The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-10-26
and
CLOSE-UPS
BY LENS

A group of comrades from the
Film and Photo League were hold
ing sort of informal round-table
council the other day to discuss the
problems facing us in the making of
documentary film on the misery
and degradation Of proletarian chill
dren under capitalism in general and
the economic crisis in particular.
In the midst of our deliberations,
the regular weekly envelope of
mimeographed publicity twaddle
from the Paramount offices was de-
livered, and-fateful ironyl-the very
first item concerned itself with the
private life Of certain sixteen
months old American baby (did !
hear someone say typical American
baby?") whose salary Of $500 a
week has caused Senator Costigan's
Federal Trade Commission to send
forth few innocent missionaries
to the Hollywood factories.
Baby Leroy is famous star now
and is slated by his bosses to twinkle
even more replendently in the future.
1t will gladden. your parental hearts
to learn something about his daily
life. Simple little tid-bits CLEANED
from the aforementioned Paramount
publicity release:
1.-THE fact that he is an infant
prodigy does not eliminate spinach
nor regular maps from the rigid
schedule of Baby Leroy. Lee
Roy's day starts at six o'clock. His
breakfast is eight ounces Of liquid;
half Eagle Brand milk and half
boiled water. . At 6:45 bath is
scheduled. Then follows table
spoonful Of cod liver oil. . . At
7:45 well-cooked cereal, which may
be cream Of wheat or oatmeal with
milk, is Spoon-fed to Leroy.
Until ten o'clock he plays in the
sun. :. On the dot he is given a
small glass of orange juice and put
to bed. He Maps till noon.
Luncheon is ready when he awak-
ems and may consist of any of the
following dishes: spinach, carrots,
string beans, baked potato, apple
sauce, pears, peaches, apricots or
chicken soup. A sponge bath
is inevitable at four-thirty, followed
by crackers Or zwiebach. An
other outdoor play period until six
o'clock, when supper of broth and
two cooked vegetables is served.
At seven O'Clock he has an
other allotment Of milk. After
his 7:45 cereal he is taken in a
car to the studio. Z. He works be-
fore the cameras for only one hour
in the morning. This time is
broken up so that he is not under
the lights more than seven min
utes at a time. About 1880
he takes his regular nap and no
matter how important the scene,
everything awaits his schedule. =.
When he awakerls he is sponged.
-. His milk, zwiebach and broths
are given on the set at regular
hours. Baby Leroy lives on a
small ranch with his mother and
grandparents. This little home
is surrounded with everything
to delight a child's fancy and give
him a simple and healthful start
in life. :"
I want to ask some or our working
class mothers to send me a sample
Of your baby's daily menu and rout-
inc to compare it with Baby LeRoy's,
just to see if your offspring is get
ting his proper balance Of minerals,
proteinS, fats and vitamins.
Next door to me there lives a
young working class mother whose
Home Relief food check, brought to
her every two weeks, barely covers
her needs for four or five days and
whose two-year-old baby girl lives
on little more than chunks of black
bread till the investigator makes her
rounds again some eight or ten days
later. There are tens of thousands
of kiddieS right here in New York
who need broths, and spinach, and
zwiebach, and milk, just like Baby
Leroy is getting every day on a sun
bathed lot of the Hollywood Para
mount Studios.
But you must admit that Baby
Leroy is our youngest rugged indi-
vidualist; that he got to where he is
through hard, honest toll; that he
got ahead of the other guy because
he used his brains; that the red
blood of the early American pioneer
flows in his tiny veins, and that II
millions of working class children go
hungry and don't get their cod liver
oil on the dot, it is simply because
they didn't take advantage when OPP
portunity knocked.
I'm sure that's exactly the reason
ing process that must have taken
place in the head Of the publicity
guy who wrote that release for Para
mount. How else could he have
written it?
Forgive this 1ong-winded digres-
sion, dear readers. Yes, I know this
is a movie column, strictly, but some
things do get me sore!