Screen Mirror (Jun 1930 - Mar 1931)

EJ Screen Mirror • For June II VY1UV1 director ef cetera ■ng • A short title, they say, is best. That’s why I have condensed the title of this article by appending the words “et cetera.” Were I to list all of the abilities and duties of Edmund Goulding after his name, I would have a string which would worry the best type compositor in the world. At this moment, Edmund Goulding is perhaps the most interesting directorial figure in motion pictures. Every' one is wanting to know what sort of a man is this genius who brought Gloria Swanson back into her own by “The Trespasser,” and has created a one'man picture in “The Devil’s Holiday,” in which I am fortunate enough to be the star. I have just been reading some of the advance opinions of critics on “The Devil’s Holiday,” and they are glowing in their reports of the work of Gould' ing. None of the writers seems to know this man, and, because of that, I know it will be interesting for me to tell some of the things I have learned of this director, etc. It is a well'known fact that the star of a picture can always tell more about her director than he himself, just as the director knows the star like a book after they have worked through one picture together. To go back to the “et cetera” of my title: I want to list the things that Edmund Goulding did on “The Devil’s Holiday.” He wrote the original story, adapted it to the screen, and built the dialogue. He then cast the picture, supervised wardrobe, aided in the planning of sets and furnishings, worked out all camera angles, and instructed as to make-up. He rehearsed the cast himself. He composed the music for the production, and personally worked with the orchestra on the scoring. At the end, he worked closely on the cutting of the picture. It is natural that anyone who does all of this is an interesting figure. What sort of a person is he? Not even the finest writer in the world could tell you with words. So I’ll jot down in note form what I think fans will want to know. First of all, he’s a great actor. He used to be on the stage in England. In order to show his cast how he wants scenes played, he gives magnificent per by nancy carroll formances which the public never sees. It isn’t well known that he is a splendid singer. He studied for many years in England with great teachers. His voice is baritone. He used to sing on the concert stage. Today he keeps up his singing lessors. He gave up singing as a profession because he says he did not want a trade in which he would deteriorate with age. He is an excellent entertainer, and delights guests by emulating the voice characteristics of great singers. He is a novelist. His book, “Fury,” ran into nine editions. Eventually, he plans to give up all other activities and oe a novelist. He can make a good living as a playwright. His play, “Dancing Mothers,” written with Edgar Selwyn, played for eighteen months on Broadway. “The Devil’s Holiday” was first written as a play. It was called “The Woman in the Wheat,” and the late Jeanne Eagles was to have played it for A. H. Woods. He is always composing music, getting ideas at any moment, and hurriedly calling in his musical secretary to jot them down. He has an entire book of tunes he has written, and plans to use most of them in pictures. His music follows no style. It carries from ballad to exotic, yet is all typically Goulding, and carries a strain of Celtic. Strange as it may seem, he plays no musical instrument, and has no knowledge of note writing. He composes wholly by whistling the tunes. One gets the idea that he is “flighty” because he leaps from one thing to another. He gets an idea, toys with it a while, and quickly casts it aside for something else. Yet he has a remarkable memory, and retains these ideas in his mind for years. When he gets time, he jots them down in notes for future use. He is extremely systematic in everything, a result of his career in the army during the world war. He is one of Hollywood's best athletes. He boxes six rounds every morning. When young, he boxed for a living, and keeps up the sport. A trainer supervises his health. He likes to play tennis, but says he is no good at it. He has tea every day in the middle of the afternoon, smokes only one brand of cigarettes, drives his own car, and lives simply, with only one servant who keeps house and prepares meals. He never uses a typewriter, but dashes off notes in longhand, and then dictates them, elaborating as he does so. He has been known to dictate for fourteen hours at a stretch. His desk is filled with notes. He tells me he has enough story material to keep him busy writing and directing as fast as possible for ten years without ever getting another idea. On the set he seeks opinions of others. He often drags an electrician, visitor, laborer, or outsider over to watch the rehearsal of a scene and give their candid opinion of its effect. Although he did not come to this country until after the war, his stories are all typically American. He believes the large cities of America are the basis of the best drama of today. Before he starts camera work, he maps out on hundreds of sheets of paper all of the camera angles he will require. On “The Devil’s Holiday” he used as many as thirteen cameras at one time. He likes to shoot continuously, carrying action into several rooms without a break. He shoots to measure. When “The Devil’s Holiday” was completed, it was exactly the required length. He has never had to make a retake on a picture. He always rehearses for a week before he starts work. The only item he insists on before he starts work on a picture is that he will never have to shoot a scene he doesn’t believe should be taken. And all of his friends call him “Eddie.”