GLORIA JEAN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 March 1940, Page 9

GLORIA JEAN

AMAZING DRAMATIC ABILITY. Motion picture producers constantly comb the world for talent, only to have it walk right into their offices unannounced. Something of this sort happened in the case of Gloria Jean. Universal’s new child star, eleven years old. who makes her screen debut in “The Underpup," which will be

released in the near future. Six months ago. little Gloria Jean was entirely unknown as far as show business was concerned. She had never acted or sung on the stage with the exception or a few neighbourhood entertainments. She had never warbled over the radio. Today she is the title player in one of Universal’s most ambitious film productions, "The Underpup." She is supported by a cast of important screen players, ranging from 76-year-old C. Aubrey Smith, who has been acting for 47 years, to little Ann Gillis. It was produced by Joe Pasternak, who brought Deanna Durbin to overnight fame in ‘‘Three Smart Girls.” Ip the summer of 1938, Pasternak was in New York for a rest after a couple of years of uninterrupted cinema toil. He didn't want to see any adult screen prospects. He was even less in the mood to interview i juvenile talent. All he wanted was I a good loaf before going back to work. I When an assistant asked him to listen I to a little girl with an extraordinary voice, he assented without too much | enthusiasm. So next day, Gloria Jean walked quietly into Universal’s New

York office and sang for Mr Pasternak. She proved to have a coloratura soprano voice with a wide range. She was pretty. Her personality was pleasing. Pasternak was impressed. Gloria Jean was signed to a contract. Then she was sent to Hollywood for five months of screen training. From the first day of shooting on "The UnI derpup,” she proved to be a natural trouper.