Photoplay (Jan - Jun 1939)

$*&* FIFTY thousand girls are on their own in Hollywood today — more than in any other town in the world. What is the inside story of these girls? How do they live? How do they support themselves? What do they spend for their homes, their dresses, their hats, their shoes? How do they handle their "dates"? Do they say good-by to the men at the door of their apartments or invite them inside — and what are the consequences? What special sex problems do they encounter that are different from those encountered by girls the world over? With the many girls who come to Hollywood with their families or are under the protecting grace of husbands, this story is not concerned. It is written about the girls who stand on their own feet and support themselves through their own efforts. * * * There are four types of girls on their own in filmtown — the girls who act, including stars, featured players, bit players and extras; girls in technical jobs, writers, script girls, designers, publicists; the people on the fringe of the industry, professional escorts, hostesses, companions and guides: and the great mass of working girls including waitresses, beauty parlor operators, cashiers, manicurists, maids and cooks. And all of them have one urgent problem in common — the scarcity of eligible Hollywood men. Hollywood men, all four groups say, are spoiled. You often hear that Hollywood is a woman's town, but paradoxically enough, just because it is a woman's town — there are seven women in Hollywood to every man — it's really a man's town. The result is, Hollywood girls, no matter what their status, are easy to date. A man who in his own home town wouldn't get a second glance may come to Hollywood and if he's a moderate success and earns $100 a week or more, he may eventually be taking out a glamour girl who earns five times his salary. Easterners, the Hollywood girls say, are the most sought-after males. They send flowers; they wouldn't dream of allowing a girl they take out to share the expenses of the evening (a West Coast practice frequently indulged in, by the way) ; they phone the girls to whom they're attracted to ask for dates instead of calmly saying when they meet those girls, "Why haven't you given me a ring?"; when they want to see a girl, they buy tickets for the latest play or the best picture in town; but they don't phone a girl to ask her, "Say, have you received passes to such and such a picture? If you have, why don't you take me with you?" Of course, each girl in each group has her own very special man problem. Take the star, for instance. Every time the star goes to an important premiere or even to the Brown Derby, the columnists will pay special heed to her escort and the next day the newspapers may report that a romance is beginning between Gloria Glamour and . The star knows this will happen; the studio knows it; and all those inside the industry know it. The question is — just how does this situation affect the social life of a star? Well, generally, this is the way things happen. Her studio comes to her and says, "Look, Gloria, we're putting a grand new leading man into your next picture — swell guy, you'll be crazy about him. Name of Jimmy . He photographs perfectly, and is an excellent actor. But you know how it is, the guy isn't so well known in this country. In France, yes, but this isn't France. Why don't you go to the premiere with him next week?" Maybe the star shrugs her shoulders and says, "Why should I go? What do I get out of it?" But usually she is persuaded to do it on the same principle that a man does his best for "good old Rugby" — it will help the studio, and, incidentally, help the box office take on her next picture, particularly if the nice young leading man is in it. Still, she's doing the studio a favor. This "business" dating isn't always done so brutally as that, though. Often all the publicity department does is to arrange for the nice young newcomer to meet Gloria, knowing that he's just the type to sweep her off her feet, with the result that Gloria and Gloria's picture and the nice young newcomer all get reams of publicity. So far as the star's sex problems are concerned, she has one great advantage over most of the other girls in Hollywood. Being important, she can nearly always pick and choose her escorts. And so long as she is friendly and not too high-hat, she doesn't have to accept the attentions of producers or directors, nor is it so important for her as it is for the little extra or bit player never to antagonize anyone in a position to help her. The disadvantage the star faces is chiefly in meeting men. Her best chance of making a successful marriage is to marry someone so important in the industry that there will never be the slightest chance that her husband will be referred to as Mr. Grace Glamour. (The Norma Shearer-Irving Thalberg marriage was this type.) Another possibility is for her to marry someone outside the profession who is doing something of such great humanitarian scope that, regardless of the income he makes, he will always command her utmost respect. (The Dr. Joel Pressman-Claudette Colbert marriage is this type.) Having disposed of the star's "man problems," let's look into her mode of living. The star probably draws down SI, 000 a week or more, owns her own home, which she may have built herself, and buys her dresses at Magnin's, Bullock's-Wilshire, or Saks Fifth Avenue. If her home is in Bel-Air, she probably pays from $10,000 to $30,000 per acre for the lot alone. If she buys an estate in San Fernando Valley, she can get one with about fifty-five acres for anywhere from $60,000 up. Of course the star may pay $1,000 down for a home in Westwood and the balance of $13,750 just like rent. Most stars own their own homes. Ginger Rogers has one in Beverly Hills. Claudette Colbert and Irene Dunne have beautiful homes in Holmby Hills. Almost the only top-notch stars who still rent their homes are Garbo and Janet Gaynor. I HE life of the featured player is decidedly different. The featured player makes from $75 to $750 a week, generally rents her home if she's in the upper brackets, or if she's in the lower brackets lives in a very up-to-date apartment hotel with switchboard service, paying about $100 for such an apartment. Occasionally she splurges on a $100 or $200 dress which she may buy at Bullock's-Wilshire or in a swanky New York shop or have made to order, but as a general rule she pays about S30 to $50 for a dress, about $10 to $35 for a hat, about $15 for shoes. In the upper brackets, the featured player is likely to have two servants, usually a maid and a cook; in the lower brackets, she has no personal maid, but gets daily or weekly maid service at the apartment hotel at which she resides. The maid who comes in cleans her apartment thoroughly but doesn't wash the dishes and, of 19