Critical Moments

The latest edict to come from Hollywood should titillate the greater portion of America’s womanhood—it is to the effect that beauty is no longer the leading screen requirement. According to Wesley Ruggles, Paramount director, the ugly duckling is in an envious position. He says, “The lisping ingenue and the mustache-twirling villain are as passe as the beautiful but dumb actress. The plain-looking girl is as perfectly suited to a film career as her better looking sister. In fact, she has even a better chance than the ‘looker’ just because she is average.”

Mr. Ruggles believes that personality photographs more effectively than beauty, also “that the theatre-going public prefers screen actresses representative of types they associate with rather than those who seem unreal through great beauty.”

“Moreover the public, for some reason or other, has gotten the impression that good looking girls are dumb (which I assure the public is wrong) and thus a beautiful woman suffers a tremendous handicap the first time she is introduced on the screen.”

He points out that the ten or twelve leading feminine stars are striking in appearance, but not necessarily beautiful. This rule applies also to the men, whose faces express character rather than physical attractiveness.

Maybe Mr. Ruggles is correct!

FROM THE PICTURE STUDIOS

Not to be outdone by the exploitation department of the United Artists in America who, when “The House of Rothschild” was playing at the Astor, had Lewis Browne write a novelization of the picture for newspaper serialization, the British company hired Louis Golding, well known novelist and author of “Magnolia Street.” “The Five Silver Daughters” and other works, to write a novelized version of the same picture which will be printed in England and then probably brought out in this country by Farrar and Rinehart, Mr. Golding’s publishers.

After a series of conferences which dragged on and on United Artists have not yet fully decided on what they will call Eddie Cantor’s next picture. At the present time it is tentatively entitled “Kid Millions,” but there is some objections to that title because of the use of the word “Kid.” It is feared that people will mistake “Kid Millions” for “Kid Boots,” the title of a former Cantor film and play. “Kid Millions,” which is said to be about a group of hopeful heirs in search of a buried treasure in Egypt, was written by trio of scenarists consisting of Nunnally Johnson, Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman.

The following is the announcement of a new Walt Disney picture and is reprinted without comment:

“With the production of “Who Killed Cock Robin?” his latest silly symphony, Walt Disney turns from comedy to satire. Until now a producer in animation of famous fables and musical masterpieces, he is invading the field of mystery stories by a fitting start with this daddy of them all.

“New stars, appearing on the screen for the first time, will be seen in their true colors—technicolor, in fact, Cock Robin, popular sportsman, bares his redbreast to Jenny Wren, dazzling torch singer who falls for his declarations. She quits her birds of a feather and establishes herself in his love nest for a session of bills and coos—mostly bills. Spike (Legs) Sparrow tries to throw a little salt on her tail, and when that fails, the fireworks start. Paul Parrot, grizzled prosecuting attorney, takes the case on the wing and before you can say ‘hoot, hoot’ he has ‘Legs’ Sparrow up before Superior Judge Oliver Owl in night court.”