ENGLISH PLAYERS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 92, 12 January 1935, Page 15

ENGLISH PLAYERS

On the American Screen

NOTABLE SUCCESSES Career of George Arliss (H.P.) One of the marvels of the cinema is the metamorphosis which has been brought about by its conversion from the silent picture, with sub-titles to the articulate screen, in which an actor and an actress can be beard as well as seen, and in which all the finest subtleties associated with the art of the stage can find expression. The change I refer to is the general supplanting of American actors by English players. In the silent days the American actor sufficed. He was not heard, and generally speaking, he looked all right for the parts for which he was cast. But when it came to the learning and speaking of dialogue, and the projecting of intelligence into every sentence, nuance into every word, the trained English actor appeared to come into his own. Of course there are many exceptions. One has only to think of the Barrymore family, of Wallace Beery, William Powell, Warner Baxter, John Gilbert, the late Theodore Roberts, W. C. Fields, George Fawcett, Warner 01land, Charles Farrell, Gary Cooper, and many others to know America is still well in the picture. Polish and Subtlety. But when actors of polish and subtlety are needed the English come into their own. As witness the success ,of Clive Brook (who was associated with Diana Wynyard in “Cavalcade”), Herbert Marshall, Harry B. Warner (whose beautiful performance as Sorrell in “Sorrell and Son” cannot be easily erased from the memory), C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Chaplin, O. P. Heggie (a native of Adelaide), Ronald Colman and Reginald Denny (a son of W. H. Denny, a London, comedian who visited New Zealand with the Musgrove Shakespearian Company a couple of decades ago). Probably the most outstanding success made by an English actor on the American screen is that of George Arliss. Most people with restricted backgrounds are inclined to think that George Arliss is a product of the screen. That is not so. He was a competent actor on the legitimate stage many years before the screen claimed him. Now 66 years of age, he is the son of Arliss Andrews, printer and publisher of London. He made his first ap.pearance on the stage at the old Elephant and Castle theatre in London, away back in 18S7 under the management of J. A. Cave, making his first bow in a play entitled “The Wild Rabbit.” He went through the usual provincial training, eventually returning to London, when he was engaged by the Gattis, then running the Adelphi and Vaudeville theatres. Visit io United States. It was while playing with Mrs. Patrick Campbell in London that he determined to visit the United States, and in 1901 went to that country as a member of her company. At the conclusion of that engagement David Belaseo, who spotted talent as quickly as anyone, engaged him to play Zakuri, the wily Japanese potentate in his play, “The Darling of the Gods,” with Blanch Bates as the star. Later he played under the Harrison Grey Fiske management, with Mrs. Fiske as the star. Among the successes he achieved were in such plays as “Becky Sharp,” “Leah Kleshna,” “Hedda Gabler,” “Rosmersholm," and “The Devil.” One of the high-lights in his career on the legitimate stage was when, in Montreal in 1911, he figured as “Disraeli” in Louis N. Parker’s play of that name. This proved to be a great stand-by for the actor for years, and eventually brought him a fortune, when he appeared in the role on the screen; but it must be remembered that he was already famous in the States in the part before the screen knew him. The success of Mr. Arliss as a screen actor has been remarkable. His “Disraeli” proved such a money-spinner the world over that other roles suitable to his whimsical appearance and ingratiating style have been sought. So we have seen and admired him in “The Green Goddess,” “The Working Man,” “The House of Rothschild,” and “The Last Gentleman,” We have yet to see him in “The Iron Duke,” presented in London in November last.