Variety (Feb 1930)

Wednesday, February 12, 1930 W O M E N' S PA G E VARIETY 53 Adrift in Hollywood By Cecelia Ager Hollywood, Feb. 8.» ■ Pity the poop Easterner In Holly- 'vood! Temporarily blinded by the dazzling California sun, he recovers his Bight only to be stunned once more by the magnificence oi: film- dom's automobiles. Here, where flowers bloom the year round, flooded with sunshine by day and- eearchllghts at night, the motors, sensitive to their environment, take on the rainbow hues of their back- ground. They're trying, these waves of color that meet the unaccustomed eyes from every point. In the east an automobile is a means of con- veyance unless It's a taxi, and Its aspect Is trustworthy and sombre. Not so in Hollywood. Here an automobile Is one's last cent, a painted, triumphal chariot to tell all Hollywood Boulevard. Colors attract the eye more quickly than' black. Of all the colors, yellow and cream have the highest degree of visibility. Most of pictures' motors are yellow. There is such a preponderance of yellow automobiles' only the most devoted observers can tell one Rolls from another. Those w^io choose salmon pink and orchid are smart. There aren't so many of those and the business of identifying cars is easier. As for cars with nickel hoods, they are in such profusion nobody cares, except the chauffeurs who have to polish them. Baby blue was ' popular until a manufacturer put out a line of stock cars all in that color. Secondary in Importance only to distinctive coloring Is the fundamental that a motor .be a "custom job." Since nickel has been done to death, brass glitters very, nicely as a metal trimming to set off the gay colors. A radiator trim of brass is the utmost in dash right now. As "a, last gasp~for the fdeal-HoijywGOd- car are tires of white rubber, their non-skid treading marked off In crisscrosses . of black. In motion, they give oft a kaleidoscopic effect to set the now thoroughly blinking Easterner reeling again. Creatures of many moods that they are, some of Hollywood's famous have taken to using Ford town cars. In a fine spirit of play they drive about In, these little toy cars. But let no one suppose that it is more than .fun. A Hollywood personage ^loes not buy a Ford till . he has nestling in his garage at least one'good, staunch, expensive limousine. be a jazz spiritual. The chorus is dressed In tattered ginghams with bandanas on the heads of the women and frayed straw hats on the men. They all hold their hands aloft In the way "Porgy" found to be so effective. Miss Roth's dress, truly is a flashy thing of black satin un- stinted in rhlnestones. It slinks down the figure fondly till it reach- es the knees, where godets meet it, appliqued In points. The Irregular hemline is edged with rhlnestones, a jeweled belt clasps the waistline, and rhlnestone embroidery marks the Joining of the white pointed yoke to the black of the bodice. Such a dress as is sure to win the admiration of the chorus, and make them follow their leader. Sue Carol Is almost burled by the hoity-toity, sweepingly grand ava- lanche of pink souffle and lace In "The Golden Calf." Her face peeks out from under a pink horsehair, hat, but it isn't the same old Sue. Draped in plctui'e magnificence, a madcap is apt to emote. Will o' the wisps can't go about with grand dame long skirts and long correct gloves stifling their fresh young impulsiveness. Here Is Sue in a very haughty gown just as if she were playing her own mother. The long- fitted bodice, crushed a little to in- dicate the waistline, has a high round neck, a shirt waist panel of N. Y. MISTREATS HOLLYWOOD'S DARLINGS HoWyvrooA, Feb. 11. Broadway may. be one of the eight wonders of the world to Manhattan habitues and rubes from the East- ern sticks, but it's a trial and tribu- lation to the chorines who were re- cruited here for "Fifty Million Frenchmen." Fifteen of the 24 who made the pilgrimage axe back. Glad of It, they say. Disillusioned—and how! According to the gals, they wouldn't swap a comer of Hollywood on a wet night for all of Broadway. And what they think of stage door Johns'.