GIRLS LEAD

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 February 1941, Page 9

GIRLS LEAD

PARADE OF NEV/ FACES AT HOLLYWOOD. ’ d FIRST YEAR OF TRIAL OVER. : I Of course, many of these pretty girls j will not survive more than a year or ;j so on the screen because they have ‘little to offer but figure and looks, and ■ these do not appear to be enough on I which to base a successful career in ' the movie industry. , Studios announce each new find j with a fanfare of ballyhoo and blurbs ■of synthetic publicity that no newcomer could possibly live up to. The girl appears in several B. pictures. ; poses for "leg" art, gets her name chan-

ged, and is ordered to be seen in public with this or that popular male star <he is under contract to the same studio and escort duty is part of his job)

The new “find" has a hectic six months or a year in which she learns everything but the business of acting. Then the studio forgets to pick up her option, and she joins the ranks of the hundreds of other new “finds" who were discarded because they had no histrionic ability. They become extras, or go back home if they are brave enough to return as failures. Importance of Fan Mail.

It may sound like a Hollywood game, but it is played in all seriousness by the studios. The only way they can tell if a girl has what it takes to be a screen sensation is trial and error and fan mail. It is your reaction to each newcomer on the screen that determines her fate with the studios. .Among the 1940 finds likely to make the grade arc Gene Tierney, Ann Baxter, Mary Beth Hughes. Jane Russell. Katharine Aldridge. Joan Leslie. Veronica Lake, and Betty Field. Some of those you haven’t seen as yet, but al! I arc slated for important roles in future I pictures, while some already have made their screen debut and showed great promise. One of the prettiest of these new- j comers is Miss Tierney, a daughter of a ; wealthy New York broker. Iler first j appearance on the screen was in “Re- ! turn of Frank James," in which site ! played leading lady to Henry Fonda, I Fox was so pleased with her work and * her photogenic appeal that she has i been named for the leading nile ml “Tobacco Road," John Ford’s next pro-j duction. She is very pretty, but her speaking voice can be improved considerably and no doubt the studio s working on it. Mary Beth Hughes, after sever;) 1 minor roles, hit the top as John Barrymore’s wife in “The Great Profile." I

one is wnai nanywooa iikcs c;ui *; gorgeous blonde." but she is good little actress to boot as she proved in “Four Sons" as well as in “Profile," H handled carefully. Miss Hughes should develop into a first-rate actress, something Hollywood needs badly among •is younger generation, Ann Baxter go! her chance in “The Great Profile 1 too. and showed ability for a newcomer. I haven’t seen her since, but the studio tolls me she is being groomed for bigger and better roles This personable youngster is ;■ product of the stage, and has a good acting background to carry her •■ver the hurdles. Enter the Villainess. Veronica Lake is the best “in svy m villainess type Hollywood has (lisciw

don stage par! in "De. - ;!’ Dctopil: He read that Ludwig Uerg‘-r v:.; testing young men nt Denham fm Th Thief ->f Bagdad" T-iWirds th-- end <;f a tiring day. John Justin appeared m. tb.e set f< r testing and tm’. with miam-