The New Movie Magazine (Dec 1929-May 1930)

Introducing Claudette with this stage notion. Then gradually he began to get used to it. My mother, long before, had fallen in line, when she saw that my whole life was wrapped up in the idea of becoming a good actress. Once she surrendered she was all for it, insisting only that I make a good job of it, now I had thrown my luck in that field. But with my father it was different. He never really surrendered, though he would cut clippings out from the papers about me to carry about in his vest pocket, and when I wasn't there, would show them, I guess a little proudly, to his friends." THAT same Summer Mr. Woods sent for her to do the French girl in "The Kiss in the Taxi." This was the first time she had played a French part, which of course, she was superbly fitted to do. She had refused before to do French parts, those of French maids and others, because she did not want to be associated in the theater with solely French characters. It should be noted here that Miss Colbert speaks American, it is truer to say American than English, better than most Americans because she speaks without any provincial accent. It is then particularly interesting to hear Maurice Chevalier, with whom she co-starred in "The Big Pond," the new film made in both English and French, remark that few persons, French or otherwise, speak the beautiful and perfect French that she does. Having been born in France, she spoke French until she reached her teens, when she started school in America and quickly picked up the language of this country, slang and all. Having a sensitive ear she managed to (Continued from page 122) do what most American children fail to do, make the language tier's without its flaws of dialect. Needless to say that given a part which demanded a French accent Miss Colbert was in clover. And the part, she says, was made for her. Her opening night in New York, the first one she had had there as star, by the way, reaped for her glowing notices from all the critics. Arthur Byron played opposite her and the piece ran for a year before going on the road. "It fixed me in New York," she said. "It was showy and it was suited to me. I could hardly have helped making good in it." It was at this time that she signed with the A. H. Woods office what she described as "that fatal contract." It was a five-year agreement, not a few of which proved stormy to them both. Miss Colbert believed that she was too often put into unsuitable plays. But it is all over now she says with a certain relief; the Paramount company having bought up the contract in its last year. FOLLOWING a trip to Paris after "The Kiss in the Taxi" had closed, she returned that Fall to Broadway in "The Ghost Train," and later in "The Pearl of Great Price." Now, however, came "The Barker," for which the Woods office lent her to Edgar Selwyn for the part of Lou. As soon as she had read the script she wanted to play Lou, she said, "because the girl was so real, so honest, and because I had never played a bad woman before and always had wanted to, especially at this time when I was so fed Dorothy Jordan, the young Metro-Goldwyn actress, receiving instruction in flying from Captain Stewart of the Curtis Flying School in California. Captain Stewart is indicating the uses of the stick and foot controls for Miss Jordan's benefit. up playing Virtue and looking like a little fool." The play lasted for over a year on Broadway and Miss Colbert's notices were enough to puff anyone's head . . . yet, they didn't, for she is a sensible and intelligent young woman. DURING that year she and Norman Foster, who had played the circus barker's son in "The Barker," ran off one night and were married in a little Massachusetts town that no one but themselves know the name of, and they won't give it away. They kept their secret for almost a year until a New York columnist broke the news of their elopement while they were both playing in London in "The Barker." Miss Colbert was afraid it would break her mother's heart if she found out Claudette had married. Even now Miss Colbert (with her mother) and Mr. Foster maintain their separate New York apartments in true modern matrimonial fashion. "Tin Pan Alley" followed the London engagement of "The Barker," then Miss Colbert made her first talking picture for Paramount, "The Hole in the Wall," while she was also playing in Eugene O'Neill's "Dynamo" on Broadway. She said she liked immensely working with the Theater Guild and thought "Dynamo" a marvelous play. O'Neill is her favorite playwright and she thinks "Anna Christie" the greatest play she has ever seen. "The Crowd" is her favorite film, by the way. SEE NAPLES AND DIE" marks her most recent appearance on Broadway and was followed by the film "The Lady Lies," in which she appeared with Walter Huston and which won great praise for its beautiful performances by both Miss Colbert and Mr. Huston. Having since completed "The big Pond," both in English and French, she is now scheduled for "Young Man From Manhattan," Katherine Brush's novel, to be made into a talking picture by Paramount. Following this, plans for her are that she will make "Manslaughter," by Alice Duer Miller, in Hollywood. She has never been further west than Chicago and is looking forward eagerly to her visit to California. In buying up her Woods contract and signing her for five years with the intention of starring her, Jesse Lasky, first vice-president of the Paramount company, has said : "We are convinced that Claudette Colbert is destined to be one of the outstanding figures on the audible screen of the near future. -She combines rare native dramatic ability with unusual beauty and a thorough knowledge of the technique of acting. Our plans for her include a number of important featured roles in the immediate future with stardom as her ultimate goal." And so, though a little girl playing in the Luxembourg Gardens hitched her wagon to a star of vague inarticulate longings, it was the mature, courageous young woman who shaped them into actualities for herself by perseverance and hard work, but also by a steadfast belief that dreams may come true. 124