Silver Screen (Apr-Sep 1936)

60 Silver Screen for July 1936 Her Tennis Stroke 10S — too bad her laxative wasn't! Her swing is a marvel of precision and timing . . . What a pity she didn't know that correct timing is vital in a laxative, too ! You see, when you take a laxative into your system, you can't afford to take chances. Look out for harsh, over-acting cathartics that might upset you, nauseate you, cause stomach pains, leave you weak and dragged down. Such laxatives abuse you internally. Their after-effects are unpleasant, sometimes dangerous. DEMAND CORRECT TIMING Just what is meant by correct timing in a laxative? Simply this: a correctly timed laxative takes from 6 to 8 hours to be effective. Its action is gentle and g-r-a-d-u-a-1, yet completely thorough. Ex-Lax is just such a laxative. It won't throw your system out of rhythm. No stomach pains, no nausea. No unpleasant after-effects of any sort. Ex-Lax works so naturally that, except for the relief you enjoy, you scarcely realize you have taken a laxative. PLEASANT TO TAKE Ex-Lax is not only kind to your system —it's kind to your taste, too. Its flavor is just like smooth, delicious chocolate. All druggists sell Ex-Lax in economical 104 and 25<? sizes. Get a box today ! When Nature forgets — remember EXLAX THE ORIGINAL CHOCOLATED LAXATIVE He Resents Being Typed [Continued from page 54] independence brings him a delicious, almost a delirious sense of elation. Now in a picture," and he threw me a gay smile, "even if you are a star, you are only one of many cogs in the great wheel that is turning out a product. You sustain an emotional mood tor only a few minutes at a time and the effect you secure on the screen is never independently your own for it is built up through the aid of mechanics, such as photography, lighting, sound. There is little personal satisfaction for the player because he never sees the finished results of his work and it is a trifle depressing to be— just a cog!" After a pause, he went on, "I wish I had been born thirty years earlier. The war's disillusionment made people intensely practical and the stage is no longer vitally concerned with ability. Life's tempo is completely changed and it is personality, a salable quality, that the entertainment world demands. "I once asked Forbes-Robertson if there were as many outstanding figures on the stage now as in the former generation and he replied that there were many more. And because there are so many really fine actors today, one must possess unusual ability and a stirring personality in order to stand out from the surrounding cast of capable players. I never see a motion picture without thinking of this, for even the smallest parts are portrayed with amazing skill." With the fire of enthusiasm, Basil continued, "If the major studios would each produce one picture a year without regard to its commercial value, only its artistic, it would soon raise the standard to a very high level. It seems such a little tribute to pay this great industry that has brought fame and wealth to its followers; just one picture every twelve months. I'm sure every actor would gladly give his services at a very low figure for the privilege of creating something that might become a cinema classic and I'm willing to wager that out of the five pictures made, at least two or three would turn into smashing box-office successes. History of both stage and screen shows that the truly worth while productions usually make money. It would be a fine gesture to the screen as Art. I'm confident this will eventually be done for, after all, producers are dreamers and full of sentiment. Too, they are always gamblers!" The Rathbones— Mrs. Rathbone is the brilliant Ouida Bergere— have made over the one-time Jack Dempsey-Estelle Taylor home into a very beautiful place, with spacious gardens and a swimming pool. The gardens are Basil's hobby and he loves to put on old clothes and actually work in them. He excels in many outdoor sports but his favorite is golf. He dislikes going out and so the usual social life of contract and large parties never intrudes on the Rathbone calendar. They prefer riding horseback, or hiking over the hills with their dogs galloping about them. Basil is still passionately fond of music and has a remarkable collection of phonograph records of the world's famous symphonies and other classics. He is an idealist, and has a naive faith in humanity. He worships children and is excited over plans, already in motion, for adopting two babies, a girl and a boy. As a coming screen triumph, there is a very reliable rumor that when "Julius Caesar" is filmed, Basil will portray Mark Antony. Tests made with the color camera promise much for him, for they definitely emphasize his good looks and his romantic Qualities. So, perhaps Basil Rathbone will finally take his rightful place as an intriguing figure in screen romances. Talent of the World [Continued from page 31] Bow from Brooklyn, a Joan Crawford from San Antonio, Texas (via Kansas City), compete on equal terms with the Parisian Chevalier, the Londoner, Ronald Colman, and the Canadians, Norma Shearer, Mary Pickford or the late Marie Dressier. The camera, once it achieves focus, does not recognize nationality. Three generations of cameras, for instance, proved that Mary Pickford, Marie Dressier and Norma Shearer were the first ladies of the screen. They were American cameras but they honored three Canadians, for the lens of a camera tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, untroubled by boundary lines. If the stars are elected on the basis of talent, so also are those who direct them and point out the short-cuts to stardom. The directors come from all over the world to Hollywood. Frank Capra is from Palermo, Italy; Lubitsch is from Berlin; Frank Lloyd is from Glasgow, Scotland; Von Sternberg is from Vienna; Frank Borzage hails from Dempsey's town, Salt Lake City; Michael Curtiz is from Budapest; Richard Boleslavsky is from Warsaw, Poland; John Ford, of "Informer" fame, is from Portland, Maine; Mark Sandrich, who directed "Top Hat," is a New Yorker; Mervyn Le Roy is a San Franciscan; Lloyd Bacon is from San Jose, California, and Edmund Goulding is "from England. Gregory La Cava is from Towanda, Pennsylvania. Walter Lang is from Memphis, Tenn. Archie Mayo is a New Yorker. J. Walter Ruben is a New Yorker. Norman Taurog is a Chicagoan. King Yidor is from Budapest. Rouben Matnoulian is from Tif lis, Caucasus; Clarence Brown from Clinton, Mass. The cosmopolitan make-up of the directorial staff is a fine influence on pictures, for the directors encourage the artists of their own countries and cities and sections to come to Hollywood. And the directors generally know talent better than the frontoffice. It was a Swedish director who brought Garbo to Hollywood. It was Director George Cukor who insisted on RKO signing Katharine Hepburn. It was Director Clarence Brown who "made" Clark Gable. The world indeed is Hollywood's oyster. It is the Coast's willingness to go far afield in search of talent, and directors and cameramen and writers that has spurted the industry so high, in so short a time. With the finest minds of the world to draw upon, Hollywood has achieved a maturity of intellect that is no less than staggering. It is a long cry from the cowboy thrillers of Bill Hart to such a sensitive document as "These Three"— a far cry from Clara Bow's obvious "It" to the sophistication of a Dietrich— a far cry from Hoot Gibson to the finesse of a Laughton. The movies have grown up because they grafted on to celluloid the background of older countries, borrowing polish here, sophistication there and staining its hands with soil. The lout has become a gentleman with out forgetting his origin. That the process has been accomplished in good taste, and has been eminently successful was demonstrated to me not long ago on a trip to Havana. Now Havana can be a turbulent community, as menacing and grim as Mono Castle that stands