Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1944)

Another report from the typewriter that has helped make Hollywood famous . . . from HENEVER I get ready to pay my check in any restaurant, I recall James Cagney’s remark to me: “Always tip big. Never be afraid of overtipping. You can never tip a person whose living depends on tips too much. I know. I used to be a bellhop” ... I have been out with Hedy Lamarr many times and often as I sit across the table looking at her beautiful face I am surprised to hear her say, “Look at that pretty girl sitting over there in the corner.” I turn and look and generally it is some movie fan who is just staring at the beautiful Lamarr, who also admires beauty. * * Do yoi sometimes wonder what happens to the Oscars after the winners take them home? I know that Ginger Rogers has her Oscar on the soda fountain in her den, that Greer Garson has hers standing proudly on the mantelpiece and that Katharine Hepburn used her Oscar for a doorstop. Mike Curtiz, who won his Award for the direction of “Casablanca,” has been known to stand near his Oscar and say, “Mike, don’t think too much of yourself. You have yet to make a picture like Michelangelo or Rembrandt.” * * • I always like to wander into the offices of tke movie executives and observe the fixtures, such as the signs and autographed photographs on the walls . . . Arthur Homblow Jr. has on display in his tastefully furnished office a James Montgomery Flagg drawing of Greta Garbo which is autographed by Gee Gee. . . . Buddy De Sylva, in his Paramount office, has a printed sign which tells of a conversation between Clark Gable and an interviewer. The large cardboard quotes the interviewer asking Gable to what he attributes his amazing record as a box-office, champion for many years. Gable’s answer is: “Any success I may have achieved is due to M-G-M’s wisdom. The studio picks my stories, casts my pictures and selects my directors.” The interviewer then asks, “Without any help from you?” And the Gable answer is, “Without any help from me.” This sign is prominently displayed so that any actor or actress who enters De Sylva’s office to complain about a scenario can read it. Buddy De Sylva claims that it has saved him from many big arguments. * * * I have never seen Cary Giant in any picture that he wasn’t entertaining and didn’t give a good performance. And that goes for when I meet him in person too ... I think that Joan Bennett would be one of the biggest stars in pictures if she Personal to producer Arthur Hornblow Jr. from Gee Gee (Greta Garbo) were as alluring on the screen as she is when she dances at Mocambo. . . . Akim Tamiroff is considered by many a fine character actor, but to me he could be billed as “1116 Man Of A Thousand Faces And One Dialect” . . . One of my great pleasures in this village is to take a walk along the side streets of Hollywood and note the old-fashioned bungalows, the cheap cars and the extras who gather on the porches. Some of the extras are old and tired and some of them are young and their eyes look toward Beverly Hills and charge accounts. ♦ * * My favorite place to visit, and in this I am not alone, is the Schwabadero. To make it clear to you, the Schwabadero is the pet name given to Schwab’s Drug Store. And .its particular allure is not the fact that celebrities congregate here, for you can find more celebrities at Chasen’s or Romanoff’s, and those who do come to the Schwabadero come because they have heard and read so much about it that they want to see “what makes.” And “what makes” is the fact that a group of people who are representative of Hollywood congregate here, but not strictly for the purpose of being seen. Writers, directors and up-and-coming actors and actresses get their mail and phone calls here, they get checks cashed and they read all the magazines, for free, at the soda fountain. Every night there is, as it has been called, “the eleven o’clock floor show” and the minute you enter the store you are part of that floor show. .Albert Hackett, the writer, who recently joined the cast of characters, aptly described the place when he said: “I asked a friend did he go to the Schwabadero and he replied, ‘Go there? Why, I live there!’ ” The other night, very late, the phone rang. Leon Schwab answered and the voice at the other end asked: “I would like to know if the drug store across the street from you is still open. I’d hate to make the trip if it was closed.” Leon said, “Hold Joan Bennett at Mocambo doing what should make her a big star 38