Modern Screen (Dec 1934 - Nov 1935)

Good News CK ARLEN seems to hate actors with temperament. The other dawning, after Dick and the rest of the crowd had listened for hours to a newly imported actress tell about her troubles and her inability to "feel" her role on the cold sound stages, Dick said: "It seems to me that making pictures is a question of remembering lines and making faces. If J remember the lines, I forget to make the faces, and if I make faces I always forget the lines. If I ever do the two together I'll be a sensashun." OH, MISS SULLAVAN! OOCIETY note: Margaret Sullavan ar*>3 rived at a grand party the other evening chewing gum for all she was worth. When dinner iws served, La Sullavan couldn't find a spot to park the leftover gum and finally sneaked it into a flower pot that happened to be situated directly behind her chair. Get out the incense and crystal ball, girls. A local Hollywood soothsayer has succeeded in predicting almost every Hollywood birth, death, accident and any other calamity you can think of. Yesterday, three hours after predicting that a certain writer would have an accident and that great trouble would follow, one of the better known scenario writers in Hollywood found himself tangled up in his wrecked automobile and a hundred-dollar bail bond staring him in the face. It kind of scares the moom pitcher actors to know the "worst" in advance, but they are standing in line already. SELECTED SHORT SUBJECTS /OEL McCREA turned down a chance to make a picture in England and, just as Hollyivood began to wonder, it was announced that Joel will play the lead opposite Dietrich in "Carnival in Spain". . . . The extras sure do get a break in "The President Vanishes." The director placed a call for 2000 of them. . . . JeaneUe MacDonald left here to spend a month in New York right after the preview of "The Merry Widow." . . . The new continental cafe, Trocadero, has $8,000 worth of kitchen equipment alone. . . . Phillips Holmes embarked for London on the same boat that brought Maureen O'Sullivan back from Ireland (ivithout Johnny Farrozv!) . . . James Cagney changed the title to read: "The Sea Hates the Captain" after the boom on his new boat sivung around and cracked him on the skull. . . . Charlie Laughton is almost ready to leave the hospital after his operation. . . . Will Hays' own church in Sullivan, Indiana has asked him to defend his zvork to clean up the films (!) . . .They now tell us that Colin Clive is a relative of the famous Lord Clive of India. This information has leaked out since Mr. Clive has been cast with Ronnie Colman in "Clive Of India". . . . Wonder what's happened to Lee Tracy, his last tw<o pictures have been aivful. . . . Billie Burke may have to pay the estate of her late husband, Florenz Ziegfcld, for the title "Zicgfeld Follies" before she can use it. Bill Howard, one of Hollywood's ace directors, will make his first appearance in pictures in his latest, "Evelyn Prentice," but not even his best friends will recognize him. The story (Continued from page 72) calls for one scene in which X-rays of the spine are shown and Director Howard has offered his personal services in this regard. Watch for this scene closely. It may be the hit of the picture. CiPENCER TRACY spent about a week *J (and plenty of shekels) buying out most of the Beverly Hills' flower shops and keeping the telegraph operators working overtime trying to impress Virginia Bruce (ex-Mis. John Gilbert) with his ardent affection. No sale! After the seventh course of a dinner which Carl Brisson gave recently, Bill Fields was heard to say, "No more food for me." But one hour later he was still eating! Mr. Brisson, it seems, serves his food in the same manner he serves his personality — in big doses. It was said by a close observer (one of the survivors) that 30 courses were served. If Mr. Brisson has succeeded in catching up with Hollywood slang, we presume he ushered his guests to the door with: "It serves you right!" ''P'HOSE close to Carole Lombard say J no one zvill ever know how deeply she suffered over Russ Columbo's death. But hozv different were her actions from the hysterical theatricalism with which Pola Negri mourned Valentino ! In fact, another girl, a former friend of poor Russ, occupied most of the newspaper space, zvhile Carole was confined to her home with a doctor and a nurse in attendance. The minute she was able to travel, Carole fled from Hollywood to try and forget. She left for Nezv York accompanied by her mother. William Powell zvas at the station to see her off. Several days after her departure, a close friend received a letter from the unhappy girl. She zvrote: "I don't know zvhy I came away. I can't run azvay from my-self." They also say it was Carole zvho was responsible for the fact that Russ did not cancel his twenty-five-thousand-dollar insurance policy as he planned to about a week before his tragic death. Because of a very large income tax, Russ found himself strapped for ready cash and the policy zvould have been cancelled if Carole hadn't advised him to borrow the money to meet it. The policy zvill pay $50,000 to Columbo's mother. It's really sumpin'! We're talking about that new Joan Crawford limousine — snowy white inside and out. The upholstery in the Crawford creation is of white satin! No sooner had Joan Crawford copped the automobile spotlight with her "all white, satin upholstered" car, than Joe E. Brown pushed his new gas buggy out onto the Boulevard and the natives gasped at its brilliance: baby blue, it is! When these two jobs hit the Boulevard at the same time and meet Carl Brisson's cream colored import (the one with the trap door in the roof), it makes for a gala event. NEWSREEL TfRANCHOT TONE has been traded to -t Warners for the lead opposite Del Rio in "Calientc," zvhile M-G-M gets George Brent in the deal. Which zvould you rather have? . . . Johnny Weissmuller and Joel McCrea have a new system for catching fish: they take three or four lines in their mouths and swim from a barge to the shore. . . . It cost one of your famo'ts actor friends over 50 G's to get back in the good graces of the studio after he had held up production ten days with a walkout. . . . Mary Lou is calling on Lanny Ross in Hollywood this month and all their radio fans zvill get a look-see. . . . Ramon Novarro zvill help dedicate the $25,000,000 theatre in Mexico City this week, a boyhood ambition fulfilled. . . . Bette Davis wants everyone to know that she isn't jealous of her little sister Barbara and that she zvill really help the newcomer get a good break in films. . . . 'Tis reported that Greta Garbo has taken up tap dancing (quite a tap, sez you?). Bette Davis is plenty burned up about the printed story that she "took" her husband shopping and bought him a twenty-eightdollar suit of clothes. If she ever finds out who started the story, the unlucky person had better look out. Bette has battle in her eye. This money business is a very sore point with the Harmon O. Nelsons. "Ham" has a job in a local orchestra that pays him well and he is perfectly capable of paying for his own twenty-eight-dollar suits ... if he ever bought one at that price. T\0 you knozv the deep dark secret in the past life of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr? He zvas once a student in the Hollyzvood School For Girls! The horrible news leaked out last week when a former principal of the school gave out an interview about famous movie stars zvho had attended the school. It seems that Doug had been admitted during a brief spell when the academy for girls had decided to lift the sex ban and permit boys, too. LITERARY NOTES Jean Harlow isn't the only stellar lady who has gone literary, of late. Mary Astor has just completed the final chapter of her first novel. By the time you read this Jean's story will probably be running serially in a national magazine. Mary is expecting to bring her's out in book form. Genevieve Tobin has turned author, too. Whether Genevieve felt the need for better stories, more money, or a release for her pent-up genius, we are unable to figure out. At any rate, she has given birth to a little epic entitled, "Give Up," and will star in it for Warner Bros. OTTO KRUGER zvill think twice before he parks his car at the theatre again. Last night, after the shozv, Otto returned to the lot where he had left his car to find it gone. After some questioning, he learned that he had picked a "Used Car Lot" for his parking and that his car had been sold about an hour before he returned. After running all over town, Kruger got his car back, but the "buyer" zvas certainly hopping mady He had made a "good buy." 116 Printed in the U. S. A. by Art Color Printing Company, Dunellen, N. J.