Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1938)

Close Ups and Long Shots So much so that I bumped into Billie Burke on the lot and she said she never would have known me . . . "Why, I thought you were one of those pretty little stock girls on the lot," she said . . . leaving me to make of that what I would . . o I HEN Mr. Willinger took up where they left off ... he worked nobly but squinted at me in tired discouragement ... we ended by taking laughing shots . , . because I figured that I probably couldn't even cry in a darling way. . . . You saw the results on page 9 and much as I dislike the thought there's a lesson in it . . . for all kidding aside — it does show what almost any girl must learn to face out here . . . there is nowhere where people can criticize you so objectively and sincerely as in Hollywood and for the girls who really mean to stay in pictures, if they can take it and can act on that criticism, they have learned the initial step toward greatness. . . . But if I had thought that I had suffered before Mr. Willinger's camera it was a nothing to being photographed (Continued from page 9) with Mr. Gable . . . though suffering with Mr. Gable is not actually the worst of all human agony. . . . Clark had asked for that Vincentini portrait of himself as Rhett Butler that we ran in our October issue and though I was more than delighted to have him have it I had to see that Photoplay got something out of it too ... so I asked that we get a shot of him receiving the drawing and they decided to count me in. . . . Now as it so happens I hadn't seen Clark for six months . . . and as terrible as I knew the Gable uumph to be I had nonetheless forgotten just how immediately it acted upon you . . . that is I had overlooked it until they got the camera focused and Clark by the way of deviling me turned on that look that he sometimes gives to his heroines in a love scene ... it didn't mean a thing to him . . . that was all too apparent from the way his eyes were twinkling ... it was just trying to see what that look could do . . . but after being just a hard-working editor all month long ... to glance up and see that mocking look lavished upon you, even though you knew it was all by way of laughing at you . . . well, the next time one of Clark's leading ladies tells me that in her scenes with Mr. G. she is merely thinking about her income tax . . . I'll know what to call her. . . . For there is another truth there . . . personality is the main motive anywhere in the world . . . and here was the most possessed, charming and sane man in the motion-picture star firmament having his own joke and being so grand about it that even though you knew you were being mercilessly teased you were grateful for it. . . . Before I got away from there I got him to promise to give us a very special story that you will be seeing in an early Photoplay . . . the real story of himself as it has never been told before . . . Clark says he will tell it just to you readers and he is a gentleman who keeps his word ... so watch for it. . . . Perhaps between the lines of all this you see how hard an editor's life in Hollywood really is. . . . As brutal as getting a diamond bracelet on Christmas morning, that's what it is. . . . Boos and Bouquets they see one, or whether they're trying to make a screen weakling out of him, but I do think they are ruining an upand-coming career, and killing the respect of the public for their judgment in selecting the right players for the right roles. If some of these narrow-minded players who say Bob is a sissy, or that he can't act were given ten times the chance Taylor has been given, what would they do with it? If they are so wonderful that they can criticize the efforts of another, why aren't they in Hollywood with their names flashing all over the country. Or is it just because they haven't yet been discovered? Remember "Crime Doesn't Pay" and "Magnificent Obsession" and "His Brother's Wife" and "Camille?" All wonderful portrayals, and no one can challenge that! But what about "Private Number" and "The Gorgeous Hussy" and "Personal Property?" Were the producers giving Taylor a break? He has showed the public what he could do, and it is the producer's fault that he doesn't get the acting roles that will show his talent. Frances E. Clute, Detroit, Mich. $1.00 PRIZE GABLE IS AS GABLE DOES Being in the business world of Hollywood and meeting the stars every day, I can give you this impression of Clark Gable, not as fiction, but as a true fact from everyday life. He called at our place of business one morning dressed in sport clothes. Very businesslike, this Gable. He wandered about the store missing nothing, with our employees giving him little attention. (He prefers that.) A little girl seated in a toy automobile glanced about, and suddenly seeing Mr. Gable, called her father's attention to him. She wanted his autograph. The father spoke to Mr. Gable, and, smiling graciously, Clark walked over to the car and gave the requested sig (Continued from page 64) nature. In the course of the conversation I heard him call the little girl "sweetheart" and other endearing names. The little girl was so happy she could hardly keep still. If you and I were at the peak of our popularity as is Mr. Gable, would we be so unaffected? Would we take time out to give one little girl a big thrill, even though we thought no one was observing? I wonder? When you see Mr. Gable again on the screen, remember this little life drama, and know him better for the man he surely is. Miss E. Joy Fisher, Beverly Hills, Calif. $1.00 PRIZE DON'T "BABY" LUISE I'm sorry for poor little wild-haired Luise Rainer, forever having babies on the screen. I suppose it wasn't enough to torture her all through "The Good Earth," so she has to suffer in "Big City," too. Goodness, she's going to be a regular film "lady who lived in a shoe — she had so many children, she didn't know what to do." She's so tiny and pretty, and her black eyes are big and she has lovely cheekbones. We'd like to see her in a modern comedy — not China or Vienna, no anguished partings, no more wringing of hands and flicking away of tears, and being rushed off to the maternity ward in a "nambulance." Please give screen motherhood to someone else, and let us have Luise light and gay. Mary Barger, Brockton, Mass. $1.00 PRIZE THANK YOU. MR. BENNY! Jack Benny made a personal appearance in Garner, Iowa, on September 10, but only a dozen of the 1,600 inhabitants were aware of his presence. The other 1,588 residents have been trying ever since to bear their disappointment at not seeing him. The famous entertainer and his brother-in-law stopped here for an hour to have their car repaired. They were en route to Hollywood from New York. Mr. Benny visited with the proprietors of the garage, who thought him a great person as well as a great personality, and then he walked the entire length of the business district without being recognized. In a local drugstore he went immediately to a newsstand, glanced over the array of periodicals, obviously intent on finding one certain magazine. Yes, you've guessed it. It was the October Photoplay. And so it happened that Jack Benny personally purchased the first copy of the glamorous new Photoplay sold in Garner. Cholm G. Houghton, Garner, Iowa. $1.00 PRIZE FAIR— BUT CLOUDY! Why, oh, why, can't you grant us one good look at La Dietrich? All stills of her are as misty as a London fog. We can't see her for the haze. I have been watching faithfully for years for just one good look, but I am continually tantalized with the so-called mystery glaze in which the lady is wrapped like a Christmas doll in cellophane. The lady seems to be lovely enough for a clearer view, but I am beginning to wonder — is she, or isn't she? Robbie Rhea Spiney, Chicago, 111. "Marlene's beauty is highly distinctive. There is no other jace approximating hers on the screen. I think a sculptor would probably tell you her beauty is about as close to perfection as human beings ever come. Next time you see her on the screen, watch her hands. They are as good-looking as her legs." From an article written by Ernst Lubitsch (director of "Angel," Miss Dietrich's latest picture) which appeared in a recent New York paper. NO NEED TO FEAR ACID INDIGESTION NOW YES — TUMS, a remarkable discovery brings amazing quick relief from indigestion, heartburn, sour stomach, gas, and constant burning caused by excess acid. For TUMS work on the true basic principle. Act unbelievably fast to neutralize excess acid conditions. Acid pains are relieved almost at once. TUMS contain no laxatives; no harmful drugs. Guaranteed to contain no soda. Over 1^2 billion TUMS already used— proving their amazing benefit. Try TUMS today. Only 10c for 12 TUMS at all druggists. Most economical relief. Chew like candy mints. 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