Stanlaws Burns his Bridges
Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:30 am
During the silent film era, it was rare for prominent insiders to criticize the beauty of the female stars. One of few to do so, Penrhyn Stanlaws was a well-known portrait painter who had also directed several films for Paramount.
Stanlaws wrote an article appearing in the January 1923 issue of Screenland titled, "What's the Matter with Our Hollywood Women?", comparing some of the top female stars to his artistic ideal of beauty.
http://www.archive.org/stream/Screenlan ... 6/mode/1up
Among the stars criticized in Stanlaws' article were Mary Pickford, Mae Murrary, Alla Nazimova, Pola Negri, Betty Compson, Gloria Swanson, Pauline Frederick, Betty Blythe, Claire Windsor, Ruth Roland, Marion Davies, Bebe Daniels, Lila Lee, Viola Dana, Shirley Mason, Anita Stewart Marie Prevost, Wanda Hawley, Clara Kimball Young, Mary Miles Minter, Agnes Ayres, May Allison, Phyllis Haver, Coleen Moore, May McAvoy, Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge, Enid Bennett, Hope Hampton, Lillian and Dorothy Gish.
A subsequent issue of Screenland had this amusing tidbit: "All Hollywood chuckled when the Los Angeles Herald, a Hearst publication, reprinted from the January SCREENLAND the Penrhyn Stanlaws story, What's the Matter with Our Hollywood Women--and left out all mention of Mr. Stanlaws' criticism of Marion Davies, Cosmopolitan star..."
Stanlaws would never direct another Hollywood film. A 1933 newspaper article reported, "In 1922 Stanlaws lost his job as a Hollywood director because he spoke out on Hollywood's pulchritude." But in the same article Stanlaws was still speaking out, criticizing the beauty of current 1933 stars including Mae West, Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn, and Jean Harlow.
http://www.fultonhistory.com/Newspaper% ... 207144.pdf
He continued his portrait painting career, and Stanlaws' movie star portraits appeared on the cover of many movie fan magazines, particularly New Movie Magazine.
Stanlaws wrote an article appearing in the January 1923 issue of Screenland titled, "What's the Matter with Our Hollywood Women?", comparing some of the top female stars to his artistic ideal of beauty.
http://www.archive.org/stream/Screenlan ... 6/mode/1up
Among the stars criticized in Stanlaws' article were Mary Pickford, Mae Murrary, Alla Nazimova, Pola Negri, Betty Compson, Gloria Swanson, Pauline Frederick, Betty Blythe, Claire Windsor, Ruth Roland, Marion Davies, Bebe Daniels, Lila Lee, Viola Dana, Shirley Mason, Anita Stewart Marie Prevost, Wanda Hawley, Clara Kimball Young, Mary Miles Minter, Agnes Ayres, May Allison, Phyllis Haver, Coleen Moore, May McAvoy, Norma Talmadge, Constance Talmadge, Enid Bennett, Hope Hampton, Lillian and Dorothy Gish.
A subsequent issue of Screenland had this amusing tidbit: "All Hollywood chuckled when the Los Angeles Herald, a Hearst publication, reprinted from the January SCREENLAND the Penrhyn Stanlaws story, What's the Matter with Our Hollywood Women--and left out all mention of Mr. Stanlaws' criticism of Marion Davies, Cosmopolitan star..."
Stanlaws would never direct another Hollywood film. A 1933 newspaper article reported, "In 1922 Stanlaws lost his job as a Hollywood director because he spoke out on Hollywood's pulchritude." But in the same article Stanlaws was still speaking out, criticizing the beauty of current 1933 stars including Mae West, Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn, and Jean Harlow.
http://www.fultonhistory.com/Newspaper% ... 207144.pdf
He continued his portrait painting career, and Stanlaws' movie star portraits appeared on the cover of many movie fan magazines, particularly New Movie Magazine.