The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-06-10
IW
 Hollywood
BY PAUL HARRISON

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 Hollywood-Most fans with good memories will recall Neal Burns. He has played quite few comedy roles since celluloid became articulate, al- though in the last few years his parts have been fewer and small- CT.
 All fans past the age of 30 will remember Burns as a topnotch star of Christie comedies. Betty Compson was his leading lady, Some of his directors were Al Santell, Archie Mayo, Norman Mcleod and William Baudine.
 Burns received 5000 a week
 at the peak of his career, and
 he stayed in the important
 money nearly 15 years.
 Just now he's working in the rain. Director James Hogan is filming some tropical storm se- quences on the "Ebb Tide" set at Paramount, and while his crew arranges the lights and camera angles, Neal Burns stands uncorn- plaining in the drizzle. He's a Stand-in for Barry Fitzgerald. @AA" WoSS 70 ~SV 0 HVCA'
 Crashed With Market
 Once he played with the best of 'eti1 on Broadway-Raymond Hitchcock, Fritzi Scheff, Blanche Ring, Eddie Foy. In 1915 he was on the road with a Morosco company, and Al Christie, just beginning to make two-reelers, lured him away with c movie contract. Burns saved lot of his money, too, but the mar- ket crash carried away every dime of it.
 So he went to work again. At least he went to all the casting offices. One of them placed him in the role of newspaper report CT with an apology that the pay was only $400 Q week.
 A year later the same studio sent out a call for $750-a-day extras to make up an atmospheric crowd of reporters in big scene. Burns was first in line for a job, but he didn't get it. They said he didn't look like a reporter.
 Since then he has taken what he could get. That's why he's stand in now. But he also has plans. He's going to be a gag writer for the screen and radio. A star comedian ought to know something about comedy construc- ton, so he's constructing several scripts at home, nights. Any day, now, Neal Burns expects to be back in the important money. Headline Hunches
 Whenever feel like witnessing an hour or so of courtroom drama I drive out to Warner Brothers and ask, "Where are they shooting the trial scene?"
 Usually the answer is equiv.
 deal: (Which trial scenc?" It
 aBems that almost every picture,
 not even excluding 3 few mu-
 steals, has some courtroom
 stuff. Only good reason for this
 is that many of the studios pie
 tpres are topical; scenario
 writers get many of their
 lunches from newspaper head
 lines.
 Recently, though, the have had couple of bar-of- justice se- qucnces which were neither top icay nor local. There was Kay Francis in "One Hour of Ro- nance" and Paul Muni in "The Life of Emile zola." Both French courts.
 The trial habit, which is almost a company tradition now, started away back in The Mouthpiece," with William Powell. Then came TWO Seconds" Journal of al Crime" Frisco Jenny" Lawyer Man" and on down through the current cycle-"Midnight Court" Black Legion" Marked Wom- an," "The Great O,Malley," Noun tain Justice" and Tn the Deep South"
 At least two of the above, Black Legion" and Marked Woman" were partly into produc- ton before final disposition was made of the real cases on which they were based. So hear now that there is great Wracking of creative brains over super-epic in fact, Supreme-courtroo picture. The Supreme Court would be Q good place to end the cycle.