The New Movie Magazine (Jan-Sep 1935)

ARS OF YESTERDAY De Mirjian Norma Talmadge Constance Talmadge Puffer Where are they now? What do they do? What has become of them? By HAL HALL Grow old along with me, The best is yet to be; The last of life For which the first was made. t: William S. Hart, the two-gun western hero. *HERE is a world of comfort in those few simple lines for the average man or woman who realizes that time has been passing and that the autumn of life is just around the corner. To most of us the final chapter is the best. It is rich in happy memories of the past, and there is a quiet restfulness about our declining years, much like the balmy atmosphere of a lazy day in late October when the many-colored leaves whirl idly to the ground beneath the warm sunshine of Indian Summer. But — here in Hollywood today there is a group of two hundred and seven men and women who smile bitterly when you try to tell them of the sweetness of the future. To them the past is but a mass of memories that rise up like ghosts and mock them. They are tearful memories of fleeting glory; of the acclaim of fickle millions. This is a little group that time has passed by; upon whom Fortune smiled for a brief moment and then like a March wind swept them aside and tossed them into a little corner of the world called Hollywood — to be forgotten. They are men and women who helped make the Antonio Moreno, at right, appeared in "The Benson Murder Case" after a long absence from the screen. Otto Dyar • Once the rush to see Eugene O'Brien was so terrific that women fainted, fighting their way into theaters. picture business the vast enterprise it is today; men and women who once were numbered among the most famous players of the screen; whose photographs were eagerly sought by hundreds of thousands of worshiping "fans" who today have perhaps forgotten the very existence of their onetime idols. And now . . . this little group of former picture greats — once the toast of the multitude — are asking humbly for "bit" and "extra" work . . . yes, even, in many cases, for merely a day's work 'as plain "atmosphere" . . . and "extras" under the new NRA code will be paid but $7.50 per day. Still, these glorious pioneers of the screen are glad to have the opportunity of honorably stepping forth among the thousands of youthful newcomers and earning this mere pittance. But the sad feature of the situation is not so much the fact that they are reduced to such work . . . but it is the fact that although they have been the idols of the millions they find it difficult to gain the ear of the casting officials, and next to impossible to obtain the privilege of working as cheap "atmosphere" where they once played as stars. Baby-faced girls with bobbed hair and over-painted cheeks, and sleek young men with waxed mustaches and a long list of attractive telephone numbers are getting the call over these "troupers." In this business where attention and eyes are centered on the new faces of today, this group of old-timers perhaps would have gone on to the end without notice had it not been for a little band of rarely mentioned workers — the members of the Assistant Directors Section of the sorely crippled Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. These men revealed the plight of the former celebrities when, after vainly trying to hire them — only to be met by a blank wall of red tape — they appealed to the Board of Directors of the Academy to help them secure permission from the producing companies to hire these people direct, rather than through the Central Casting office. The Assistant Directors presented a letter to the Academy Board which speaks worlds. Here it is: "Working as Assistant Directors, we come into daily contact with hundreds of people who desire work as "extra" and "bit" players. Among these hundreds there ofttimes appears a once favorite star, a former famous director or, possibly, a onetime high executive whom the times have passed by. "In many cases once the favorites of millions of the theater-going public, these people have since found themselves dependent upon what they may be able to earn in the more menial positions within the industry. "We have compiled the attached list, containing 200 names of industry pioneers who are now working as 'extra' and 'bit' players. There are in every production certain scenes in which some or all of these people might be used to the advantage of Above: Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne in the silent thriller, "The Great Secret." Bushman, shown at the left in a close-up, was at one time the screen's greatest lover, the Clark Gable of his day. 22 The New Movie Magazine, March, 1935