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The Mail, Adelaide, Saturday, November 16, 19353Private Lives of FilmStar?flip SolitudeHere wa» Jhe -ome thing diflerenl that they wauled.Kbi cause w« helped, too. by the aura of romance and reckless lovinghud been married once, twice, thrice, always to young and beautiful women, although he had always maintained a gentlemanly reticence about that *ide of hi* life.His appearance was arresting. He towered head and shoulders above moat men on the screen, and his hawk-like profile with it* long, high-bridged aristocratic nose set a new standard for masculine film charm.His voice. Ktage-trained. crisp, ano capable of an infinite variety of expression, with scarcely a trace of accent, was a refreshing change fromthe voices of either the 100 per cent.' Americanos or the Ox ford-speaking young men of the British cinema.He was not young, but that ha*: ceased to be an essential Mafu-a relentless enemy every day of m; life. It is when 1 win that you cal me a great actor I fight, all time 1 fight.“You think it strange that I—whi am the happiest of men—should t*dogged by an enemy. Ah. but I wil tell you. No human being I* thi enemy of Conrad Veidt- It is some thing far more ruthless and mercilev than any living creature. It is ih cold, mechanical, all-critical eye ■lt; camera That is the enemy wit] Which I battle every day The camera ij the enemy of even film actor The camera is never parHASHING AND remanUr, Conrad Veldt looks out of thin photograph wllftkiagreatest box office stars of today And one of the least known. He la as Sphinx-like as Greta Garbo when it comes to divulging anything of hla private life. He hate* publicity. He dodge* crowd*. He will not attend any of those delirious. Iimelit first night* that most stars dote on; it is seldom that one hear* of him acknowledging the letters of any of the thousands of women who write impassioned note* to him. He I* a matinee idol wh» really hate* the pedestal on which rdortng crowds have pushed him And hit ts no publicity inspireo exclualvenew. Unlike other star* who proclaim their terror of being recog *:cd. and go about in a disguise that •bricks for recognition, he delight* In tmUlng a rap over his eyes and dragging his attractive wife away to some obscure spot where they can be Mr and Mr* Schmidt. or any other name that may happen to pop into Mr Veidt'.* head Thertf hr la/e* happily until It is time for him to He draggedALL (he mea- back In front of the camera that issure* 6 ft. hi* loathed master.2't In.', lean Yet he love* acting. It is the breath of life to him. The only drawback la that he ia such an extraordinarily good actor and such an arresting personality that it is becoming increasingly difficult for him ever to get any time to be just Conrad Veldt, ex-officer and gentleman, lover of life and self-confessed loafer.”scarred, with not the least pretensions toJJE has been an actor all hi* lac, and has trod some of Europe's most famous stages, but it remained for the film* to put him into the com man ding position that he occupie. today. And. strangely enough, it wa not as a seasoned and competent actor that he succeeded on the screen, bui at a personality pure and simple He brought something new to the jaded worshipper* in the temple of filrndom; fr* came into talkies just a: the time when the public was satisfied with its old favorites, with the doren-of men who perroniftcd the ”100 per cent. American.” the he-man. the her., of the great open spaces.Conrad Veidt brought a whiff of the great cosmopolitan world to a crowd that was tiring of virile simplicity: he brought a hint of diablerie. a quality of seasoned and somewhat cynical romance ihat made the patrons sit up and take noticeaughtbeLearn All About CRICKETThe Came described by Don Bradman, W Oldfield, A Mailey, and A. Moyes“The News” Cricket Hints(Illustrated) Price 6 d.On SALE at NEWSAGENTS, BOOKSELLERS. and SPORTS STORESri'y i* an asset rather than a liability to the artist of today, as witness Mr Arliss. Paul Muni. Spencer Tracy Richard Barthclmess. Chaplm. Chevalier; in fact, the majority of the modern men stars.