Hollywood (Jan - Oct 1934)

Is Hollywood a sink of iniquity where all girls seeking screen careers must pay the supreme price? Read what these authorities have to say about this moot question I ter's virtue, could not send her to a safer place than Hollywood." I do not know how many daughters the eminent Mr. Ludwig may have raised or how much he knows about the preservation of virtue but whatever his knowledge in this respect, he is at least half right. The truth of the matter is stated in his usual trenchant manner by the Reverend Neal Dodd, pastor of The Little Church Around the Corner and fondly known to all Hollywood as "The Padre of the Movies." "Just as there are two kinds of girls, there are two Hollywoods. One of those Hollywoods is the cleanminded, sober, hardworking side, co lposed of the people who live cleanly, love their homes, attend our churches and raise their families. The other side is composed of those who like the flesh-pots, the whoopee and who will fill the night clubs and the various dens of vice. The first element predominates by far but there is no denying that the other element exists. A girl coming to Hollywood must make her own choice. It will depend largely upon what kind of a girl she was back home. "If she is a clean-minded, virtuous girl, honestly trying to gain a foothold in pictures, she will become a part of the first element. If she believes the old falsehood that no girl ever gets ahead in pictures without going the limit for some man, she will become a part of the second. She makes her own choice but let me tell you that the girl who wants to travel straight will find her virtue as much respected and her person as safe in Hollywood as in any other city in the world." But what about the Big Bad Wolf? Doesn't a girl, by the very fact that she is working in pictures, lay herself open to advances? Hasn't she heard that every camera man, director, assistant director and producer always makes advances to girls aspiring to a screen career? What if she refuses their attentions? • A woman who has for years been an official in Central Casting and who knows the game from the extra girl's standpoint says, "It is true that many girls of more or less easy virtue d» find it easier to keep working by granting their favors to some man who has influence but these girls are far in thtminority and in my years of experience, I have seen few of them ever reach stardom. The men who make pictures are human, just as other men are. If a pretty girl shows a willingness to dally along the primrose path with them they won't refuse but in regard to these stories, don't believe all you hear." A year or two ago another Hollywood scandal broke in the papers. A woman, formerly a bit player in pictures was arrested with two of her male companions and charged with procuring innocent girls who were furnished to wealthy men as a night's entertainment at a price. The woman was convicted and several prominent men were involved. Only a few short months ago another white slave ring was uncovered in Hollywood. A group of men and women were found to be engaged in this horrible traffic. Young and innocent girls were lured by promises of employment and found themselves prisoners in a hotel at Pismo Beach where they were forced to accept the attentions of Orientals. Both these cases were actual but they had nothing l"lens< turn to »ngc flfly-uiie