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The Hollywood invasion of Broadway began in earnest early last Autumn, after Katharine Hepburn had shown how easily it could be taken in The Philadelphia Story the preceding Spring. Incidentally, she is now back in Hollywood making movie version of it. Sensing a momentary lack of celluloid opportunity, what with the
war and the confusion, and desiring to try their luck or retest their skill in what Broadway still fondly calls "the flesh," the film stars let the water out of their swimming pools, put out the fires in their barbecue pits, boarded up or rented their haciendas, cried "Eastward Ho," and were off to new fame, if not new fortune.
The Great White Way (more red now than white) was the ultimate goal — the Great White Way was holding out new hopes for artistic prestige and, maybe, if everything went well with play and performance and the stage hands' union and the advertising and the publicity and that ol' debbil death watch of critics, a good slice of the box-office take as well. Not that the revenue mattered a great deal. Broadway, it was conceded from the start, could not hope to compete with Hollywood in mazuma. The big thing, the irresistible lure, was the chance to hold a mirror up to moonlight and honeysuckle, and, perhaps, by the lord Harry, to life, itself.
If the producers lacked the cash to finance the plays, they would themselves dig down into the old black bag for the necessary backing and thus own a good part of the show. Who could tell, maybe there was a fortune to be made, after all? And, of course, there was always the chance that the Brothers Warner or M-G-M or 20th Century-Fox would swoop down, with pens poised and contracts ready, to purchase the film rights. Perhaps they could duplicate their stage success on the screen. Anything was possible. Lordy ! Wasn't Tobacco Road in its fifth year ?
Most of the stars, shrewd and experienced in showmanship, wisely adopted the policy that the most vivid art for audiences laid in being themselves, in being natural, in impressing [Continued on page 62]