Hollywood (1936)

Features For September How To Crash The Dance Line What Chance Has a girl in this year of 1936 to get into a movie dance line? And how does she go about it? These are the questions that frequently come to Hollywood Magazine. We went to LeRoy Prinz, Paramount dance director, for the answers. And whether or not you are interested in crashing that exclusive group, you will be interested in the astonishing story behind a very specialized branch of the movie industry. Dull routine, glory, heartbreaks and genuine melodrama — these are the things we found. — The Editor. 9 LeRoy Prinz Has His hands full tonight. He is going to cast 100 girls to dance in the film Champagne Waltz and another 50 girls for Big Broadcast of 1937. Tonight he will see possibly 200 girls compete. LeRoy is sitting at a table at one end of the hall. His assistants are lining up the first group of girls, taking down their names and telling them to get ready. "Many of these girls are veterans," LeRoy explains to us. "I know hundreds of them by name, and I know a life story about many of those. Tonight there are some new faces, girls who have just come to Hollywood after graduating from their local dancing schools. "So here they are — veterans and newcomers. As I said before, I know most of these veterans well, but they change in appearance and so I must put them through the elimination along with the new girls. In several weeks or months, they have had time to change — gain or lose weight, adopt a different hair dress, and so on. So I have to check them all up. All right, girls, line up!" he calls. The Review Commences • High Heels Click precisely on the floor as they form a line. Some of them are scared to death. The old timers 30 There are plenty of pretty girls in Hollywood, but often the ones who are intelligent get into the dance line when lovelier looking girls fail. Above, a typical group of Prinz dancers. Below, the Prinz family: Eddie, on the left, Edward Prinz, Sr., and LeRoy Prinz, Paramount's ace dance director (more by months than years — they are all young) are business-like and gay. The new girls look a little bit frightened. They need not be. Mr. Prinz, his brother, Eddie, and the other assistants are all business, but they're friendly and not at all hostile. All right. LeRoy picks up a list and calls off a name. One of the girls steps out as the piano begins a waltz, and an assistant glides by with her. LeRoy will either check her name off, mark an o. k.» or make it more emphatic by writing down the one word, "Use." These girls have been chosen from his extensive files. He has 1,000 of them carefully listed according to talents, appearance, nationality, age and other statistics. He knows there are at least another thousand in Hollywood but these, as far as he knows, are the better ones. Another girl glides by. He says, "Anne, you're getting fat!" She grins like it is a good joke. And it is, for this is not criticism at all. Anne a few years ago was a kid dancer with a lot of promise. Right when she seemed well off she developed an ailment. LeRoy was interested in the kid. He has gotten a few gray hairs worrying about his charges. He sent her to the doctor, who shook his head and said, "T. B." LeRoy could have forgotten about her, but he is not that kind of a man. Instead, he advanced her money and sent Anne off to an institution for a rest cure. Recently she came back — grown up and healthy as could be. She is a real beauty,, and full of personality. So LeRoy is seeing to it she gets the breaks again. Anne is full of gratitude. Every week that she gets work, she gives LeRoy half in part payment for the money he has spent on her. She is landing work pretty regularly with many of the studios. Other girls waltz by. Most of them are not doing a real waltz. That is not so important. LeRoy is watching their carriage, their personalities, their interest. No slouchbacks are allowed. There must be something more than physical good looks, too. Brainy kids get somewhere if they have any talent at all. Expert Training is Important # Some Of The Girls have been expertly trained. He points out one who shows real class as a dancer. "She's an Albertina Rasch pupil," he says. "She's good." The girl gets a big O. K. after her name. [Continued on page 60] HOLLYWOOD