NEWS AROUND HOLLYWOOD
- The head of the talent department at Paramount, Oliver Hinsdell, gives the odds of making it in Hollywood: one chance in 30,000 of becoming an extra; one chance in 15,000 of becoming an actor – that is speaking a line; and if they were to land a speaking part, one chance in 3000, of becoming a featured player. [See June 9]. (At the end of 1938, Paramount announced that they were closing their Dramatic school, and Hinsdell, its coach, would be leaving on Jan 12 when his contract expires).
- United Artist plans to economize by looking to condolidate like studio departments heads among all their producers [Goldwyn, Selznick, Small, Wanger and Roach] for the general music and art departments, the salaries to be shared jointly. Story and casting would be exempt from this dictate given the competiveness in those areas.
- According to an unwritten agreement current among the studios, the villain in ‘Bulldog Drummond in Africa’ was changed from a renegade Brit to an American. This was done to avoid offending European nations.
- Independent producer Sol Lesser has added another child actor to his stable of actors. She is 6 year old Baby Irene Dare, a crackerjack ice-skater. She joins Lesser’s other juvenile star Bobby Breen in his latest film, ‘Breaking the Ice,’ released through RKO. Lesser had a long history of acquiring young talent, stretching back to the time that he built up the career of Jackie Coogan. [Before this the young tot had only been in ice shows – 17 since she was four years old. Lesser thought he had a cross between Sonja Henie and Shirley Temple. But besides this film, she only had two others -1939’s- ‘Everything’s On Ice,’ and 1943’s ‘Silver Skates,’ when she was twelve].
- Edgar Bergen, who is fearful of losing his sidekick Charlie McCarthy, not only holds an insurance policy for the dummy, but he has hired a body guard to watch over him. [Up in 1939, the ventriloquist and his dummy have two films – ‘You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man’ and ‘Charlie McCarthy, Detective’].
BORN ON THIS DAY
In 1897, Moe Howard (Moses Harry Horwitz), saw the light of day for the first time in Brooklyn NY, the Bensonhurst neighborhood. At the tender age of twelve he was running errands at the Vitagraph Studio and taking bit parts in their films. After much work in vaudeville in which he made his reputation, he signed with Columbia in 1934. He was the ‘head stooge’ of the Three Stooges, composed (at this time) of Moe, Larry Fine, and Moe’s baby brother Jerome (Curly). They made eight short films per year.