Evening star., 1938-06-02

set if CLOSED" meant closed.
"Sit down. says Mr. Sandrich, toss
Ing over folding chair which has
Fred Astaire" painted in bright large
letters on the back of it.
but people will think we are
Astaire," we demur.
'Well, get up and dance for them
II they do" suggests Mr.. Sandrich.
THAT ought to prove it to them"
1t would be pleasant to talk to Mr.
Astaire while sitting in his chair, but
Mr.. Astaire is not around to talk to-.
They don't happen to need him at
the moment, nor do they need Ginger
Rogers which is very unhappy for the
purposes of visitors. Louella Gear,
however. is present and no one, not
even the principals in the company,
is brighter than Miss Gear. She re-
members our radio broadcast together
in Washington and how we got the
Jitters and how poised she felt Just
watching newspaper people go to
pieces. She remembers, sadly, the
play which opened in Washington and
which closed very quickly in New York.
She is glad to be here, which is no
novelty; only depressing to those who
like the theater and dislike seeing all
its preferred persons coming to Holly
wood.
TT WOULD be possible and it would
be delie to talk all day to
Miss Gear, who is a wise and witty
woman, but it would not be polite
Just the same. Besides just around
the corner on another closed stage,
which also is not closed, Ruby Keeler
is working. Miss Keeler is playing in
her first picture in more than a year.
Also, after having sung and danced
her way into the hearts of her coun-
trymen, she has given up singing and
dancing to play her first straight dra-
matte role. She is one of the children
in Mother Carey's Children" and she
Is very happy to achieve the change in
diet. AS Mrs. Al JolSon in private life.
Miss Keeler finds Washington a sort
OF home-town-in-law. Moreover. she
remembers it as town in which she
once had to remain out of a show
because she fell and sprained her
ankle on the Belasco stage, probably
the first and last time any such thing
ever happened in Stoddard Taylor's
house.
Miss Keeler likes the idea of coming
back to pictures in new-type role.
1t Is a habit R-K-O has, that of
changing its talented musical people
into successful dramatic actresses,
Miss Keeler knows that the change
did not hurt Ginger Rogers bit and
she Is hoping for equally happy for
tune or something resembling it in
her own case.
The one thing she is not certain of
Is her hairdress. As one of Mother
Carey's children, she is out of a
period when they wore curls at the
back Of the head, with little fiat hats
perched on top of the curls. As a
person who always has seen herself
in ballet costume, or something close
to 1t, she finds it hard to accustom
herself to the pretty little old-fash-
toned girl who looks at her out of
the mirror.
do you like it3" she has to know.
Certainly, don't you?" one coun-
ters.
Il don't know" says Miss Keeler.
TITS a bit surprising"
One of the reasons why Miss Keeler
is happy to get a new-type part is
that the last one she played, down
the old melody lane groove, was ex-
tremely unhappy. She did not like it
any more than We admitted liking it,
which was a lot of disfavor toward one
of Hollywood's more expensive ac-
complishments.
The dressing room in which we
gabbed of everything from AL Jolson
to Lanier place, where the Jolson
family lives in Washington, was a
comfortable place, and 1t was pleasant
to watch Miss Keeler try to find the
right drape for her curls, but it was
impossible to stay there forever.
That, incidentally, is one of the
funny things about motion picture
making, they expect players to perform