Evening star., 1922-10-29

kowska, shows, once again,
/, the mystery Of the photo
genie" face. Also, a lot of h!t-or-mlss
In the Aim business!
There Is no justice" said Janina,
growing up from the war. possessor
Of the ruined ancestral castle that
dominates the Tchorna Struga. Po-
/ lands black forest. Formerly the
family had registered successfully on
the records Of Polish struggles against
the Turks. Now it was reduced to
this mite Of a girl. without financial
/ resources, who felt the burden Of her
title Of Polish countess too heavy for
her slim shoulders.
The orphan saw no refuge but
convent.
| Then, suddenly, all changed.
There is no tustice!" Janina re-
peats, with happy laughter. What
have / done to merit this praise and
money? I have no stage experience.
have not worked or studied. Yet
they call me star! Surely. there is
no justice-but it is very pleasant.
Let it continue."
! BY pure accident, you see, they dis
covered that she had the 'photogenic"
| face-that is to say, film man. In his
! idle vacation, got the "hunch" by ac-
cident of having nothing else on his
mind. BY subsequent accident Il saw
the thing from its genesis and am
! astounded at the methods) the un-
, known girl was given a true tryout
! on the screen. Right through 1t was
| hit-or-miss, the whole business trem-
! bling on chance, in the balance. The
good nature Of a great man. after
| lunch, slammed down the scale Of
| Janina's fortune!
! 1t Is the mystery Of the films-a
| double mystery.
1t affects every film aspirant in the
, world.
| Here Is an inexperienced girl.
She is hailed as the possessor of the
greatest cinema face ever discovered
| by the European film producers. Ber-
lin and Paris. now, struggle for the
privilege OF launching "the most won
! derful movie face since Mary Pick
| ford was first flashed upon the
| screen"
They believe all this-they are a,
ready counting their profits. But the
thing is as difficult for an outsider
| to understand as for the heroine her
self-who protests that she has done
nothing" yet remembers the days
| when the claims made for her were
! treated so negligently.
F, CIMPLY, the expert-on-vacations said:
- ITEMS. items. she has the photo
| genie face," Then he proceeded to
forget her. Mere chance worked
! up to that "hunch" he got-a rainy
afternoon in a Warsaw hotel. before
f; a bunch Of Janina's Photographic
| portraits. From the ordinary point
Of view, the girl is far from being
great beauty, and Broadway Is full of
! types who would beat her in beauty
competition. Yet now, 1t turns out,
f! her face has mysterious difference
which is the striking and important
angle in the sudden success Of any
new cinema star!
| Henceforth, it is pure incoherence.
Despite the inroads of the cinema
on public favor. there are few Il am
todd who really know what consti-
tutes a cinema face. and few ask
!! themselves why. with films occupying
the foremost place in the worlds en-
! tertainment, there are comparatively
so few stars.
The reason Is q have 1t from Amer
lean as we'll as French producers)
that, while there are many beautiful
women. there are but few who screen
, in a way to hold the public's atten-
! tion and find a place in its heart!
What is the "photogenic" face?
Mr.. j. L. Croze. one OF the foremost
experts. defines the interior" part of
! it as follows:
People, usually, do not understand
! the thing at ALL" he says. "and spe-
cialists do not understand it any too
| well, themselves! What is called
| cinema face expresses. really. the
| beauty of the soul. and has little to
do with the beauty that Is skin deep.
Very few so-called beautiful women
have made a success in the movies,
and this fact Is one Of the unexplored
features of the film. The camera, aid
ed by the lighting. is able to bring
forth the inner light OF this woman's
soul or that-but it is still a mystery
why one face will respond to the de-
mand while another remains blank!
IAN experienced cinema man may
prove to be a good judge of the
cinema face" continued Mr.. Croze.
| but even he may be mistaken, and
the only way to decide the question
/ is to see the face on the screen"
From all of which it results: %
That no aspirants case is definitely
decided-no film-struck girl or boy
is, truly. condemned-until an actual
tryout has been made upon the
screen, and (2) conversely. the pro-
ducers Of the world. admittedly short
| Of stars, know nothing Of the worlds
material without such tryout in each
case. Now, asked Mr.. Croxe-are
they really on the hunt, or Is It hit
or-miss throughout. rs in Janina's
case?
"You can put It that way" he an
swered. Generally. we can say that a
good film actress (who is not an ac-
tress at all. in the stage sense), must
possess a face able to register the vari-
ous emotions in a natural way. without
exaggeration or apparent effort. We
also know that the eyes are an ex-
| tremely important factor. But there
, remains the elusive quality Of register
ing .sympathetically,' and we are COM
pletely In the. dark when it comes to
judging in advance which face will give
e,,A Ah~ inno,e li1laf Suhich conaflfnNaR the