Modern Screen (Dec 1940 - Nov 1941)

BRENDA MARSHALL was still new on the Warner Brothers lot when she entered the studio's Green Room one day for luncheon. Over there in the far corner she espied a shining white empty table. She seated herself and was ordering, when in came Jimmy Cagney, Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh who pulled up chairs to join her. They were wonderful, Brenda found; treated her just like one of themselves! How nice and chummy of them, she thought, to come over and sit with me when they might have taken a less secluded table. And here I am an unknown and not even acquainted with them yet! After all the stories she'd heard, too, about stars and actors being uppity to strangers. Brenda felt warm and friendly all over. Later, she learned she had barged in on Cagney's reserved table, the one at which he'd been taking lunch for years! Cagney and the others had been polite enough not to mention the fact that girls traditionally never sat at that particular table! Brenda still blushes furiously whenever she thinks of the episode. But that was only one of many embarrassing moments in her rise to stardom! Becoming a star, she's learned, has taken its toll. It isn't all glory. Take the evening she attended a Warner's preview, for instance. On the way out of the theatre, she signed her name to fifteen or twenty autograph albums pushed into her hands. This was fun, being recognized and asked to sign your name, better by far than ordering about the natives on your father's plantation in the Philippines. A moment later, dismay suffused her. She heard a fan shout, "There's Olivia de Havilland! Let's get her autograph." And immediately the fan, followed by two others, charged over to Brenda and held out autograph books! Shortly after being placed under contract by the studio, Brenda received instructions to drop over to the photographic gallery for a sitting, her first on the lot. Instantly, there flashed into her mind the glamorous portraits she'd seen of other players, in swanky evening gowns, smart afternoon and sports attire; exotic shots which spelled allurement and romance. She arrived at the gallery practically breathless at the prospect of turning into a glamour queen. This, she thought ecstatically, is the life! Poor Brenda! She was put into some kitchen things, handed a pumpkin pie, and — horrors — was told to ride a turkey! All the studio wanted were a few Thanksgiving pictures, and not one solitary glamour pose was shot. One evening during the run of "Espionage Agent," her initial picture, Brenda made a personal appearance in conjuction with the film at a beach town. Arriving home late from the studio, she barely had time to change and rush into a blue crepe dress before a studio car called for her. She hastily pulled on an old coat and hurried out to the automobile, feeling far from smart. But her horror and embarrassment knew no bounds when she stepped out onto the stage and discovered that in her hurry, she had put on her dress inside out! Her young daughter was responsible for one of Brenda's more narrowing moments. She had taken the little girl for her first visit to the studio, where a dramatic scene from • "The Sea Hawk" was being enacted before the camera. They stood in the background, but close enough so that the small one could see everything that went on. During the rehearsal of the scene, the whole stage had been lighted, behind the cameras as well as on the set itself. When the actual "take" was called, however, only the set was illuminated, the other lights dimming. Just as the players were swinging into action — Errol Flynn walking down the throne room to where Queen Elizabeth, in the person of Flora Robson, sat on the dais, and with all else dead quiet — Brenda's infant, terrified by the whole thing, gave a blood-curdling yell which carried over the entire stage. The "take" was completely ruined, and Brenda didn't linger on after the commotion died down. One of Brenda's most embarrassing moments occurred during a visit to. New York when, with a friend, she met Errol Flynn in a night club. Now, she knew Errol only very slightly, but she did know she was to be his leading lady in "The Sea Hawk." What distressed her, however, and threw her into a perfect panic, was the fact that, when she saw him approaching her table, she didn't know whether it was proper to introduce him as Errol or as Mr. Flynn. She managed to mutter something unintelligible, Errol acknowledged the mumblejumble graciously and all ended happily. But it was certainly a terrifying moment] (Continued on page 80) If yon, too, are a puller of boners, you'll appreciate these blushable high spots of Brenda's career! Twenty-five-year-old Brenda claimed she was "through with men forever" when she filed suit for divorce, but Bill Holden (3 years her junior) has changed her mind! MODERN SCREEN