Star-dust in Hollywood (1930)

Star-dust in Hollywood leaves him at comparative liberty. As far as I can see you are in an ideal position. . . ." I must confess at once that I have never had aspirations toward film fame. Nevertheless my motto in life is : " Try everything once at least, if it is offered." And if, I could reflect complacently, I should show a certain aptitude, why, there were far harsher ways of having to earn a living than that of acting for the talkies. In Hollywood the cinema studios are dissimulated. You could drive the length and breadth of the place and never suspect the reason for its world-wide notoriety. JWlC "^ut at J°inv^e le Pont, which aspires to become the Hollywood of France, the intrusion of the new art is unmistakable. On one side of the quiet Seine, the old, J0L small village clusters up the bank, notable only for an excellent river-side restaurant. But facing it, on the other bank, the studios of Pathe and his imitators and rivals dominate the landscape. In Hollywood the studios, externally at least, assume a decorative aspect : a Mexican palace, a Grecian temple, Haddon Hall ; here, less hypocritical, they proclaim themselves blatantly as factories of motion pictures ; what art there may be lurks hidden within. Hollywood guards its secrets carefully ; the American gogetter and the American reporter have a reputation, not undeserved, for the thickness of their skins. Here we strolled carelessly, unquestioned by the watchman. As C pushed me through the little door of the film studio it was empty except for the presence of a few workmen who were setting properties in position for the morning's work. The French have undoubtedly a native instinct for the rostrum, since, in order to decide on how any piece of [284]