Screenland (Nov 1949-Oct 1950)

REDUCE "a THE SAME SIMPLE WAY THE STARS USE TO Reduce! love and hate is very small." From our chat with Arlene, we'd summarize the boy wins girl and vice-versa issue like this . . . Don't be too anxious for a date . . . don't let him be too sure of himself — at least as far as you're concerned . . . don't try and remake yourself to his specifications and become a doormat . . . and above all, be yourself at all times. A Young Lady Who Is Headed For Fame Continued from page 47 spoiled by a doting mother who would be the last to admit that she secretly feared lier Mary's new financial independence — that young lady's earning capacity being in the neighborhood of a fast thirty dollars a week. Debra's mother has no worry on this score, though her daughter's take-home pay is considerably more. She exclaims right in the young lady's presence that anyone who gets a head too big to fit comfortably into a misses' size sports hat will leave home immediately — and not entirely of her own volition or necessarily under her own steam. Somehow you realize that mother isn't talking to improve her diction or to increase her vocabulary and her talented daughter would be the last to put her to the veracity test. However, since Debra is wholly sweet and rather shy, there is no need to apply the legendary spared rod. Debra had won a bout with French verbs as we arrived and was preparing to return a hat to a Fifth Avenue shop. Nine lids had preceded it on the return trip, for IMr. Hathaway could not be suited. The director, you see. selects a starlet's wardrobe. He had already okayed a California coat which he instructed Debra to wear on the trip East so as to give it the beat up look which stenogs' clothes acquire after a single trip on the crowded subway. Debra's mother, who is jolly and smart and a former thespian herself, presided over the interview, which seemed to relieve and please the girl. She said that her gifted child had always wanted to be an actress, but had been advised to take it easy and to consider the hard work and disappointments which the precarious profession entailed. Debra promptly went into a serious huddle with herself and came up with the .same resolve. So — at the ripe old age of eleven, she began. She was put into the hands of Queenie Smith of the Theatre Guild and her first footlights appearance was in "The Merry Wives Of Windsor," with Charles Coburn. She learned a lot of great value, among the more difficult of the lessons being that the talent of listening is a real art which must be cultivated. "If you listen attentively to the player who is speaking to you," Debra remarked, "you can't go wrong, for then you naturally register reaction. There is nothing forced about it. I discovered early that many young players think only of the lines they themselves are to say in dialogue and so don't project the feeling that goes on behind them. In other words, they give the answer without actually hearing the question." And so, when you see her portrayal of the Indian maiden in "Broken Arrow," you will recognize the reason for the maturity of her performance. She listens and thinks before she speaks and when she speaks every word "rings true." Debra's entrance into the movies might well be termed a happy accident. Her older sister was slated for a test at 20th Century-Fox and Debra went along literally for the ride. When the astute test director saw her sitting quietly and unobtrusively on the sidelines, he definitely liked what he saw and tested her, too. She proved to be future movie material, but since she was only fourteen, her test was merely filed. This had an effect similiar to a body blow on the ambitious youngster, who was sure it would be labeled File and Forget. So many tests have been pigeon-holed because of a long time lapse, she figured. In this case, her logic was strong, but wrong. However, it was nearly two years later that she made her film debut in a role for which the studio had spent months testing other players, both established actresses and newcomers. It was her quiet beauty which most lived up to the ethereal quality required in the "House Of Strangers" script that spoke volumes for her. And so, Debra was cast opposite the picture's star. Richard Conte. which casting position started her practically at the top of the movie ladder. 20th Century-Fox has never been accused of being slow on the uptake and recognition of what they had in Debra Paget was instant. They are giving her a build-up comparable to that which Jeanne Crain received two years ago. Debra takes it all in her stride. She is enthusiastic, of course. She's vitally interested in practically everytliing. Whije in New York, she found time to do the things most players are publicized as doing, but often don't get around to on their first trip to the big city — riding the .-ubway, visiting the Statue of Liberty, tripping to the top of the Empire State Building — in short, the works. "It was thrilling and fun," she says, "and way downtown at Broadway and Cedar Street, where we made 'Fourteen Hours' scenes, was truly exciting. Paul Douglas, who plays a policeman, joined us there and when Mr. Douglas is around, it can never be dull. Each day Debra fitted in her school work, with her tutor, as required by California state law. She did not neglect it. Often when she was "resting" between scenes, she sat in a limousine studying tomorrow's lessons. The work $3.98 for Complete Outfit No Pills — no diets — no food supplements. 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