- "Just a bunch of Scotchmen. They thought we were hicks," said Helen Splane. "Thought we'd be generous for a chop suey supper. Those guys ought to come out to Hollywood ajid learn what a girl's appetite really is. "Subway stuff may be thrilling in pictures," said Donne Grant, "but who wants to be a sardine?" With automobiles out here as necessary to a gal's job as her rouge stick, It's easy to get Donne's slaiit. Street cars are only used by the visitors. Wisdom for the Woeful By Nellie Revell This department, conducted by Miss Revell, has been instituted as a weekly feature and is placed at the service of ahy "Variety" reader. Matter submitted to Miss Revell will be treated confidentially. No attention will be paid to unsigned letters, but real names will always be suppressed. Miss Revell may be addressed at the Hotel Somerset, West 47th street, or care "Variety," New York. Dear Miss Revell: My husband is"*~ a musician on the road with a mu- sical show, and his letters are get- ting; colder, shorter and fe-ft-er. I am just wondering—and you know what I am wondering, don't you? What do you think I should dt)— just let him drift away, or should I tell him of my suspicions? Or should I go on and surprise him and maybe learn the awful truth? Wifie. Answer: Nobody ever goes look- ing for something that they don't want to find. And those surprise' visits don't always turn but the way one anticipates. But if you feel he is straying from the straight and narrow, and you want to hold him, why not tell him you would like to join him and apply the same formu- la to reclaim him that you did to attract him In the first place? Mu- sicians are highly strung men whose sensibilities are keenly developed My observation of them on the road i3 that they are too busy playing pinochle, rehearsing and trying to figure out how much longer the show is going to last, to bother with the ladies. This doesn't apply If And Garbo, Now On billboards all over town, "Garbo Talks." Greta Garbo is Anna Christie on the screen. A bell rings and Garbo slides In. She looks tired! That brave little velvet bow around her neck! She's talked! As quick as that, and it can never happen again. Well, well! She speaks with a low, throaty voice, naturally. Her voice makes an agreeable sound. It sounds as one would hope Garbo's voice would sound. She's intense, that Garbo, very serious about everything, .but always she's Interesting. She's grander than ever with that pleasant voice of hers. Dorothy Mackail's clothes in "Strictly "Modern" prove how wise ■were the fashion arbiters to lengt>i- en skirts and place waistlines again where Nature always thought them l>€st. This picture -was made just before the present blessedly knee less era. From a fashion view point it is hopelessly dated. Miss Mackall has nothing to fear from the short skirt angle, but the new mode's high waistline Is more youthful and therefore a flatterer. An example of what so recently ■was the last word Is a chiffon dress appliqued with lace. It has a long- waisted bloused bodice pulled tight across the hips, from which hangs the skirt of two circular flounces, lace bordered up the front. Lace «dges the V neckline tied in a bow at the base and there are long tight sleeves. The scalloped slip of the <'ress ends above the knees so that they may glimmer from under the tran.sparen.cy of the skirt in the best manner of spring, 1929. But all that IS changed now. Soon picture re- lease dates will catch up with the '"Ofle and the kindly picture audi- encp.<5 will bo spared these anachron- IsniK. Lillian Roth, in "Honey," leads a '"""i-u.s of colored folk in what mu.<:t Did You Know That- Not even the stars can find out when ihe Marilyn Miller, Astaire show will be produced.... A hand- some baritone named Bartlett would knock them cold In Hollywood The Jack War- ners have colored lights . on their swimming pool Mrs. Harry Archer is in Paris buying the new models for a big fashion house... .Helen Kane -yrocB .a lDvel.y .bJack . Yelv.et_g.own_wlth_a. band_gi;. ermine at the hemline at the Mayfalr Setturday night Blanche Ring jokingly told Ethel Kenyon that If she ever met her nephew, Eddie Suther- land, she would lose her heart and sure enough.... Betty Compton is speeding southward for a vaca- tion... .Bobbie Clark is a great student of Dickens... .Peggy Fears Blumenthal is back from an extensive European trip....No one seems to know If Grace. Menken and Bert Lytell are married yet... .Phylls Haver Seeman.wore a smart tailored suit and beret at the Algonquin the other day.... Ruth Tester lives In a cunning house in Bronx- ville... .Susan Fleming will shortly depart for Hollywood and pictures... .Bebe Daniels Is con- sidered one of the best bridge players on the Coast Shy little Dorothy Jordan has surprised her friends by blossoming into a full fledged screen name....Most (if the current young men of the stage meet weekly at alaily hair expert's shop who undertakes to preserve what's left of the flowing locks...,all the picture people are furiously de- evloplng their voices.... Jeannette MacDonald and Bob Ritchie are practically engaged. .Mrs. Crane Wilbur, Is in town on a visit, and may appear in a play while here Inez Courtney has a new wire haired pup....the Corday perfume people get out a weekly pamphlet with Intimate Interviews on stars, makes a terrific hit with the flaps behind the counters who sell It Bide