Fame in the “movies” is fleeting. A half hundred former stars are ready to testify to that. Lost, it is seldom regained. The star who is a favorite today may be forgotten tomorrow.
The latest arrival preparing to attempt a come-back is Madge Bellamy, a few years ago one of the most scintillating of the stars. Miss Bellamy, a little more mature, comes into the scenes of her former glory after a protracted fling on the speaking stage, principally in stock.
At the studio which formerly employed her are new faces, a new management, new players. They look upon her as “the young woman who once was a star.” And it is that very appellation which hurts her chances of beginning anew. They use the name of Madge Bellamy in the past tense.
She still is pretty. Her eyes still are among the most lustrous ever photographed in pictures. She still knows her screen technique. She has improved her speaking voice. But will these be sufficient to overcome that designation – “The young woman who once was a star?” The result will soon be known.
Anna Q. Nilsson, out of pictures for three years after being thrown by a horse and suffering a hip fracture, arrived in Hollywood last August from France.
“I feel so happy to be back and so hopeful,” she said. “I am completely recovered from my injury and ready to win a place in the new type of films. You see, talking pictures had not come into general vogue when I was injured so they will be something of a new venture to me.” She is still awaiting “the big chance.”
Juanita Hansen is here, also, looking for another chance. Lila Lee, suffering from weak lungs, went to a desert sanitorium in June, 1930. She spent a year undergoing treatment and last July returned. In August she left for Tahiti to return in November, prepared to resume her career. Tests have been made of her for cinema roles, but “the big chance” has not come.
Margaret Livingston, sorrel-haired “vamp,” arrived here last September from Chicago because of a film contract, she said. The weeks went by with no screen appearances and Miss Livingston packed her trunk and returned. However, Margaret will not worry, because she is financially independent.
Raquel Torres, who gave a memorable performance in “White Shadows in the South Seas,” with Monte Blue, is back in town after a fling with the New York stage in “Adam Had Two Sons,” and is checking up on her prospects of returning to the screen.
Of late one might have seen Colleen Moore driving down the boulevard occasionally, and there have been rumors that she was preparing to make a comeback, but none has materialized; and now it is known that Miss Moore has decided to fulfill a stage engagement under the banner of Henry Duffy in San Francisco.
A perennial one is the story of Estelle Taylor “about to get another big role.” Betty Compson is now in vaudeville with a skit. Laura La Plante is doing a stage play in Hollywood.
Renee Adoree, after two years in a desert sanitorium, announces that she soon will return to Hollywood.
Great blog!
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