The New Movie Magazine (Jan-Sep 1935)

Do the rich society girls who come to Hollywood have a better chance than other girls? By DELL H OGARTH Eugene Robert Richee Winters in Paris and Summers on the Riviera were old stories to Kitty Carlisle. Virginia Peine was married to a millionaire department-store owner. Connie Bennett crashed the gates with a cool million in her own name. As Mrs. Stephen Ames, Adrienne Ames was independently rich. Eugene Robert Rickee Can You Buy STARDOM? DOES money make any difference? Do the heiresses who come to Hollywood in search of a film career have a better chance than the thousands of unknown girls who have nothing but determination, talent and beauty? Of course money makes a difference. So does notoriety. So does social position. It usually wins the first big battle of moviedom. It makes producers know they are alive. It sets them apart from the crowd. It gains for them an audience. It secures a screen test. And then? Well, consider the experiences of six well known heiresses who have recently embarked on a movie career. But before we turn the spotlight on their respective careers, let's consider the importance of their first victory. It's tremendous. So many girls flock to Hollywood year after year that the place is overrun with pulchritude and talent. They might as well have remained at home. The studios simply don't know they exist. Central Casting, at which all extra people must register, is so filled up, no more registrations are accepted. It is virtually impossible to secure interviews with casting directors. Other executives ditto. Against this wall of indifference, most of the young hopefuls beat their little fists until they are bloody. Then they return home; sadder, wiser. The more enterprising spirits, however, face the problem squarely. How to set themselves apart from the crowd? How to make producers realize that here is a definite personality who ought to be given a chance? The things they do to attract notice defy enumeration. Nothing is overlooked. One girl joined a nudist colony. 20 Another, who had worn out her heart as well as her shoe leather in a futile endeavor to gain an opportunity, finally attempted suicide. Her picture came out in the papers. The reason for her desperation was plainly and simply told. When she recovered she was given a small part in a picture. This, then, is the first obstacle which heiresses overcome with comparative ease. Several have climbed to fame on a ladder of gold. Constance Bennett had a cool million in her own name when she came to Hollywood. Although she was the daughter of a former matinee idol, the aura of social position clung about her lovely blond head. As the wife of Phil Plant, heir to tin plate millions, she basked in the distinctive society of our illustrious first families. So when they were divorced, and her husband settled this fortune upon her, she came to Hollywood as an heiress for whom money had no appeal. But she wanted to follow in her father's profession. Make good on her own. Win fame. Adrienne Ames also descended upon the film capitol with nothing to be gained in a monetary way. When she married Stephen Ames, the New York broker, he settled upon her a sum which made her financially independent as his wife. Her film career was an accident. Tiring of the endless round of teas, bridge parties, she went to Honolulu for a vacation. Returning to California, she decided to stop just for a few days to see how pictures were made. She remained for weeks. Wishing to be photographed by one of the cameramen who created art studies of stars, she had a series of portraits made. So well did she appear as a photographic subject that friends (Please turn to page 61) The New Movie Magazine, January, 1985