The Screen Guilds’ Magazine (January 1935)

January, 1935 7 London Lowdown • • • % John Paddy Carstairs M OST everyone making a statement at this time and in this annual number will quite rightly content him¬ self with a statement regarding the de¬ partment in which he is a specialist. I propose to generalise on a matter which I think is of the greatest importance to the British motion picture industry at this time. As the years roll by and we perfect our directorial man power, our camera work, settings, sound and general pro¬ duction polish, we steadfastly refuse to give the story any consideration. The reason in nine cases out of ten for the success of the big American pictures to¬ day can inevitably be traced to a water¬ tight story or an excellent piece of screen treatment. Not that I suggest the importation of a vast number of Hollywood writers. We have had American script men who have not, for the most part, been a great success, pos¬ sibly because some of them were second- raters, possfbly because the wrong man has been- chosen for the job. But I do believe that for pictures aimed at a world market, a certain number of es¬ tablished American writers, writers who will co-operate with a British colleague in an attempt at a workmanlike Anglo- American screen play, will certainly help a situation that is becoming desperately acute. We cannot deny that our talent in the writing field is by no means behind that of America, and today it cannot be said that we are skimped in financial matters. It is true that America pays her screen writers many times more than we do here, but when we boast of big financial productions, surely it should 'be possible to allot a little more money to the branch of the production by which it stands or falls. Unfortunately, too few producers realize the importance of the screen writer proper. If a famous novelist is employed on a story, it seems to be the usual method to allow anybody with a knowledge of camera angles to col¬ laborate on the screen play. Experience in Hollywood studios con¬ vinces me that not only is there a com¬ plete lack of thought and care in many cases in the scenario of British films, but the lack of proportion is often amazing. How can a company planning to spend from £20,000 upwards on a production possibly have an excellent screen play in a mere half dozen weeks ? ^°w that we are making films for world consumpton, and having made such great strides in other departments, can we not devote some time to our scripts? Rain, more rain and, (yes you guessed it!) Rain again!! But in spite of this, London is still THE bright spot of Europe although all the movie shots who say they know * their entertainment rackets are off to Budapest for the New Year... a flock of indifferent plays have hit London with Alex Korda’s produc¬ tion of “Mary Read” one of the few real winners .... Johnnie Van Druten had a flop at the Whitehall but it was beautifully written .... don’t think Van D. has had a bad play yet—all of ’em show signs of amazing skill... ho! hum! Mike Arlen’s horrific thriller “Hell! Said the Duchess” is laid some years from now and then he goes and gives his characters very 1934 dialog .... not done at all, Mr. Kouinjam! . .. . tush and lush me! those pseudo-Brighton scenes in “Gay Divorcee” got a few sniggers this side but we like the musical a lot.... Hollywood can 'be found at the Savoy W HEN I first started in this script- girl racket, a lot of my friends said I wouldn’t keep the job for more than three weeks because being a script girl, they said, was a crazy job. Well, in answer to that, I’ve been one now for three years .. . and I like it! I like it chiefly because it IS a crazy job. I like it because they hand you a. script written especially for Shirley Temple—and then you find out they’ve hired Zasu Pitts instead—because Mae West is busy. I like it because when a $3000 a week star forgets her lines, they blame the script girl. I like it because when they photo¬ graph a sequence in a Turkish harem, decorated according to the authentic demands of a half dozen high-priced technical experts and finally discover, after the preview, that the curtains on the windows were of Irish lace—they blame the script girl. I like it for a lot of other reasons, too, —but because I do like the job so much, I wish I knew more about it. For in¬ stance : Just how far should a script girl go in “taking it.” Because last night a new problem came up ... . We had worked all day in the studio under the hot, eye-fatiguing lights. Then, after dinner, we had worked till midnight in the dampening fog. Shortly after twelve, I was told to report to the producer’s office. Of course, the first thing I wondered Grill any night .... that is, all of ’em in this metropolis .. .. we thought Bill Howard made mighty intelligent use of the close-up in 1 ‘ Evelyn Prentice ” . ... the little Embassy Theatre and Mr. Ron¬ ald Adam deserve a note of applause for their attempts to discover new writers .. Elstree and Hollywood might note! .. .. John Gielgud getting best actor of the year raves for his “Hamlet”; better than Barrymore they say .. . credit for “scenario and screenplay” is a naive British title here_what no addition¬ al dialog ?!!.... best British pic of the year is “MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH” which proves, once again, that director Alfred Hitchcock is easily the best Technician in this burg!.... Tim Whelan, former RKO-Radio scriptor and now megging this end, had the courage to turn down a swell contract here to direct a biggie .... said he did not like the story and that was that!! was—What had I done now?—Nothing in particular that I could remember, ex¬ cept perhaps the time I had to sneeze during the leading lady’s dying scene ... Well, anyway, into the producer’s office I went. “Hello, dear,” he said in friendly tones, “I am glad they caught you be¬ fore you went home .... I have rented a room for you tonight at the Roosevelt Hotel.... “You what?” I said with a surprised expression. “You see,” he went on, “our leading woman has had a quarrel with her boy¬ friend. Right now you should see her eyes! Like puffed slits! And she’s got to be quieted down. So, like a good girl you sleep with her tonight, and see that she gets a good night ’s rest... We can’t afford to have her puffy-eyed in the morning for her close-ups! The script don’t ask for no puffs! And .... “Just a moment!” I interrupted. “Are you asking that I sleep with the leading lady tonight because she doesn’t feel well?” ‘ ‘ That’s it! ” he said, seeming amazed at the quick manner in which my brain functioned. .... And that’s it.... Now, what I’d like to know is this: Is the above just another of the poor script girl’s duties? Or is it not? Because tomorrow night the leading man may not feel so well. And I’d hate to establish a precedent. “A Script Girl Asks A Question * 7 By Ethel La Blanche