Lauren Bacall screen test for "To Have and Have Not". Hawks asked his secretary to find out more about her, but the secretary misunderstood and sent Bacall a ticket to come to Hollywood for the audition. After meeting Bacall in Hollywood, Hawks immediately signed her to a seven-year contract, with a weekly salary of $100, and personally began to manage her career. He changed her first name to Lauren, and she chose "Bacall" (a variant of her mother's maiden name) as her screen surname. Slim Hawks also took Bacall under her wing, dressing Bacall stylishly and guiding her in matters of elegance,
This Is the Life (1944 film) This Is the Life (1944 film) This Is the Life is a 1944 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Felix E. Feist starring Donald O'Connor, Susanna Foster, and Peggy Ryan. It is one of the several films that Universal Studios rushed O'Connor and Ryan through before O'Connor was drafted into the Army to serve in World War II. On her 18th birthday, orphan Angela Rutherford is given an inheritance of $6000. Her wisecracking friend Jimmy Plum arranges for a professional band to perform a number for her party, "You're a Lollapalooza", sung and danced by Jimmy and the band's