Silver Screen (Nov 1936-Apr 1937)

trades fine carrots with Wallace Beery for chickens and lettuce. Director Clarence Brown exchanges oranges, and diminutive Frances Langford barters her radishes and onions. Speaking of Frances, there's one girl who is not content to confine her ranch activities to the Golden State alone. She is also interested in raising oranges in her native Florida. Francis Lederer likes the American mail order method of doing business. When he harvested his first crop of cabbages last season, he sent samples to almost a thousand of his friends. Later on his apricots ripened and he repeated this maneuver. Then surprise of surprises! When the almonds were harvested the same thing happened again. Who wouldn't like to be on his mailing list? Western hero George O'Brien says, "One thing a fellow can't do is take his money with him when he eventually goes." Hence he is improving his fifty-acre ranch near Inglewood and when he gets through with it he will possess a real gentleman's estate. He intends tO' install a new ranch house and guest home, a swimming pool, modern stables, and a new site for his rodeos. Rugged Victor McLaglen, Academy Award winner, chose the La Canada hills at the base of the Sierra Madre Mountains for his rancho, "Fairhaven." His is one of California's most impressive and picturesque ranches; in fact, we'll vote it in the class with the Carrillo place. In addition to regular ranching Vic keeps a large stable of fine horses including eight thoroughbred jumpers, and his favorite mount. Duchess. He has a great variety of pets including deer, dogs, and peacocks. A short time ago lethargic Stepin Fetchit entered the market for a large tract of land in San Fernando valley. His idea is to develop a modern home community, to be known as "Harlemwood," for the folk of his race. And if his plans go through, boy oh boy, what a "Harlemwood" it may turn out to be! But one must not come to the conclusion that all the stars have chosen California for their back-to-nature jaunts. Quite the contrary. Some have gone far afield. Joan Bennett and Lily Pons favor Ne^v England, Janet Gaynor Hawaii, and James Cagney wants a whole island to himself. The urge for isolation seems to be predominant with him and he should have plenty of it on his island off the Massachusetts coast. Lily Pons plans definitely to retire on her farm in Connecticut within the next five years. Joan Bennett and hubby Gene Markey have located their place in the aristocratic section of that same state. The Markey dream is a perfect model farm, with all the latest gadgets in machinery and lots of contented co^vs. When they retire on this beautiful farm they plan to go in for large scale oyster cultivation— or was it oyster plants? Some time ago Madeleine Carroll turned to romantic Spain and purchased a typical feudal castle and estate known as "Castillo Magdalena" m Catalonia, an ancient section of northeastern Spain. Warner Baxter has a great hankering to own an island up in the vicinity of Vancouver or Victoria, but Mrs. Baxter (Winifred Bryson) has not given her wholehearted approval to Warner's romantic Robinson Crusoe yearning. While dealings for it are not yet settled, indications are that she will not be able to withstand this back-to-the-soil campaign which is being waged. Certainly, at no time in the past has Hollywood been so soil conscious. Security, contentment and happiness were the rewards of those Hollywood favorites who first initiated the ranch movement and now the exodus from the city is in full swing, and those stars who have not already purchased tracts of land will do so very soon. yet his work has enough of a sense of humor or of proportion to fit into the most realistic of films. Here is an adversary formidable enough for even such a doughty hero as Gary Cooper. Dumbrille hasn't much competition in his field. The suave and sinister type of villain has an annoying way of reforming just when he becomes most expert. Back in the silents William Powell \vas tops, a blackguard so gracefully graceless that you couldn't blame our heroine for giving in. Paul Lukas has the knack of combining fine manners with convincing menace. In the heroic person of Ronald Colman there is a swell heavy going to waste. Colman's film-acting career has actually included three very dirty vil'.ains— the unscrupulous Lord Darlington in Lubitsch's silent production of "Lady Windermere's Fan," the lecherous count who piusued poor Vilma Banky through the satirical "Magic Flame," the pathetic debauchee of "The Masquerader." And you may have cimS [CniiliniU'd from page r,yl noticed that in "Tale of Two Cities" Colman dwelt with especial relish on the more rakish aspects of Dickens' romantic drunkard. But the ruffian who never takes the trouble to put a civilized gloss upon his villainy has a charm all his own. Ernest Torrence is gratefully remembered as one of the foremost of the unshaven, bullying gentry, from "Tol'able David" to his lasl success, "I Cover the Waterfront," which belonged to him and not to Colbert, its lovely star. Remember the lusty interpretation that Walter Huston, solid citi/en in "Doclsworth," gave to Tram pas of "The Virginian," the ornery skunk who was forced to smile when he said I hat. This roughneck villain is most conunon in the weslern and has cropped up again in the ^vesicrn's first cousin, the crookfilm, still committing the ugliest crimes with unfailing cheerfulness. Bruce Cabot's drunken kidnapper in "Sho\v I iiem No Mercy" had an ever-present, though perverted sense of humor. The bra/en ga\ety of his lynch-mob leader in "Fury " made audiences despise the fellow doubly. Then there is big, red-headed Barton MacLane, whose childish, swaggering bandit of "Dr. Socrates" and genial racketeer of "]5ulle(s or Ballots" were reminiscent of the younger George Bancroft who climbed to siardom as "the smiling villain." It \vas a glorified \\estein, "I'hc Texas Rangers," that gave the talkies' laughing villain, Lloyd Nolan, his juiciest opjiortuniiy. The ingraliating Mr. Nolan, alter his first hit as the martyred government ageni of "G-Men," devoted his \ igorous simplicity to a series of stalwart heroes. But nobody noticed him luuil he sli|)ped olf thf straight and narrow with his llower-fancving baby-killer in "Hig lirown F.\es." If it weic true that hnalile rcMcs are tl.( only \wn to po[)ulaiity, a do/en careci! would lia\c died a-I)orning. Mvrna I.ov^ cuireiU success, thougli " I'liiii Man' Vi 63