Modern Screen (Dec 1931 - Nov 1932 (assorted issues))

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THE TRIAL OF PAUL LUKAS ♦ 4 ♦ In Hollywood this actor met the great crisis of his career* And how he faced it will evoke vour real admiration By CARTER BRUCE I SHALL never forget the morning I was summoned into the front office and told that I was through in pictures because of my inability to speak good English," began Paul Lukas as we finished our order for luncheon. "They told me that my six-month's option was up — and that the studio was unwilling to sign another one. I begged and pleaded with them for a chance to learn the language. I promised, if given a short time, that I would learn it perfectly. They asked if I thought I could do it in six months. I promised to be in command of a good speaking knowledge of English in that time if they would only allow me the opportunity. They kindly consented to sign me for that short period . . . and luckily I made good on my word." But those few short words — "and luckily I made good" — do not tell the story of the struggle that followed. It is probable that had Paul Lukas known the near impossibility of his task he would have become resigned to his fate. One has but to know the highlights of his life to realize that he might have made the promise even in the face of almost insurmountable odds. His life has been full of decisions to try the impossible ... to go ahead in the face of almost certain defeat . . . and in every case he has won out. His attempt to learn the English language in a period of six short months is but a single Suppose you were asked to master a foreign tongue in six short months. How would you go about it? Or would you even try? The way Paul Lukas not only tried but actually succeeded is one of the neatest things on record in amazing Hollywood example of his spirit. And again he won his point. POSSIBLY if you knew something of his early life and the struggle he has always had to place himself near his chosen goal it might be easier to understand this man who learned the most difficult of modern languages in a few months ... so that he might continue in his career. Paul Lukas was born on an express train traveling at sixty miles an hour between the outlying provinces and Budapest, the Hungarian capital. It was the morning of May twenty-sixth. And by a strange coincidence, it was on the same date many years later (while the motion picture industry was flying along at a fast clip) that he was given six months' grace for a chance at fame. All during his childhood and early manhood he was drawn to a career as an actor. He loved to go to the (Left) With Gary Cooper in "The Shopworn Angel." Paul had no talking to do in it, so his work was considered good. But in "The Wolf of Wall Street," with George Bancroft (above) Lukas found his slight knowledge of English too slender to make his talkie personality successful. 60