Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1936-11-02
mo. 7 OF q Series.)
BY I. WILLIAM HILL,
staf1 CORRESPONDENT Of The Star.


Of value for the artist in submitting
himself to the influences Of another
country besides his own. Ernest Hem
ingway and Sinclair Lewis had lived
in France before they began to find
their place in letters. James Mcneil
Whistler was English American. The
same with Leslie Howard and Ronald
Colman. Noel Coward is more Amer
lean than British. w. Somerset
Vaughan, born in Paris Of English
parents, grew up never quite certain
which was his native language-Eng-
lish or French.
This is our theory. Personality is
the main factor in an artist. The
more a writer or an actor is Influenced
by the provincial ideas and ideals Of
one place the more he is compressed
into a type, and the less he is able
to be q personality. Moving to q
foreign country, he finds his native
ideas and ideals regarded as curios.
He decides that nothing Is always
true, that nothing Is right or wrong
but ones surroundings make it so.
He is free to be himself. with what
ever personality may be his.
British Not Showmen.
Roland Young illustrates this. As
practically every motion picture critic
has written, he is a picture saver"
because Of his great showmanship.
Yet the British are not by nature
showmen. The plays and stories
they like most are after the manner
Of Checkhov or Katherine Mansfield.
creation that give an any-day picture
OF the life Of an average family, then
tail off, without plot or climax. The
Britisher is suspicious Of anything
dramatic, and is prone to consider it
rather American. 1t is natural, for an
Englishman grows up under great re-
straint.
Even the children we have seen
were restrained. They were never
"show-offs" From the bassinette to
the cemetery, Britisher seems to live
in great fear that he will make .
show of himself. This is possibly the
reason why 50 many Americans think
Englishmen stolid and cold. We didn't
know Mr.. Young when he made his
entrance to America. but We hazard
the guess that he was not the conf
dent, unrestrained Snowman he Is
today.
Pursuit Of . Bird.
We met him first one evening in
the smoking room Of the lie de
France. A tired sea swallow had
flown in through an open window and
was nuttering helplessly about. An
English lawyer, sitting nearest the
bird, watched 1t with impressive eyes,
Mr.. Young started in pursuit. So did
we. Together we trapped it against
. window curtain.
sit down." said Mr.. Young. Lets
all three have . drink"
So We did. and the sea swallow. on
Mr.. Young's recommendation, took
water and crumbled crackers. Pres
emily the sea swallow went to sleep.
But Mr.. Young went on talking in
Just that same suavely comic man
ner for which he is famous on the
screen.
The second time we saw Roland
Young he was making . picture of
Shirley Temple out Of pennies laid
out on table in the liners salon
de the" The next he was sprawled
out in the middle Of the sun deck,
playing poker dice.
The British Wonder.
We mention these things because
they are so typical of Roland Young
as he naturally is today, freed from
English restraint. We might add that
the Britishers aboard the lie de
France looked at ". Young askance.
We could see thu were wondering
how q man born In London could ever
do such things.
Film magnates in England have
. more discerning eye, however. At
the box office they have learned the
value Of having q Snowman in a pic
ture. That was why Roland Young
was en- route to England. Gaumont-
British wanted him for q leading
role In King Solomon's Mines"
Hardly had he set foot on Plymouth
Rock, however, before the English
studio Of Warner Bros. was after
him. They had found he had three
weeks before he was due on location
for Gaumont, and they needed that
typical Englishman" to take part
in "Tzigane," dramatization Of q
novel by Lady Eleanor Smith. Mr..
Young agreed.
Soon after we reached London, he
called Us on the phone and invited
us to spend n day watching the film
ing Of "TMgane."
A Visit to Teddington.
The studio was at Teddineton. q
remote suburb Of London that may be
reached by motor in about As minutes.
It is fiowery and quiet there, and in
cidentally. it Is the birthplace Of Noel
Coward.
When We reached the studio filming
was IN progress, 50 we waited in .
small corridor that smelled of c.
ment, and bristled with men leaning
against mo smoking" signs as they
puned on cigarettes. Occasionally
there was the sound of . bell, fol-
lowed BY that Of q siren, which we
guessed correctly was the signal for
silence throughout the studio during
the making Of take" or about q
minute or two Of film.
In moment Mr.. Young appeared.
He was wearing full dress clothes
without the coat. Guiding US among
back drops, coils and pendants of rope.
dish pans full Of sand and cigarette
stubs, he led the way to the set. where