The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-11-09
In New York
By PAUL HARRISON

New York,-It was Tallulah
 Bankhead who gave Herbert Nit
 chell the idea of taking portraits
 to musical accompaniment.
 She arrived, did Tallulah, with a maid, bag packed with gowns
 and accessories, and a chauffeur
 toting photograph and lot of
 records. It seemed that the ac- tress, like most stage and screen people, gets pretty nervous while posing for portraits.
 In Mitcheil's studio, the maid put on a record made by Mir Bo- bo- boo Crosby. Miss Bankhead started to relax. Then came a
 disc by Rudy Vallee. Miss Bank head began to look more and more mortalizing the voice of the late
 Russ Columbo produced signs of
 animation, and the photographer snapped his pictures.
 The scheme worked so well that | Mitchell went right out and bought a phonograph for himself, with records of everything from Wagner to train noises. The lat | ter, and whistling records, are for babies; make them sit up and take notice. For little children there are recordings of fairy stories. In a pinch Mitchell himself can do | "Goldilocks,' or Jack and the Beanstalk."
 Music Preferred
 You wouldn't always be able to guess the types of music pre- ferred by some of our celebrated
 adults. In anticipation of an ap-
 pointment with Jean Harlow, Mitchell selected some jazz pieces.
 After talking with her, though, he l played Bach and Stravinsky, and got his best portraits while the
 screens platinum vixen was lis-
 tening to Ave Maria" He says ecstatically that she's the only wo- man he knows who is more beau- | tiful than her pictures. Says, too,
 that she has been shamefully mis- | cast; isn't in the least like the
 roles she plays.
 Lady Wilkins tastes are strict
 ly hot-cha. Also those of Jean
 Aubert, Lyda Roberti and June | Blossom. Vincent Lopez relaxes best to piano music. Whitney Bourne likes heavy, moody stuff. l Peggy Wood, Lawrence Tibbett, Hope Williams and Lady Plum kett, daughter of Fanny Ward, all prefer string ensembles. Eddie Cantor requested opera, and
 Gladys Swarthout wanted to hear
 rival artist sing Carmen"
 Primo Camera sat in rapturous attention during some songs in | Italian, and the resulting por- traits have sort of spiritual quail ity which ought to make Messre. | csr. ,..Ix he Sntr n raur and Baer ashamed of themselves. Irene Rich likes sprightly, semi classical music. Most society debs
 ask for rhythmic dance selections.
 Mrs Lucy Cotton Thomas Ma graw, wouldn't pose with any,
 thing less than a Beethoven sym
 phony on a pipe organ. The chill dren of the Prince and Princess l Eristoff demanded, and got, a French fairy tale. Mario Chamlee
 chose "Pagliacci," and helped it
 out by singing Justify with the
 record.
 Some Like Silence
 Not everybody wants music.
 Yehudi Menuhin the fiddle prodigy, preferred silence and lots
 of it. Little Mitzi Green listened I 10 some OL ner OWH TecOTuS dHu seemed to find them soothing. | The manager and secretary of Rosa Ponselle 1abored for an hour preparing Mitchelrs studio for the 1 coming of the tempermental singer. The whole place had to be aired to precise temperature. | There wasn't to be any noise. And
 positively no smoking; not even a match or an ash tray in sight.
 Mitchell was in advanced state of filters by the time Ponselle arr
 rived, but he took the dilemma by the horns and bossed the opera star unmercifully. She not only accepted it, but liked it. Before | the sitting was over she was call ing him Herbert"
 | Mitchell has a heterogeneous assortment of friends. Once he expected to become portrait painter Then a comic-strip artist.
 For several years he was carf-
 caturist, assigned to do impress sions of everybody in vaudeville and the theater. Broadway and
 Park Avenue meet in his studio,
 and foreign notables like to come | in because he speaks Russian, German and French. His biggest picture order came from a finan- cier whose name would surprise
 you. Five thousand dollars. |