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Why Do We Loye the Viliams?
If Fan Mail Is a Reliable Test, They Are
as Popular as the Handsome Heroes
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Upper left—Robert McKim, smooth and sly. Next to him,
Wall&oe Beery, sometimes smooth but generally rough. Below in
circle—Lew Cody, a drawing-room rogue, always cold blooded
towards women.
IP you must be a villain be one In
tbe movies—lt par* better.
In rase you pine So steal In'
her 1 tan re from orphans, sell sold
bricks to pathetic widows, set off the
drnamlte In the hero's mine and all
tbe rest of the dastardly acts, com
mit them on the silver sheet. It's
the only place where crime Is safe.
The villains of the'eoreen have all
other criminal* faded as far as malt
Ins a living goes. When Jesse James
(In person) robbed a train he was
lucky to get a few thousand to last
him a couple of months. It stands to
reason he couldn't rob a train every
night after supper. There weren't
that many trains In those days.
But several years later along
romes Adolphe Menjou. for Instance,
and gets *2.000 a week Just for being
a languid drawing-room reprobate,
whose special talent lies In wrecking
the Institution known as the home.
Mr. Menjou doesn't use a gun to get
his villainous money. He merely
has a slow, amused. Infinitely sophis
ticated smile, which accounts for at
least two-thirds of his salary, and
the rest Is paid to his eyebrows,
which are able to talk so plainly
they dispense with subtitles.
Then there's Ernest Torrence, vil
lain vile and terrible, who has a
dozen crimes to his credit In many
pictures. It was he who scared
poor little Richard Barthelmess Into
manhood !n one of the best pictures
the screen has ever known, "Torah - e
David.'' It Is also Torrence who
does a remarkable piece of work In
the "Covered Wagon." Formerly he
was a comedian on the stage, ar.rt a
good one at that, but one Jay ho
found that villainy paid better, so he
turned to characterisations and of
Ms type there Is none better
The Parts They Play at Home.
It's possible that after the crlroo
sters get off the long whiskers snd
lay down the curved knife they can
enact the hero at home with much
more grace and novelty than the man
who has been doing It all day long In
the studio. After the hero of the
films has dashed his heart at the feet
of one or more of the beauties of the
screen from 8:30 to 6 dally. It Is only
human for him to slow up on emo
tion when In sight of the cozy Holly
wood bungalow, where bis wife Is
bending over a cook stove (see movie
magazines for proof).
But the villain Is a different story.
All day he works his wickedness
against tbe handsome hero and the
girlish matden trying to delay the
final clutch at the end of the picture,
so the regulation number of reels
can be used up. It s a great relief
for him to take off the high boots
and the wide hat. straighten out the
sneer and go home for beefsteak,
followed by a stroll to the goldfish
pond with his little son or daughter,
whichever the press agent decides.
It's becoming more and more a
recognized fact that the villains of
tbe movies must possess an art just
as consummate if not more so thin
the much-beloved heroes. The rogue
must act better and In many oases be
a more deft artist It’s bis Job to
make the audience hate him at the
same time they admire his ability.
The Present Vogue.
There are various types of screen
villains and several actors who have
reached the peak of artistry In those
types. Because the drawing-room,
country-club, young - married - set
movie is In vogue at the moment It
is the suave dress suited villain who
is attracting tbe most attention. This
class of villain is typified best by
Adolphe Menjou, undoubtedly the
most popular of his kind on the
screen; Ward Crane, Lew Cody and
Charles Gerard.
Menjou Is a product of Southern
France and he brings to the Amer
ican screen his heritage of Con
tinental sophistication. Although
he came to America at the age of
four, he has never lost his back
ground of the old world. After Ms
Golden Q-leaninjls- Of Uit excellent to have a giant’s strength; but it is tyrannous to use it
(CotiSTSSY pHiI.ADIU.FH IA RjXOID)
graduation from Cornell I'nlversity
he began his dramatic career and de
veloped Into the highest paid "heavy''
in the pictures. He will be remem
bered particularly for his work in
"A Woman of Parts,” “The Marriage
Circle," and ' Broadway After Dark.''
Menjou is married and Is a foe of
the flappers. In a recent Interview he
declared that a woman should be
beautiful, speak several languages,
want a real home aad have a sep
arate Interest in life to keep her
mind alive and occupied. Although
he wrecks movie homes with more
grace than any villain in the busi
ness. Menjou seems to have the se
cret of keeping his own real one In
tact His wife Is non-professional
and they have no children.
Let It not be thought that the
movie villain is deprived of "mash"
notes. Like tbe hero he rates a big
mall bag dally carrying fervid out
bursts usually beginning, "I go to ev
ery picture you play In. Dear Mr So
and So, and I love you even If you
are the villain"—etc.
Get Many “Ma'b" Totes.
