Montana labor news., 1936-05-07

fragments Of a once-brilliant artistic
career.
Anna Stem, with a long line Of pow
erful portrayals behind her in such
pictures as "The Brothers Karamzoff,"
and "Trapeze," was pared down, pretti-
ed up, lacquered, given a few baby
face roles and discarded.
Dorothea Week, who reached dra-
matte heights in "Maedchen in Uni
FORM" passed ignobly from the screen
after %co-starring with Baby Leroy in
an ordinary gangster picture which
tried to capitalize on the Lindbergh
headlines, called Miss Fane's Baby Is
Stolen"
Marlene Dietrich, who flashed across
the cinema sky in "The Blue Angel"
has been perilously hanging Oh to the
latter OF fame only by her legs.
AS with the workers in other indus
tries, foreign players were not the
only ones to be ruthlessly exploited
and eventually destroyed American
players got and still get the same
treatment.
The earlier star OF them all, Mary
Pickford, was washed up with her
sweetheart, the American public, be-
cause it tired Of her cute little grimaces
that went on and on indefinitely. Her
recent husband, Douglas Fairbanks,
jumped, somersaulted and catapulted
himself into oblivion. Because Mary's
alleged present boy friend, Buddy Rog-
ers, carried the sweet, eager-faced boy
ishness that made his reputation into
adult characterizations, he was prac-
tically laughed off the screen.
The carnal curves OF Clara Bow
spoke so long and %eloquently on the
silent screen that, when talkies came
and her larynx was given a chance,
the anti-climax was so terrific that she
was swept out of the picture-after, let
it be whispered, browning her last di-
rector with a gilt-framed mirror when
she realized that her voice didn't take,
Gloria Swanson stalked into limbo
because audiences grew tired Of paying
their good money to see a mannikin
parade around in gorgeous clothes.
Perennial Rover-Boy, herman roles
practically killed Richard Arlen. SUI
fering mother roles did the same to
Ruth Chatterton.
Adolphe Menjou was just lettering
on the ledge Of oblivion as a result Of
his high-hat boulevardier roles when
Front Page accidentally saved him.
So now he is launched on another
monotonous pattern of fast-talking
tough-guy roles.
Sophisticated, sporting thing wife
roles are just about writing "finis" to
the movie career of Ann Harding.
Its the old story about eating cake
and having it too. Greedy, movie mo-
guls who brutally exploit to the bitter
end a fleeing, one-sided appeal Of
their players, are finally left with
ruined stars.
But they're not worried. Unlike the
ravished timberlands of the lumber
barons, the woods are full OF future
movie stars. And the fact that they
leave behind them a trail Of broken
people instead of broken tree stumps
well, that doesn't bother them too
much, either,
1t is true that they pay-and pay
well-these stars whom they ravage.
But there are plenty OF players in
Hollywood who refuse to be bribed,
who sturdily and militantly seek to
maintain their integrity as artists.
They refuse to be exploited. They de-
mand roles, stories, treatment, that will
enable them to grow and develop
freely, many-sidedly artistically. They
know what they want and they're
fighting to get it.
That's why the Screen Actors Guild
has been growing.