LONG LIFE IN MOVIE DIRECTING

Chronicle (Levin), 6 July 1946, Page 6

LONG LIFE IN MOVIE DIRECTING

In the studios, where careers are frequently shorter than the California rainy season, Alfred E. Green is something of a wonder. He has been directing movies without a break for some 32 years, which is a kind of record in an industry where a man can win an Acaderny Award one year and is unable to get a job the next. Asked the secret of his sustaining power as a director, Green tersely summed it up in a single word, "Variety." Obviously Green is good at experiments, for he directed such memorable films of the early talkie era as "Disraeli," "The Green Goddess," "Old English" with George Arliss, and the fablulously funny "The Man From Blankley's" which provided John Barrymore with one of his best screen comedies. "Dangerous" in which he guided Bette DaviS, procured her first Acaderny "Oscar." Now he looks to the future: "Fm not much on making prognastications," he says, "for I've been in the business of picuure making too long. However, if Eveiyn Keyes doesn't become the screen's best light comedienne since Constance Talmadge, may I never be able to buy another cigar." (Green smokes 15 cigars daily ) . "Af ter I finished 'strange Affair' with Eveiyn, and she gave a top comedy performance, I suspected it. After her work as the amorous Genie-of-the-Lamp in *1001 Nights' her reputacion as a fine comedic was established."