Mr and Mrs Pick Powell Sponsor Boy Discovery

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21229, 27 September 1940, Page 10

Mr and Mrs Pick Powell Sponsor Boy Discovery

Cinema . ♦ . Snapshots

Joan Blondell and her husband, Dick Powell, who are co-starred in Paramount’s “1 want A Divorce, have established a Hollywood precedent with the astonishing announcement that they will personally undertake the development of a child star who they are convinced will win the hearts of movie-goers as no youngster has since Jackie Coogan. Joan and Dick announced they are sponsoring tWe career of six-year-old Mickey Kuhn, sensational little actor working with them in “I Want A Divorce.” Mickey’s astounding performance to date in a most difficult role in the film, in one scene of which he is required to manage more than seven minutes of tricky dialogue, has for days been the talk of the Paramount lot, and the lad has endeared himself in particular to Miss Blondell. In her first scene with Mickey the boy was directed to throw himself into Joan’s arms. It was an intensely emotional scene, and Director Ralph Murphy ordered half a dozen rehearsals before the first take was attempted. There were several takes after that, and when Murphy eventually called a halt, satisfied with the work of the boy and the star, Mickey just stayed in Joan’s arms, and Joan held him there. Both were tired. After that the lovely blonde star and the boy were inseparable. Joan and Dick say they have pledged themselves to furthering the lad’s climb to stardom by insisting he is given every opportunity on any lot on which they work, and by coaching him and closely watching his career until he has reached the top. Mickey’s parents fully approve the sponsoring. Mickey’s work stood out recently in “Gone With the Wind” and “Juarez.”