Talking pictures : how they are made, how to appreciate them (c. 1937)

The Casting Director ing intelligent "society" types who can wear beautiful clothes charmingly), pretty girls (what a list this is!), homely girls, stenographers, tall women, short women, stunt women, maids, character women, women riders, dowagers, healthy children (children are sometimes in a separate file, sometimes in the women's file), peaked children, Negroes, Hawaiians, Orientals, Latin types, German types, and Slavic types. Should there come a request for an unusual type not frequently needed, an efficient casting director has his sources of supply which he may tap by making a few telephone calls. A certain young medical interne in a Los Angeles hospital augments his income, and brings needed financial aid to many unfortunates, by keeping a casting index of freak medical cases. He can supply on demand men and women with both or either legs, arms, or eyes missing. In an hour he can send over a man with the "shakes," or a woman with a harelip. He once provided a studio with a woman who had a case of angina pectoris — the sound of whose uncertain heart beat was vital in establishing a certain point in The Bishop Murder Case. The card indexes used are established in the best tradition. Typed information is on the front, and a small picture of the player on the back. The front of the card gives these data: name, address, telephone, weekly salary, daily salary, age, weight, height, general appearance, color of eyes, carriage, wardrobe (the average minor player has an advantage in employment if he has sport clothes, evening wear, and street clothes of varied pattern), class, subclass, coloring, parts played. [131]