Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, February 23, 1924, Page 3

The Siren of the TvA NALDI’S entrance into motion pictures was one of those exotic things which rarely happen. Miss Naldi was orlg- inally a daticer and was appearing in the chorus of a Shubert play pro- @uced on the Century roof in New York, when it so happened that Di- rector John 8, Robertson and John Barrymore were searching for a girl todothe panish dance in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Together they at- tended this theater and noticing Miss Naldi’s vivid personality and excep- tional abilities they immediately se- lected her as the girl they needed and offered her the role, which she of course accepted. Other directors véry soon appre- ciuted her remarkable screen per- sonality and she Appeared in other productions including the role of “Passion” in George Fitzmaurice's Paramount production “Experience.” Her big opportunity came however in “Blood and Sand.” So capably did she handle this role that she shared the honors of the picture with Mr. Valentino ‘and gained great pop- ularity. / Blue-Green Eyes Miss Naldi has dark hair and Ng blue-green eyes, She is tall and graceful. A Those who like backgrounds that are foreign Have always seen much to entice in the parentage of this siren; those who appreciate close-ups that are American and withal, a bit jazzy, greet her personally with a cheer. Miss Naldi plays the tempestuous role of an opera singer in William De Mille’s picture, ““Everyday . Love.” What she is playisg is really t< outstanding character, although the honors are reputedly evenly divided between three, the other twain being” Jack Hol, and Agnes Ayres. Great mBssibilities in a role of tem- perament where Miss Naldi is con- cernéd. Who more.adaptable to an opera-singer portrayal than one in whose veins runs the fire of Italian descent? That is Miss Naldi’s partic- ular possession. For the rest—vwell, temperament is perhaps naught but another grafting of the roots of jazz. The backbone of a shark strung on a rod makes a favorite walking cane for the men of Venezuela. en(5leanings~ ROBERT J BLAHERTY Some Facts About Gloria LORI SWANSON was born in Chicago, Illinols, and was ed- ucated in that city and in Porto Rico. Her father was the cap- tain of an army transport vessel and Gloria spent a good many of her early years traveling with him. The Swanson family settled in Chicago when Gloria was quite young, and Gloria, at her own request, was sent to an art school there. However, the -future movie star soon tired of trying to get the right perspective into her drawings and left to finish her edu- cation at the normal school. At the time of Miss Swanson’s res- idence in Chicago the Essanay stu- dio in that city was one of the larg- est in the country. Visiting the place one day with an aunt, Gloria was ap- proached by a director who was at- tracted by her beauty and asked if she wouldn't work in a picture, More in fun than anything else Miss Swanson accepted. She found that she photographed very well and aft- er several Essanay pictures she went to Unjversal and then to Keystone. Miss Swatson is five feet two inches tall, has dark brown hair and brown eyes. She lives in a beautiful home in Hollywood and iz a devotee of outdoor sports, especially horse- back riding and swimming. Hs ROLLIN STURGEON This Director Holds a Time Record is a great director he need only recall the fact of “Hollywood,” “The Covered Wagon” and “Rug- gles of Red Gap” all playing at the same time, and all drawing capacity houses in all parts of the country. Mr. Cruze really rushes through his work, but he does not rush through it carelessly, nor do the peo- ple who work for him have any sense of nervous strain nor any feeling of belhg pushed. It is this ability to get & great deal done in a short time that makes of this man a great executive, but a great executive is not neces- sarily a great director. Always Informal Mr. Cruze, on the set, is always breezy, good-natured, but intent upon the jcb in hand, even when his man- ner feems careless. He is always either rolling.a white-paper cigarette with Bull Durham tobacco, or smok- I anyone doubts that James Cruze ing a cigarette which he has just rolled, Mr. Cruze, it seems, makes up verses and limericks at odd moments, and even the airs to go with them if they will not fit as parodies of pop- ular songs. The whole company quickly memorizes these nonsensical verses, and when work slackens there is some fine chanting. Sounds like play doesn’t it? Perhaps it 1s, but Mr. Cruze’s method of “playing” results in his holding the Paramount record for the number of scenes shot in a day—and he holds the record al- most every day, too. Good scenes, at that; not film that has to be thrown away. James Cruze {sa man of quick de- cisions, and he is nearly always right. His sense of the dramatic and of the humorous fs unerring. In other words, he knows his own mind and has confidence in his own judgment. DESK {IN THE STUDY OF ATS HOLLYWOOD HOMB- Luck Landed Dwan in Moving Pictures LLAN DWAN’S entrance into motion pictures is a good ex- ample of the element of luck that has attended the start of many of the successful figures in picture | Production today. Back in 1908 Dwan was an elec- trical engineer just fresh from Notre Dame University. He was in charge of the installation of Copper-Hewitt Ughts at the old Essanay studio in Chicago and one day Tom Ricketts, a director, came up to him and said: “You're just the type I am looking for. Are you an actor?” Dwan said yes just to see what would happen, and when Ricketts asked him where he had worked he was in a quandary. Then his ability to think quickly, which has been a great asset to him in directing plc- tures, brought him the chance to ap- pear before the camera. The night before Dwan had been to see “Paid in Full” et ove of the theaters so he told Ricketts that he had played “Joe Brooks” in the play. Before he knew {t Ricketts had him in a dressing room putting make-up on and he played in several scenes with Warren Kerrigan. That was the beginning of Dwan’s motion pic- ture career, He dug down in his trunk and uncovered some stories he had written in his school days and sold them for $25 apiece, This brought him the chance to be scena- rio editor of the old American film company in California. Bill Hart Gets Last of Bathing Beauties T* last of the famous bathing beauties capitulated definitely to the art of screen drama when Phyllis Haver was selected by William §. Hart to play the leading Tole in his second production, “Sing- er Jim McKee.” aj \ Although Miss Haver took a “flyer” in drama last year when sbe essayed | a leading role in “The Christian,” she | returned immediately thereafter to Sennett comedies. Now sho is follow- ing in the footsteps of Marie Pre- vost, Mary Thurman and Gloria | Swanson. In “Singer Jim McKee" ) she has a strong emotional role, The best way to stop worrying over your own troubles, real and imaginary, is to look , 5 } feel that things aré not so bad with you as you thought. ‘around and find out how many people are worse off than you are—then, maybe, you will .—W. W. Atkinson ‘ 2 : a PTR TTR Cee ne oma *