Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-25
MOVIES AND MOVIE PEOPLE
BY MoLLIE MERRICK.

HOLLYWOOD, Calf, December rs
(NANA).-Merry Christmas, every
, one!
Hollywood is celebrating the most I'M
usual holiday it has experienced since
the day of its foundation.
1t is celebrating in Christmas the
one-year anniversary of the actual ar
rival of talking films as factor to deal
with in daily living.
To many it is a victory with the
record of a profitable year behind them
and the promise of interesting and
profitable years ahead.
To some it is the falling of shadow
that means lessening engagements, the
necessity to save where once there was
glorious and profiigate spending.
1t seems silly to say that one brief
year ago such movie magnates as Joseph
Schenck were giving out statements
about talkies in which they expressed
grave doubts regarding the final outcome
of this form of entertainment. This
particular producer held out against
sinking big money in the venture, and
only gave over after it had been fairly
we'll established.
To those of us who have been watch
ing talking pictures now for what seems
to be a lifetime ESQ fast does American
life moVe) 1t is a decided surprise to
consider that last New Years program
held more silent pictures in view than
talkies.
Within go days from the commence
ment of 1929 those silents which had
been started were having dialogue writ
ten for them-at least the words
planned were optimistically called dia-
logue. They were tags, written by men
trained as title writers. There was no
objective, no conflict, and less than no
humor, save that furnished the audi
ence by the abortive attempts at spoken
drama on the screen before them.
These things were largely responsible
for the cold reception afforded the
talkies in many instances by thinking
audiences.
Looking back on the year, I think of
three girls as outstanding figures sur
rounded by what threatened to be the
penumbra of defeat.
Bessie Love, Carmel Myers and Bebe
Daniels promised to pass into total
eclipse with the rise of talking pictures.
I was talking to Carmel Myers about it
the other day.. She had just returned
from vaudeville tour, in which she
sang the songs she had popularized in
her initial talkie appearances. She had
completed two radio concerts and was
learning some new songs for a third.
And in between a few producers were
angling for her and she was signing up
these arrangements. Quite a full life
for lady whose professional career
seemed doomed II months ago.
She confided to me that the hardest
experience of her entire career was the
job of keeping herself studying singing
and diction when there didn't seem to
be anything to do with it once it was
acquired. Nobody sought her just at
first for contract. These We're the
days OF her hardest work, and they We're
unbrightened by a single ray of
promise.
Bessie Love was out on vaudeville
tour, singing and dancing and some
times gritting her teeth hard to keep
the tears back. And in the studio where
Bebe Daniels was making comedies that
weren't worth a good actress time and
attention GOODNESS that had existed
for some months past was solidifying
into the frigidity which characterized
the last days o. her stay there. She
left lot where scarcely anybody both
cred to drop in and say good-by. There
were SO many worries, so many DOUBTS
as to personal security. Nobody had
any time for other peoples misfortune
Three ladies who weren't afraid Of
hard work and who wouldn't accept de-
feat, with bigger and better careers
than ever before.
Has 1t occurred to you that a year
ago you often saw a beautiful girl in
the movies? May McAvoy talked toe
soon. She made one of the crud.
childish pictures which was, believe
the first talkie. Pitifully Handicapped
by insufficient preparation and made
quate material of every sort, the result
paralyzed officials and robbed her OF
courage to go on.
She married and retired into private
life. She's getting too plump for screen
work. One OF the big lights of silent