Item Info

Publication Date: 3/28/1914
Media Type: House Organs
Source: Theatre Collection
Notes:

Lubin’s Famous Players: Rosemary Theby

   Everything has its result. Success cannot be achieved and sustained without a reason. It is a singularly simple matter to reduce the secret of Rosemary Theby’s success as a player in the mute drama to two words: Infinite pains. Her beauty, intelligence and womanliness have only partly contributed to her distinguished position; it is her positive gifts as an actress to which Miss Theby owes her prominence, and her conscientiousness, her painstaking care of the smallest details, have kept her there. Hardly two years in photoplay Miss Theby’s steady course upward is as interesting as it is exceptional. Before making her small beginning in studio work she had the benefit of thorough instruction in acting. She needed only to adapt her knowledge to the demands of the screen. That in itself gave her a great advantage over the usual novice, and when her chances came, one after another, they found her prepared and able to do herself justice. The brilliant player of the Vitagraph masterpieces, “The Mills of the Gods” and “The Reincarnation of Karma” who is now leading woman for the Lubin actor-director, Harry Myers, is today as watchful of the trifles that go to make perfection as she was when she played her first small bit.

   It has been said that photoplayers so miss the thrill of playing to a real audience that in time the deficiency makes itself felt in a disregard of the niceties of dress and make-up which costume much of the time of a stage player. It is not so with Miss Theby. No singer or actress spends more time at her dressing table than is Miss Theby’s custom when preparing for a pictured scene. Her method is in direct contrast to those players who believe that on the screen anything will pass. She realizes the importance of every medium which contributes to the fullest expression of emotion and has found it worth while to take special courses in fencing, dancing, and pantomime in connection with her studio engagements. In each of her portrayals she can point to the result of her efforts at self-improvement. In “The Reincarnation of Karma,” for instance, she can see the fluency of movement acquired from her study of the Oriental dances; in another film play she sees what it means to have learned from a native of Barcelona the secrets of a real Spanish woman’s costuming, arrangement of the hair, method of expressing all her thoughts with a fan. Miss Theby was not content to merely wear a comic-opera dress and a red rose. 

   This striving for accuracy of characterization has sometimes been the despair of her director. At one time the actress was cast for a Tyrolean girl and in the script mountain flowers played a prominent part. To Miss Theby only one flower suited the situation — the edelweiss of the Alps, and none could be faked to resemble it. There was a hurried search of all the shops for an artificial spray of the curious plant. None could be found. Finally a big manufacturing concern put several of their skilled workers on the order and in a short time a cluster of the velvety, star-shaped edelweiss was in Miss Theby’s hands. What the fuming director said is not recorded. But Miss Theby had once more satisfied her love for perfection of detail. Yet she is notably free from whims and fads. Her recreation comes from the opera and the play during the winter, a few favorite authors and some close friends. She is wholesome, unaffected, sincere. Of all the stars of the screen none has a personality more definite, complete and satisfying. 

Call Number: Lubin - Bulletin I:10