SCREEN ROMEOS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 1, 16 January 1937, Page 14

SCREEN ROMEOS

Where is the answer ro a maiden's prayer, asked a corresponde&t in an English weekly recently. I am neither very particular nor do I set a very high standard for ideal manhood, but film heroes do give me a pain. What do I look for in a man? Well, it is certainly not boorishness; even when accompanied by a pleasant srnile whieh can be switched on at will. This automatically washes out Clark Gable. Then we have Gary Cooper. Now, I cannot say that Gary gives me a pain. In fact, he is most likeable. A hick, perhaps, though a likeable one, but certainly not the answer to my prayer. What about the meteor of 1936 — Robert Taylor? I am sorry to say that he sickens me. I ask for more than surfaee handsomeness in a man and his consciousness of his own good-looks is tiresome. Next comes the light brigade. Its chiefs are flippant Montgomery, polished Powell and Robert Young. Montgomery is all surface. Flippancy can be a covering for something deeper, but Bob, in spite of a degree of fascination, is superficial. This goes for jthe other two, although I admit to a warm corner in my heart for Powell. I just cannot .be certain about BilL After a long seareh of the steHar heavens I can find but one man with the necessary qualifications, intelligence and sensitivity of intellect — his name is Leslie Howard.