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THE FRONT PAGE 201
pictures in four different languages: English, French, Spanish, and German. Although I've never tried, I could also make pictures in Italian.
Several years ago, in an effort to keep abreast of world events, I began to study Russian. I have, as a stand-in, Victor de Linsky, who was once a lieutenant in the Russian Cossacks and who received the Cross of St. George for bravery. Victor tells me I converse in Russian without an accent.
When I returned to Hollywood in 1930, the only jobs I could get at first were in foreign pictures. So I went to Paramount and made Amore Audaz in Spanish. It had originally been called Slightly Scarlet and the star in the English version was Clive Brooks, one of my very close friends. Then I did the same picture in French, under the title L'Enigmatic M. Parks, with Claudette Colbert, who was born in Paris and who speaks beautiful French.
After a month or so I finally made up my mind to go out and look for a job and not to wait for one to look for me. So I drove out to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and asked for an appointment with Irving Thalberg.
A few minutes later I was sitting in the gentleman's office discussing my career. "They say I am all washed up," I told him, "but I don't believe it. My name is known by every picture fan, and I'm just as good an actor as I ever was." I offered to cut my salary in half if Thalberg would put me under contract. He agreed immediately, but I was not given a starring contract. I was to be costarred.
Ironically enough, I was no sooner under contract to MGM than Paramount called to offer me a job in Morocco. It had just imported a new star from Germany, whose name was Marlene Dietrich, and wanted me to play the second man in the picture. Gary Cooper was to play the lead opposite Marlene.
Josef von Sternberg, who had been Marlene's director in Germany, directed the picture. He created wonderful moods, and his camera setups were beautiful. He was one of our best directors at that time.