Hollywood (1937)

\\\\\ (1 1 1 A NEW l MAGAZINE! WHY ENVY OTHERS their opportunities to travel, observe, gain a broad knowledge of the world and its history? YOU TOO can have the cultural advantages of a university graduate — by reading PHOTO FACTS WOULD YOU BELIEVE The Seven Wonders of the World could be made into a dynamic story that would hold your attention straight through? (How many can you name correctly?) DO YOU KNOW The amazing tale of the "Mississippi Bubble" — the plan that wrecked a nation? (Who blew it? When?) HAVE YOU HEARD The tragic truth about the Pied Piper of Hamelin? (Who was the author of the poem?) These are only samples of the fascinating and valuable information you will find among the pages of pictures and articles in Bing Never Lets You Down [Coniinued from page 33] THE NEW MAGAZINE Bringing a New Era of Reading Out July 16th. 25c at all newsstands; or write to 22 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, Connecticut. Enclose 25c in stamps or coin. Dixie Lee Crosby. He is seated at a table, listening to Harry Owens' orchestra play. When Harry finishes he joins Bing. "I've got to have a song -for my next picture, Waikiki Wedding," Bing says. Got anything up your sleeve?" "Sure," says Harry. "It's Sweet Leilani. I wrote it for my youngster." BING hears the song played by Owens' Royal Hawaiians, has Harry give him a copy, sends it back to the film capital with the notation written across the front page in the Crosby hand: "This could be the love song he first sings to the girl, which becomes her love theme." That's what happened. Sweet Leilani proved to be one of the most popular pieces in America and Harry Owens is in the top ranks as a song writer. WHEN Bing and his crooning first really caught on while he was at the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, 3ing was crooning ballads written for him by Arthur Johnston. Bing, being modest, knew that the words and music had a lot to do with the rise of his star. So, when he began making motion pictures, he made sure that Johnston was hired to put tunes into them. All went well for a while. Then Johnston snapped under the strain. First he lost his job at Paramount. Then he went into a hospital. He was there for months. Keeping a watchful eye on his progress was one Crosby. Finally, Johnston emerged. Hollywood, as usual, made a speech like this: "Johnston's through. He's lost his spark. Nobody can go through what he did and have anything left." Bing didn't feel that way. He asked Paramount to hire Johnston and got nowhere. He asked other studios to do the same and got the same place. He just bided his time until he invested his own money in Pennies From Heaven. Then he hollered: "Get Arthur Johnston!" Perhaps it was gratitude, perhaps it was the inspiration of having a friend but, whatever it was, Johnston delivered. It was Johnston's music in Pennies From Heaven. money. The county couldn't deliver as specified. Bing, rancher, is one of the most influential country gentlemen in those parts. A group of commissioners waited on him one day. "If you will lease the fair grounds track for ten years, giving us $100,000 and a percentage," they told him, "we'll be able to have a fair grounds." "That sounds very nice to me," replied Bing. Whereupon he formed a company, sold stock to about 3,000 people, some of the group farmers and ranchers in San Diego County, others employed in motion pictures. "But," Bing added, as he went into one of the oddest stock promotions in history, "although I want these people to benefit from the racing and get dividends on their stock, they mustn't take any risk. I don't want them holding the bag if the deal falls through." The result of this thought was that the farmers and the picture people put their money in the stock all right. But the money was held in escrow and Bing Crosby actually put up the money — every cent of it himself — until the plant was ready to operate. When it got under way he withdrew his money, released that of the stockholders for operations expense. CRC "t 72 LITTLE over a year ago San Diego wanted a fair grounds. The county made a deal with the WPA and agreed to put up a certain amount of ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES! ALWAYS INSIST ON THE ADVERTISED BRAND! ROSBY is technically known as a pushover." Not only do thin faced bums get their hands into his pockets with such regularity that there has been the suggestion of getting a strong-arm man to carry his money for him and reject the appeals of both himself and the bums, but bigger things have been done. Bing Crosby, Inc., is a very serious organization, designed simply to keep Bing's brakes properly lined. He must be stopped. People with Rube Goldberg inventions, men with golf courses which would pay a profit if Bing would only invest $10,000, idiots with schemes for raising fur bearing animals, slickers with highly polished gold bricks in their pockets, tell Bing stories. Bing listens. Then, without thought of any profits accruing to himself, but with the motive that if he helps somebody'll be made happy, he says: $| "Yes!" Whereupon, he, as president of Bing Crosby, Inc., is summoned before the Board of Directors, consisting of himself, his brother Harry, his brother Larry, his father Harry, Sr., and John O'Melveny, the Crosby lawyer. A vote