Pauline Frederick : on and off the stage (1940)

Chapter Twelve Talking Pictures — Fourth ^MLarriage u PON HER return from her London success, Pauline went back to California and almost immediately began rehearsals for " The Scarlet Woman," a play written by Zelda Sears and Reita Lambert. It opened in San Francisco in February of 1928 and toured across the continent, reaching New York in the Fall. No doubt one of the chief reasons why Pauline chose this play was because of the important part that a baby plays in it. When casting began on the play, a call was sent out for a baby four months old. The result can well be imagined, even though in 1928 every mother did not have ambitions for her child to become a second Shirley Temple. Mothers of every kind, caste, creed, nationality and color appeared and Pauline had the amusing job of selecting the baby. Needless to say, she loved the task because of the great appeal which children had for her. If she had had time she probably would have played with each one of them! Finally her selection rested with a little mite of only three months named Mary Margaret Reid. She stayed with the cast until she was nine months old and had grown too big to be any longer disguised as an infant of four months. It was, of course, necessary for Pauline and the baby to become accustomed to each other and for the next several 15s