Old Acquaintance (Warner Bros.) (1943)

ABOUT THE SUPPORTING PLAYERS: GIG YOUNG, JOHN LODER, DOLORES MORAN Fourth Change of Name Brought Gig Young Fame Gig Young by any other name would still be an affable, unassuming young fellow who was suddenly precipitated into screen stardom by “The Gay Sisters.’ In fact, Young did go by several other names, among them Byron Barr, Ronald Still GY 36* ; Mat 103—15c GIG YOUNG Reed and Bryant Fleming, before his: fourth change of appellation brought him to the attention of the students of art and culture in Hollywood. Young has remained himself all along, but his name has undergone a series of gradual alterations leading to his present state of grace in Bagdad-on-the-Pacific. Young began life as Byron Barr in St. Cloud, Minn. on November 4, 1917. He remained Byron Barr for the first twenty-three years of his life. As Barr he decided to go West and seek fame and fortune in the promised land of Hollywood. Frigid Reception Armed with little else than curly brown hair and a pleasing smile, our hero, Byron Barr, stormed the cinema citadels in 1941. Hollywood, which was surfeited with a surplus of curly brown hair and smiles during that pre-draft era, spurned Young with a very frigid shoulder. Finding that he couldn’t even get in to see the studio office boy, Young decided upon a change of tactics. He changed his name to Ronald Reed and switched his interest from screen to stage. As Ronald Reed he appeared in several productions at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. This was very satisfying aesthetically, but not financially. He added to his exchecquer by working as a service station attendant and car-hop in a drive-in restaurant. Young (or rather Ronald Reed who was the former Byron Barr) finally got his first professional acting job in a Los Angeles revival of “Abie’s Irish Rose.” His _performance as Abie brought him to the attention of a Warner Bros. casting director who signed him to a stock contract when the play had been running only two weeks, Studio Changes Name The first thing the studio did was to change Young’s name again, from Ronald Reed to Bryant Fleming. As Fleming, Young appeared in quite a few pictures on the lot, but in exceptionally minute’ parts. He played corpses, unconscious bodies and people snoring in a series of spectacular epics, ranging from “Navy Blues” and “They Died With Their Boot On” to “Captains of the Clouds” and “One Foot in Heaven.” His longest role during this period was in “Dive Bomber” in which he spoke the two words, “Yes, sir,” while breathing with difficulty in a pressure chamber. Then one day, Young. (Bryant Fleming) was assisting Alexis Smith in a screen test. Director Irving Rapper happened to see him in this 6 test and decided to cast him in the role of the romantic artist named Gig Young, in “The Gay Sisters.” When the picture was previewed at a Hollywood theatre, a great deal of enthusiasm for Bryant Fleming was revealed by the comment cards which the audience filled out after the showing, but all of them referred to him as Gig Young. Impressed by these unsolicited raves, the studio executives did two things. They decided to elevate Bryant Fleming to star status and to change his screen name to Gig Young. Today the erstwhile Mr. Byron Barr, Ronald Reed and Bryant Fleming is known as Gig Young and by that name he expects to be known for the rest of his days. Under that name he scored a resounding success in “Air Force” and is now appearing in “Old Acquaintance,” the Bette Davis-Miriam Hopkins vehicle which opens Friday at the Strand Theatre. CPO EN TE GE Cape AERO SER TENG Not So Dumb Watch yourself out at Warner Bros. how you throw that old one around. That old one about blondes being beautiful but dumb. Most beautiful young blonde under contract to the studio is Dolores Moran, 17-year-old actress making her film debut in “Old Acquaintance,” the current Strand Theatre film with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in the starring roles. Dolores is so beautiful that a magazine that once used her fullfigure portrait as a cover had to print off 1,200 extra editions after first publication just to take care of “pin-up” demands from the armed forces. Dolores recently took her final pre-college examinations under California State Board of Education auspices. Her report card came back with a solid stream of AV ce2 The Finger (All Ten of ‘km) Points to Dolores Moran Once upon a time there were a couple of Elks. They decided to have a picnic and that’s why there is a girl on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank named Dolores Moran. Dolores is the kind of a girl who has dramatic coaches swooning from sheer delight, executives doing nip-ups all over the front lawn of the studio and uncounted thousands of men in the armed forces putting pen to paper and pleading for portraits. But to get back to those Elks. They were Sacramento Elks; they had a picnic; Miss Moran’s swain of the moment—she was just 15— took her there; Solly Biano was present. Solly is a talent scout for Warner Bros. and is continually popping up in unexpected places in quest of star screen material for his bosses. Mr. Biano was dazzled, but not surprised, when he set eyes on Miss Moran. Miss Moran was both surprised and dazzled when Solly offered her a _ test. Father, James John Loder Turns His 1918 Experience To Discussion of Post-War Problems John Loder was about to go away to war. This time it was for a scene in the motion picture, “Old Acquaintance,’ starring Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins, opening Friday at the Strand Theatre. In 1915, it was for King and Country. On the Warner Bros. sound stage, Loder was wearing the uniform of an American major. At Gallipoli and at Amiens, he had worn the field khaki of a British lieutenant. The between scenes conversation turned naturally to history’s curious habit of repeating itself. Loder said that must not be permitted to happen again. “Even after the unconditional surrender victory promised us by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, Germany must be