Star-dust in Hollywood (1930)

Record Details:

Title:
Star-dust in Hollywood
Date:
1930
Publisher:
London : George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.
Volume:
Star-dust in Hollywood
Leaf #:
000113
Language:
English
Collection:
Books
Format:
Books
Contributor:
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
Date Added:
March 28, 2024
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Hollywood — The TD tree tor BETTY COMPSON BACLANOVA AND GEORGE BANCROFT IN THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK A Paramount Picture Then in much smaller letters : Directed by Joseph Von Sternberg The public reading the posters say : " Oh, there's Betty Compson [or Clara Bow, or Emil Jannings, or Ronald Colman, or whoever the star may be] 1 She [or he]'s always good." Yet it would be often safer had they noted the smallest name, that of the director — Murnau, Lubitsch, Vidor, or Von Sternberg. But the stars appear in person ; they impress their humanity on the audience; their salaries are advertised and their divorces recorded in the newspapers. What would the world care if Joseph Von Sternberg were divorced or no? He has no personality. His image is never seen. He only directs. In the old Greek theatre actors wore masks that gave them the proper type and expression. These renowned stars — most of them, indeed — are but the masks that the director puts on ; they are marionettes dancing as he pulls the strings. What did it really matter to Von Sternberg whether he had Bancroft or some other as a star for his next picture ? Indeed, he said bluntly to us one day : "Actors? What are you saying about actors? That," pointing to the camera, " is my only actor. These," waving a hand a little contemptuously over stars, supers, and scenery alike, " these are my raw material." And, sitting there day by day, sketching the varied phases [107]