LIMUUUAMAM '•
Sixteen Years With Hollywood’s Stars
TRAVELING DOWN MOVIELAND’S
MEMORY LANE
By ROBBINS COONS Newsfeatures Writer
4
(SECOND OF A SERIES)
HOLLYWOOD—It was only
yesterday . . .
A husky guy with the stubby
whiskers of a western “heavy”
i was shaking hands, grinning, on a
’ desert location. Most of the visi
tors were ogling Bill Boyd, the
hero, but I heard one little lady
say “My, oh my!” looking at this
fellow. It was probably the first
LADIES’ AFTERNOON
and
EVENING DRESSES
<
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Deliveries are now leaving store
9
at 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 pan.
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Store
! I
sign in a mass ecstasy that was to
sweep the feminine fan world— j
over a fellow the movies first re-.
jected because his ears were too
big. Clark Gable . . .
She was dashing out of the Hal
Roach studio, and someone ob
serving from a window grumbled,
“Just another dizzy blonde—she’ll
never get anywhere.” But where
Jean Harlow might have gone ul
timately, as a comedienne and a
warm, human character, will
never be known now. Like Carole
Lombard, who was to meet her
own death equally early and trag
ically, Jean was a favorite of the
“little people’ ’of the lots . . .
Queen Glamor
She was a beautiful girl, her
English halting and slow. She was
newly from Germany—shy, aloof,
i distrustful. Her next picture made
I her a star and she rode high, sus
picious, “difficult,” often ungra
cious. She was Queen Glamor—
with the beautiful legs. Today
she’s a changed woman, still beau
tiful but a pretty good egg, and
always what we call “good copy”
—whether she’s starting a fad
like masculine trousers for wo
men, talking about how to make
German pastry, or entertaining
soldiers as she’s doing now, Mar
lene Dietrich . . .
They were two little girls, about
the same pre-’teen age, the one
sang hot and one sang sweet.
M-G-M let the sweet singer go,
and would have dropped the other
except for a lucky loanout. Judy
Garland and Deanna Durbin . . .
There was a cocky little kid, a
towhead, playing ball with his dad
on the Universal lot. “Let’s skip
by here fast,” said my guide. “It’s
one of those movie brats. They’re
bad enough when they’re just
hanging on they’re a menace.”
The cocky kid grew up—Mickey
Rooney . . .
Debut As A Corpse
He was a tall, handsome, easy
grinning fellow, ambling about
the studio cutting rooms. When we
shook hands he said. “Me, I’ve
just played a corpse. My first and
only picture work. Don’t suppose
I’ll stay around here long.” That
was Errol Flynn — before “Cap
tain Blood” and his headline
days . . .
The blonde, intense girl across
the luncheon table wasn’t talking
like an ingenue. She was making
sense. She had ideas, and ex
pressed them pointedly. She still
makes sense, does Bette Davis . . .
They were girls in the showgirl
line-ups . . . Betty Grable, Paul
ette Goddard, Lucille Ball, Vir
ginia Mayo, Lynn Bari . . .
And he was an obscure come
dian from the stage, a fellow with
an oversized mouth and a sort of
hopeless outlook on pictures which
would have none of him—Joe E.
Brown. Only yesterday . . .
WERE YOU RIGHT?
1. Helen Kane
2. Myrna Loy
3. Ronald Colman
4. Aileen Pringle
5. Constance Bennett
(Next: Robbin Coons Discovers
No Discoveries)
, _I
Federal Works
Agency Advance
Planning Program
Of the $15,000,000 made avail
able by the Federal Government
for advance planning, approxim
ately $11,000,000 has been re
quested by applicants throughout
the nation, who have submitted a
total of 1,058 applications. Most of
these applications have come from
the central states.
Presumably the concentration
of war activities on the Pacific
Coast has diverted attention from
the advance planning program in
this region. The sum of $194,844
was allotted to the State of Wash
ington; however, only $85,992 of
this amount has so far been re
quested, only 7 eligible applica
tions having been received. Ore
gon with a total allotment of
$124,206 has submitted 8 eligible
applications in a total amount of
$85,992. Montana has submitted
15 eligible applications in a total
amount of $159,694, or nearly
twice the sum of $84,875 allotted
for that state. It is expected that
additional Federal funds will be
made available. Idaho with an al
lotment of $84,875, has not yet
submitted any applications. Alas
ka with a similar amount allotted
to it has submitted only 3 appli
cations in the total amount of
$13,000. It is understood, however,
that a number of additional ap
plications are now being prepared
for submission by Alaska commu
nities.
Mr. L. R. Durkee, Division En
gineer (Northwest area) of the
Bureau of Community Facilities,
Federal Works Agency, Seattle,
Washington, says that the cessa
tion of hostilities in the Pacific
will unquestionably result in a
marked and immediate increase in
advance planning applications.
The Federal funds made avail
able to applicants for this purpose
are to be repaid if, as and when
construction starts. No interest is
charged for the use of hese funds.
HARRY LONGLEY RETURNS
TO NOME
Harry Longley, who is Terri
torial agent for weights and meas
ures, just returned from a trip to
the north, where he has been mak
ing an annual inspection. He was
unable to complete his work due
to poor landing fields in several
places and will return north again
after the freeze-up.
T W INS C O BEFORE C A M E R A—Timothy and Gre
gory Barker, red-haired, 14-week-old twin sons of actress Susan
Hayward and actor Jess Barker of the movies, pose for their first
photograph, along: with their proud parents.