Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1935)

PHOTOPLAY MAGAZINE FOR MAY, 1935 The Girl They Tried to Forget [ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27 ] nthe good news from Ghent to Aix, liiHolIywood was'in a stew of righteous iajon in her behalf, and that she was talked of girl in Cinematown. fej I'll be darned," she said. trkhe wanted to know — and this was rjre important to her — if I didn't think itcamp was a pretty cozy little box; and gji for the price; and if I could stand clips for dinner; and why couldn't we all ; f to Ham's night club afterwards; and he that Cavalcade had been scratched Ll; handicap. :iirse, you really can't expect Bette Dai Bt all worked up over being a Forll'oman. It has happened to her too |nes before in Hollywood, member when the studio that first li|her to Hollywood let her languish for ij,vithout giving her an outside chance, l i dismissed her, explaining that she had ilis much sex appeal as Slim Summer 1 remember how the studio which now : mder contract relegated her to myriad \fie, puny roles of no opportunity, from 3f Human Bondage," played on a loan ijKO, eventually rescued her. :{after that she had to walk out on a '[part to gain recognition. pie in "Of Human Bondage" was of a i! no other actress of her standing would i love or money. It was poison to what <>od treasures most — glamour. N that Warners bitterly objected— at dually refused permission— to her play\ired. finally battered them into reluctant but their warning rang in her 'You'll destroy any screen following had. You'll never live it down." mswered with a performance which :ople whisper the name of another great Jeanne Eagels. ret — at a preview of another of her pic tures, I overheard a woman next to me mutter, " There's Bette Davis — that horrible girl ! " That is the sort of thing she must brave to play what she wants to play — such as her murderess in "Fog Over Frisco," and her more recent psychopathic Lady MacBetk wife in "Bordertown." D UT it is her great courage which has allowed *-* little unpretty Bette Davis, with her big rolling eyes, her turned-down mouth and her twisting, slovenly carriage, to shed her ugly duckling screen feathers and become an actress whose slighting today can cause so much concern. Oddly enough, she once told me that she had gathered her fortitude from the same Jeanne Eagels whose genius she approaches. Eagels had said, "Never let anyone become such a friend of yours that he can tell you whether you're right or wrong about your life or your career." Bette read it somewhere. It suited her own then nebulous convictions. And although she has never seen Jeanne Eagels on the stage or the screen, there is a further and more striking coincidence in the fact that the same man, George Arliss, provided the turning point and the inspiration for both their careers. Arliss, tamed, disciplined and then encouraged the tempestuous Eagels when she played with him on the stage in "Alexander Hamilton." And years later, he called in Bette Davis to give her a part in "The Man Who Played God," when her bags were already packed to leave Hollywood — the first time she was forgotten. Wouldn't it be surprising if the parallel continued? Wouldn't it be strange — and also disconcerting to some — if Bette Davis, the little blonde actress they tried to forget but found they couldn't — some day reached the genius of another Jeanne Eagels? Or maybe she already has — and Hollywood just doesn't know it. They've Got What It Takes [ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 75 ] he had one asset which was greater than liabilities. That was a cold, hard will ■. and succeed. She took off that extra ge. She dieted until she was so ex1 that sometimes she fainted from lack given energy. Nita Naldi, who startled rid by her beauty, gave up her career : she preferred food to fame. Joan was 1 starved for her success. Few women e courage. n the talking pictures arrived, Joan de1 low, vibrant tones in her voice. She arned to sing. She studied the art of g until today she is one of the best, and pectacularly garbed women in HollyShe deliberately achieved that spectafect. It is a part of her creed of "being »t. ' She has learned to dance, not in ythmic, random manner of her old days, but gracefully and smoothly and :ely. Every day for weeks before she made "Dancing Lady," Joan practiced for long hours on a deserted sound stage with a piano player and a dancing instructor. One day she collapsed with a little moan. The instructor rushed to her in alarm. Joan took off her slipper and showed him a thick bandage across her heel. She had been dancing for days with a painful, burning blister on her foot. Other girls would have given themselves a vacation, telling their consciences that they couldn't work and suffer. That's why there are so few Joan Crawfords. When Joan was beginning her screen career, two other girls were starting out with her on the road to fame. They were probably the most publicized trio in Hollywood — Joan, Anita Page, and Dorothy Sebastian. Their pictures were plastered over the pages of the motion picture magazines and newspapers. Anita and Dorothy had more actual physical 121 CAtlFORNIA PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION OPENS AT SAN DIEGO MAY 29»h this year . . . for Greyhound travelers NOW GREYHOUND rolls back the curtain from a brilliant stage, set with Spring events and Summer sports! 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