The New Movie Magazine (Dec 1929-May 1930)

The New Movie Magazine The Battle of Hollywood ized version of school-days that must he causing' more than one little red school house to turn in its last century grave, look in upon the spectacle of frightened Hollywood these days. Hollywood is going to elocution school. Yes, in case you have forgotten: "Elocution, the art of correct intonation and inflection in public speaking or reading." Webster. Here is how Hollywood goes to school. Every morning before the studios begin work, if the pupil happens to be making a picture, or around eleven o'clock in general, Miss Hollywood, (although the same schedule applies to budding or blossoming Valentinos), pops open her beaded lashes with a click, slides into her swansdown slippers and is led by a maid into her black Pompeiian bath. Massage. Perfumes. Ointments. Daily Dozen. Facial. Water wave. Little silken underthings. A sheaf of unbelievably expensive (Continued from page 23) frock. A bite of the eighteen-day diet breakfast, and Miss Hollywood, ready for her little red schoolhouse, throws on her sable scarf, descends the stairs of her imitation Italian villa, perched on the side of a filled-in hill, into her Rolls-Royce, and off for as many hours of voice culture, placement, and diction as she can ram into what is left of her morning. Hollywood Rolls-Roycing to school! Nor is all this as much a scene out of an opera bouffe as it would seem. These de luxe school-girls of the beaded lash, the sophisticated eye, the sun-tanned legs and the superlatively chic silhouette are studying the three R's of the new technique with the intensity of an aspirant for Ph.D. A long since arrived star of the brilliance of Miss Bebe Daniels goes to her various daily lessons with far more conscientiousness than your average university student. Certainly with far more intelligence. A young woman brimful of accomplishment and success, she has let no grass grow under her clever feet. Another example of success succeeding further. It has never been an easy crown to wear, the gilt and rhinestone one of Hollywood. It is lined in tin thorns, it induces headache, it is as nervous and restless as a Mexican jumping bean and seems forever to hanker for newer, blonder and more personable resting places. It is the most coveted of crowns. To wear it is to reap weekly checks of four and five figures, bushel baskets of fan-mail and celluloid fame by the footage. At the present moment, hundreds of the members of this celluloid dynasty are fairly shivering on their thrones. Some must fall off by the wayside; some will smwive. Victory will go to the vocal! Greta Garbo's Girlhood satisfaction of feeling that she was helping mother. In 1920, when Greta was fifteen, she definitely left school. She got a position in a department store, selling hats. By this time, her beauty had established itself. She had outgrown her gawkiness and her height made her seem older than her years. Her shyness had turned into a restraint that gave her an air of breeding. The serious, poised young girl — so pathetically eager to make something of herself — was obviously no ordinary salesgirl; she had refinement and education. As a business woman, Greta was a success, even though she was very young. The customers liked her. The other girls in the department liked her because she wasn't pushing and because, in spite of her aloofness, s\e was pleasant. And the store manager quickly saw that she was a valuable asset to the millinery department. Greta has clothes sense. Although Hollywood has been amused by the cai'elessness and simplicity of her wardrobe, Greta is wiser than most film stars in that she never is foolish enough to overdress. She wears her clothes with an air. Moreover, she has had an immense influence on the fashions of the world. It was Greta, for instance, who first introduced the long, shoulder-length bob. It was Greta who first wore hats that were turned back off the forehead and wide-brimmed at the back. It was Greta who made popular the stand-up collar. If Greta had remained in the department store she would have become a fashion expert and a successful business woman. When, at fifteen, a girl can make her influence felt in a large shop, then she must have a very definite talent for her job. But in the back of Greta's mind was still the longing for the theatre. Now, with money of her own, she could afford to go to the movies and she could treat herself to an occasional play. The 126 (Continued from page 20) theatre was the luxury of her life. Very likely, with her good position and with money of her own, Greta gloried in her independence and thought herself fortunate. She was getting along in the world. She found that, in selling hats, she could make a quick sale by trying the hats on herself. Even in those days, women in Stockholm, wanted to look like the obscure little salesgirl who was some day to be Greta Garbo. The chief of her department asked her to pose for photographs of hats that were to illustrate the Paul U. Bergstrom catalogue. And the sixteenyear-old Greta's pictures were a feature of the catalogue in 1921. Other stars have had their first start as fashion models. Alice Joyce and Mabel Normand both posed for fashion photographers, and Frances Howard, who is now Mrs. Samuel Goldwyn, was one of New York's best models. One of the customers of the store was Erik Petschler, a film manager. He noticed Greta's unusual beauty and saw that she was decidedly the photographic type. He asked her if she could accept an occasional movie engagement. This was, of course, the chance of Greta's life. At first she was afraid of giving up a good position for the precarious life in the studios, where in Sweden the wages are small, even for established stars. Greta herself says that leaving the store was the most daring step in her life. Her family realized that, for the good of their talented girl, they must RADIOGRAM S X WORLD— -z: fc \%tRGl , W,DE „ %RM %~ r WIRELESS £ x~ R.C.A. COMMUNICATIONS, INC. RECEIVED AT 64 EROAD STREET. NEW YORK. AT_ STANDARD TIME K 918SAQSN STOCKHOLM 316/314 PAGE ONE/50 ,, '■ '■ ''"' LCO TO'.'.'ER MAGAZINES W00LW0RTHEUILDING KYK THIS IS THE STORY OF GRETA GARBOS GIRLHOOD IT IS A STORY THAT YOU HAVE NEVER READ ANYWHERE BEFORE GRETA HERSELF HAS BEEN TOO PROUD AND TOO SENSITIVE TO TELL IT EECAUSE POVERTY LEnVLS A LaSTIN'G HURT A*'D IS >'0RE SHAMEFUL TO ADMIT. THAN DISHONOR BUT WHEN Telephone: Hanover 1811 R.CA. COMMUNICATION'S. U The New Movie Magazine went to great lengths in getting exact facts about Greta Garbo's early life. All the details were verified carefully. Above, the first page of a lengthy cable from Stockholm carrying the complete story.