Screenland (Nov 1934-Apr 1935)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

for February 19 3 5 13 An Open Letter to G. G. KID" GARBO, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Culver City, Cal. Dear "Chocolate": How're you, kid? Giving in? Always thought you would, sooner or later. Of course, it's "later," all right; but maybe it won't be long now before you're answering fan letters and posing for bathing suit pictures again. You know, you've never fooled me even a little bit. Perhaps because I am one of the few living persons who has ever really met you. I won't forget that meeting, either; I liked you, liked your frank and friendly greeting, your shyness, your genuine modesty; liked your good manners when you crossed the room to get me your special brand of cigarette; enjoyed your democratic difference to the other screen celebrities of the period. Yes, that was a long, long time ago. 'Way back in the Jack Gilbert era. Nevertheless, in your later motion pictures I'd catch brief, tantalizing glimpses of the girl I had met, beneath all the gloomy "Queen Christina" grandeur, chiefly when you'd grin. That grin, in fact, kept alive my interest and my enthusiasm in the Garbo Legend. And now — now is Director "Woody" Van Dyke smashing that legend to bits? I hope so. Because somewhere under the layers and layers of Duse-Bernhardt business there must be a real Garbo who could thrill the world once more; who could go on to really great things on screen and stage. And if Director Van Dyke has found you out with his disarming honesty which places all troupers, stars or support, on the same genial footing, then I'll toss another hat in the air — and I've already tossed away too many hats over "The Thin Man." No, Greta — I'm afraid you won't be able to fool any of us any more, if it's true, and how I hope it is, that you liked Mr. Van Dyke's directorial methods which included calling you "Honey" and "Kid" — to which latter you're rumored to have returned, "Just call me 'Chocolate.' " It took Director Van Dyke to tear away the painted veil from the musty Garbo statue. Next, he'll probably topple the statue right off its pedestal if he has a chance. And whether you actually enjoy, at this late date, being treated as just another human being, as Van Dyke invariably treats anybody working on the set, instead of The Woman in the Glass Cage, you're a good enough business girl to like to make "hit" pictures. And a hit, Kid Chocolate, is what you need.