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It's all so glamorous when you get there, but there are many obstacles in the way.
A MILLION to ONE You'll Never Be a Star
IT'S a million to one you'll never be a star! You're going to hate me for telling this but it's much better for you to have your heartache at home than in New York or Hollywood. Somehow heartache on an empty stomach without a friendly shoulder to weep on is not the most pleasant way of passing time. If you've never tried it, don't experiment! Take my word for it that New York is tough and Hollywood is twice as tough. You can't crash the movies unless you're a combination of Garbo and One-Eyed Connolly and then you'll probably need an introduction from President Roosevelt with an okay from Will Hays.
You who have had legitimate stage experience will find it easier to get in the movies. The figures for 1934 show that one out of every 100 stage people given screen tests were signed to a movie contract. If you're harboring screen ambitions with the odds a million to one against you, the stage should be your first goal.
Until recently, fake movie schools were scattered all over the country. Racketeers in the role of school teachers traded in youthful ambition, luring unsuspecting girls from out of town on the pretense of making them stars and even procuring screen contracts at fabulous salaries. The youngsters came in large numbers, only to be robbed of their hopes and bankrolls.
Hollywood still has a few of these fake movie schools but a crusade by the newspapers and the district
Company Number Number
of Tests Signed
Fox 485 0
20th Century 425 22
Columbia 96 17
RKO 12 0
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 485 (in Hollywood)
67 (in New York) 9
43 (in London)
And don't forget, these were all experienced players!
Figures from Warner Brothers and Paramount were not available as we went to press.
You may think it's easy to crash into the movies but don't let them fool you. Read this frank article and you will realize that the road to stardom is not the easy path some folks would have you believe
attorney in New York was too much for the screenschool gangsters. They folded up and disappeared but like all such rackets, are sure to pop up again!
If you want to be fooled by these specialists in the most glamorous form of embezzlement, don't take any notice of these figures given me by the movie companies. If you would like to avoid the traps offered by fake movie schools and fake agents, just memorize these figures of the major screen companies for the first months of 1935:
Fox . . .485 tests ... 0 signed; 20th Century . . .425 tests ... 22 signed; Columbia ... 96 tests ... 17 signed: RKO ... 12 tests on Coast ... 0 signed; M-G-M . . .485 tests in Hollywood, 67 tests in New York, 43 tests in London, 9 signed.
These figures show just what chance the trained players have of reaching riches and stardom. These figures show just what chance comely Gertie Gloom, the Pride of Podunk, had when she gave up her job and came to New York to become a movie star under the (Please turn to page 42)
Illustrated by Henri Weiner
By JOHN T. CASEY
38
The New Movie Magazine, April, 1935