THE ARBUCKLE CASE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 November 1921, Page 11

THE ARBUCKLE CASE.

LIFE IN LOS ANGELES. OTHER SIDE OF THE PICTURE. BEAUTY OF MISS RAPPE. “I am simply amazed at the whole thing,” said Miss .Marjorie Bennett, a -member of the Joseph Coyne Company flow appearing at the Theatre Royal, to-day when referring to the circumstances of the death of Virginia Rappe. Miss Bennett Who is a sister of Enid Bennett (Mrs. Fred Niblo), the Australian actress, now one or the leading film stars in America, lived for several years in or near Los Angeles. appeared in a number of pictures herself, she saw n. good deal of the conditions at the studios and among the prominent movie folk in their home fife. “Roscoe Arbuckle,” continued Miss Bennett, “is one of the most popular photoplay actors in California, and I have never heard it said of him that he went in for the wild night-life, that a small and generally unimportant section of movie actors and actresses sometimes indulge in. I met him on one occasion at an evening at the house oi a mutual friend, and found him a quiet and very refined man. WORE WONDERFUL CLOTHES. “Virginia Rappe was a most beautiful girl. She was tall and dark, and she wote wonderful clothes. She created quite an atmosphere wherever she went, and had hosts of friends. Her family are wealthy and have a lovely home* in Los Angeles. There was no need for her to go into pictures as a profession, but it is not uncommon to find the daughters of rich families taking up screen acting merely as a diversion. Al. Seminaeher, who was mentioned as one of the party, at one time lived near my mother and I in Admorestreet, Wilshire, a suburb of Los Angeles. He was not an actor but was interested in promoting film companies, and did publicity work for stars. “It is altogether a mistake to think that screen actors and actresses are regarded as undesirable in Los Angeles,” Miss Bennett went on to say. One of the strongest attractions about pictures to theatricals who are married, is the scope it gives for home life. Stage people rarely have a chance to maintain their own homes because they move about so much, and there is also the fact that their evenings are always taken up by their work. When they go into pictures in California they usually begin to develop home life with the greatest zest. They buy or build beautiful houses, furnish them in a lavish scale, have charming gardens laid out, and in other ways surround themselves with everything they have sighed for for years. As their attendance at the studios rarely extends beyond the afternoon, their evenings are free and are generally spent at home, with an occasional interchange of visits among their friends. MARY PICKFORD’S Z HOME. “William S. Hart, who is engaged to Eva Novak, lives with his mother, and is seldom seen once he leaves the studio. Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks have a home at Beverly .Hills, about 20 miles from Los Angeles, which is fit to house royalty. They seldom go out, and are devoted to each other. Portion cf their evening is spent in their private projection room, viewing the film that had been photographed at their studios during the day, and discussing matters concerning their pictures. Mme. Nazimova, Charles Ray, Pauline Frederick, and many other stars also maintain palatial establishments. They motor to and from the studios and all seem too anxious to get home to bother about anything else.

“As to the conditions at the studios, I have never been ‘ treated in any but a courteous way. Whatever may have been done by a few to discredit the profession does not take place while they are there. When they go away for the night, their affairs are their own concern, but those who offend have their severest critics among the screen players themselves. In most cases it is generally the result of too much idle time and too much money, without the intelligence to use either properly.”