The Picture Show Annual (1931)

Picture Show Annual 53 QUEEN JEANETTE JEANETTE MacDonald is a firm believer in luck—and her own good luck in particular. It began when she visited her sister. She was still at school, but her sister, who was a successful show girl, took her to a famous theatrical producer. He saw her dance, and put her in the chorus straight away. After the show finished, she went as sub- stitute for one of the leads in a touring company. The player was well again when she reached them, but by good luck (for Jeanette), another hurt herself, and she got that job instead. Fortune smiled on her. Roles came steadily then. " Irene," " Tangerine," " Fantastic Fricassee,' led to stardom, and after plaving in " Tip Toes," " Bubbling Over," and various other Broadway musical comedies, she received many film offers, including one for the part opposite Richard Dix in " Nothing but the Truth." Her luck again stepped in. She had a test made, but stage engagements would not allow her to take the job. Her test film was put on the shelf and forgotten. Then Ernst Lubitsch went to New York to look for someone to play the Queen opposite Maurice Chevalier in " The Love Parade, ' and unable to find anyone suitable (Jeanette Mac- Donald was playing in Chicago at the time), was nil ready to return when he found Jeanette s test film. He caught the next train to Chicago, interviewed Jeanette, the contract was signed, and, as soon as she could, Jeanette MacDonald was en route for Hollywood. 1 EVERYBODY'S IDOL MAURICE CHEVALIER has the trick of making you forget your cares and worries-. His own wide sudden lazy smile, impertinent twinkling eyes, and the rakish angle of his hat seem to say that the world is a fine place, and who cares, anyway, if it isn't. Yet his life has not been easy. At eleven he found he had to be the breadwinner of the family. His father died and left his mother and her children quite un- provided for. Job afier job he found and lost, finally going on the stage. His first hit was in a low-comedy song imitation—complete with red nose, slouch peasant's cap, worn at his own inimitable angle, and trousers too large for him Gradu- ally he climbed up the ladder until he was signed'for the Folies Bergeres—still in his grotesque make-up. Then one night he made a change—he appeared in the evening suit and straw hat that are now so famous everywhere, and his songs were naughtily sophisticated. He was a sensation, and was chosen by Mtstinguett to be her dancing partner. Then came his period of French military service. The war broke out just before it ended, and Chevalier, before 1914 was out, found himself, wounded, in a German prison camp at Alten Grabow. After two years he escaped, and returned to France, where he was awarded the Military Medal. After the war he began his fight for fame again in the little cafes, for he had been forgotten. Once more he became Mis- tinguett s partner, and afterwards, as he had learned a little English during his prison years, he appeared with Elsie Jams at the Palace, in London. He returned to Pans as a star, and in 1928 was signed to appear in American talking pictures. His first talkie was a bad film—-but no one cared. It was Chevalier who mattered. He stayed in Hollywood, and Paris still mourns her idol, although his shadow sings and struts in her picture 'heatres. He is now everybody's idol.