OCR Text |
Show MOS7X Y ABOUT KISSES By H. H. Van Loan i 1 y HOSE who have had extensive j J experiences along osculation lines declare it is one of the most fascinating, wickedest, inspiring vocations or avocations of each and every current year since Moses slid down Mount something with a couple of slahs of racing charts under his right arm. It's the cheapest testis mony of affection and the most expensive expen-sive habit known to students of society. soci-ety. It is rather a bill of admiration, and you can collect and pay regardless of whether you are creditor or debtor. I If the creditor happens to be one of the weaker sex observe how she comes right back for more payments after the first installments have been satis- fled. Mark Anthony osculated with "Cleo" and lost the throne of Egypt. I've heard of men who have tossed up a cool million for a warm kiss, and yet, there are dozens who get them for a ride on the subway. All of which illustrates the inconsistency of things and proves that the entire system is "wrong. This, of course, shows that we all place a different value on smacking. To be absolutely confidential, I think that kissing is emotion, without its halter, running wild. If it gets to the eyes it stops before it develops into tears-'-sometimes. And, if it gets tired before it reaches there it comes out at the lips and is called osculation. However, this is only theory and has never been proved. Of course, there are many peoplo who are in the kissing business. Others Oth-ers kiss for business reasons, and some kiss for no reason to speak of, some wouldn't dare speak of it! Although Al-though we all realize there is a great deal of grafting going on in connection connec-tion with the kissing industry if it may bo termed such yet no reformer has ever possessed enough courage to start an investigating committee. There are many who speak of osculation oscu-lation as an art. If it is such, then we are greatly indebted to the stage and screen for its perpetuation. Some people say that it is kept alive today in the home through the medium of the screen. It is used in moving picture pic-ture scenes merely to remind the husband, hus-band, wife or sweetheart that the custom cus-tom is still in vogue. Moving pictures studios are full of kisses. There are many actresses who couldn't go through a picture without kisses. Others are bored with the job. And if you watch very closely you will be able to discover just which actors like it and those who don't. One of the very few actors who absolutely refused to kiss his leading woman was J. Warren Kerrigan. He used to be perfectly satisfied to get away with a perfectly good caress, and if the final scene called for a bit of osculation he would appear to be just about to plant the splash at the "fade-out." Ho got away with this stuff for a long time, but as pictures improved and grow more realistic his director notified Kerrigan that ho would have to come across and deliver the goods. So you will note that Kerrigan now gives out the real stuff. In fact, Lois Wilson, his leading woman, during tlio last year that he was with the Universal, has made the art such a study that she has kept record of the number of times this handsome star kissed her, and she reports somewhat boastfully, that her hero planted no less than 3.8G7 distinct sets of kissing germs on her lips! There is no doubt but what the public especially the feminine section of it are very much interested in the way actors kiss on the screen. How many times we overhear the remark in a theatre when a curtain star is osculating os-culating with his leading woman: "Oh, he's a rotten kisser!" And, at others: "Doesn't he kiss grand!" Of course there may be reasons for such exclamations. There is something some-thing wrong with the man who doesn't appreciate a kiss from a beautiful woman. We admit there niay be reasons rea-sons for his kissing badly in a certain scene. The leading woman, ingenue, mother, or whoever she may be, wears, perhaps, too much lip rouge. If so, the hero is right in going cau- I fH tiously. Then too, she may be an on- j fH ion or a garlic fiond. I ill Despite the demand for real, high- ll class, conservative screen kissing, ' fH there is one actress who refuses to ( j keep apace with events. She is Peggy H Custer. This actress vowed a long ,( fiH time ago that the first man to kiss , her would bo the man of her choice. H She has kept that vow, and though it iH has resulted in serious discussion at H times with her directors, sho remains H immovable on this one subject. I re- ,fl call a leading man who lost his job a few months ago because he possessed H oscillatory habits and persisted under ll strong protest from the fair Peggy, in 1 kissing her in the scenes where he ll thought it was necessary. il One of the best kissers on the fil screen is Cleo Madison. She believes IjlH in making it somewhat of a feature, ,- and it is said out in Universal City (jl that this wonderful woman uses up - anywhere from twenty-five to fifty jH feet of perfectly good film with the iH correct 'analysis of the situation. This i'l is excusable with Cleo, because it is BH attributed to her romantic tempera- Ll ment. She is easily moved to tears ilH and kisses. Her tears aided in making (il Universal City famous. Few are those lll who do not recall those unique adver- Ul tisements which used to read: "Come ' H (Continued on Page 13.) H MOSTLY ABOUT KISSES (Continued from Page 5.) out to Universal City and see Cleo Madison weep." She can weep the wettest, saltiest, and largest tears known to teardom, and as kisses are akin to brine, it is not difficult to understand un-derstand why she is one of unshakable unshak-able faith. Another interesting osculator of the screen is Dorothy Davenport, "J one of the favorite stars of fllmdom. Being small she would find it difficult diffi-cult to withstand an endurance smack. ISho believes in abrupt kisses the kind that touch you and then run. Her director says that a Dorothy Davenport Da-venport kiss seldom requires more than five feet of film. But, those who have played opposite her declare they are great while they last! One of tho most temperamental kissers is Dorothy Phillips. She is a wonderful institution and if she ever started out to break any records in smacking