The Washington times., 1934-07-10
'tMY OWN STORY"
BY Marie Dressler
Ccontinusd from Page y

! weeks working together in the
early movie days making It'll
lies Punctured Romance"
!. which is revived every so often
even now, despite the fact that
It was hawked about for nine
: weeks in an attempt to sell
!. 1t after it was made and de-
: spite the fact that eight men
: have since told me that Til
!. hes Punctured Romance" built
their theaters. This was fol-
: lowed by "Tillie's Tomato Sur
$. prise" and several two.reelers.
That was supposed to end
( me for the pictures, but I still
= felt that there were laughs in
: the old girl yet. I refused to
} believe that q person Schooled
and trained in all the tricks
s Of the trade couldn't cope with
new conditions which were
proving the Waterloo for the
< beginners Of the business. Be.
! ginnerS' luck makes a good
(. start, but it doesn't win cham
s pionShip games.
was standing on the side
lines just clawing the air to get
into the scrap and nobody would
let me make a hit. I might
have been reconciled to a reStful
shelf If strangers in the street
hadn't stuck complimentary pins
into me accusing me Of sitting
down on the job.
why don't you come back to
@us?" was the universal plea.
-We need to laugh" One timid
woman even went 50 far as to
say, Miss DreSsler, I've been
trying to get up courage to
speak to you for q long time.
do you know that you've done
smy liver more good than all the
doctors in Carlsbad?"
= This public clamor increased
rather than diminished, but
somehow the managers never
heard Of it. I can say this with
sout vanity since subsequent
events proved that these were
not empty compliments.
MOmentOus Decision
I decided then that I would
start out on q little voyage Of
discovery. I would go in search
of that colorful dame Oppor-
tunity, and when I found her I
would waltz right up, grab her
by the feet and shout, Baby,
I'll have this dance with you!"
Then I would hang on no matter
how hard she kicked. Yep, she
could even scratch and I'd still
hang on!
Reasoning thusly, I breezed
out With some Of my remaining
nickelS and q penny or two and
purchased q crop Of the best
looking luggage that was to be
had and announced to my
friends that I was going to
Hollywood. Yes, Hollywood
the land Of the wave and the
home Of the fee!
First, my friends scolded me
for undertaking such q crazy
venture, but what really an
noyed them more than my going
was the extravaganza Of my
bags, but I had q right 20 my
luggage complex.
When first left home to join
Nevada'S stock company, my
father built me q trunk out Of
some lumber. It was a cross be-
tween q tool chest and q sum-
mer house. I'll never forget it.
I always felt that, since my
father was a marvellous muSi-
clan, that the least he could
have done was to make it look
like q piano. In its neither here
nor-therenesS it caused only
laughter wherever it was taken
and brought me acute embar-
raSSment.
This explains why didn't
want to 90 to Hollywood in a
dog house!
After I had climbed over the
baggage hurdle with my friends,
they wouldn't give up. "Oh,
Marie" they protested. Sin your
position, you can't go to Holly
wood with no contract. Besides,
you are so well known for your
kind Of comedy-and they don't
do that kind any more"
New things are coming up
in the pictures all the time" I
retorted. "The talkies are still
in their infancy. I see tremen-
dous possibilities ahead. The
picture producers used to sit in
their swivel chairs and think
they had the world by the tail.
then the talkieS came and the
tail broke off. Now they're run.
ming around with the tail in
their hands trying to catch the
animal. I've always been good
at blindfold donkey games:
maybe I can help them pin on
the tail" 8
Despite pleas and warnings, I
bought my ticket. arrived at
the Ambassador Hotel, Los An
geleS, March z, 1927, and I
stayed there for two months
shooting the roll but no pic
lures.
GlOwwOrm
I saw people you see on the
screen every day going by in
handsome cars; I heard guests
in the different restaurants