Imperial Valley press., 1937-01-10

HOLLYWOOD has become so accustomed to
invaders seeking that elusive pot of
dramas gold that citizens thereof would scarcely
roll over in bed to watch a sultan's harem, au
nature trooping in seeking berths as
M-G-M chornesl
Once in blue moon however, comes per-
sonaty electric enough to shock blasetown out
of its lethargy.
And such person has arrived
Francine Larrimore is her name and if you
don't know your theater it's quite possible you
haven't heard of Francine. However, you will
She is unique
For instance, Miss Larrimore burst into Hol-
lywoods limelight in manner vastly different
from those employed by her predecessors, such
as Greta Garbo's secrecy, Katharine Hepburn's
eecentricities or Simone Simon's temper.
Quite the contrary, Francine has conducted
herself with surprising normalcy, and that is
what made folks sit up and take notice.
They expected her to create more furore
than six bales of temperament Holywoodans
who KNOW their theater knew Miss Larrimore.
And they confidently expected the fiery little
lady to set the town on it's collective ears with
one rebellion after another.
Miss Larrimore's coming, ira la ira la-now
we got fun
She'll tell directors what's what.
Sn6 IL 10 uulIltIOuo OliicI " 'iiohc
filmdom's current and former rebels look like
olive branches studded with peace doves"
All this trembling expectancy was born of
the fact that Francine from the inception of
her career to its temporary end one year ago.
when the late Irving Thalbert brought her West
under personal contract, was THE stormy
petrol" of drama
u Why is not difficult to explain
In the first place she is tiny, five feet, heels
and all; had to stand boxes for closeup
romantic scenes with Edward Arnold. Tiny
people usually develop Napoleonic temperaments
for protective purposes.
In the second place, she was wealthy, silver
spoon baby born in France and cultured there
in England in New York and in Scotland.
So not having to act unless she wanted to-
and doing so only because she loved it, Francine
just naturally developed a personality that
brooked no interference, no governing and no
fol de rol
In addition to that, she became volatile, ready
to sizzle quickly, sooner than that if the
cause seemed worthy of the deed
Her pages in theatrical history stand out like
sky-writing on a cloudless windess day.
They are hodge-podges of all qualities and all
emotions s-temperamentality courage trouper-
spirit, stubbornness, beauty, laziness and bound
less energy.
curtains have been held for more hours await
ing Francines queenly arrival than for any
other six actresses combined!
Mae West if she would, could tell about Fran
cine's temperamentalities
Years ago both were rehearsing for a play
called Sometime" Miss Larrimore was to have
been starred, a notable opportunity, too, be-
cause she had been butffeatured in previous
productions. Alas!
The management, as managements will, tried
talking her into smaller salary, and, when
that failed against the Larrimore pyrotechnics,
they tried insult
Miss Larrimore walked right out of her op-
portunity and out of their lives leaving behind
her a score of blistered eardrums
And the insult that caused all that anger and
sacrifice?
The management did not assign Miss Larri-
more to the "star" dressing room!
However while that incident shows tempera-
rAIIn