Evening star., 1926-03-28
PERCY WINTER
The Moving Picture
By Robert E. Sherwood

TWO of the most important lumi-
naries in the heavens of Holly
wood have been spreading their luster
through the soft coal smoke of New
York City during the past two weeks.
And l have been privileged to scan
and communicate with them at close
range. One is Douglas Fairba nks,
who came for the opening of The
Black Pirate; the other is Harold
Lloyd, who brought with him the first
print of his latest comedy, For
Heavens Sake"
Doug is his usual bronZed, strenu
Gus self, terribly enthusiastic about
everything-and with good reason, as
"The Black Pirate" has proved itself
a substantial financial success In New
York and in London as well. AT the
Selwyn Theater, in New York, 1t Is
raking in some $22 900 in gross re-
ceipts every week, which is phenom.
email business.
On April Doug and Mary will sail
for IL vacation in Europa although
vacation" is hardly the word. as they
are bound to be on display wherever
they go. Their admirers always man.
age to find them out and shower them
with attention---which is gratifying,
Of course, but at times inconVenient.
Never having been worried by eXces-
sive popularity. | don't know what
it feels like; but | should think that
the thrill would occasionally show
signs of wearing off.
1t doesn't seem to bother the genial
Doug much. He walks about the
streets of the city. goes to the theaters
and mingles with the hoi polloi In the
lobby at the Ritz, and is always per
fectly at ease. He acknowledges cas-
ual sa1utations with the utmost grace,
and when accosted by total strangers
he behaves as though he had en-
countered a long lost and greatly
missed friend. His extraordinary ap
peal to his audiences is readily under
standable.
Doug and his director, Albert
Parker, told me of the extreme nerv-
BUSINESS with which they had ap
preached the work of color photog
raphy.
The Technicolor people wanted us
TO use vivid splashes of color brilliant
reds. oranges. green's and purples, ="
SAID Doug. we knew tnaJ l1dt nHu
been the ruination of coIored films in
the past. Too much briliance Is dan
gerous The eve strays from the main
points of interest on the screen: after
q while the eye becomes tired, and
the owner of the eye becomes bored.
That's fatal.
We deliberately toned down our
colors to dull browns, tans, BRICK reds
and subdued green's. so that the color
would never obtrude at the expense
of the dramatic interest
when we started actually to shoot
the picture we ran into an uneXpect-
ed difficulty. We found that the same
colors appeared entirely different when
photographed by artificial light. SO
we had to Use two distinct sets Of
costumes-one set for the exterior
scenes and another set for the inte-
riors."
Doug is loud in his praise Of Mary
Pickford's next picture. "Sparrows,"
although it must he conceded that his
opinion is not strictly impartial one.
He saws that It is the best thing she
has ever done, which statement, even
If it is only half true, leaves room for
an enormous quantity of merit.
Spa rrows" will be released soon.
The future plans of the Pickford-
Fairban nks menage are indefinite, but
it Is safe to assume that they will re-
turn from their foreign travels with
fresh batch of ideas. Their frequently
rumored retirement from active serv-
ice on the screen is still long. long
way off. Which is as it should be,
for with all the John Gilberts. Norma
Shearers, Dolores Costellos and Rich
ard DiXes who have sprung up within
the past few years. there is no one In
evidence as yet who is qualified to in
herit the crowns that have rested so
long and so appropriately on the brcws
Of Mary and Doug
Harold Lloyd has a much easier
time Of 1t on his vacations, for he can
go wherever he likes without fear
that he Will be identified with the be-
spectacled young star of "Grandma's
Boy" Safety Last" and '"The Fresh
man" He is SO totally unlike the
celebrated Harold Lloyd that he evokes
dark suspicious in the minds Of those
to whom he is introduced "If that
IS Harold Lloyd" a young lady once
said to me when had pointed out the
modest youth to her, then I'm the
late Empress Catherine the Great of
Russia
Harold is enjoying himself hugely
in New York seeing all the shows and
reveling in his anonymity. ] accom-
panied him to q, performance of THE
Cocoanuts," in which the four Marx
brothers disport themselves, and |
have seldom seen any one laugh with
such complete abandon.
THAT 'Harpo Marx would be
Knockout in pictures. averred Har-
old. incidentally, there is a strong
possibility that the Marx boys will
have a chance before long to burst
forth on the screen.)
Harold Lloyd is going to show me
For Heavens Sake" within the next
few days, and l hope to be able to
report on it in these columns.
\ 4
Raoul Walsh. while directing the
movie of What Price Glory" was
stricken with appendicitis, but will
return to work soon. Uncle
Toms Cabin" is now in process of pro
duction at Universal City, which
means that all the owners of blood
hounds in southern California are
preparing for q profitable Summer
Irving Berlin's song hit, "Remem-
ber," Is to be made into a motion pic.
ture, although just how Is not at the
moment known. . Sid Grammar
the distinguished Los Angeles impre-
sario, has been in these parts lately
and may build a several million dol
lar theater here. Work on the
new Roxy Theater, by the way. is
progressing rapidly.