she would have the domestic domes-tic section of this nation in a chaotic state which even tho European war could not outrival. She has unusually beautiful dark brown hair and a soft southern complexion. Her eyes are of tho kind that overthrow promising republics, and have had a tendency every now and then, throughout history, his-tory, to topple over thrones. When she rolls those wonderful eyes of hers upwards, everything within a great radius, in the male line, forgets home, street and number. It is said out in Universal City that every leading man who has kissed her wanted to marry her immediately. But Dorothy is interested in her art, a handsome husband and a wonderful little baby. There is one actor who positively made his reputation on the screen because be-cause of his wonderful kissing accomplishments. accom-plishments. Ho is Jack Holt, and if you doubt this statement just glance at the way he is hating it in that picture pic-ture with Ruth Stonehouse! He is recognized as one of the most fervent smackers on tho screen. In one picture pic-ture with Edith Roberts, he osculated so much that she sincerely vows she will never be able to appreciate a real, big juicy kiss when it c nes, some day, from tho man she expects to wed. According to her, kissing has lost tho big punch, or smash, or what- mmmmnmrmma r uu'i "wg taxm- um n' --.Mi tea aniii - ever you choose to call it. And she blames it all on Jack, for she says he has put her lips absolutely out of commission. The directors claim, that for real, full-fledged, blown-in-the-bottle smacking Jack makes a Hob-son Hob-son look like a group of spinsters at an afternoon tea, where the degradation degrada-tion of man is the principal subject of discussion. Gretchen Lederer believes in smacking, smack-ing, kissing and osculation. She considers con-siders that an actress must put all her feeling into tho role she portrays if she is to get the best results from her work. If her part calls for tho soul-devouring embraces of an adventuress, Gretchen endeavors to see that she lives up to the action demanded. When her director informs her that she is to fall in love with a certain character, she doesn't waste one inch of her affection, but plunges every ounce of it at tho gink, just as though she really meant it. She lives the part. That may seem a bit rough if you didn't know Gretchen. She is an emotional actress and comes from an M emotional country and studied in the M Conservatoire of Cologne. Like all i continentals, she realizes the value of M a smack, and knows it speaks volumes M where love and passion are concerned. M There are no better actors on the M screen today than the Germans and I M tho French. When they make lovo i M they thrill, inspire and enthrall one, i 'M because they put their whole soul in ' their work. When they kiss our H thoughts turn to flocks of girls. Vis- M ions of harems flit before us. Wo pine l for tho country east of Suez. It is j 'M worth noting that the actresses who ' are doing the best work on the screen H today are not "fads," or those who H are receiving enormous salaries. Who KH that saw "Business is Business" will t'B forget the excellent acting done by B Gretchen Lederer in that picturo? H Her work stood out because it was a KH fine piece of finished acting by a H woumn who not alone had beauty in H her favor but was accomplished in 4I her art. H H m H f When the five-reel production of H "Father and the Boys" arrived in Now H York and was shown in the Universal H; privato projection rooms', President Bi Carl Laommle, who witnessed the H first exhibition, was greatly im- H pressed with a beautiful girl who Hi played opposite Digby Bell. As the H picture progressed he kept saying: B "Isn't she lovely?" Everybody else in B the projection room thought the same. H A constant buzz of voices in different M tones kept repeating: "She's lovely." H Then the head of the Universal H asked the new star's name, and every- H body pronounced it differently. Some H called her Carbasse, others said it H was Carbossa, while another group H said it was Garbossa. Finally Carl M Laommle said: "Oh, let's call her H Louise Lovely." And that's how n H star, who is known from coast to H coasUtoday, received her name. H There are fatherly, feminine, pas- H sionate, baby, innocent and conven- H tional kisses known to filmdom. But M the kisses of this star are just what M her name suggests they are lovely. M It is said by those who are well in- M formed in this particular art, that her M kisses are the loveliest. Louise Love- H ly comes from a land whoso climate H is hot. People who come from warm H countries are affected by the tempera- H ture. Heated blood courses through H their veins and they are ruled by pas- H sion. When they love they love mad- M ly and their hate is just as pro- H nounced. They are devoted and their H jealousy is to be feared. It was they H who introduced the kiss of hate. But, H when they love they will sacrifice all H to obtain what they desire, and they H permit nothing to come between them H and their desires. H Can you wonder why this child of H Australia can kiss so rapturously, so H passionately, so innocently, according H to her moods? She comes from a land H of kisses and sunshine, but if you ask H her what is the perfect kiss she will H smile and tell you that it is one of the H rarest things in the world. "I think H the nearest we get to it," she says, "is H J) when two souls, wholly enwrapped, H bound in selfishness, steeped in pas- H sion and honestly in love with each H other, seek to express with dignity H their true affection." To which we all H remark: "Is such a thing possible to- H A kiss is just what you want it to H be, and expresses what you desire it H should. It has been greatly abused H and over worked since it was first in- H vented, and has decreased in value H during the past few years. They will H improve as they grow scarce. When H the employer can keep a pretty sten- H ographor two weeks without invading her rosy cheeks, when millionaires H cease building theatres for actresses; H when stars are safe to ask a director H for a role and bellboys refrain from H osculating wtih the transients and H chorus girls in town, we will be a lit- H. tie nearer the "perfect kiss." Bridge- Hj port Life. |