Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-08-05
<Chs Daily Movie Magazine.
MOVIE FANS
LETTERBOX
Bv HENRY M. NEELY

realized; i think Pola is immeasurably
superior TO Theda, though her (Pola's
recent pictures have been, attrocious
Except for Under Two Flags" in
which Bara was fairly human. l never
saw her in q balanced, artistic bit Of
acting. Kosloff Is q Russian. III try
TO use picture Of Theda rs soon as
her new Aim company tshe's coming
back, you know sends me one.
Mrs. l.. b. p. writes: "Try as you
will YOU just can't end the Valentino
controversy. From what / have OBJ
served lately fcklc fancy seems TO be
turning to Robert Frazer as the hero
of the hour. w. IIedley Is very oblig'
ing to rightly inform Nus, US Of the bt fasG,c S,o
cares? What we want to see Is what
be can do in the acting line
Years Of training and, OF course.
natural ability have given us many
friends on the stage. There is Ger
tain something some Of our screen stars
possess and some frankly do not.
repression Of gestures and grace ana
ense of manners which only years Sah
give and which Immediately distin-
gush them from the overnight ones.
In 'Kismet' Otis Skinner gives US TINS
IN making IlhuJ i'"i -
felt as though we. were really nov IN
our thentre seats but in window III
Bagdad Tor wherever it was supposed
TO happcn) watching him saunter SUI
perciliously down the street in MS new
finery. Geraldine Farrar gave us IL IN
Joan the Woman; Hobart Bosworth
in the Sea Wolf and Behind the
Door Mae Marsh in her dear one OF
Intolerance Douglas Fairbanks m
The Three Musketeers, and others
you can think Of, too numerous 10 men.
! tion here. On the other side Of tn.
question @ in Beyond the Rainbow. II
the director had been in view. couldn't
have had n more distinct impression
thnt he was bawling at Billy Dove
what to do next. She did try hard to
be oblginr. but an actress-well, she S
young; we'll see.
I'm viewing The Three Musketeers
I was delightfully."- impressed by the nu,
thcnticity of almost every minute detail
MS to costumes and scenery. IT Rlche-
lieu himself had come back out of the
centuries. habit and all, he couldn't
have seemed rore real. We are told
Fairbanks spent years Of work study
ing it, and from my viewpoint made
good job Of it, Quoting a we'll known
actor in well known magazine who
touches on this subject: He Doug
had something Of the quality Emil Jan.
nings had in 'PaSsion.' Jannngs did
, not have to pretend he was king; he
knew he was king. Fairbanks sent to
France for original drawings and books
containing the Leloir illustrations of
care that Irving took when. before
playing Wolsey, he sent the cloth from
which his robes were made to Rome to
be dyed the right cardinal red
"Gloria Swanson has certainly dis.
! appointed me. In Male and Female
| had her picked out to be something
really good in way of stars, but in
stead of being her possibly charming
self she chooses to be something that
IS neither charming, nor real. y
painted dummy would be more con-
vincing.
"There is one Of my favorites who
has never disappointed me and VINO in
the face of ~advcrsity still continues
to be her charming self. and that is
our old friend. Pauline Frederick. All
the glorious clothes trees in the world
can't cfface Pauline when it comes to
wearing clothes.
(You express yourself clearly and
succinctly. and then you ask ne to
do it better. How come? The other
night was watching The Glory of
Clementina," William Locke's delight
ful whimsy. which received fair but not
inspired treatment on the screen
However. if the picture was only So
so, Pauline Frederick's depletion Of
Clementina Wing was one Of the most
remarkable things she's ever done. And
I remarked at the time to the Lady
Who Goes to the Movies With Me,
that director must have been having a
cinch when Polly was on the scene"
Pauline Frederick Is one of those
actresses of whom you can feel mighty
certain that she'll rise to any scene
confronting her. and do it instinctively
and perfectly. Unfortunately, the screen
has comparatively few such thespians.
The reason is that the screen recruits
from peculiar places and often omits
training. Beauty contests, musical re-
vues, cowboy outfits and marital scan
da!s are not especially likely 10 be pro-
ductiv" OF great acting.
That's why people like Skin
ner, Arliss. Elsie Ferguson. the Barry
mores, Polly Frederick and Roberts al.
ways have that air Of assurance and
complete detachment from directorlal
coaching. 1t sometimes happens that
great director can producr fine net
ing from the other kind. Ralph Ince
really great emotional actress, which
she has never been since she left his
company. Occasionally. too. n high
school girl. Just by sheer hard work
and natural talent. becomes the splcu-
did actress that Norma Talmadge is
today.
Elsie writes: II read your very in
tercsting column every night EXCEPT
Sunday, and l would surely do It on
that day, too, if the paper was run.
And now we must dig up our rrninis.
""nceS &gnin and ask if you remember
the 'MI'ton- Dollar Mystery 1t was
first ever shown. OF course. we MI
know that the serials of today are pure
rot and first class house viii nor
show them. This one was filmed in
1911. 'H
big jim Cruise played the reporter