Evening star., 1949-11-13
There Were Giants Then,
In Those Days Of Glamour
By Howord c. Heyn
HOLLYWO(

HOLLYWOOD.
There seems to be no doub
about it: The Hollywood star. a.
an individual. has lost lot O.
allure In the last generation.
The cinema, as an American
institution, is just as appealing
The movie business is, If anything
richer. The attraction of stardon
is just as strong among ambitious
youngsters.
But the big-time actors ane
actresses of the purple Limousine
era had more personal glamour
Veterans like Cecil B. De Mile
Samuel Goldwyn and John Fore
say so.
Theda Bara, Mary Pickford
Clara Bow, Gloria Swanson
Dolores Costello. Mae Murray
Norma and Constance Talmadge
Janet Gaynor, Norma Shearef
Douglas Fairbanks, ST.: Rudolph
Valentino, John Gilbert, Johr
Barrymore-those are only a few
of yesterdays truly colorful per.
sonalities. Who can match them
today for real splash?
They lived in the manner the
public expected of stars. Vast
houses, vast parties. fabulous
clothes. Gold-plated Duesenbere
autos. No slacks. No sport shirts
Today's stars go to bed earlier
They work longer hours. They
rattle around in station wagons
and they pedal bicycles. Once in
a while they get into a mild
night club fracas-but seldom
Their contracts contain morals
clauses.
De Mile, Goldwyn and Ford
agree the golden age OF personal
fiamboyance has passed. Says
De Mile:
Little Fluffs of Femininity.
Actresses like Lillian Gish
Dolores Costello, Corinne Griffith,
Katherine Macdonald. Mildred
Harris and Gloria Swanson were
a tremendous influence. Public
devotion to them was terrific.
II won't say that today's stars
are without influence, but their
popularity does not approach that
Of the old-timers.
Good screen stars now are lit
tie fluffs Of femininity put to-
gether by makeup men,"
Everybody in Hollywood has a
dog. but few years ago one OF
the sights OF the town was Pola
Negri promenading on the boule-
ward with her leopard cub on a
leash. Once she threw the animal
at a cameraman. 5
Everybody had a big house, and
many still do. but when it came
to beach retreats Marion Davies
outdid them all with what is now
Ocean House, ITO rooms, at Santa
Monica.
Bessie Love really owned q Law
ender limousine, driven by q liv-
cried chauffeur. Tom Mix had a
big white touring car. incrusted
with outsize initials in gold. Fatty
Arbuckle's car had a collapsible
bar. Buster Keaton and Lew Cody
owned a land yacht-actually a
big bus, with built-in kitchen and
sleeping quarters.
Colleen Moore was building her
famous dollhouse. This exhibit,
still touring the world, is now
valued at many times its initial
SAC. 900 cost.
The Influential Valentino.
Everything they did was reflect
ed in the public taste. Says Gold
wyn:
Il am sure that no star ever
exerted such a tremendous inf1u-
ence on both men and women as
did Rudolph Valentino a quarter
|of a century ago. Bell-bottom
trousers, the cut Of mems suits
|and even mems hair style-parted
and sleeked down-were adapted
from Valentines screen identity.
woman sighed for the Latin
lover type and everything Valen-
tino did and said was almost hys-
terically made note Of. Gloria
Swanson. Pola Negri, Douglas
Fairbanks, ST.; Wallace Reid all
thad tremendous impact and inf1u-
ence but none exerted the force
that was Valentines"
Income taxes, probably more
than anything else, have put 9