Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-10-11
CHAPTER XXXIV


II was half past ten when Irene
turned lszily in her Luxurious bed,
yawned prettily. and t%elephoned the
office 70 send up the morning pa
rers. She was not at all worried
about tho reviews; il seemed 10 her
sufficient that Benny Evans had ar
ranged to give the critics a big
champagne supper. So confident did
she feel that she did not even take
the trouble TO open the papers un-
til. assisted by her newly-acquired
maid. she had completed an elabor-
ate toilette.
Finally, clad in a new ard very
gorgeous negliEee. she threw her
self upon a chaise Tongue and began
TO look over the reviews. Almost n
once a white anger rose in her petty
little soul. an anger which made her
want TO rend and tear. 10 do some
personal violence 10 those who had
dared To criticize her. The thinly
yelled sneers with which the critics
had received her performance
brought flaming red spots to her
cheeks. Wooden, mechanical, sitter
~ uninsplred,' one reviewer wrote
"A beautiful but brainless doll,
wrote another. "She gives out moth
inE. because she has nothing to
give said n third. Phrase after
phrase inflamed her rage to the
boiling point. IAN excellent If
somewhat sordid picture. spoiled BY
the amateurish efforts Of Miss Irene
Shirley. a newcomer 70 the screen.
As a star. she strikes us as being
invisible without the aid az A tele-
scope" And further down the
page. "Mr. Lew Davidson, hitherto
rather noted for the excellence Of
his casts. has made a mistake in.
placing his money on Miss Shirley.
Her work was childish. compared
with the superb acting. in a second
airy role. Of Miss Jane Dare"
Not an the reviews we're unfavor-
able. however. Perhaps some of the
reviewers among those who had par
taken Of Mr.. Evans champagne felt
a disposition to let Mr.. Davidson
down easily. Even critics arc often
human. with axes to grind. Certain
papers referred 10 the showing as
in brilliant success" ar the picture
being well up 70 the company's
usual high standard" but even these
favorably inclined individuals were
careful not 70 commit themselves. to
imperil their critical regulations by
according any specific praise to
irene. Taken by ard large. the YER
dict Of the reviewers was damning.
n for the first time IN her life
Irene Shirley began to suspect that
there might be more to screen sue
cess after all than physical beauty
and the backing Of an infatuated
producer. The suspicion. however,
was only momcntary. BY the time
Mr.. Davidson arrived for breakfast
she was once more her old, conf
dent self, ready to sweep the verdict
Of the newspapers aside with con-
tempt because it did not agree with
her own. After all, did not Lew CON
troll the company which distributed
his pictures? The exhibitors who
ran the Davidson would
have to take the picture. whether
they liked il or not. A whirlwind OF
advertising would get the people
into the theaters; once there. She
felt certain they would stay to ap-
plaud. 70 away enthusiastic. let the
critics 20 hang. She would make
her appeal directly 10 the public.
She told Lew as much. when hs
came in. said lightly. after a cares
more ardent than she had been in
the habit Of bcstowing on him, that
she had entire confidence in the pic.
ture and in its reception by the
masses. The critics we're ~highbrows
crime stories always made a hit.
Lew. who had come down towr
immersed in a fog Of doubts. found
them vanish one by one AZ he listen.
cd to lrene's arguments, not all oil
which were verbal ones. The warn
and unusually seductive kisses she
had given him. the perfumed beauty
Of her, so close to him. had theii
effect. Before half an hour hac
passed. he was as convinced O.
lrenc's ability. as certain Of her sue
cess. rs ever. The critics were al
ways jealous Of a new a~spirant q
fame. Had they not planned" so.
and-so. and so-and-so. only to firc
themselves hopelessly mistaken? He
mentioned the of several mer
and women prominent in the picture
world. The greatest In the bushes.