The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-07-20

Still
| Has NOGuide
But Public

HoIlywosd.-Ify an they may,
Noilywood's Aim producers can
Ind no formula by which to deter
nine box ONCE appeal.
This certain elusive quality, quite
Mutually an essential one, seems to
Be justAOne Of those things about
shich nothing can be done. Either
person has it or he hasn't. And
there doesn't appear to any way of
Determining in advance who has
Il and who hasn't.
That is q. thing Mr. and Mrs Pub
Die must decide for themselves.
They refuse to have anyone thrust
upon them.
. Another strange thing about this
uuality known as box Office appeal
BIS that it covers persons of almost
&every conceivable type. For ex-
&le, it would be rather difficult
Ito imagine two actresses more re-
moved from each other than Ro-
=chelle Hudson and Ann Harding.
yet each has a very distinct follow
Ting among theater-goers.
Producers have tried for. years to
figure out "a way of determining
this appeal. But they practically
have given it up as bad job. In
many instances, they can't even
point out why certain successful
7stars are successful. And nobody
Hyet has been able to tell why q
3reigning favorite should suddenly
pass into oblivion. Yet that has
happened many times.
The one thing which has proven
to studio executives more than
Hanything else that they don't know
Awhat it's all about is the number of
Hpotential stars they have let slip
Through their fingers to other stu
Eiios.
Clarke Gable and George Raft
both worked in pictures at Warmers
and neither got tumble. Yet
Gable has been the sensation Of the
last year and Raft suddenly has
Sprung into the very front row.
Samuel Goldwyn signed Constance
Cummings and then wondered why.
So he let her go. And she now
ranks as one Of the best bets on the
columbia lot.
Practically every studio here had
chance to get Jean Harlow's
name on the dotted 1ine-and
passed up the opportunity. When
she became a sensation almost
overnight in "Ielrs Angels"
Fox officials thought SO little Of
Nfinna Gombelps talents that they
had her spending half her time as
Ia voice teacher during her first six
amonths on that lot. Tt was the pub
Tic who discovered her and de-
2manded to see more Of her. Now
she scarcely ever gets q chance to
Wrocf NV no vic q 30 vfrrtff into
pictures for her.
n A couple Of years ago RKO of
Nficials weren't greatly excited over
little Rochelle Hudson. She re-
Received her contract simultaneous
fly with six or eight other promis-
Ing girls. In fact, some Of the other
Eirla received far more attention.
n But Rochelle is the only one of
The group still drawing a weekly
pay check. The only reason can
rive is that she has a quality which
catches the public fancy.
Scores OF players have been inn
ported from the legitimate stage
Since the introduction of talkfes.
Some stif1 are here. Others long
since have been forgotten.
n Lionel Barrymore, Marie Dress
Ter, Ann Harding, Maurice Cheva-
bier, Robert Montgomery, Jimmy
sDurante, Lillian Bond, Jeanette
Macdonald, Claudette Colbert and
the Marx brothers are shining ex-
amples of stage personalities who
have clicked with the movie ians.
But there are an equal nun1oer
of front rank stage players who
took a crack at films and returned
Ito the footlights again. A few OBJ
viously couldn't last because they
lost something through being
photographed. Others just didn't
click, that's all. And there isn't a
treason in the world that can be
Ugiven.
The latest recruit from the stage
Ito arrive in town is charming,
Iblond Dolores Rey. Just what the
future holds for her still remains q,
mystery. She looks great in her
Iscreen tests. But she has vet to face
THE final judges-theater audiences.