The rogues of the drawing-room
drama draw their mall from mature
admirers Women who admit they
“know about life." others whose
marital troubles overwhelm them
and others who are drawn to the
sophisticated types played by the
"heavlee" lose no time writing to
their favorite* of the tcreen and as
suring them of their lifelong devo
tion.
The villain gets more letters crit
icising his acting than any other
member cf the fast Let his part be
a llttl*' overplayed, let for a
moment drop the mask of hts role
and he'll hear about It from hun
dreds of fans. This la another rea
son why he must bring bis art to Its
perfection.
Cody, another of the dress
suit villains, turned to screen
roguery at a relief from being known
as a male vamp. For years Cody
played in pictures where he was al
ways trailing strings of hearts be
hind him. Tbe fans came to know
him aa the vamp and It took Cody a
long time to live down the reputa
tion. He suddenly turned Into an
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———
Ernest Torrence is here seen
wearing the sneer that has made
him so terrifying not only to un
protected females, but even to
hardened characters.
eicellent villain and has known
many successes.
From men like Menjou and Cody
the other extreme of villainy Is that
of Louis Wolheim, whose specialty
Is movie brutality. He will be remem
bered for his work in Griffith's "Or
phans of the Storm” and "America."
Whatever Wolheim does on or off
the screen he does with such Intensi
ty and singleness of purpose that he
Is interesting for himself, as for the
success of his roles. He Is a Cornell
graduate, a former professor of
mathematics, a star football player,
a mechanical engineer and a whirl
wind villain of the films. .
Beery Once Played Girl’s Part.
Wallace Beery Is another of the
brutal villains of tbe screen. He
turned from comedy to villainy, as
did Ernest Torrence. A long time
ago Beery used to play the role of
a Swedish servant girl In one-reel
comedies, where he was known as
“Sweedie."
A strange man is Wallace Beery,
from all accounts. Hollywood doesn't
seem to be very fond of him, even
when he's not playing a part. He
has a feeling that the members of the
fair sex are greatly enamored of his
manly beauty and maybe they are.
he's been married a rather uncount
able number of times. But be's one
of the people who seem to make no
distinction between the home and the
studio and some times. Is said.
Mr. Beery causes a considerable
amount of excitement for the resi
dents of Hollywood. It's sn interest
ing fact that he was once married
to Gloria SwansAn Hts bobby is
wearing diamonds.
But there's no discounting the fact
that Wallace Beery as a type of tough
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screen Tilinin' has few peers In the
business.
A versatile villain Is Raymond
Hatton, who;* wicked sneer has
brought him firae. Among the pro
fessionals who watch talent and ac
complishment with eagle eyes, he is
considered the most finished charac
ter villain in the business.
Robert MclCim, he of the wide hat,
high boots and long cigar, the vil
lain of Western pictures mainly, is
an unscrupulous soul on the screen.
Off It he is known as “Bob" by ev
erybody who ever met him and he’d
give you the last dollar be had with
out asking why.
Lon Chaney Isn’t really a villain,
but be Is a consummate character
star and as such can hardly be left
out of any collection of the heavies
of the screen.
Chaney's rise to fame has been
against the most prodigious handi
caps and was possible only as a re
sult of tremendous labor. He was
born In Colorado Springs and both
Lon Chaney, as he is, and as
he appeared as "The Hunchback
of Notre Dame.”
his parents were deaf mutes. As a
child Chaney learned to express ev
erything with his face. He could
talk with his fingers before he could
speak with his voice, but he never
learned to like to talk. His favorite
roles are those of Orientals, who
have few gestures and express much
by the very immobility of their faces.
A Long Straggle.
When Chaney w»s 18 he landed a
Job as a stagehand in a Colorado
Springs theater. On the sum of *l4
a week he supported his mother and
father, brother and sister. Later he
Went into musical comedy and
danced for a living when he wanted
to do tragedies. He has known de
feat, hunger, loneliness and. In fact,
everythiag that usually takes the
heart out of man and kills him for
further effort. But Chaney plugged
on and at last entered pictures
One of the best villains in the
silent drama is Adolphe Menjou.
He is always passionate in hij
pretenses, but always insincere.
where he finally got his big chance
in "The Miracle Man.”
The meteoric rise of Ernest Tor
rence as a screen villain has scarce
ly any parallels. Torrence is a
graduate of the University of Edin
burgh, an accomplished musician
and a gentleman of fine taste and dis
crimination.
He was on the stage in England
and then came to America, where he
was the featured comedian in many
Broadway successes, among them
"The Night Boat" When he had
given up hope of ever finding a
berth in the movies he was engaged
to play the role of the villainous
mountaineer in “Tol’able David."
From that minute Torrence was
made as a taovie villain.
The villain has become a character
actor, whose Job it is to portray the
sinister influences of life and to por
ray them so truly and vividly that
we recognize the dangers and are
made aware of the pltfalla around ua.
Thus the moral is really taught by
the villa!»
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