Modern Screen (Dec 1949 - Nov 1950)

UNLESS YOU KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS lists reveals that this executive knows whereof he speaks. At Columbia, for example, the two bright hopes are Judy Holliday and Lola Albright. Judy has been a Broadway star for years —she played the lead in the stage version of Born Yesterday. She is a professional down to her very toes. Lola Albright, currently in love with comedian Jack Carson, got her big break opposite Kirk Douglas in The Champion and is trying to prove that she's no flashin-the-pan. This girl has been around Hollywood and knows all the angles. Over at 20th Century, there are at least a dozen newcomers who are behaving perfectly. Best bets for stardom according to producers on the lot are Marilyn Monroe who is being given a Lana Turner buildup because she is single and extremely sexy, Debra Paget who's been under contract to the studio ever since she was 14 which was three years ago, Cecile Aubry, the French cutie who played opposite Ty Power in The Black Rose, Joyce McKenzie, who showed loads of sex appeal in A Ticket to Tomahawk, and Barbara Bates, a happily married beauty who's been featured in Cheaper by the Dozen, Quicksand, and All About Eve. As for the new men at 20th, there's Gary Merrill, Bette Davis' new husband, and David Wayne, both 35 and both experienced Broadway actors. Gary gave the studio a few frights when he fell m love with Bette on the set of All About Eve, but everyone relaxed when they married. Hugh Marlowe is another experienced Broadway hand under contract to Zanuck. Also with Zanuck is Robert Patten who can develop into a real glamor boy a la Farley Granger, Lee MacGregor, Zanuck's office boy who was given a role at the insistence of the studio secretaries, and Craig Hill, a tall handsome kid with an inordinate amount of box office draw. Across town at MGM, Leo the lion is really loaded with newcomers. Phyllis Kirk Paula Raymond, Debbie Reynolds, Teresa Celli, Sally Forrest, Nancy Davis, and Jean Hagen are the ladies. Heading the male neophytes are Howard Keel, James Whitmore, Keefe Brasselle, and Carleton Carpenter. Universal also has a long list of firsttermers: Jeff Chandler who was so good in Broken Arrow, Rock Hudson, VeraEllen's boyfriend, who did a fine job in Winchester 73, Tony Curtis, the bobbysoxers' new heartthrob, Jimmy Best who used to pose for Arrow collars, Piper Laurie who eats flowers, and Peggy Dow whom you'll see in Harvey. Warners hold great promises for Suzanne RMANENT • DO YOU KNOW what is "different" about your hair? (No two heads of hair are alike.) Can you tell exactly how LONG to process your hair — by judging its elasticity, diameter. . . tensile strength . . . and porosity? If you can't, you'd better see a beautician. • DO YOU KNOW what type of waving solution is best for your hair? (No single solution works equally well on all hair.) Only a beautician has different solutions for each type of hair . . . and only she knows which is right for yours. • do you know exactly WHERE to put each curl ... and what SIZE it should be? For a permanent that holds its set . . . and arranges the way a permanent should— set a beautician. She alone has the special training ... the professional materials . . . the skill, taste and experience to give you a lovelier permanent. You'll be stunning with a new PERMANENT WAVE Dalbert, the French girl starring opposite John Agar in Breakthrough, and Gene Nelson, the singing dancer of Tea for Two. The only new western star of note is Ben Johnson who did such a sterling job for John Ford in Wagonmaster, and She Wore A Yellow Ribbon. Ford, who is the most outstanding director of westerns in the world today, insists that Ben, within three years, will be one of the great western stars of all time. The other big star-maker of Hollywood is, of course, Howard Hughes. This year, Hughes is taking the wraps off Faith Domergue, Jack Buetel, whom he's also had under contract for ten years, Joan Dixon, and Charles McGraw. Paramount's best bets for stardom are Jan Sterling, Paul Douglas' fifth wife, and Nancy Olson, who did so much to make Sunset Boulevard a fine picture. In all these names, you will find none that has caused the slightest trouble, either to the studio that has them under contract or to the whole movie industry. Except perhaps Gary Merrill, and certainly, he is not to be blamed for falling in love with Bette Davis. When he did, he followed the honorable course. He went to his wife, Barbara Leeds, told her what had happened, and asked for a divorce. Apparently, they hadn't been getting along. Whether all these youngsters will follow the straight and true path, no one knows. ... . „ , Certainly some of them will tall by the wayside and will never be heard of again. Others will get married and divorced, maybe once, twice, three times. An unfortunate few will find themselves mired in scandal. Most of them, however, will marry, raise children, and lead the same kind of respectable lives as do Gene Kelly, Jane Powell, Jeanne Crain, Gregory Peck, Alan Ladd, and Esther Williams, all of whom were yesterday's beginners. Fortunately, every Hollywood newcomer realizes at this stage of the game that the eyes of some 14 million teen-agers are focussed on him and his career. This being the case, his behavior is impeccable. Let Sam Goldwyn ask Joan Evans to make personal appearances throughout the country in an attempt to popularize her picture, Our Very Own, and Joan Evans makes personal appearances till she drops. Let him ask the same of Farley Granger and Teresa Wright, and they both refuse. They are both full-fledged stars. And stars are never on trial. The newcomers, however, are always on trial. Only the future will tell which of them shall reap the rewards of stardom. The End 85