Evening star., 1938-03-16
ALL WILD TO SEE
LOUR|D|NC HORSE
Martins Harmonica Music
Barred at Premiere in
St. Pete Tomorrow.
BY JOHN LARDNER.

NJ. - G4Noo ooANSs ld, Ndl Vi
i6.-Up in Massachusetts,, a few
months ago. a taxpayer entered 9
motion picture palace which adver.
tised, as its ace attraction. the film
called THE Great Garrick." After
a couple of hours, the citizen left his
seat in huff and demanded hi
money back
Il thought this was Lou Garrick':
picture" he told the manager, "but
there amt a ball player in the whole
thing"
The story, which is true. was re-
layed to Henry Louis Gehrig of the
New York Yankees, and it made him
feel very good.
1T shows I got a following" saio
Lou. They want to see my picture
even before it comes out. When il
does come out, maybe they'll want tc
see more of the same, and that1l mean
a trip to Hollywood every winter fol
me and another chunk of that fine
green money they print out there
Besides, I am not as bad an actor az
you think I am. I couldn't be that
bad" said Mr.. Gehrig, cycling his in.
terlocutor shrewdly.
Premiere ST. Patrick's Day.
The world premiere of Mr. Gehrig'!
first starring vehicle, "Rawhide." will
take place in this sun-klssed city 10.
morrow, the day of St. Patrick The
Yankees train here and Mr.. Gehrie
is local hero He will draw a large
number of townspeople and tourist,
to the theater. as well as skeptica,
assortment of Yankees and st. Loui,
Cardinals.
The management is frankly appre.
hensive of what the Cardinals. those
uncouth critics, will say and do about
the picture. Mr.. John Martin. the
wild horse of the Usage, for instance
is a difficult client even at the nor.
NAL, Moon Over Shanghai kind Of
flicker. Give him baseball film Il
watch and Pepper is apt to be throw.
ing fast balls at the head of the stal
(Mr. Gehrig) before one reel ha,
elapsed.
The management began to worry 6
week ago when Mr. Martin offered tt
play an improvised harmonica accom-.
paniment throughout the picture The
offer was declined. but the chances are
that Mr.. Martin doesn't know it. HI
seldom reads his mail.
Gomez Sure Horse Is Done"
It was Senor Vernon Gomez, the
puckish Castilian. who took up a col.
lection some days ago to send Mr.
Gehrig's horse to home for broken
down mustangs. This is the horse
that Mr.. Gehrig straddles in his pic.
ture, 'Rawhide." Senor Gomez in.
sists that the animal never will be
able to do another days work.
They tell me he looked like a re.
tired 200-to-l shot after one hour with
Old Biscuit Pants" says Gomez, re.
ferring to Mr.. Gehrig by an unrefineo
clubhouse nickname.
That is the sort of comedy that
Gehrig. the artist, is up against
among his colleagues. the ball players
But the truth is that the ball player,
are sophisticated drawing room wits
fresh out of Paris, compared with the
folks Mr.. Gehrig encountered In
Hollywood during the manufacture OF
his picture.
Finds Art Stern Mistress.
Art is a stern mistress in Southern
California. One day Mr.. Gehrig was
having some lunch with members of
the cast, mostly cowboy extras. As he
sat at the head of the table, assaulting
his matted milk and ham-on- whole
wheat, Louis was startled to see one of
the rustlers leap from his chair, snarl
at the fellow next to him and draw a
six-shooter.
That's all I'm gonna take from
you said the cowhand. This is
where you get it"
So saying, he pumped six shots at his
neighbor, who fell over dead. At least.
he looked pretty dead to Mr.. Gehrig.
Mr.. Gehrig jumped up and said: Hey,
you can't do that" or words to that
effect. He was about to call the studio
veterinarian when the cowboys broke
into roars of wholesome mirth. It
was a Hollywood joke. the first of sew
eral that were perpetrated upon the
visiting artist during his stay
They have very sharp sense of
humor in Hollywood said Lou.
They can keep it."
Some Droll Situations.
I don't want to spoil the pic
ture for those of you who plan to see
it, but perhaps it will be all right if
I give you an outline of the plot. Mr..
Gehrig is astutely cast as ball player.
After the ball season he goes West to
visit at his sisters ranch. Being
strictly New Rochelle man himself,
Louis is baffled by the Occidental life,
the horses, the cows and the cow
hands. A lot of droll situations de-
velop. It is more fun than barrel of
ferrets.
Lou takes high rank among the ath-
lete-actors of Hollywood, though it is
hard to say just where he belongs.
He lacks the experience, the versa
tility, the repertoire of Make Rosen-
bloom. He does not have the flair, the
5e ne sats quot of Nat Pendleton, re-
tired masked marvel and wrestling
champion of Portugal. But he bids
fair to outstrip Johnny Weissmuller,
Buster Crabbe, Glenn Morris and Jim
Thorpe.
st. Petersburg plans to handle its
first world premiere with a good deal
Of ceremony. There will be no spot
lights or red carpet, but grapefruits
will be given away on every hand, and
Jerome H. Dean intends to leave his
footmark in a wet block of cement. If
he can find wet block of cement.
tcopyright. 1888. By the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc)
WESTERN NETIIST