New-York tribune., 1918-05-19
Ibse1 Reforms a Vampire
Nazinoua, Who Once Lured Men to Their
Doom, Now Has I6sen Seasons, No Longer
Needing to Conceal Her Healthy Heart

times they cried they we're as old a.
the sands of the desert, and that they
had not slept for a thousand years.
"But now, boy, your pure spirit has
cured my sick soul. Give me your
hand. All, at last can sleep" (Yas.
the same sort of vampire now SO fauH-
lar to movie fans.) But the impos-
sibly exotic woman of eel Comet" and
the English strumpet of bella Donna
had power then to stir the matinee
fapper. Of certainty the woman Of
Gel Comet" had a mysterious lure in
the year 1908,
Nazimova is admirably fitted physi-
cally to portray the entire gallery Of
predatory females. That is why she
did it at first. A foothold once OBJ
tanned, this intelligent actress turned
swiftly to the roles of her choice, lesv-
ing strewn behind her the impossible
lay figures into which she had briefly
breathed a semblance of credibility
The young girl of "The Master Builder"
is her preference before all the roles
Of her repertoire. Follow the child Of
"The Wild Duck" and Nora, her present
part.
The face of ALA Nazimova is extraor-
dinary. Although of Slavic type, 1t has
the Latin mobility to a degree that
causes movie directors to rave with
pure JOY. In one moment the eyes can
be dull and heavy with an ancient sor-
row; in the next they are wide with
the apprehension of a child. The nose
is now disdainfully aristocratic; in 3
fash the nostrils are distended in .
distilled rage that is second only In
vehemence to the animal-like tempests
of Mimi Aguilia.
Nazimova has neither the intro
spective morbidity of the Russia We
read of in "The House of the Desd"
and "Sanine" nor the stolidity and res
ignation of the peasant. Rather theu
IS in her the Russia that is little known
the healthy heart that holds pas
sionate love of life and the intelligencs
that mikes sanely and clearly the OBJ
jective and the subjective
On Na.imova's dressing table at the
theatre stand photographs Of Ibsep,
Modjeska, Duss and a group of woman
of Yalta, where Nazimoya was born. In
the dreadful style of bygone days the
women are posed meaninglessly about
table. In the midst sits ALA at six-
teen, looking like neither enchantress,
child nor one who reads Ibsen, but
merely beautiful and charming girl
upon whose face life has written moth.
ing except "Here is a person to whom
things will inevitably happen"
The first thing that happened to little
ALA was seeing an opera or two IN
Zurich and falling i'll with stage fever
during which period she succumbed to
the overwhelming charm of tenor
with black Jocks and diamond in the
middle of his forehead. After that
events tumbled over each other to ees
to her, and she was in and out OF
dramatic school, grown up and on the
stage before she caught her breath or
could say: Bring on this life you TAX
about. I'm ready"
The play that Arthur Hopkins has Tor
Nazimova next season she would NOS
tell one word about, it being one Of
those secrets that press agents fight 70
keep out Of the papers for three months
before the regular announcements aro
due, and thereafter lie awake nights
trying to get published at least once
day.