Screenland (Nov 1936-Apr 1937)

for December 1936 vard in Beverly — unless he's at Barbara Stanwyck's or his mother's. The head waiter's face lit up as he appeared in the doorway. Swiftly I was handed a menu, but Bob wasn't. "I don't have to bother ordering. That's why I come here. They bring me things I don't have to work on!" Many a pretty miss attempted to flirt with him. But Bob's not a roving type of Romeo. He's the sort who's positive the girl of his current dreams has just left heaven. And when you can court an angel, sent to you from heaven, why philander? "Will you end up night-clubbing after the movies?" "Don't like 'em — night-clubs, I mean," Bob announced, driving me to his house so I could pick up my own car. "I like to dance. When Bennie Goodman was at the Palomar last summer I went there often. But these night-spots are too smoky. I'd rather bundle up and drive fast in the moonlight, with the temperature cold and — " He blushed. "Here we are and in the nick o' time; I'm beginning to sound foolish !" With a wave of his hand he whirled off to Barbara's. When the most popular man in Hollywood goes to a public dance-hall instead of the Troc, because he prefers a certain orchestra to being seen with the movie colony's social set, he's worth admiring with no reservations. And if being consolation that Robert Taylor, no less, believes in falling in love, too! The Ciri Who Calls Herself Margo Continued from page 51 she whirled around, rose petals cascaded from her hair, showered her tense young body and fell in sad little heaps to the floor. That night she took seventeen bows and two encores before they would allow her to leave. At a certain table sat a man and woman, who watched the exhibition with fascinated eyes. "That little girl is going to be heard from," said the woman, who was Helen Hayes. "Charlie, she has great talent that cannot be denied. Maybe some day you can use her." The remarks were addressed to Charlie MacArthur, who several years later gave Margo her great chance in "Crime Without Passion." Her acting in this picture brought Margo to the attention of Guthrie McClintic, producer husband of Katherine Cornell. In Margo he found Miriamne, {little Miriam), the tragic heroine of Maxwell Anderson's "Winterset." Together with an actor named Burgess Meredith, Margo scored an individual triumph that kept her playing the same role for eight consecutive months. While the play was still running, James Hilton came back to her dressingroom to see her. Just that day, Margo had finished reading Hilton's "Lost Horizon" and secretly expressed the wish that she might play the Tibetan girl. Typical of Mr. Hilton's vivid imagination, instead of introducing himself formally, he extended his hand and said : "You remind me of smoke." Months later, Margo was summoned to Hollywood and given the role she yearned for. Several days after she started the picture, she met one of the studio executives. Stopping her, he asked if she were happy and if she liked the picture. Bubbling over with happiness, the mad Margo exclaimed: "I love the picture. I love Frank Capra. I love Ronald Colman. I love Jane Wyatt and John Howard. In fact, I love everyone." The executive looked at Margo anxiously. Shaking his head sadly, in all seriousness he replied: "You give too much. You mustn't do it. It isn't good for you." Her eyes dancing, but her face a mask of despair, Margo dramatically quoted from Mr. Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" : "My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love is deep. The more I give, the more I have to give — for both are infinite." The executive stared at Margo, not knowing whether to break out in applause or call the wagon. Finally, with a sickly grin, he sputtered: "That was very good. Did you make it up?" During the making of "Lost Horizon," Margo got to know the elusive Ronald Colman. The make-up man on the set insists that one day he overheard Colman invite Margo out for dinner and she tactfully refused. That in itself is a mark of distinction in Hollywood. But Margo refuses to confirm or deny this. On the other hand, she learned something invaluable, while working with the charming Englishman. "Ronald Colman taught me the mean ing of patience," says Margo. "It's something one must have when working in the studios. On the set Mr. Colman was always kind, always polite, but he kept to himself. I used to watch him sitting on the sidelines. His face was very stern, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. One day we started to talk. I asked him how he could be content to remain in Hollywood, when there was so much waiting and so much to be experienced. I asked him if he enjoyed being a recluse and said that I was so hungry for the whole world, I just couldn't remain alone and live in the same place continuously. "He looked at me wisely and started to talk. He said that he had already had so much out of life, it was a relief for him to settle in the one spot that had the most advantages. Then he said something to me that I shall always remember. You only have one life,' were his words. 'Use it wisely.' I have never forgotten that. I want to use my life wisely. I want to make every moment count." All the time they were searching for someone to play in the screen version of "Winterset," Margo prayed that she might be given the chance. Dozens of tests were made. As a last resort, Margo was asked to make a test also. Because Burgess Meredith had already been signed to play his original role, the studio felt that a box-office name should be cast to play the part of the girl. Because he is a friend and great admirer of Margo, John Beal agreed to make the test with her and read the lines that Burgess Meredith would eventually speak on the screen. The day that producer Pandro Berman saw the test in the projection room was Ginger Rogers' birthday. That night, Ginger was having a party at the Cocoanut Grove. Berman arrived at the party late. In his eyes was a wild look of ecstasy. For the balance of the evening, everyone had to listen to his raves over the test. Margo and Burgess Meredith worked as they never worked before, in recreating their roles for the camera. Meredith, a newcomer to the screen, arrived in Hollywood with his wife, Margaret Perry. It is to be remembered that she was the one who disappeared from Hollywood when a local trade paper reviewed her first M-G-M picture and criticized her unfairly and without just cause. For days Margo and Burgess carried on their dramatics in the pouring rain. Meredith, who is a fine actor, represents the new school of Hollywood leading men. Hardly in the matinee idol class, his dramatic appeal is so sensational, studio executives pleaded that he sign for a term of many years. Instead, Burgess agreed to do one or two pictures every summer, providing they don't interfere with his first love, the theatre. When Margo was offered a long term R-K-O contract, she had much to consider. The security of a weekly pay checkpresented a helpful way to solve her many responsibilities. She herself could get along on next to nothing. But there were others to consider. On the other hand, she felt that Hollywood would limit her chances for development. Money played such a small part in her own scheme of things. She wanted to learn. She wanted to live. She wanted her freedom, to be able to fly to the four cor Again they face danger, and love, together. Warner Baxter and June Lang, Warner's leading lady in "Road to Glory," in their new film "The White Hunter.'