The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1944-09-21

oyOA1Cy CncChS III,
knew right then ''A'''''
that they had Sydney
something. TAX Greenstreet
ing advantage of
his leave of absence from the Lunt-
Fontanne production of ''There Shall
Be No Night" Warmers rushed him
into his second, '"They Died With
Their Boots On" in which he scored
again. When the Lunts wound up
their road tour Greenstreet signed a
studio contract.
Not a NoUice
Sydney, who is GA, has been act
ing A years. His stage record reads
like a Who's Who of the Theater,
and in fact he has to refer to that
musty tome himself in order to re-
call all that he has done.
The world has been Sydney's oys-
ter. There's hardly a spot on the
globe he doesn't lmow-Canada, the
Americas, the British Isles, India,
Ceylon, Italy, France, Malta, and
North Africa-all these he toured
not once but many times.
Sydney Greenstreet, who was born
in Sandwich, Kent, England, Deem
Der q, 1879, is all through travelling.
He likes our town and has settled
down for good on high mountain
overlooking the town. He greeted
me there recently among priceless
objets dart.
'You see, Hedda, l am comfort
able at last-I've done with my
travelling. I'm 64, and think there
is tremendous scope for fine work
here.
1.-THE most important thing with
me in pictures is to keep from being
typed. 1 started as an arch-villain
in The Maltese Falcon and feared
for while that I'd stay a big bad
man.
From Good TO Worse
Luckily, and I intend to keep it
that way, I haven't. My characteri-
cation was changed in They Died
With Their Boots On when l played
General Scott. was a heavy again
in Across the Pacific and sort
of benevolent mystery man in Casa
blanca
"For Background to Danger
reverted to evil again as head of
the Nazi Gestapo, but in Conflict
am psychiatrist who sends Muir
derer Humphrey BOgart to his exc
cution.
Devotion has me cast as Will
liam Makepeace Thackeray, per-
fectly lovely gentleman, but in The
Mask of Dinitrios' I again switch to
a man of mystery and dark doings.
Still Learning
1.-THE movies are new to me-" he
says, ''but I think I am catching on.
The first time I saw myself I was
embarrassed. l got the shock of my
life. I wanted to die. / knew I was
pretty bad, but there / was on the
serena horror. The lens is the
actors best critic-it shows the mind
working. It shows feelings. You
can get wonderful cooperation out of
the lens if you are true, but God help
you if you play it false"
Greenstreet has what I call
background. While still a young
ster he drifted into amateur theatre
Gals until, encouraged by his moth
er, he joined the Ben Greet Players
and made his debut in Sherlock
Holmes" in 1902.
In 1904 he came to America, join
ing forces with Sir Herbert Tree and
Margaret Anglin: For seven years
he played with the Lunts in ''The
Tanning Of the Shrew," Idiots De-
light" "Anphytrion 49," 1.-THE Sea
Gull" and "There Shall Be No
Night" Then Warmers caught him.
If Greenstreet has any criticism of
Hollywood actors-and he is very
loath to criticize any one-it is that
they don't work hard enough.
maybe 7 can't help it," he says.
maybe it's old fashioned on my
part, but I have to be letter per-
feet in my lines before setting foot
on stage. was brought up that
way"