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18
SCREENLAND
Jean Hersholt, playing the ■title role in "The Country Doctor," is pictured here in a scene with the Dionne Quintuplets. Don't miss a word of our exclusive story about the babies' big movie debut!
Copyright 1936 NEA Service, Inc.
h
e Quintuplets
are Movie Stars Now!
I HAVE had many exciting moments in my varied career on stage and screen, but never have I been as thrilled as when I began making "The Country Doctor" with the most famous babies in the world — the Dionne quintuplets.
Like you, I had seen the newsreels of these infants every few months, but I was wholly unprepared for my contact with them. I have no children of my own, so I have never known the sacred experience of motherhood,
but I doubt if many real mothers have felt more hallowed over the miracle of motherhood than I did when I came into the presence of the Dionne babies.
You have heard how nervous people become working with Garbo for the first time. Jean Hersholt, (who plays the Actionized character of Dr. Dafoe), and I called ourselves "seasoned troupers," but we were so nervous that all our first scenes had to be re-taken.
My first glimpse of them was just before we reached the Dafoe Hospital. Thev were sleeping on the sun porch, all nicely covered by Eskimo suits, and reposing in their handsome prams, (which I later saw had a silver
Dorothy Peterson, first outsider ever to hold the Dionne babies in her arms, tells you all about her experiences playing the nurse in "The Country Doctor, feature film starring the "Quins
By Dorothy Peterson
As told to Maude Lathem
plate on the side with each baby's name on it. The carriages had leather canopies and tliese tops were completely covered with snow! I could hardly credit my eyes. But don't forget when we arrived in North Bay, 12 miles from the town of Callander, near the location of the Dafoe Hospital, the weather was 20 degrees below zero. It was slightly warmer by the time we got out there. The snow had blown through the screens on the open porch, but the babies were warm as toast.
My first real sight of them came when a few minutes later we stood outside of the play room and watched the nurses bringing them in — looking like nothing more than wooly little animals, all in different colored outfits : pink, blue, white, rose, and orchid.
I know you want to know every single thing these babies did, and what we actually think of them, so I shall try to tell you. Even before we left Hollywood, we knew from the contract which had been approved by their guardian, David A. Croll, Minister of Public Welfare in the Province of Ontario, that we should be able to work with them only an hour at most each day — often only