Screenland (Nov 1935-Apr 1936)

for April 1936 89 Director Alexander Korda is coming through the swing-doors, and he always has this curious effect, probably because he boasts that he can sum up a player's potentialities at the first glance. He is dark and slim, with curly hair and horn-rimmed spectacles that give his thin features an aesthetic look. If you met him in the street you would classify him as a University professor. His voice is slow and cynically drawling and his epigrams' in four languages are renowned. Everybody wants to act for him, for he has never yet produced a box-office failure and he has made so many of his small-part people into world-famous stars. He goes straight to his favorite chair, looking neither right nor left yet seeing everything. In a moment he is followed by Charles Laughton, bland and beaming, and Elsa Lanchester who throws greetings to her friends with an inimitable snapping of her expressive fingers. She w.ears barbaric sandals on her bare feet and an odd tight-fitting dress of vivid purple, the shade she most favours since an astrologer assured her it wa*s her lucky color. Elsa is intensely superstitious — look at her new mascot bracelet of curiously-twisted metal incorporating her birth-sign of the Zodiac. The Laughtons have just returned to London after a brief stay at their country retreat, which is one of the most remarkable dwellings in the whole world. It is a little rustic chalet built right up among the tree-tops in the secluded heart of a forest, approached by a ladder and containing only one room. Here among the green branches', suspended between earth and sky, the famous stars read and rehearse and cook their meals on a primitive oil-stove and live like the children of nature Elsa often vows they are. Now they sit down and drink mellow sherry with Korda — and everybody on the "Boulevard" begins to wonder what the trio are talking about. Charles is playing again for the producer who gave him his first real screen chance, this time as "Cyrano de Bergerac," that gallant tragic hero of medieval romance who prompted his friend to make passionate speeches to the beautiful Roxanne he secretly loved himself. Korda delights in costume stories and he is going to set Marlene Dietrich against a gorgeous historical background for her first British film. He describes her as "a pillar of alabaster with a crown of flame" and declares her high aristocratic indifference would mark her out the same whether she were princess or beggar-maid. Though he detests trousers for women as a rule, he approves them on Marlene's celebrated legs. His theory is that she gains the more femininity through reason of their contrasting starkness ! Marlene has a great friend in London : Elisabeth Bergner, her fellow student at Reinhardt's dramatic school at Salzburg in days gone by and godmother to her small daughter Maria. You will not meet the elfin-like Elisabeth on the "Boulevard." She is the Garbo of London's Little Hollyr wood, mysterious and elusive, working behind padlocked doors in the studio and living in complete seclusion in an ancient house far out in the suburbs. Her friends are welcome to call there for coffee — black coffee topped with cream and nuts and served in tall glasses Viennese fashion — but nothing will induce Elisabeth to put her ash-gold head inside a restaurant or hotel. She did not even attend the banquet given in honor of "As You Like It," her latest film in which she repeats the Rosalind that theatre critics have generally considered the finest role of her brilliant stage career. No use telling Elisabeth Shakespeare isn't always good box-office ! "What does that matter?" she asks. "I wanted to play Rosalind on the screen and so I have." YES! DENTYNE IMPROVES YOUR TEETH. Dentists know why Dentyne is such an aid to sounder, more beautiful teeth. Because, they say, Dentyne's specially firm consistency induces more vigorous chewing — gives your gums and mouth tissues stimulating exercise and massage. It stimulates the salivary glands, too, and promotes natural self-cleansing. Chew Dentyne — make it a daily health habit — and see how it helps you to a healthier mouth, and teeth more lustrouswhite! A "DIFFERENT" AND DELICIOUS FLAVOR! a ting ling delight to your taste! A little spicy — a lasting flavor — altogether refreshing and satisfying! The Dentyne package is different, too — made conveniently flat in shape, to slip handily into your pocket or handbag (an exclusive feature). Keeps teeth white — mouth healthy DENTYNE DELICIOUS CHEWING GUM