Dudley is presi- dent of the "Lackadillua" club L,Ita Gray Chaplin wears a black velvet evening cap with her low cut velvet evening gown....the Philip ..Glenby^. entert?ilned- at Jiome last .nlgl^t,....Chick.. Chandler, son of Major Chandler, founder of the N. T. State Police, Is taking screen tests....the J. J. McCarthy's arrive in town Sunday... .there's a Philadelphia girl living In town who used to be In the chorus, married money, and will have none of It because she says, he must learn how to work....Harry Cohn Is still asking about but hasn't bought that yacht... .Claiborne Foster has •written a play she may peddle for the screen.... Lawrence Tibbett was a boy sop;'ano in a choir..,. people walk by the Algonquin looking skyward so as to dodge the hat fulls of adverbs tossed out the windows. Mrs. Bert Wheeler crashed the society columns of the Dos Angeles dallies with a luncheon... .Marlon Spltzer's novel, "Hungry Toung Lady," is out... .Freddie March has his own Guggenheim pads with his name on them....a lot of former and pi'esent occupants of the Pa,lace. sixth floor held a reunion at the Brown Derby In L. A. Monday....If you're going to the Coast take summer clothes, it's hot Eddie Buzzell and the frau, Ona Munson, will Havana for a couple of weeks, sailing this week. clothes and other essentials and the few dollars I send weekly to my mother. He claims he needs the money to finance our summer lay- offs. Duririp that period I work hard at our Freeport place keeping the home in order and cooking for him and his guests. He has always abused me, Insulted me in public and In. front of our friends. Last week while In a temper as result of some bad booze he beat me. If I walk out on him now it means I will have to leave the show. I must work iand jobs are hard to get. What do you advise? Burlesque Girl. Answer: Down in Mlsfiourl, where Justice is sometimes tempered with philosophy as well as mercy, two men wera brought before the same judge. One was charged with beat- ing his wife and the case was dis- missed. The other was accused of beating a mule and the man was fined |5. The lawyer defending the mule beater protested the decision, polnt-lng out the wife beater had gone unpunished. "Well," said the judge, "you see it's this way:--The mule Is a valuable animal, a beast of burden; he haa to work hard, and hardly gets enough to eat. Any man who would abuse a mule ought to be fined or put In jail. The mule can't help himself and is entitled to our protection, but any woman who will let a man beat her and con- tinues to live with him isn't wofth protecting." Dear Madam: My husband, a mo- tion picture actor, makes money enough to keep a maid. Tet he ex- pects me to do thja housework, "which T WCuid be glad to d<r lf hls~ circumstances demanded. He de- nies himself nothing; is the best dressed man.in the studio, keeps a car, belongs to several clubs and entertains lavishly; but-Insists It Is a woman'fj Curf to do her own housework. I have refused to do-It. Do you think I am right? Amy. Answer: Absolutely. If your hus- band -wanted a chambermaid he should have married one. If he is making plenty of money there is no reason why you shouldn't share In the comforts his Income affords. lace, edged with a ruffle of souffle and sleeves flowing from the elbow with lace. The floor touching skirt, circular In no mean degree, is joined to the dress In an Irregular line low at the hips. Sue carries with all this grandeur a large chif- fon lace-bordered handkerchief, poising herself, as who can blame her, with a swagger stick. ^Even though the costume fits so relent- lessly it could only be here, she still looks like a little girl trying to play 'lady." Janet Gay nor will always be a sweet young thing who listens obe- diently to her elders, as contrasted with the other sweet young things of the screen who don't mind so well. Her clothes appear to be se- lected for her by a maiden aunt, for Miss Gaynor never seems interested in clothes on the screen. In "High Society Blues" she is her own help- less, wistful self In an evening dress of pink chiffon, embroidered In brilliants. No daring decolletages for her. The modest square neckline, as high in back as in front, has jeweled straps. The dress follows the lines of her figure, attaining fullness from the hlpline and ondr ing with a wide, floor-reachin^j hem- line. In no way a smart dress, for this Is to be a sophisticated "so- ciety" picture; it does a i;ar morr important job than to have stylf. It suits perfectly the personnllty of its wearer. Edna Murphy reverses the onh-r of things and wears long white Md gloves in "Wide Open," inptearl of the black gloves that have taken the town by .storm. But originality ends there, for a pair of white foxes are