The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-20
DAVID BELASCO
 ON MAGNETISM Says It Does Not Exist In Ac-
 cepted Sense VIEWS OF PLAYWRIGHT "When Heart and Intellect Come To- gether, They Strike Flame" De- clares the Great Genius
 Of the Stage.

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger Magnetism" said MT. David Belasco, personal magnetism-why that's the weidest kind of difficult subject. I am used to having reporters ask me how to construct play or how to stage it, or any little thing like that. Sometimes ] they want to know whether actors on l the stage eat real food or cry real tears, but you have asked me the hard est thing. l feel as if 1 ought to get off in the dark somewhere and think it out; then perhaps l could get together some pretty speeches for you"
 Then he saw light. Mr. Belasco has the charming way which Charles Lamb said no Scotchman ever had, of coming upon his thoughts unaware, so to speak, of finding them with d kind of delighted surprise, while you look on and cry halves" He found one now To find 1t was to share it.
 "Why, there is no such thing as mag netism; that is the real truth if you want to know it. At least not in the popularly accepted sense. Magnetism is hard work that's what it is. It's heart and intellect and spirit and when they come together this way'-he brought the points of his supple fingers together they strike iame-so. And people call it magnetism because it is a convenient word, though it really does not mean any thing
 "Is it a catch-all for all people too indo- lent to analyze the real elements of charmY' asked the interviewer. Want to Be Magnetic.
 Something like that. Everybody wants to have magnetism these days Society women-soeiety men, too, for that matter want to be magnetic. Actors who please are always referred to as magnetic The word is used as if it described a partic- ular quality that some people have by the grace of God from their cradle, while others lack it. You might think 1t was a substance that went from the person of the actor in waves over the footlights to the audience. It is pure nonsense and nothing else. I have been all my life on the alert, from boyhood through my early manhood, until now | have been always-sometimes almost unconsciously seeking just such influences. I have had eyes here and here"-touching his back and the top of his head-"and I have never felt any such waves beating the air around me.
 
 uding from the pores of the person pos sessng it If there is such thing magnetism--if we use the word at all it Is something more subtle than that. It is force that draws toward you, but it is not any one thing; it is infinitely complex and Is different in each indi- vidual, and 1t is made up of inflnitesimal things. Magnetism is here and here and here"-touching his eyes and lips and brow.
 And 1t was Magnetism scintillated in the dark eyes, skipped In the laughing wrinkles at the corners, f1uttered over the mobile lips. played on the features so much milder and softer than his pie lures. No magnetism indeed!
 The Mark of Greatness.
 "Of course some people have a force of personality that impresses us in a way we can't explain at once,'' MT Belasco went on "In a hall or street or theatre where there are thousands of people present you are conscious of one person, though he may be perfectly quiet, while another standing close by and perhaps handsomer and in a superficial way more striking may pass quite unnoticed great man Is almost always very simple and quiet in his manner, and yet you instinctvely feel that you are in the presence of great man. Another who tries to initiate the repose and modesty which he has been taught to think is mark of greatness will have something self-conscious about him.
 "In the same way one singer will carry his hearers with him until their enthusi- ism. catching fire from his, will rise like a flame about him. Another may have Just as good a voice and delivery, yet his singing falls like wet flannel over his au- dence.
 Magnetism, you say. But that is beg gng the question. The singer who cTn. fire his audience has warmth of tenn perament; the emotions he expresses have lived in his own soul, and therefore he can make them real to others. The great man carries in the calm dignity of his brow, the light of his eye, and the firm set of his lips the impress of his soul of the ei work he has done, and the high thoughts he has lived with. To call the power of those men by that easy claptrap word magnetism is only to belittle them. Beauty and Attraction. ITO my mind the most beautiful per son, whether man or woman, is not all ways-in fact, seldom-the most attract i've. The man with the Apollo form often thinks he does not have to exert himself to attract attention. The woman with the classic face is afraid that If she laughs heartily or feels intensely she will get wrinkles around her eyes You turn from the perfect classic animal-I must call 1t that-to some little wisp of a woman with not one perfect feature, and you are apt to explain the stronger attraction of the palmer woman by calling it magnetism, while in fact 1t Is vivacity of mind, kind ness of heart and a desire to give pleas ure.
 'tOf course when you come to the pas sion of 1ove-whether of the highest kind or merely sensual-then perhaps we real ly need the overworked word. No one has yet been able to explain why one persons touch thrills us and another's does not.
 What about magnetism on the stage?'
 There Is no profession where the word is so misused. l get hundreds of letters from girls all over the country. and they all tell me they have magnetism
 And do you throw the letters in the