THE CRIMSON PLAYGOER

"Only a very unusual circumstance would induce me to go into the talking pictures," said Grant Mitchell last night, when questioned by a CRIMSON reporter as to whether he would consider leaving the footlights for the microphone.

Mr. Mitchell, one of the most popular actors on the American stage, who is now starring in "The Whole Town's Talking" at the Plymouth Theatre remarked, "the actors whom I know who have gone over to the talkies for short periods have universally disliked the work. There is none of the freedom and spirit of the legitimate stage,--none of the charm. It is the personal contact with the audience that makes the acting profession fascinating.

"You know, the audience does about fifty percent of the work in an ordinary performance. A good, hearty, infectious laugh out front will put a whole new aspect into the action on the stage. When you know that you have the audience with you the play fairly rolls along. But if the house is feeling glum, then you have to double your efforts and cheer them up--put them in the spirit of the thing. There can be no such close relationship between audience and actor in the talking pictures, and with that relationship most of the fascination of the stage is tied up."

Mr. Mitchell did not care to make any predictions as to what the effect of the talkies on the legitimate theatre would be. "The time may come," he said, "when the actors and actresses may be driven into the talking field by the force of sheer necessity; but unless such an unfortunate state of affairs should occur, the legitimate stage, will draw, and will hold, the cream of the acting profession."