Evening star., 1924-02-21
Continued from Yesterdays Star.)

SiSi. OnconScl0uSly, as II the many
hostile eyes had been directed toward
some other person. he went on talking
10 the woman who was with him. Was
ne really insensitive or did he command
his face to be a mask?
A1terward l heard that Won Stroheim
is quite aware of the personal odium
with which his professional character
| nations of brutal German officer and
Vlilanious foreign aristocrat have sur
rounded him. Some say, indeed, that
he cherishes this reputation. that not
! Tor worlds would he lift his finger to
soften the hated impression. Yet as
against this l have heard what Won
friends.
When Elliott Dexter goes into a
once remarked. people exclaimed de-
lightedly.. There he ~is-oh, isn't he
! charming But when l come in it's
Ugh, there s Won Stroheim'; and if
IT'S a man who notices me he's very
likely to start off my name with 4
curse. 1 must say it hurts a lttle-in
fact it often makes ME feel very dis
appointed in the American people-to
think that they can be SO childlike as
10 confuse me, Won Stroheim, the man.
with Won Stroheim, the actor, to ina
gins that because / play the parts
do l must be that kind of a man.
OF course this confusion itself is a
testimony to the excellence of his work.
to that dramatic insight which had
| made numerous fellow professionals re-
gard him as the most finished actor on
the screen-with the exception of Chap
; lin, with whom, of course. because Of
the different character of their plays, he
can scarcely be compared. AS to his
personal manner. this has all the ira
ditlonal grace of the cultured continent
tai. But there is more to Won Stroheim
than the clicking OF heels. the bows, the
gestures, the precise phraSing with its
slightly foreign accent, the air of at
tention which isolates the person to
whom he is talking from all the world.
There are many products of this mould.
and, though over the American mind
they usually exert the fascination of
strangeness, such mannerisms do not
explain the arresting quality of his per-
sonality. This lies in an expression
which. both sad and gay, thoughtful
and vivacious. reproduces the blend
achieving the charm of his own Vienna.
Ex-nobleman and present film star
Surely no story on the screen could
than this story behind the screen. He
himself is thoroughly conscious of it,
and one day, sitting in his shirt sleeves
in his office, he remarked to some one
know, Strange. strange. what
America does for you, Do you know
that if my old self, the Won Stroheim
of Austria, We're to have met my present
self, the Won Stroheim OF Hollywood,
/; he would have fought a duel with him?
For I'm everything now that l was
brought UP to despiSe.
When was IA young man at home
remember that one day at the dinner
table / unlocked the high collar of my
uniform-just the top hook. you under
and the eoar sh saE My stern So oa
father glared at me across the table
and then he sent me away from the
room. Low-born,' 'vulgarian these
were some of the words he hurled al
me as l went out. And now, behold
sit here without any collar and in my
shirt sleeves, and when l go home to-
night 1 shall sit down to dinner without
putting on either collar or coat. My
wife doesn't mind-neither do l. There
you are"
Because OF his own struggles Won
Stroheim is often exceedingly kind to
those trying to get a foothold in the
profession. Mae Busch, for example.
speaks glowingly of yooun Stroheim's
helpfuness, and says that it is to him
she owes the chance which proved a
turning point in her career. The men,
tion of Mae carries me to one of the
most forceful examples of the fact that
few screen careers are achieved without
experiencing reverSes.
In about the second year of the
Lasky Companys existence Mae Busch,
d little Australian girl with big hazel
eyes fringed by incredibly long lashes,
was acting in one of LaSkys vaudeville
companies. For some reason or other
she bolted the show in Los Angeles.
and soon after this she made her first
appearance in pictures as one of Mack
Sennett's famous bathing girls. While
she was in SennettS organization she
became involved in a drama of love
and jealousy and revenge which had
nothing to do with screen performance.
The situation, familiar to many of the
Hollywood colony. resulted temporarily
in her professional overthrow. A pa
thetic little figure, she wandered from
studio to studio in search of work.
Unable to find it, she finally married.
Perhaps. as one Of her friends has sug-
geSted. the marriage was the result of
gratitude on her part to the man who
did not let the worlds deserton shake
his love for her.
proved disastrous, and for some years
the pretty little Australian girl went
down under the deep waters which have
submerged 50 many others in the pro-
fession. Poor, unhappily married, the
victim of several severe illnesses, who
would have believed that Mae Busch
would ever come back?
Those who found this belief difficult
did not reckon with the mettle which
is her distinguishing quality. One
day she said to herself--this is the
story as she tells it-"This has got
u stop: Others are getting away with
ton brought her to Won Strohein,
who gave her part in Foolish
Wives" Small as the part was, she
made it stand out. Won Stroheim
praised her work. So, too. did no
less d person than Charlie Chaplin.
The latter, in fact. promised her
big part in his next picture.
1t was about the time when she
had come to an agreement with
Chaplin and the Goldwyn Company
hcn rhnI in no 1a,, .,f Grl
ing an IDEAL Glory Quayle for it's
production of "The Christian" This
search is an answer to those who
complain that the picture organiZa-
tions are content with inferior dra-
matte talent and with types falling
short of any real Characterization.
We literally sifted the country for
Hall Gaines heroine. Beautiful and
near-beautiful, famous and obscure,
East and West, young and middle
aged-all We're represented in those
four thousand women of whom we
made tests.
OF course everybody in the indus
try had heard of our search, but it
was not until the contest had been
going on for some time that the idea
of entering it occurred to Mae Busch.
When she did finally come to the
studio she has often said that it was
tor:ous. Nobody was more surprised
that she herself when out of those
four thousand applicants we chose
her for Glory Quayle.
How did she do it. This is the
way she herself tells of the expert
ence: when they told me I'd have
to be n fourteen-year-ol girl in one
test I just almost swooned. Imagine
me-after all I had been through
trying to look a kid like that. But
here now and you might as we'll stay
by. So I put on the short dress and
-funny.-I guess j was just in the
mood for it-but when stood in
front of that camera + got to feel