^JONRAD Veidt t* 42 years of age and he make* no bones about It. He was born in Berlin and educated at the Hohenzollero Grammar School In Schonberg. He was a very lucky young man to secure an introduction to the great Max Reinhardt. Internationally famous Germarproducer and director of “Midsummer Night’s Dream. reclaimed today. At the most beautiful spectacle over) to reach the talking screen. Conrad Veidt was only 20 year* of age when he made his stage debut under the Reinhardt aegis.Next year war broke out. and. like •\ery other young German, Conrad Veldt was at once impressed into ser-! vice. During the war he played con- ! tinually In army theatres—a dolorous Job for an Impressionable young man., that was to leave Its mark on him for ever. Ltbau and Tilsit were the rpntres in which Conrad Veidt wn* obliged to act to help keep up the morale of the troops of Germany. In, IS!7 he was discharged. He immediately wen* back to Reinhardt and tried to take up life where he had left it off when he went off to do that »hree vear*’ Job of enforced entertainingHe was loo good an actor lor G«r-| man films to overlook: he went into A Woman's Diary,” into ‘The Cabi-1 net of Dr. Caiigan’ 'which *U11 re-,mains a standard for tUm plays today', into Waxworks.” “Lucrctia Borgia. “The Two Brothers.- “Jerusalem. and many other brilliant German films that made him a favorite with the connoisseurs of Europe.In 11*21 lie went to America on a three years' contract. He went into Hie screen version of Hugo's Laughing Man” opposite pretty little Mary Philbin. who was lost sight of when the talkie melee happened, into “A Man's Past. Beloved Rogue. Magic Flame. and Last Performance.tial. never lined with emotion Uike a human audience'; rather it is hostile—peering coldly and sceptically into the illusion that we actor* work to create. Tirelessly the camera trie, to pierce that illusion. We battle to preserve it—for that is our art. There i« a continual duel between actor and camera. In so far as we triumph In the battle we are called great.But triumph* are short-lived. Tomorrow the battle must be fought again, and the next day. and the next day, You see why I say I should rather be called a fighter.The camera never becomes drunk with appreciation. To the end it surveys the actor, cold, critical, unmoved ready to leap at every weakness, eager to expose each trifling flawThere was a tune when I despised the films. I remember when I wa offered my first film contract. I thought. 'Huh. film* are not art Bui 1 will do it for money ' I understand the nature of my adversary. It was in that attitude that I made my first film*.“I shall never for gel my sensationwhen I first saw myself on the screen. I clutched my forehead.The public liked those films.1 was not satisfied. I saw that I been at the mercy of tlie camera, would not do. In future I was ti the master. 1 pulled myself together.1 laid my plans I studied film technique as I had never studied anything before The more 1 learned the greater respect I came to have for my adversary. I saw that this was to be !he battle of my life. Here wn a lask worthy of my mettleJ DRAMATISED the task before me. because, being an actor. 1 suppose I think In terms of drama. I put It this way. ’You are Conrad Veidt.' 1 said, 'and the public knows It. But for two hours you have got to make them for “AH the time you are cm the«et the camera will be trying lo photograph Conrad Veldt You have got -o circumvent ittograph a creation out of your“You think that sound* difficult? It is Some actor? m never succeed. Those are the pictures in which you never lose yourwlf but ate conscious of an irritating sense of unreality oil the time. The most difficult task in thi* connection is when one ha* represent an historical characteisemblo. Then the odd-, are all ..* the camera's side.