“MADAME X” COMING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 776, 24 September 1929, Page 14

“MADAME X” COMING

STAGE PLAY NEW TALKIE Stage make-up, forgotten largely on the screen in the adherence to “types” in choosing players, is coming into its own again with the invasion of the screen by stage actors. On the stage the actor uses make-up as a disguise, in order to play varied roles. But on the screen the custom has been to choose actors who appearance fits the roles in the first place. In “Madame X.” an all-talking filmisation of the famous stage drama, which will open at tho New Regent Theatre on Saturday, every player uses make-up for disguise. Richard Carle wears French whiskers, as does also Sidney Toler. In the old days the studio would not have thought of using the disguise, but would have sent out a call for actors with fullgrown beards. Ruth Chatterton, who plays the title role, applies make-up to represent several different ages as the years advance in the story. “The stage art of playing varied characters,” says Lionel Barrymore, the former famous stage and screen actor now turned director, who directed the production, “has almost become a lost art on the screen, save in a few cases. However, I lookvjfor the return of the custom through the necessity the talking films have brought about of having stage-trained actors in their cast.” Included in the notable supporting cast in “Madame X” are such famous names as' Lewis Stone, Raymond Hackett, Eugenie Besserer, Ullric Tlaupt, Mitchell Lewis and others.