Photoplay (Jan - Jun 1939)

FIN* IS FINE J: i>f com] fin. and fan-lure iccellent which ii Fink must be a whi/ at the shutter. I. to n all points of photography That short hit about photography advice l>> Mr Fink should !>■ department In your !■ ih portraits and activities of the students at this colle] American Indians, the only college for Indians in the world. I'm positive that any advice from Mr. Fink would hi' worth while Why not think it over? Incidentally, I'm thinking of enlarging my attic, in order to find more room to store away PHOTO whieh I have bought for yi Edmund C. Shaw, ine College, Bacone, Oklahoma tppreciate Reader Sliaw's praise and trust he icill be pleased to see the neir department, "Maries m Your Home." on Page 10. This will be on occasional feature and any camera addict should find many new pointers which will be helpful. P.S. — Mr. Fink is a whi: at the shutter. EASY COME. EASY GO IES, Hedy Lamarr is gorgeous and glamorous, but can she act? All she did in "Algiers" was look alluring in close-up after close-up and certainly that's easy enough with her glorious face. Of course, one must admit that she reacted nicely to Charles Boyer's passionate glances, hut who wouldn't? No, unless Hedy can prove that besides her haunting loveliness she can also act. she will be doomed to failure, for the public is tired of "glamour girls" and their eternal posturings and posings. Dietrich it and Garbo's appeal is certainly on the wane, so if Miss Lamarr has nothing to offer us but her exoticness, she too will fade into obscurity, for, to be an actress, one must be more than just "a thing of beauty." Margaret Lemworth. New York City. ■ 'hotoplay announces: beginning with the January issue, prises will no longer be awarded for letters appearing on this page. Unfortunately, some of our readers have not played fair with us, inasmuch as they have submitted and accepted checks for tellers which have won prizes for them in other magazines. On the other hand, many of our readers have looked upon this as a contest department and for that reason have failed to send in their spontaneous and candid opinions concerning the motionpicture industry, its stars or pictures. It is our aim to give the public a voice in expressing its likes and dislikes concerning this great industry. This is your page. We welcome your views. Photoplay reserves the right to use gratis the letters submitted in whole or in part, fetters submitted to any contest or department appearing in Photoplay become the property of the magazine. Contributions will not be returned. Address: Boos and Bouquets, Photoplay, 122 East 42nd Street, Mew York, N. Y. Hedy Lamarr's next picture will be "I Take This Woman" with Spencer Tracy and Walter Pidgecm at M-G-M. tlie studio which lent her out to Walter Wanger for "Algiers." The director is Frank Borzage, the man who was responsible for Janet Gaynor's sensational work in nth Heaven" in 1927 — the picture, you recall, which really made Miss Gaynor a star. As for Miss Lamarr's acting, it is hard to judge from one picture. Shall we give the gal a chance'.' RULES FOR WRITING TO A STAR I'VE long enjoyed your magazine and look upon you as a true friend. I am a star's secretary, which is why I m u'ully withhold my Every year a new crop of fan-mail writSi Sap i I'm sure that many of them a few pointers. Hire they are: please write legibly print the name and address if your handwriting isn't legible and don't squeeze your name and address into one small corner. I relief it is to see a typewritten turn up' • n't write fi\ • Iters, if your handwriting isn't legible Please write in ink •me a long way and are so pencilred when thej arrive at the studio they are practically Illegible Please put your address on the letter itself and not refer the reader to the envel Please write a letter, if possible, and not a card. The cards come in with postmarks all over the back and front and often it is impos Most Talked-of Comeback of the Year — Lew Ayres'! "Holiday" started him on the upgrade; "Cousin Henry" in "Rich Man, Poor Girl" added momentum; then — the first of a series of starring pictures, "Young Dr. Kildare" (above), with Lionel Barrymore sible to make out names and addresses because of this. Please don't ask the star to do you a favor. He can't get you a job, nor can he get you into the studios to look around, much as he would like to help you. Don't pry into his private life, tell him all your troubles, or ask for his home address. Most of the mail is very nice and interesting and both my employer and myself enjoy reading it, but some of it isn't, hence this letter. Thank you for your time and trouble. Private Secretary, Hollywood, Calif. DOUBLE. DOUBLE. TOIL AND TROUBLE OINCE the early "nickelodeon" days, I've been an avid moviegoer. I've seen two and sometimes three pictures a week. I'm quite in accord with the slogan "Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment"— but, now I'm through. When the double-feature nuisance came into being, I began shopping for my movies, only to find that this !;• d either a 5:30 dinner, hurriedly eaten (in order to be at the theater by 6: 10), or losing a couple of hours' sleep because the second show wasn't out until midnight. Then came Bingo, under the various titles of Screeno, Bank Night, or what-have-you. That, I could avoid and did, but it meant that I often missed a picture I very much wanted to see. But now an even more deadly menace is rearing its head — stage shows, and theater managers have the effrontery to tell you (and right in the midst of the "Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment" campaign) that they are trying to bring back vaudeville. I don't want vaudeville; I don't want Bingo; all I want is one good picture an evening. So, I'm through until theater owners and managers get back to the fundamental purpose of a motion-picture theater. Gretchen Manning, Pittsburgh, Pa. This brings to mind another problem — that of change of titles. After the studio has exploited pictures for montlis under one title, it is confusing, to say the least, when one keeps looking in the newspapers for a picture to come to town, only to find out it's been in town the week before under another title. Has this bothered you? If so, can you think of a solution? (Continued on page 75.) 68