DONT’S AT HOLLYWOOD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 April 1940, Page 9

DONT’S AT HOLLYWOOD

1 WHEN IMPERSONATIONS ARE NOT ALLOWED. | The Dead End Kids are not allowed Ito drink or smoke in public, and j Frankie Burke, who played Jimmy I Cagney as a boy in 'Angels With Dirty | Faces" must never embarrass Cagney I with his impersonations of the star. > j Errol Flynn has many "don’ts" in his • I contract, but he calmly ignores them ■ ! all. and has his studio in a dither every i I time he disappears. He refuses to tell ‘ them where he is going, and there is generally a nation-wide search for him' . when lie is wanted for a picture. Re- ; cently Warners ofl'ered 500 dollars re- . ward to anyone locating him. The day after the efl'er, the studio received thousands of telegrams from people in every part of the country, stating they had seen the star that day. He was 1 eventually discovered aboard his yacht, i Sirocco, in Mexican waters. I Clark Gable is required to abide by the ruling of his director in all scenes in which daring feats are necessary. A stunt double is usually provided. The most envied of all players in Hollywood are Frederic March, Irene Dunne, and Ronald Colman. They are under contract to no studio, but freelance, picking their own stories and holding out for their price. Naturally they have to abide by studio rules when working, but their private lives are their own. and they have to answer to no one. ! When H. B. Warner was playing in “The King of Kings," De Milie had him under a special contract which forbade him to appear in night clubs or to smoke in public or on the set during the filming of the epic. Claudette Colbert is allowed to approve all of her still pictures before they are released. John Boles insists on Saturday afternoons of! during football seasons, and William Powell. Gary Cooper and Norma Shearer can't be required to work after G p.m.—and they really watch the clock. Spencer Tracy has a clause barring him from playing polo during a picture, and Jimmy Stewart, a licensed pilot, is not allowed to fly his plane 1 while working in a film. i Paul Muni must approve till of his < stories and the dialogue, while Jimmy Cagney lias the right to approve all advertising of his pictures. But it takes years of hard work and outstanding ability to get to where I they are, and they are all level-headed i < enough not to do anything silly tot harm their careers. Long-term contract is the ambition of most young players, but they are ! I

spurned by the big, established stars, who prefer the privilege of free-lanc-ing and a reputation. Of course, a long-term contract does not mean that the player is set for the length of that contract. Every contract has options, usually of six months' duration. At the end ol each halfyear the studio reviews the player's work and popularity and then decides whether to take up the option for another six months or drop it. entirely. Young players have to do exactly what studios tell them. They must go out with girls or boys selected by the studio—-usually a rising young player is given a popular star as an escort for the sake of publicity. Once a player signs on the dotted line his life belongs to his studio.