is the finest portable at any price return it at our expense. Don't delay. We pay cost of shipment direct from the factory to you. You save on the purchase price, you don't risk a cent. Write now! FREE TYPEWRITER COURSE Write Remington Rand Inc.. Dept. 162-1, Buffalo, N.Y. omm The women you most admire, and perhaps envy, prize their beauty and guard it. Their lustrous eyes and clear skin are the result of daily care. Above all else, these women keep their systems free of the poisons of constipation. Thousands of such women find Dr. Edwards Olive Tablets a matchless corrective. Madeof pure vegetableingredients. Know them by their olive color. They are a safe substitute for dangerous calomel. Not habitforming. All druggists, 15c, 30c and 60c. FREE Write for illustrated booklet describing money making opportunities in PHOTOGRAPHY. Pleasant and profitable occupation. Famous N. Y. I. personal attendance or Home Study courses will enable you to earn good income as professional photographer — Commercial, News, Portrait, or Motion Picture Photography. 25th year. New York Institute of Photography 1 0 West 33 Street Dept. 60 New York City !#if%Burpee*sGiantZinnias Four Best Colors SCARLET, YELLOW, LAVENDER, ROSE Burpee's Guaranteed Seeds. 4 Giant Zinnias, one regular full-size packet of each color (value 40c) sent postpaid for only 10c. Don't miss this remarkable offer. Burpee's Garden Book FREE. Write for your copy today. W. ATLEE BURPEE CO., 90S Burpee Bldg.. Philadelphia Cash Payments Advanced Writers of Songs Used and publication secured. Send us any likely material ( Words or Music) for consideration today. Radio Music Guild, 1650 Broadway. New York.