The Indianapolis times., 1936-05-06
Biographies
Are Wanted
inHoIIywood
Material Is Filmed Faster
Than Destiny Produces
Famous Persons.
BY PAUL HARRISON

The voracious movies are using up
historical celebrities a good deal
faster than destiny can manufac-
ture them. Here we are III the
middle of vogue for screen oiog-
raphy, and the studio story de-
partments already are scrambling
pretty desperately for likely ma
terial.
There's less of that material
than you'd imagine, say the search
ers. Accurate stories about many
genuinely famous persons would
meet quick demise in the Hayes
office. And the descendants of
other biographical candidates are
likely to prove representative and
troublesome over seemingly inno-
cent incidents.
Doesn't seem to make any differ
ence how far back you go, either.
In fact, the farther back you CO.
the more descendants there are in
geometric-or in such case, bio
-logic-progression And they're all
unwilling that Great-great-great-
great-great- Oscar, who was
duke of the. third precinct in York
shirederry- on -the-Plotz, should be
shown eloping with a blond scul-
lery wench.
"Rasputin" Caused Trouble
The fact that Great-great-great
great-great-uncle Oscar actually did
elope with a blond scullery wench
does not in the least diminish the
fierce family pride of his brothers
sons daughters grandnephews'
great-grandnieces.
Of course, the prize example for
all time of unfortunate representa-
ton of real people on the screen
was M-G-M's experience with "Ras-
putin" You may recall that the
studio went to the trouble of in
venting a different name for
character supposed to represent the
Princess Youssupoff. The princess
and her prince, however, decided
that they had been libeled by very
Transparent Characterization, and
collected some handsome damages.
AS if that were not trouble
enough, up popped a Prince Chegi-
def, whose name happened to be
the same as the one thought up by
an imaginative scenarist. He sued
for still more damages. So M-G-M
would have been better off in the
first place, If it had come right out
and called Youssupoff Youssu-
poff, instead of Chegideff.
Started With "Disraeli"
The biographical cycle really got
under way with "Disraeli" and "The
House of Rothschild." Edward Arm
old has turned into great imper-
senator as Diamond Jim" (Brady),
and John Augustus Sutter in "Sut-
ter's Gold" Probably he will do the
life of Lucky Baldwin, and maybe
Jim Fisk, for Universal
Movie fans have seen some of
"The Private Life of Henry VIII"
Katharine Hepburn is working as
Mary of Scotland" And several
companies are bolstering their cour-
age for try at the life of Napoleon
'Voltaire" has been pictured, and
Columbia writers are shaping up
story about Alexandra Dumas based
on the Verstatten book. The Mark
Twain estate has sold rights to the
dramatization of the life of Clemens.
Women's Biographies Next
From the field of medicine has
come THE Life of Louis Pasteur."
DR.. Edward Jenner, who licked
smallpox, and Nine. Curie, the ra-
dium genius, are future subjects.
There1l be screen lives of Florence
Nightingale and Edith Cavell. "The
Prisoner of Shark Island" is the
story of DR.. Samuel Alexander
Mudd, falsely accused and i'm
prisoned for completely in the as
.Sassination of Lincoln.
Some famous showmen have
been immortalized in celluloid-
The Mighty Barnum" and now
The Great Ziegfeld," the latter re-
Gently released. Paramount finally
has decided to screen Buffalo Bill"
And, speaking of frontiersmen,
Technicolor's Pioneer Pictures has
made arrangements to do Clusters
Last Stand"
Col. Lawrence Gave Permission
Alexander Korda owns the film
rights. to the life of Lawrence of
Arabia-the only such privilege ever
granted by celebrity before his
death. The London producer thus
has the right to film the story in
his own way, and without inter-
ference from relatives.
But. in an interview just after
the death of Col. Lawrence last
year, Korda told me he would fol-
low the wishes of the family in
making the picture.
Worked for Lady Astor