Screenland (May-Oct 1937)

How Has He Done It? Jeanne Madden and Fred Lawrence, two of Hollywood's own "finds," appear in "Talent Scout." any severe ones happened to come along. From the back of it, you see a limitless view of Hollywood and Los Angeles, both places looking small and flat, far below and far away. Nearby is the lovely colonial sample of home recently vacated by Jean Harlow and sold. Still nearby, the recently vacated and sold home of William Powell (that rare spirit!). Right on the spot, one might say, is also the home of Carole Lombard, the ex-Mrs. Powell. All lucky people, risen to the top of the profession. In his present position, his possessions, his good standing, Warner can say he is lucky. He does not. "I don't believe in luck," he remarked. "I don't think there ever has been a 'lucky' man. No one could get a thing unless he first imagined himself getting it, and then went after getting it. "When I started out on the stage, I saw what I intended to get and planned accordingly. Many believe you've merely to want something and sit down and wait. "A beginner in acting, I knew I had much to learn. I was quite willing to study, for I knew each step I took brought me nearer to my first goal — a solid standing. "There was only one drawback in my way. I had a dreadful fear of not being able to go through with my acting once I set foot on the stage. I suffered agonies by this lack of confidence in myself. "Finally, I overcame this fear and never experienced it again. With my first goal reached — an apparently firm foothold in pictures — I started out for the second." "Then you do not believe there is an end to all things ?" "No. Certainly not ! Nothing ends. Life itself is just like that small waterfall down below — a constant flowing through matter and form. The mistake occurs when we clutch at the matter and try to keep ourselves out of the flow of living." Warner certainly has gone with the stream of events. At the coming of the talkies, he was reaching a good position on the screen. The wild rush of Broadway stage players unset the ascendency of many really fine film actors. (Continued from page 29) Many Hollywood players were to blame. They refused to face the facts. A new change had occurred. Warner accepted the change in a natural manner. "We are going to see something absolutely new," he said to me at the time. "This is going to combine the stage and the screen. For my part, nothing could be better. It means that we of the silent pictures have to start in anew." This is exactly what Warner did. With his past stage experience, together with the art of pantomime, he made "The Cisco Kid" an outstanding event in early talkies. His was a new type of romantic characterization, while he could talk and act and hold your interest all at the one time. From then on his career is well known. Of course, don't think for moment that Warner merely walked into good jobs. His career in Hollywood has not been one of continual ease. I recall spending an evening with War Secret agents may want to arrest him, but Ketti Gallian has a caress for Paul Lukas in "Espionage." ner, ten years ago, at his modest home on Beachwood Drive. He and his wife Winifred had just returned from New York, where he had played with Gilda Gray in "Aloma of the South Seas." Previous to this, things had been pretty bad for Warner. Only now was he able to afford to have a couple of extra rooms built onto his house. "Until now I couldn't have afforded it," he said. "Today, I am doing what I planned to do several years ago — have a comfortable little home of our own. Later on, when my standing is even more secure, I plan to build a larger place. A home in its own grounds. A place in the country but near the town." Ten years change many things. Today, Warner has his new home in the country. Had I not heard him plan to have it years ago I might have disregarded his own statement today. "It has not been an easy time all along," he added, after we finished our reminiscences in the heights of Bel Air. "Many times I've been deeply discouraged. Grave obstacles have stood in my way. Yet after surmounting them, I always discovered I had gained something worthwhile from the struggle. Ann Beniger, 19, went to Hollywood to see Gary Cooper. She did, and got his autograph as well. "Don't think I'm a fatalist. I believe you only get what you work for — if you work along with changing events. So far as my picture profession goes, I've always gone with it. Up or down, bright or dark, I've never stood apart from it in a scoffing manner, such as I've heard others say they do. "Since I chose acting, I put into it all I possibly could give. No matter even if the picture was stupid in plot, I've played my role as though it was the greatest chance of my life." I have never seen Wainer give a poor performance, and I've seen practically every picture he has appeared in. Today, the audiences are with him, mentally and emotionally. At a showing of "Robin Hood of El Dorado," a typical thing occurred to prove this statement. As Joaquin Murrietta, Warner gave a splendid performance. When he was tied to the tree in the market place and whipped, the entire audience gave forth an "Oh !" of compassion. Warner has, perhaps more than any actor, outside of Paul Muni, the ability to feel and show suffering. "The Prisoner of Shark Island" and "Road to Glory" were two splendid pictures, in which he revealed depths of human suffering. In neither was he 'actory.' We might have been looking in at the actual events. So many stars try to escape from the rest of humanity. For some strange reason, they believe they are beyond the common herd. Warner Baxter has never failed to keep in touch with other people. Perhaps no other professional in Hollywood has done more kindnesses to his fellow men than Warner. He has helped many people along. Moreover, it is the spirit in which he does things that is most noticeable. There is no condescension. No "I-comefrom-the-heights-down-to-earth" attitude. This is the chief trait that has made Warner Baxter outstanding in his line of work. He feels the mass mind. He is one with humanity. This is how Warner has done what very few stars do — hold the public attention as an actor who understands. 70