New-York tribune., 1921-07-24
ropr.E used to dump their troubles on

rnpI.E used to dump ehear troubles On
II Aha minister's doorstep. Now they
II s,rp them on the motion picture
s,sk. Not only their troubles, either,
/ .,e;r hopes and fears and longings to
-.,~.thins' and "have things different;"
/ y warnings for romance and adventure.
/ IN. star accepts his role and gladly fur
r.. the Worcestershire sauce that viii sea-
4 =. irish stew Of their humdrum existence.
70 be-or she-engages secretary who
i .,+ On paper the personality that people
,;ksd On the screen. It's an interesting
/ ,.srshfp. especially when the secretary fits
/ .+ar without mental wrinkle.
". that you can get a movie star to admit
there's a power behind the typewriter
f. answers the hundreds of letters-they
No do come in by the hundreds--that pour
1 .,,b week. 81 always answer all my own
All. it means so much to me to know what the
/ ~. really thinks"-that's ore of the &C
.,.as slogans of stardon. AS matter of fact,
.,..essful star hasn't the time to answer
/ :. avalanche of mail; it's nine-to-hve job
! svery day in the week. with the autograph
/ II thousands of photographs thrown in on
g. side. Then, too, the real star is quite
Isev not to be the person who appeals to audi
.oes on the screen. That person is made up of
I.,uv things, of which only the outward sem
| .,.s and some Of the actions are the stars,
/, many cases. The role, the way it's played
everything but the way it's looked-are
rsslv to be the creation of the scenario writer
] ,d the director, even, perhaps, Of the dress
-.ter in the case Somebody has to be the
1 E,r,ns. the character of that Frankenstein,
/ .,a that somebody is the stars secretary.
You see, peopIe-oh, no, not you and |, but
|, arce majority of the rest of the world
grsat to know their screen favorites better.
lisa most of them have something that they
ISmply must tell Notwithstanding that
| sev don't care to confde to their sisters,
ser cousins, their aunts or the partners of
hair bosoms. They want some one who stands
away outside of the situation to step up and
I tu them that the thing they want to do is
! us what ought to be done under the cir
gnstances. And they pick some one who
I aauds for what they want to fill in the cor
'ers of their lives-sonle one who seems to
Lave what they lack-as confdant.
| Old ladies' are likely to select handsome
| and always wear evening clothes in at least
lone scene in each picture. Girls like that
fype, but they also like girls just little
I,der than they are, girls they might have
lesn themselves. City men like the rugged
lTesterner; the nonchalance with which he
lTields his gun gives them sort Of vicarious
/ ride The boy in Apple Creek Ohio, picks
lhe gorgeous girl of Broadway.
| They write, usually, TO somebody who exists
mly in their minds, whose shadow they've
zen on the screen. Somebody who doesn't
mst, save in the secretary's mind. answers
hem. Here are some examples of what such
Nrrespondences have led to in the recent
past:
/ The male star is one of natures noblemen,
lof course-no matter what else he his, he
lnus be that. To one of these men woman
jTrote not long ago--a woman who lived on
Il farm in Kansas Her children had grown
jlp and didn't want to hear her talk.
Neither did her husband. She was alone all
[iay and her existence was duller than the
| fshwater that she threw out the back door
/ after each meal. She didn't care about
! rading, and hadn't anything to read if she
/ had cared She had no bright mental back
/ ground to brighten up the gray hours.
And then she went to town to visit her
l laughter, and at the movies she saw ceI
ain star who was young, clean cut, with a
smile that went straight to her heart and
made her remember the things she'd dreamed