Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1948)

and washed at least once every week is beautiful! My wife once asked me why I had selected a certain girl out of a dozen different applicants for the job of Goldwyn Girl. “Because she looks as if she had just stepped out of a bathtub,” I said. I meant it. There is something fresh and radiant and even beautiful about being exquisitely clean. So — get that “wellscrubbed” look. Ingrid Bergman is a shining example of it. It is as attractive to your friends and to your dates as it is to a movie star’s fans. It is the best “foundation cream” on the market. Once every six months, the boys and girls on my payroll visit a dentist. I lay down an eight hours of sleep every night law — and can tell whether it has been kept, or broken. If you have a good night’s sleep, and a good bath, you look as though life agreed with you. It is a pleasing look. Cigarettes and drinking do not help health, beauty, charm, or a career. While I do not actually forbid smoking, or an occasional cocktail, the girl who becomes a “chimney” or is known to “drink” is no longer in my employ. Nor do I hesitate to step into the private lives of my players with advice if I feel their behavior is injuring their reputations. Scandal, unsavory gossip is to the reputation what a blemish is to the face. I am interested in young people who are ambitious, who are eager to know and to do things. A daily newspaper and a weekly news magazine are required reading for any modern girl or boy, whether in Hoboken or in Hollywood. You will not be an interesting personality unless you can carry on an intelligent conversation. There is nothing more important to charm and personality — especially in a woman — than the speaking voice which should and can be made warm and intimate. When an actress comes to me with a high or strident speaking ‘voice, I send her home with a copy of Shakespeare and instructions to spend an hour a day reading aloud. The result of this inexpensive course in voice culture is usually satisfactory. Try it. You will find it works wonders. I advise the young people in my studio to take up bowling, tennis, riding, golf. I advise the girls to acquire the good oldfashioned accomplishments of sewing, cooking, housekeeping. “You will be a woman,” I tell them, “long after you are an actress.” I ask them whether they can write an amusing, informative letter. Play a decent hand of Bridge? Garden? Tend a baby? “Be natural, friendly, organized, relaxed, graceful, healthy, well-dressed (within your budget) , confident, knowing and happy”— this is the scout law, according to my conception, for success in Hollywood. You may never become a movie star but you can be a star in your own circle by working at it. And it is worth it. The ability to live gracefully and graciously from day to day is not gained by accident. Marriage is as competitive a career as motion pictures. In both, the better you do your part, the more successful you will be. I would like to believe that, as the Midas touch turned everything into gold, I the “Goldwyn touch” turns the fit and the unfit, alike, into stars. Actually, it is a combination of circumstances that makes you a star. You have the talent. You meet a producer who divines your talent and undertakes to •develop it. You have what it takes of courage, patience and the capacity for hard work you need for the roadwork that leads to stardom. It is not easy. It is hard work, hard work, hard work . . . I know. You see, it’s my business. The End ALEXIS SMITH Starring in STALLION ROAD A Warner Bros. Production “WHEN I TOOK THE COLA TASTE -TEST— tried leading colas in paper cups — I chose Royal Crown Cola best-tasting!” Try it! Say, “RC for me!” That’s the quick way to get a quick-up with Royal Crown Cola— best by tastetest! P 89