Screenland (Nov 1937-Apr 1938)

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Now, a great new advance in eye lotions clears up dull, veined look due to fatigue, exposure, etc. In seconds eyes look thrillingly brighter, whiter, and therefore larger ! Use Eye-Gene before eye make-up . . . for sparkling new eye beauty ! Two drops soothe and refresh tired, irritated eyes wonderfully ! No other eye lotion like Eye-Gene! Purse size at any 5 and 10c store. Economy size at all drugstores. EYE-GENE Secrets of Hollywood's Ace Directors Continued from page 33 nineteen then, carrying a violin under one arm, a pair of skiis under the other. Out at Universal he was known as just another relative, one more of the Laemmle kin. Willy didn't like that at all. One of his hardest fights was to make the company forget that he had been signed up simply h i ausc he was a Laemmle cousin. He succeeded so well that when he first put on a bit of temperament and demanded a release— this was after "The Good Fairy" — the company said "All right." Willy was terribly unhappy. Me had had no intention of leaving Universal. Pride wouldn't let him stay after that. He went into freelancing and made a name that is quite his own. He was married, for a year or two, to Margaret Sullavan and says they fell in love during the making of "The Good Fairy" because they enjoyed fighting with each other. W. S. Van Dyke is one who's gone in for adventure. Like all the big directors, he's a likeable fellow, talks well and gets along with people. He has his own way of directing, as individual as it is effective. He's apt to switch scenes suddenly, throwing his star into complete confusion. He did it once to Robert Taylor, pretending the scene was a rehearsal and filming only one take. The handsome Robert, newer at acting than he is now, was in despair until he saw the rushes. Then, somewhat abashed, he had to admit these were the best scenes in the picture. Woody tried this on one of Hollywood's prides and joy, who was intensely flattered by what he considered the director's trust in his ability. Woody snorted when he learned this, and spoke his mind freely : "Certainly he never needed more than one take for each scene. That!s the way we work with animals too. You figure out what the animal is able to do — or likely to do. Then you set up the cameras and photograph whatever he does. It's no use photographing it a second time. The animal won't be any better. He'll just be more tired. And that's the only way to handle some actors." He's one director who's been all over the world, even had a taste of real exploring. He made "Trader Horn" in the wilds of Africa, and says that was just grief all the time. He filmed "Eskimo" in Alaska, "The Pagan" and "White Shadows in the South Seas" on location. He turned down "The Good Earth" because he thought it should have been made in China. For sheer fun, there's probably no one in Hollywood to compare with Ernst Lubitsch when he's feeling gay. Always, on the set or off, he is puffing one of those dollar cigars that look bigger than ever compared to his small figure. His eyes are bright and always laughing. I've never heard him make a malicious remark, or heard one made about him. The only time I've ever seen him really mad was when he discussed censorship. The censors, by the way, didn't cut even a line in "Angel," so carefully had the witty Lubitsch handled a dangerous situation. He was an actor back in Berlin days, and transferred to directing about the time that Pola Negri became a European star. One of her German films, "Passion," brought him a Hollywood' contract. Little Lubitsch has been here ever since. Story conferences prove that an actor never quite forgets his art. Eyes dancing, cigar waving, Ernst Lubitsch goes through each scene. He will add a bit of business there, a line of dialogue there, a gesture now. When the script is finished, so practically is the film. Lubitsch knows what he wants. He has it there, down on paper, in detail, and complete in his head. He has only then to persuade the actors to get the idea, and this he does with a contagious merriment. He does not weep with the sad scenes nor grow hysterical with emotion, in the pretalkie style of direction. He chuckles and suggests, or, despairing, does a bit of acting himself. It's fun to watch. Evidently, from what his actors say, it's fun to do. Mervyn LeRoy is no longer known as the boy director, which is all right with him. He got pretty tired of that when he reached his mid-thirties, although his slight figure and round face still made him appear in his teens. His boyish appearance occasionally complicated his life, especially in New York. Once the treasurer of a Broadway theatre refused to hand over the tickets reserved in LeRoy's name. This, said the box office man, was just an office boy trying a very poor impersonation. The director had to hunt up witnesses to establish his identity. He is ambitious and direct, this former newsboy who got into the picture business as an extra. He never used his relationship with the producer, Jesse L. Lasky, to help himself along. In fact, he usually kept that fact a secret. He is a quick-witted little fellow, with an ability to whip up an electric atmosphere on his sets that is reflected in his pictures. For a while he was a gagman, a job he glorified by calling it comedy constructor. His first films were comedies, but gradually he's shifted over to drama, to "They Won't Forget" and "I Am a Fugitive," with only an occasional "The King and the Chorus Girl" and "Fools for Scandal" in between. Mervyn talks eagerly, waving about that tremendous black cigar which he uses like a baton when directing. Those black cigars, fragrant, and tremendous, are distinguishing marks also of Alexander Korda, the Hungarian who flopped in Hollywood and made so conspicuously good in London. LeRoy is still determined not to rely upon family connections. Married to the daughter of the eldest Warner brother, he is pulling up stakes at the Warners' studio and becoming producer-director at MetroGoldwyn-Mayer. Then there's Cecil B. DeMille who can The girl James Dunn waited for! Frances Gifford, Jimmy's bride. 84 SCREENLAND