Universal Weekly (1920, 1923-27)

18 •THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY CARMEL MYERS MEANS YOUTH AND VIVACITY £ARMEL MYERS is the Peter Pan of the screen. Although this fascinating young Califorriia girl has won success as a star on the silver sheet and on the Broadway stage, she has never quite grown up. The unquenchable spirit of youth is just as vital to Miss Myers to-day as it was a few years ago when she was attending school. She is a rare combination of dignified star and mischievous youngster, and neither phase of Carmel is a pose. One moment she will be discussing with her director, Rollin Sturgeon, the technical points of a scenario, and five minutes later she may be found in her dressing room busy on a wai'drobe for a row of kewpies. You may find her between scenes poring over a draft of the League of Nations or deeply interested in a volume of history or philosophy, and an hour later she will be reading a book of fairy tales or getting a ltick out of the colored supplement of a Sunday newspaper. She amuses herself at times by writing detailed criticisms of books she has read or plays or pictures she has seen, and then again she may be composing a series of frivolous limericks compared to which the rhymes of Mother Goose are deep and serious. It is this unconquerable fire of youth that adds zest and charm to every character Miss Myers portrays on the screen. It is this spirit which urged her to go to New York and win a name on the stage after she had starred in the films for two years. After her conquest of Broadway she returned to Universal City and appealed in “In Folly’s Trail,” which scored such a huge success that she was immediately starred in “The Gilded Dream,” by the same author and with the same director. This picture is soon to be seen at the Theatre. “The Gilded Dream” is a notable production in that its cast includes in addition to the youthful and vivacious star ,an actor of the charm and finish of Thomas Chatterton, who marries the lovely Miss Myers in the picture’s close, an actress as adept as Elsa Lorimer, who portrays a difficult role with the most convincing reality, and Boyd Irwin, who, as the “genteel heavy,” almost marries the lovely heroine to himself and his millions, but is disappointed at the eleventh hour. Mr. Irwin is an English actor who did considerable screen service in a big film produced in Australia. LEADING MAN PURSUES NUMEROUS ACTIVITIES THOMAS CHATTERTON, who plays opposite Carmel Myers in her newest photdrama, “The Gilded Dream,” which is to be seen at the — Theatre on , has won success on the stage, on the screen, as a director, in the world of business and as an inventor. On the stage he has played parts . Carmel Afyers in ‘THE GILDED DREAM" U/V/l/£f?SAL since he was a youngster. He played in “The Man of the Hour,” “What Happened To Jones,” “Lovers Lane” and other successes. He played stock engagements in various cities, and on four different occasions played juveniles and leading roles at the Alcazar in San Francisco. He first became associated with the screen when Thos. Ince engaged him to direct for him about six years ago. He was with Ince in that capacity for two years, playing leading roles and heavies in many of the stories he directed. Then he occupied a similar position with the American company, after which he returned to the spoken drama for a time. He has recently played leading roles with Enid Bennett and Peggy Hyland. Thomas Chatterton is the originator of the Chatterton System of Bakeries, a million and a half dollar corpora tion with stores in every large city west of the Rockies. His system of baking bread under ideally sanitary conditions is patented, and he draws a royalty from the companies using his process. He is now employing his spare time in perfecting a stereoscopic lens which will give depth and definition to a motion picture as it is thrown on the screen. He reports that he has worked up the idea, which only needs simplifying and refining. ACTRESS’ GOWNS CREATE A SENSATION ON SCREEN JN “The Gilded Dream,” the Universal photodrama in which Carmel Myers is to be seen at the Theatre on , many of the scenes are laid in the exclusive social and Bohemian circles in New York and its suburbs, and there is a veritable fashion show in the garments worn not only by the winsome star, but by several other members of the company. Elsa Lorimer, who plays the role of the ultra-modern Geraldine De Forrest in “The Gilded Dream,” is recognized as one of the best dressed women on the screen. She spends a small fortune in keeping her wardrobe ‘up to the minute and is often several months ahead of the calendar. She has appeared in a number of recent film productions in which her beautiful gowns were as attractive a feature as her splendid acting. Miss Lorimer brought to the animated sheet the experience of six years on the New York dramatic stage, appearing under the management of such well-known figures as Daniel Frohman, Henry B. Harris, William Brady and Oliver Morosco. She played a number of society roles at the Lyceum Theatre, New York, supporting Robert Edeson, Walter Jones, Hedwig Reicher and Marjorie Rambeau and played leading roles in stock companies both in the East and in California. Her entrance into the silent drama was brought about by the fact that she was playing in a Broadway production owned by Daniel Frohman, who is also greatly interested in the Famous Players Film Company. A screen drama was being cast requiring an actress of the same type as Miss Lorimer, and Mr. Frohman suggested that she enact the role in the studio during the day while she was appearing in the stage play at night. Since then she has devoted her efforts to the screen almost entirely.