OCR Text |
Show H 1 H-- BY A. H. GIEBLEPw OF course. It would never do to say that thcro arc no longer good-r good-r looking men on the screen. If fBl Umt wore said, a mighty protest would go Hl up from many fair film fans, all of whom H .could point out dozens of movlo men who M are "Just too cute for anything." fHj What Is meant is that the real pretty H keys actors who had nothing but their fl btauty to recommend them have passed, H and that personal pulchritude Is no H longer the prime rcquislto for fame and Hl fortuno in the films, and that an actor Hj may bo as ugly as a mud fence and still H bo an ornamont to his profession. Hl There is no intention of putting "Bill" H! Hart, -"Doug" Falrbanlts, and "Bill" H J"Drnum on, either the north or th south flj bIoo of tho fence in the beauty classlflca-H classlflca-H tlon, Thcro 1b no authentic record of H otthcr one of tho three talcing any cakes H for beauty prises; and, on "tho other hand, B thcro Is no record of any one of tho trio fl over having cracked any mirrors with H their homeliness, or made any babies B cry by looking at them. H This article Is intended to be neutral. fH The early pictures did not have as H )cuch action as now, and they were all B jn short lengths. Anybody could sit and fH look at a pretty boy for eighteen minutes fl -thc timo It takes to project a one-reel Hl fUm without Retting tired, even whon he H CU1 nothing besides bolng pretty, H Action Takes Place of Voice. H But whon tho pictures began to run M CtOO. 3000 und 5000 feet, audiences began M to fidget. They demanded action. B The teohnlquo of the movlo drama Is B vastly dlfferont from that of tho regular B stage. Tho legitimate actor can Btand B Etock still in one spot and make a' hit by B repeating tho lines written In the play B for him. The movlo actor, having no B voice, has to reeort to action to register B his work. Ho has to do tho things that H the regular stage player talks about do-Hl do-Hl lrg B Handsomo Halbcrt, tho hero of the vo-fH vo-fH cat melodrama, can thrill tho houso from H pit to dome by advancing to tho foot B lights and telling Nellie, tho beautiful B olcak model, that ho will shield her at B the risk of his life. Hl In the movies, Halbcrt has to do some H nctual shielding. And as carrying out an fl Enterprising movlo director's Ideas of how ffflj p. maiden should be shielded oftentimes H means Jumping in the cold waters of a B crcrk from tho top of a 50-foot bluT, H fighting a bear, or leaping from tho run-H run-H r.lng board of an automobile to tho back Bl platform of a swiftly moving train tho H regular stago hero very often finds him-B him-B self handicapped by a lack of both nervo H cu'd experience. H With longer pictures came the demand H for action. The audiences wanted to be Hl thrilled, and it wns up to tho picture Bl makers to thrill them. Htt "Put a punch in It," became the watch-B-rd of the studios, and directors worried Hmsclvc3 gray-headed thinking up 7hcs, and actors broke their bonei B fM and skinned themselves from collarbone to instep In Inserting the punch in tho films. Action, Not Characters, Pleased. They found that an actor wearing a swallow-tail coat and spats (oh. yes, that used to bo considered correct evening dress In tho movies) could rush out of tho ballroom and mount a horse and dash away to the rescuo of tho heroine Imprisoned Im-prisoned in tho old boathouae, made Just as big a hit a3 if he woro the wide hat, spurs and gun of the cowboy. Such actors as Fairbanks, Hart and Furnum represent tho ideal movie actors. Neither of the trio had anything to learn from tho movies when they started acting act-ing In tho films. Instead of. coming to school to the pictures, thoy brought school with them and taught tho screen a lot it didn't know about putting the punch in pictures. All three of these actors can do straight dramatic work can do "pretty boy" stuff when It Is necessary, as easily ns tho strong virile work they much prefer to do. Farnum, who has had years of experience experi-ence on tho regular stage, and Is. a straight dramatic player of great ability, is known a3 the "fighter" of tho Alms. In ono of his first films. Farnum and Thomas Santschl, another oxponcnt of Btronuousncss, staged what has become a classic In film fights. . Other scrapn have boon put on by various actors, out no battle has ever approached thl3 combat. com-bat. It was a real fight Tho two men decided before tho nceno was arranged that they would fight Just as If each of their lives depended on it, and that neither nei-ther would give nor take quarter. Then they shook hands and went to It In s scrap that would havo worn n, "pretty boy" actor to a frazzlo before 10 feet of film had been exposed. Farnum represents tho strong, virile type of actor,' and ho Is nearly always cost for parts of this kind. ' Douglas Fairbanks is, perhaps, one of tho most athletic players boforo tho camera, cam-era, and while he lends his efforts to the comedy side of the pictures, ho gets as much action In them of a thrilling character char-acter as any heavy blood and thunder melodrama could possibly havo. William S. Hart is famous for his Western characterizations but not tho old-time Westerns mado by Now Jersey cowboys. Hart puts the spirit of the real. West in his work, and his depictions areas are-as true as an actor of groat ability who vas brought up in tho Wost can make them. Hart was on tho regular stago several years before ho started his movie career. Ho mado his first appearance when 19 years old. Hl3 work In support of Mme. Mcdjcska and In the Squawman, and In tho Virginian, Is well and favorably remembered re-membered by regular theater goers of a few years ago. Doug!a3 Fairbanks has a long record or. tho legitimate stage, and has been in pictures only sinco 1915. Kj3?f" iZsJ'vti'-'' j jSJBwi " fflSya-jx5yV $?!H8xt j & "'' 'CjCx,V . j- a -o -p J, Wf MWw Wiih Tfmm Jft Mill. m jT tj '''- 'A " V I |