Evening star., 1933-06-30

lhlS is all very well. But, the nrSt
lady is usually not the first lady She
is very often. in fact. No. 10 or IL
with chances fairly even that she will
slide to No 33 in the picture in which
she is currently appearing.
How much simpler, il these nice
ladies could be properly numbered and
registered, SO that when, for instance,
Greta Nissen comes to town the man.
agement would simply say, Miss Nissen,
the umpty- -umph lady of the screen, is
here this week in So-and-So." (And
umpty-umph in this case would be
something like No 2033D
1t would be quite logical. therefore,
for the studios to get together and draw
up nice little form Qike they do in
the colleges in the early Spring. to
vote on their favorites. and then go into
huddle and announce that Miss G. is
to be the first lady, that Miss z. is the
second that Miss W. is the third and
that Miss Q. is the last lady of the
screen'-Which would, Of course, cause
this female SO much sorrow that she
would Immediately pick up and jump
ahead of at least 1000 or 5000 sister
players.
Then, too, if they really became
systematic about it, and the stars re-
ceived their numberings with grace. all
would be that NO. TO- is to be here
this week in Green Grasses a film
also featuring No. 33 and No. 199."
And that next week No. 3" is coming,
and if No 3 is Mae West, you wouldn't
have to bother to say any more.
THE problem of the screens ace
heroine is something that yearly
becomes more and more difficult.
Should she be valued by cash and coin,
or by looks and virtues? Should she
be the boX-office winner or the lady
who causes most heartaches and Sighs?
Should she be the best young lady of
the screen, or the bost old lady?
Should she. in Shakespearean verna-
cular, be fair or should she be foul?
If you start at the top and look
around you will see the reasons for
these questions. Miss Dressler, gay,
hearty, ne-tragedienne, is the
most popular and was the greatest box
Office draw before Mae West came into
sight. Miss West leads all-time rec
ords for sudden fame and boX-oftice
appeal. Miss Garbo is by all odds the
most talked about Miss Snearer has
a very large following. So has Miss
Chatterton, and Helen Hayes has prob
ably done finer work than any of them
during the past season.
Therefore. who skyrockets to the top?
Will you have Garbo, Dressler, West or
Hayes. or will you stick by your Shearer
and Chatterton. and even give blond
Marion Davies vote because you liked
her in Peg O. My Heart?
ITO our way of thinking, Miss Garbo
still leads the mob, although the
old saying that absence makes the
heart grow fonder" is seldom applicable
to the screen. When a star goes, she
goes. And when she comes back, she
is dimmed mite or two.
Miss Carlo, however, can go away
|or a whole season and came back and
be launched all over again as a first
class queen. People like her and dis
like her. but it is no more possible to
wrench her from her throne than it
is to throw old man Gibraltar into the
Mediterranean. There she sticks, like
stanch old warrior. and there she will
stick for many moon to come.
p Like the late Valentino, Miss Garbo
is an enigma. She has abiity-but
much more than that. she has what
1t-it?" 1t is this continual asking
yourself what it is about her that
makes you like her that forces you to