The New York herald., 1921-05-08
SCREEN SHADOWS
Won Ludendorff Gave Initial Impetus to the Present
German Campaign to Overun Markets of the World
With Films as They Overran Belgium.
Bv FRANK VREELAND.


that naturally ensue in the movies when
ever rv:,t or three are met together in a
ballroom; "The knight OF Zalamea"
and Augustus the Strong" which deal
with the eighteenth century or there
about and naturally require some grand
scenery for dealing with ii properly
The Burning World" with Conrad
Veith, and THE Defender OF the OPP
pressed" with Theodor Loos, which set
Boishevism TO rights.
Many others aimed at the American
market. as indicated by prints sent to
the International Cinema Trade Re-
Uiei0. are very mediocre, the kind that
American companies used to turn out
a dozen years ago, before breakfast.
But Germany has developed already its
own Charlie Chaplin, known as Karl
chen it's John Bunny, who Is even more
amplitudinous than our own. and its
daredevil. Harry Plel, of the Douglas
Fairbanks style, who feels that unless
he can go up in a balloon with a horse
and then plunge into a river on the ami
NAL there's something lacking in life.
Beauty Is no longer entirely in the
eye of the beholder-it's in the lens of
the movie camera. too Certain faces.
depending on the planes of their feat
ures. are readily assimilable by the
screen. while others that seem just as
good an Investment turn out to be prac-
tically waste material. A striking in
stance of this occurred recently. when
Miss Laurette Taylor underwent a
camera test to see If her countenance
would take. Miss Taylor is pretty
enough on the stage. but on the silver
sheet she turned into such a ravishing
beauty that the effect was startling. and
led TO the persuasion that she'd been
holding out something on the public
Even Michael. her dog, was abashed.
Miss Alice Brady is another star who
holds the films at the mercy of her
physiognomy. With her keen intelli-
gence she knows how to extract the
very last ounce Of comeliness from her
features through celluloid, and never
makes faux pas with her face.
If the practice of picking picture
brides should ever be taken up in this
country by means oe the movies. some
of the optimistic bridegrooms would be
due for an awful setback when they
actually saw their choice without her
film face on.
Miss Maude Adams constituted vir-
tually the last bu!wark Of the drama
to yield to the movies and now no one
is safe. This popular star, 1t Is learned
became concerned over the fate of the
photoplay primarily through her inter-
est In stage lighting, and after that the
next step was easy. She Is taking part
in directing a picture OF the Arabian
Nights, bit not countenancing the films
to the extent of lending her own win
some countenance II have the screen
speckled with it's charm
NJ NJ ha ~ mo
stars comes not orly from their own
talents but from the enthusiasm OF the
film fans. who cart feel the star is
real unless he or she sends them an au-
tographed picture. The demand for
photographs with a splash OF ink signi-
flying that Tessie Wonderful is their
true friend forever is so great that
Miss Theda Bara. for instance, has
spent most of her Sundays getting wri-
ter's cramp. while others have employed
a secretary who could forge their sig
nature harmlessly. and still a third
group have become adherents OF the
rubber stamp method of spreading their
moniker.
Sometimes it's almost enough to make
a cinema star sick of his or her own
name--almost. but not quite. A num-
Der of them, however, have decided to
show that an artist can be shrewd and
business like and to capitalize the fact
that their chirography means more In
the life of the nation than that of John
Hancock on the Declaration of fnoe-
pendence. The applicants for a specimen
of their best Spencerian style are in
formed that for twenty-five cents they
can have the stars photo with an ex-
preston OF undying regard done in
beautiful copper plate. suitable for any
library or bootblack parlor. AS thou
.1r -
star monthly and the pictures cost 6
cents apiece originally. anyone should
be able to figure out in less than an
hour just how much player can accu-
mulate toward paying off the mortgage
on the limousine or providing alimony.