Montana labor news., 1936-05-07
THE FILM CORNER
Conducted by the New Film Alliance
GUIDE TO
NEW FILMS

LAAA-N AAACAAANA
Shirley Temple tear jerker with the
manipulation OF pathos adroitly handled
as usual. Shirley is given every
chance to show how cute she can be,
crying, singing, laughing, dancing, etc,
etc. This time she is adopted by Guy
Kibbee and mothered by Slim Summer
vile, who trys to keep her u OF the
clutches OF the truant officer while she
romps with them on the waterfront.
Shirley Temple addicts will love it.
Others who, like this department, find
these child stars hard to take, had bet
ter stay away.
UNDER TWO FLAGS-The picture
which, according to the press agents,
all the world has been waiting for"
It's cost runs into telephone numbers
and it has stars than there are in
heaven. The pet result is another
Foreign Legion picture with Claudette
Colbert as the mascot OF the Legion,
Ronald Colman, the mysterious Eng
lishman who loves her, and Victor Nc
Laglen as the villianous commandant
who hates Ronald and covets Claudette
and tries to get rid Of the former by
giving him all OF the tough assign
ments. The surprise ending has
Claudette killed by the Arabs and dy-
ing in the arms of Ronald, all OF which
ought to give you an idea that the
picture is nothing to rave over.
RECOMMENDED IF YOU RUN
ACROSS THEM-"Modern Times
THE Story of Louis Pasteur,' These
Three" "The Ghost Goes West" The
Milky Way" Mr.. Deeds Goes to
Town" "The Country Doctor
Hollywood ,Stsr-Breaker.
For years the big brass horns OF
filmdom have blared to a believing
world Hollywood Makes Starsl'
The fanfare Of trumpets browns but
cannot refute the accusing echo which
rises from shattered careers OF once
talented actors; Hollywood Breaks
Starsp
Properly speaking, stars are not
made" in Hollywood, that is unless one
uses the word in its Broadway m to
denote the humiliation innumerable
girls have to undergo for a chance to
earn a living in their chosen profession.
This process is known in cynical
Hollywood as becoming a star
over night" In the strict sense OF the
word, however, no star is made in
Hollywood.
What actually happens is that great
scoopsful of assorted personalities are
daily shoveled before the cold eye Of
the camera and then flashed on the
screen. A dimpled smile, a wriggle Of
the torso or a profile chances to please
the movie public and the wner Of that
dubious artistic quality is fished out Of
the stream for special treatment, The
rest flow YEARLY on into discard.
The special treatment consists Of
pounding away at that n distin-
gushing quality for five or six pictures
in a row. During this short interim the
actor is a star. When the public grows
tired of such m%onotonous sameness, the
star" inevitably, though perhaps be-
latedly, drifts on to join his erstwhile
companions in the ash can.
Obviously this hit or miss, tremend-
ously wasteful process can hardly be
called making a star" To make i'm
plies to create and creation requires
knowledge, d%iscernment, definite
method, a sensitive feel for the medium
in which one works and a practiced,
intelligent technique. Although these
qualities undoubtedly exist in Holly
wood, the money powers who control
the movie capital will not permit them
to be used. This is proved not only by
the fact that the film factories cannot
make stars but by what happens to
real, already-made stars who fall into
their hands. Invariably the latter are
first spoiled and then discarded.
Maurice Chevalier came to Holly
wood a Continental star with a brill
liant and honestly earned reputation as
an artist. He was billed here as "the
idol Of France" and he was just that.
The workers, the small shop-keepers,
the man in the street idolized him, not
because of a tuxedo, glossy bedroom
manners and straw hat, but because Of
the earthly realism and gross, sidewalk
humor with which he reflected so ac-
curately the life of Paris.
Chevalier's portrayals OF husky wag-
goners cussing each other in a narrow
street, frog-throated hucksters hawk
ing their wares, taxi-drivers loafing at
a bar, cops, etc, were a joy to behold.
His murderous thrusts at the stupid
and pompous rich laid them in the
aisles. He was one of them and they
loved him. Then Lasky saw him in a
tuxedo and straw hat at a music hall
and liked his smile.
Jessie brought him to Hollywood
where the directors pounced on that
smile. They made him the Smiling
Lieutenant in every picture in which he
played. The titles were changed but
Chevalier was always the Smiling Lieu
tenant. He went through the same
routines, found himself approximately
in the same situations, said approx
.mately the same things and sang APP
proximately the same songs. After six
or seven pictures on which Paramount
cashed in heavily, the American public
tired of him and he was sent home.
The French, who had flocked to his
first Hollywood-made pictures, also
grew tired of this strange automaton
that did nothing but change uniforms
and smile. Then too, they resented his
deserving them for the flesh pots of
Hollywood. The result was that
Chevalier returned to find his beloved
public a little cool. To make matters