“Year* ago 1 played Nelson, ui the him ‘Lady Hamilton.' Imagine me dark and (all. playing Nelson, wht was sickly and slight Faced with such a task on the stage the only way would be lo positively hypnotise the audience by sheer force of personality, But you cannot hypnotise the camera. What was I to do? Like a light it cair.e to me Hypnotise myself!discovered th* nsest weapon in the auel between eclor and the camera. Without here are many port* in which I ild have failed. By it the acior up a smoke screen of illusion ch. if consistently preserved, if' JJUT. thai.fcthe actor's only weapon. It M only the beginning. In a duel of! these dimensions all one'i ammunition must be arrayed. There ts make-up. there is lighting, there are costumes, there are mannerism*. Each one of these must face the piercing eye of ihe camera, and triumph.They must paw even the mmt-scopic test of the close-up—the severest test any actor undergoes.“Some actors are luckier in their supply of ammunition than other*. Some mutt put their faith in makeup to di?guise hidden weaknesses for which the camera is always search-When I am given a new part I read It. i.en 1 learn all I can about the character 1 search always with one object—to find out what was beautiful or likeable in the man For week* it goes on—In bit* andIIIreshfencing, parrying. pitting oneself oaairi‘? 'he ever-pentrating adversarymake* no allowance*. We have all discovered that Can 1 say that in my 17 yea;** of film acting, the has never been the victor’ — 1 cannot But nil the time 1 flght Still I fight To the end I will fight And my public—not 1—must judge to whom the final victory is due It l* naive, ingenuous, boyuhly iwlf-confldent :f you like, but it haa the ring of sincerity We could do with more Conrad Veidt*.ummcr meantromance now ^CatarrhThe infective phlegm that catarrh Jways dangerous especial attacks the inner ear I* c% of hearing and theITSoI Ihe germ-laden phlegm. Clear, the pauages ol note and ear* prevent* further infection It is • in every way than the me*«y, old-' spray* and douches, and is the iear-dn i in its total deafneiDo not run this grave risk . banish catarrh by using D« Witt's Catarrhal Cream before it can do any damage. De Witt* Catarrhal Cream can always be depended upon to relieve catarrh at t, for it can be introduced directly toA 1/9 tube tear up thelock. MakeDe WITT'S CATARRHAL CREAMVND tfacn came the tragedy Unit spelled finis tu many a brilliant actor’s career—the talkies were in. It, was an upheaval that swept away some of the best men and women who ever went into Alms; Emil Jan-nings went, and Mum went, and Veidt went, along with many others. Some of them never returned; younger men like Veidt conquered English and went back Into English-speaking films to win even greater renown than they had left. Men like Janmngx. thewen only in German film*. Then he went it.’o Gorman versions of English-produced fl'mi like “Cape Forlorn, then he became a full-fledged British star “I Was a Spy was the film that really mode him an International figure in films. He was the German“Rome E-pre** one of the highlights of British film production, and then Wondering Jew and Jew Suss. all costly vehicle* built expressly for the genius of Conrad VeidtEverything he ha* touched ha-turned to gold for hi* employer?, even...Dots learned to lt;juard acjainsf ucjty Cosmetic Skin.”M hiving ihe time of my young ■ life this summer,” thinks Dot to herself as the men rally round. '* But gracious, what chances I used to take I Using cosmetics, but not removing them the right way I Leaving my pores choked with stale make-up . . . risking unattractive Cosmetic Skin !“ I know I'm safe now. because I always remove make-up thoroughly—the way Hollywood does, with Lux Toilet Soap ! ” Summer will never mean romance to the girl with ugly Cosmetic Skin I Use all the cosmetics you wish, but don’t leave stale make-up in the pores to choke them—enlarge them, cause dullness, tiny blemishes.A L6VF.P ppooucrCosmetics Harmless if removed this way Lux Toilet Soap is made to remove cosmetics thoroughly. Its ACTIVE lather reaches deep into the pores, floats out every trace of stale rouge and powder, dust and dirt.Every night—and before you put on fresh make-up during the day—use this pure, fragrant beauty soap IUse rouqe and powder? yes. of course! But tbanks to Lux Toilet SoapI'm not a bit afraid of Cosmetic Skin iJJoan Bennett355 ♦
Newspaper Details
Adelaide Mail
Adelaide, South Australia, AU
Sat, Nov 16, 1935
Page 20
Full Page
Clipped by
Angela E.
USA 22 Apr 2025
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