carelessly flung across her ,«honl(lers. Her dress of blaek panne Natives don't even know the price of a ride". Hollywood just knows how these girls must have suffered In being forced to use the pleblan street car and subway train. "Yes," pipes Lorraine Lowell, "I tried to get off at Times Square and the mob was too big—I v/as at 166th street be- fore I could get off." Helen Fairweather missed her tennis and golf. And her morning orange juice and grapefruit. "Say, do you' know how much they charge you for orange Juice?" she asked. "Real orange Juice, I mean?" It must be plenty. Judging by the riot of denunciations this question brought on. Broadway, if you want our gals you've got to reduce the price of orange juice, take the fishhooks out of the pockets of the Johns, and make the sweet young things happy with one car apiece. Anything from an undcrslung Ford up wilj do. velvet is notable for the determina- tion of the fitter to moan tight wlien .she says tight. The basque" bodiee 1r joined by a flared circular skirt. An Insert of dull black marks the liii)line, ascending in a point ]ln fiviut. An accordion pU-ated |jiili6t ))fiMgs from the jiet-kllne, Icaiiglit. by'cut steel button.s, -whirli (ind otiier places to attacli thi-m- sr-lvf-.'i f^n the dress. Thin dross Is a version of Holly- wood .style of 1930. The hat, too, belonfjs to that categorj', for it i.s a skull cap worn oft the face, with a ruffle aeross the back oi the neek and ear.s, and With curls pushed foi'ward on the cheeks. you happen to be married to a drummer. Every show I have ever been with, the drummer has been the oracle for every woman In the company. Bear Nellie:—I may get In bad for addressing you this way, but It just seems as If I had known you for years—you are so friendly. I hope you know who I am. In case you don't here Is a little lead. I'm a little guy with a big heart which has a big ache. There Is a little gal chorusing in the musical com- edy "Fifty Million Frenchmen" who found a bright spot in my heart. She's cuter than cute and don't look like the usual "gold digger." I'd like very much to meet her. 'The manager of the show is a great pal of mine but I hate to ask him for an Introduction. She might think I'm worth a lot of dough, and that's exactly what I don't want her to think. Would you advise me to keep away from the sliow and her? A. Z. Answer: I nee no reason in the world why you shouldn't a.sk your friend, the company manager, to in- trodueo you to the young lady. How you reason that the mere fact of liis presenting you would convey the impre.sslon you arc.a little guy with big monf^y is beyond me. Dear Nellie: I am one of those singularly Tiinglo women who has fallen /or her piano player, and the fact that he wants to marry me pro.ves he, too, is In love. There is so much difference In otir ages th.it I am fearful of taking the step. You* have seen so many ca.ses like this that I wish you would tell me hon- estly what you think I should do. No. 3, Answer: Yes, and you have seen just as many cases as I have. And you also know love doesn't go around with a calendar In Its hand. I also know that If you are In love with him, and he with you, all the philosophy of Socrates and all the wisdom of Solomon won't stop you from marrying him, and why should It? Even If you only get a few years happiness out of It you are that much to the good. But be sure it is love and not Just loneliness. ..Dear .Miss P.evell: I am just ai ilie end of tlio road. I don't fi-el that I can go any fartlier and I )iccd help. I have been married four years, Ipave worked .stf;ady all that time and have never .seen a cent' of salary. My hii.iband, who Is In the same show fburlesfine) with mo, dr.'iws both salaries, and whllo he jiays all living expfnsfs he he- grudges me spending money for MARRIAGES Dorothy Marlon Jenkins, legit, to Jack Williams, publicity director for Publlx' Texas theatre, Feb. 6, San Antonio, Tex. Elinor Reld to Jack Kingston last week in Boston. Both members of Somervllle stock there. Marg'aret O'Connell to Hugh Mc- Kay-last week on stage of the Ma- jest ie theatre in Danville, Va. Couple are In the same vaude act. Ethel Kenyon, stage, to Eddie .Sutlierland, director, Feb. C In Agua Callcnte, Mex. Kenneth Seaton Garnet to ^f:tr- garet Gillespie in Hollywood, .Ian. 15. Uotli have been a; . e." Ing wiili Henry Duffy PI ycr.- on Wf-st (.'o.-ist. Jo.'^epbine Hiiuhnian, s e c o n 1 danghti-r of J-'i-jincis X. linshu'iaii. enKa^ed to w'-d John William Foster, .St. Loui.s, in April. Ilej- sl-'itr-r, I.,enore Huslimaii, is engnged to Dean Markham, a Hollywood booliseller. « Greta 'iran.^ky, dau^lfter of the llie;iti-" IJ.-ket broker, will wed l-'ri-di-ri'k P. I'nni* r;irjtK ,'it tlif* vM. .street Temple, ai.nday night.