Photoplay (Jan - Jun 1941)

VWO'$ WHO IN HOLLYWOOD SOCIETY A famous columnist and radio gossiper exposes members of the caste in Hollywood to tell who hob-snobs with whom ber of movie names are being added. However, the Hollywood film colony society, which is separate and distinct from Los Angeles society, is still ruled only by the pay check, no matter how it is earned. From that standpoint, Hollywood is one of the most classconscious places on this earth. You've never heard of a producer's marrying an extra girl, or a feminine star's marrying a stand-in. Some have married B actors and lived happily only long enough to fool the public, so the divorce wouldn't be too obvious. People have torn their hair and cried "Shame!" over the cruelty of the caste system of Mother India, but it would take a wiser man than Mahatma Gandhi to bridge the chasm between a $200 a week actor and the one who earns $5,000. In Hollywood, which is the last lap of free gold — and I don't mean the kind dug from the earth with pick and shovel — phonies and racketeers are considered gentlemen if they happen to be running with the right crowd and are not only invited to the best houses but are also asked to take the wives out dancing when the higherups are too busy to go themselves. They can get away with everything short of murder — and several have even tried to do that — simply because they know the right people in the right places and at some time or other in their lives were useful to them. FEBRUARY, 1941 There are lots of things besides acting ability that determine your salary in this town. The first requisite is to find a successful agent. Agents cast almost as many pictures as producers and are among the only people here that producers fear. Also, it's never been known to hurt a star's standing to marry a producer. That immediately puts her right up in the aristocracy class. Being only human, after all, our salary aristocrats enjoy depositing the largest checks written anywhere — and who wouldn't? I'm sure I would, if I could get one. However, this lasts only until a smart lawyer comes into the picture, for they never will realize that the bigger the check, the bigger the income tax. A few wise girls here are actually working for $50,000 less per picture than they could get, thereby working more for themselves and less for Washington. Then, too, their success will last much longer, because the public won't grow so tired of their faces. THE salary caste imposes many burdens. First of all, according to our snob tradition, the star must have an expensive home. Claudette Colbert told me when she started building her home she never expected to spend more than $65,000 for it, but it cost her a quarter of a million, not because she wanted it that way, but because there are so many willing salesmen who shove you into things you don't want, just because you're too busy or too tired to argue. It's so much easier just to say, "All right, go ahead — I'll take it." But the headache comes after you've paid the bill and it's a headache that lingers on. There's the story of the Harold Lloyds. When they first moved into their Beverly Hills home (which at that time was way out in the country) it was so large, so imposing they felt lost in it and kept riding up and down in the elevator because it was the only cozy place they could find. Now they're trying to have their taxes lowered due to the fact that the house has grown so in value they can scarcely afford to live there. Why have such expensive places when most of the guests rarely get beyond the swimming pool, tennis courts and dining room anyway? And the upkeep of these palaces equals that of a young hotel. Many of our former stars have landed at the bottom simply because of their foolish efforts to maintain the homes they believed their positions demanded. Even with all Marie Dressler's greatness, she had the same complex. As you know, she arrived here broke and the first time she visited me in my little home, she said, "If I could only have a place like this to call my own!" Time marched on, as it has a habit of doing, and (Continued on page 96) 57