The New Movie Magazine (Jan-Sep 1935)

THREE SQUARE MEALS FOR PHILLIPS HOLMES Tower Studi Fourteen hours of hard work a day in Hollywood call for carefully considered, wellbalanced meals Breakfast at Home (8:30) Orange juice, grapefruit or stewed prunes; Cereal with cream, or bacon and eggs, or liver; Coffee and toast. Luncheon at the Studio (12 to 12:30) Tomato juice cocktail ; Substantial meat or egg dish, such as Veal Parmigiano, stew, hash goulash or rice with poached eggs ; Salad ; Coffee or tea. Dinner at Home (Any time from 6 to 9) Soup; Lamb chops, steak, potatoes, peas or other vegetables; Salad; Custard, jelly, rice pudding or other simple dessert; Demi-tasse. Late supper (At the studio in case of late work) Substantial sandwiches — preferably ham and eggs — with coffee for all concerned— players and crew. That, briefly, is what Phillips Holmes, whose latest picture is Universal's "Million Dollar Ransom," indicated as a typical daily diet when working on a picture in Hollywood. "You food writers have said a lot about Hollywood reducing diets," said Mr. Holmes. "You'd give a fairer picture of Hollywood if you said something about the more substantial diet that an actor has to have if he wants to keep up his strength during the strenuous business of making a picture. Actually I have to eat as much as I possibly can in order to keep from losing weight, and to counteract the exhausting effects of long hours of hard physical work and nervous pressure. "Let's say we have twenty-eight days at a stretch on a single picture. That means sometimes working seventeen or eighteen hours out of the twenty-four, with an average of fourteen hours every day. It means getting up in time for breakfast at halfpast eight, and the only late hours we can keep are the nights we work on the set. Just try going through that on a light diet, and see how you would feel." Luncheon, as Mr. Holmes explained, is a more or less regular meal, at the studio, but cooks in Hollywood have to be adaptable and (Above) Phillips Holmes, whose latest picture is Universal's "Million Dollar Ransom." (Left center) Veal Parmigiano, a famous Italian dish that Mr. Holmes orders for luncheon or dinner. (Left below) Rice and poached eggs with grated cheese is another favorite dish of this popular young man. dinners are chosen accordingly. The cook can't plan a menu with elaborate dishes that must be served at a precise time. She must have either things that can be prepared and served any time, or things like steaks and chops that need very short preparation. "Home dinners are of course the best," according to Mr. Holmes, "at least when you are working. If you are able to get off for dinner, you don't stop to take all of your make-up off, and you may be too darn tired to take it off even when you get home, until after you have had some good food to restore your strength. There you are with your three square meals. That's all except for the sandwiches and coffee served on the set when you work nights." "What about afternoon tea?" ventured the food reporter. That reminded Mr. Holmes that when Lowell Sherman was working on "Night Life of the Gods," he used to serve tea at four every afternoon, and when Anna Sten was making "Nana" she served tea on the set every afternoon, with just one thimbleful of rum in each cup. And that, in Mr. Holmes' private opinion, is quite the most effective picker-upper in the world for a tired actor. Try tea a la Sten some time — and if you would like to try two of Mr. Holmes' favorite luncheon dishes — Veal Parmigiano and rice with poached eggs and cheese — send a stamped, self addressed envelope to the food editor, care New Movie Magazine, 55 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. The New Movie Magazine, Januartj, 1935 41