Motion Picture (Feb-Jul 1938)

Sothern Exposure [Continued from page 29] ask, tongue in cheek, "will people say? The}' may say you aren't living up to your income, in the Hollywood tradition." "That," says Ann,, chipperly, "will be ideal." You think of stars who have thrown fortunes into homes intended as monuments of their success. Stars who have had nothing left but the monuments when success faded — and have lost even those. Stars who have spent it when they had it and now, when they should be gracefully retired, are playing bit parts, despairingly trying for "comebacks." You mention some of them, the irony of it all. Ann is silent a moment, broodingly silent. "Yes," she says, finally, "in this game, your debts can break you. In any other game, you might be able to start all over again and recoup everything. But not in this one. You have your chance just once. There aren't many Marie Dresslers. . . . But — a funny thing about debts in this game. They can break you. But they can also make you." She curls one leg under herself, unconsciously becoming comfortable while becoming frank. "The debts that break you are the kind you can't pay because you don't have the money. The ones that make you are the kind you can never pay, no matter how much money you have. They're intangible. "I mean — debts of gratitude. We all owe them. We wouldn't be here, if we didn't. "But, somehow, those debts never get mentioned. For one thing, you can't go around talking about them, without being accused — rightly — of being a Pollyanna. For another thing, on your way up, people see you becoming a star and they don't see anybody helping you. They get the idea that you're self-made, completely and entirely. A few may realize that somebody must have helped you, somewhere along the route, but they think maybe they'd better not ask you about it. You might not like it. One faction gives you more credit than you deserve. The other suspects you of ego. Between them, nobody asks you about your Untold Debts. And you never get the chance to talk about them." HERE is a large chunk of candor from a high quarter. Ann Sothern is admitting that she never has told the story of the unpayable debts she owes. You start asking questions that no one has asked her before. You start learning things that no one has known about her before. "I certainly can't thank myself for my career," she says, curling her other leg under herself. "I didn't have any more to do with the start of it than I did with my start in life as Harriette Lake. And there's a story behind that. "My parents didn't know what to call me. They settled the question finally by writing names on slips of paper, and having friends write names, and then having a drawing from a hat, with everybody grouped around Mother's bed. (She has always said it looked like a funeral.) They drew twice. The first name was Gertrude. The second, Harriette. The only reason why I was named Harriette was because my father's best friend at that time was named Harry. Cute, what? That's how close I came to being 'Gertrude' ! "Well, my career was also an accident. I was going to the University of Washington— and didn't have the slightest idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had a vague sort of notion that if I ever did anything, it would probably be in music. Singing was all I knew. That, and playing the piano. And a little dancing. But I wasn't a very good dancer. "There were three reasons why I came to Hollywood. First, Mother was here — coaching voice. Secondly, I was tired of school. Thirdly, my father had cut me off from any money. If I didn't want to go to school, I had to go to work, earn my money myself. I came down to get what solace I could from Mother. ( She and my father had been separated for years.) "I had no intention of trying to get into the movies. I didn't see myself as a screen possibility. I don't think Mother did, either. The first person who did — the person who started the whole ball rolling — was Sam Koenig, at Warners. I owe my first debt of gratitude to him. When Answering Advertisements, Please Mention February MOTION PICTURE