Evening star., 1938-10-09

are accused Oh QIcdHllilR up Vic IlChy
characters and types that find their
way into the current screen output
It Is up to the casting chief to make
these fantastic dreams come true.
Four men who assign actors to the
bulk of Hollywood's annual grist OF
500 or more feature pictures-Fred
Dating (M-G-G). Lew Schneider
(Twentieth Century Fox, Fred
Schuessler (paramount) and Stephen
Trilling Warner Bros)-agree their
toughest problems have arisen during
the current year. Before 1887, they
say, few assignments gave them much
trouble. Today, however, they are con-
stantly being called on to I'LL roles that
force them to reach out across the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. to foreign lands
Ito get their manor woman-or
child.
Here are some recent casting CO.
nundrums that have tortured Dating
and his staff:
A set of identical triplets, between
the ages OF 40 and As, to appear as a
firm of attorneys in "Sweethearts."
Six Negroes, over feet tall, who
could speak Portuguese and look as
If they just stepped out OF the South
African jungles, for scenes in TOO
Hot to Handle"
An looking actor with a
British accent who resembles oil paint
ines of Sir Jeffrey Amherst and can
plsy that role in Northwest Passage
A woman who looks 40 years old,
actually is about so, but can be made
up to pass for 30. Required by script
of Dramatic School"
A 5-year -old boy bearing some re-
semblance to Johnny Weissmuller. who
can swim expertly and do acrobatics.
Wanted for a new Tarzan picture.
In the case of the triplets, which
Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell
wrote into the "Sweethearts" script,
such a trio was never found. Dating
admitted sadly that this is the only
casting assignment he has ever fallen
down on since his affiliation with the
studio five years ago.
Finally" he said. I'VE decided the
script would have to be rewritten. to
provide for two sets of identical twins.
That was fairly easy. One pair, the
Berglunds, we found right in Holly
wood through the Southern California
Twin Society. The other pair. the
Berrys, were located in Laguna Beach.
1t happens that all four are real estate
brokers in private life"
The difficulty in reproducing Lord
Amherst for Northwest Passage" after
photographs of paintings of the period
had been obtained from Yale Univer-
sity. was that no two paintings looked
very much alike. Although certain
facial characteristics were stressed.
When an actor was finally found who
looked the type, he was under contract
to Max Reinhardt for appearances in
Faust" The problem was solved
temporarily when camera work was
postponed until next spring.
The WeisSmuller- AS "a baby problem
cannot be solved in Hollywood, Dating
says. because the studio has already
interviewed, tested and examined every
likely 5-year-old turned up by Central
Casting. The picture will not start
shooting for so days and this will af-
ford opportunity for talent scouts to
look around the country for such
youngster
Every new picture seems to offer
casting worry more acute than the
last,"> said the veteran Schuessler,
of Paramount. Right now, for in
stance, we're trying to find leading
man for a Claudette Colbert picture,
and the requirements are giving us
plenty of trouble The man is
hard-boiled but attractive French taxi
driver-a Clark Gable or George Raft
type. only French. Some newcomer
may get break here
Getting 500 Indians to ride horse
back charge in Union Pacific" is a
current irritant for Schuessler. 1t
seems Indians don't look like Indians
any more, and, what's more, few of
them are good enough horsemen to