Star-dust in Hollywood (1930)

Star-dust in Hollywood balance the careful artistry of Von Sternberg, Cruze had the greater vitality. He lent himself to his actors, and seemed to infuse them with his own easy good nature, which made the acting go with a swing and formed a unity between the director and the actors. With Von Sternberg, on the other hand, rather critical and contemptuous of his puppets, the actors often seemed like puppets indeed, and he had to spend his extra vitality in using more convincing realism and artistry in the picture-making. In terms of art criticism, Cruze might be called the Romantic director and Von Sternberg the Neo-Classic. At last we could return to our dressing-rooms, far more exhausted by the long afternoon's wait than by the morning's work. I took back my clothes, received my pay-ticket, and joined Jo in a line before the office. There Silver-gilt came up to us. " Let me see what you've got on your tickets," she said. " ' Talent specials.' That'll be a lot more money than I draw. I get seven dollars because I have a nice dress, but the time was when I was getting a hundred dollars a day. Those tickets of yours should mean real money." Just in front of us in the line were other talent specials, three dwarfs, whose talents consisted in little more than accidents to the glandular system. We had been rather curious to know if the chimpanzee would be one of us as a talent special, but probably he was a star. For our ten minutes' of work we drew £$ apiece. Well satisfied, we sought out our old car and drove home. On the way Jo told me of her experiences in the women's dressing-room : " My wardrobe was an eerie kind of a place. Everything hung from the ceiling. You walked under thousands of costumes, from an English policewoman's uniform to a Hawaiian grass skirt. And for some reason there were masks stuck up all round. When I arrived only an Egyptian princess [208 ]