policed, sternly. We dare not go soft as we did last time.” Knows Germany Loder knows much about Germany and Germans. He spent considerable time in the country during and after the last war. Eight months behind barbed wire in prison camps. Three years in Berlin with the British Military Commission. “Germany,” he said, “will not collapse as she did in 1918. The people were in a sad condition when we granted the November armistice. They were wearing paper suits and cloth shoes at home but the army was far from completely beaten. They quit because they believed we Still OA 542; Mat 109—15c BETTE DAVIS is starred in “Old Acquaintance,”’ Warner Bros. film now at the Strand Theatre. Still OA 506; Mat 102—15c JOHN LODER would be soft with them. This time, their leaders are dinning it into them we'll be anything but soft. I devoutly hope their leaders are right —for once.” As a prisoner, Loder did not fare too badly after packages of food began coming through from England. Until then, he practically starved. “But typical of the German nature,” he explained, “those of us captured late in the war were not subjected to any abuse. The boys who were captured in 1914 and 715 really took it. Then the Huns thought they were going to win, and they did not fear reprisals.” It was in March of 718 that Loder had his head bashed in by a rifle butt and awoke in a German hospital. He was transferred to a camp in the Rhineland. Inedible Bread “For breakfast we were given a chunk of almost inedible bread,” he said. “At noon we had a plate of turnip soup. In the evening we had another plate of turnip or cabbage soup. Once a week we got two potatoes. Once or twice a month we were given a small chunk of seal meat. Two of the chaps starved to death, just failed to wake up one morning.” Shortly before the Armistice, Loder was transferred to a camp in Silesia. The Germans knew the end was near and treated the prisoners well. “Their arrogance turned to a currying favor attitude,” Loder said. Loder had taken advantage of his time in prison to learn German. It brought him the chance to go to Berlin with the Military Commission. “True to German nature,” he said, “the people played upon our sympathies. They were forever feeling sorry for themselves, and seeking favor. Then came news of the scuttling of the fleet at Scapa Flow, and suddenly they were puffing out their chests and being arrogant again. Only for a short time, however. “The British and the Americans were following the sportsman’s code. Don’t kick a man when he’s down. I believed in it then, but it doesn’t work with the Germans.” Even in the days when Loder served in Berlin, the Germans were busy preparing for the next war. Evaded Treaty “The size of the army was strictly limited by terms of the treaty,” he explained, “but the Germans kept alive the traditions of —and the nucleus for—the old Imperial Army. They did it in miniature, by having a platoon carry the name, standards and traditions of an entire regiment. Memberships of the platoons changed rapidly. New men would enlist. Those discharged continued their training secretly.” Loder has a son, just 17, who had left Eton, as he himself did late in 1914, to join the colors. That lad would soon be seeing action. He wanted that son, and the millions like him on both sides of the Atlantic, to know the peace would be won when they won the war. Still OA 541; Mat 104—15c MIRIAM HOPKINS appears with Bette Davis in the Strand Theatre’s current film, “Old Acquaintance.” Moran, was consulted, looked dubious, then gave his approval. The trio went right from the picnic to Hollywood, Dolores was tested, and signed a contract the following day. Since the day of her arrival — in November, 1941 — Dolores has “Still OA 508; Mat 101—15¢ DOLORES “MORAN been something’ of a problem child to the studio. Not that Miss Moran is a problem herself; she’s a model girl. She just causes problems. For instance, when she walks down a studio street assorted actors, extras and workmen, who have pressing business elsewhere, have been known to turn and follow her like stricken lambs. She’s that gorgeous. Cameraman Problem Then there is the cameraman problem. All of the dozen or so still photographers on the lot want to be assigned to photograph Dolores. She has one of those faces—and figures —that look not only good, but absolutely gorgeous, from any angle. Picture and fan magazine photographers haunt the studio searching for more opportunities to get shots of Dolores. Experts in such matters firmly declare that if all the flash bulbs expended on Miss Moran were to be made into a single bulb, and flashed, it would light the surrounding country with an intensity equal to daylight for a distance of 127.3 miles. Interesting figures, to be sure, but not nearly as interesting as the one the photographers focus on. Miss Moran is fairly tall—5 feet 7 inches—weighs 125 pounds and not an ounce of it is misplaced. She is that Hollywood rarity, a natural blonde, with hair a color that is so blonde it is almost silver. Her bluegrey eyes are big and her lips are a generous promise. Brains and Ability On top of all this admirable Pulchritude, Dolores is blessed with Brains and Ability. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that she won the Northern California Students Oratorical Contest, an event not staged by the Elks and not attended by the ubiquitous Mr. Biano. Nevertheless, Dolores wowed the audience with a fiery oration on “Democracy in a Changing World,” and the judges, who possibly should have been blindfolded, handed’ her ihe trophy. Sophie Rosenstein, drama coach at the studio, utters paens of singing praise whenever Dolores’ name is mentioned, and points to the undeniable fact that Dolores progressed swiftly from brief appearances in such pictures as “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “Thank Your Lucky Stars” to an important role with Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins in “Old Acquaintance.” Miss Rosenstein, than whom there is no other when it comes to putting the finger on a real screen prospect, points all ten of them at Miss Moran. wy