Evening star., 1938-04-17
Adolescence
AHandicap
No Longer
There's a Spot Now
For the Growing
Child Stars.
By Douglas ". Churchill
HOLLYWOOD

-.SAA-
4 DOLESCENCE. once the Stun
~ bling block in the way of all
~ child stars. appears to be no
\ longer a problem. Instead of
avoiding youngsters in the middle
years. the screen is cultivating their
talent. Where once children were
tossed out by studios When babyhood
was lost. producers are combing the
country for half-groWn prodigies and
are retaining those who are growing
up. Jane Wlthers is II, Freddie
Bartholomew is IA, Shirley Temple is
still 9, Mickey Rooney is II, Judy
Garland is IA. Deanna Durbin is re-
puted to be Is. Isadore Borsuk. who
is known to his millions as Bobby
Breen, is 10. and there are a dozen
or more of the lesser famed in the
awkward years.
Appreciation of the youngsters is a
recent emotion in Hollywood M-G-M
dropped Jackie Cooper when he began
to look silly in velvet breeches and
the l5-year-old lad is enjoying a very
active career on other lots. Now the
studio is rushing pictures with other
children of similar age to supply the
demand. Twentieth Century-FoX uses
a large number of half crowns in the
Jones Family series and is launching
an American Girl group that will use
even more. Universal is to make four
pictures about college freshmen
Metros Judge Hardy's Family" is
concerned with youth. Bonita Gran
vile is to do Nancy Drew, the Girl
Detective series at Warmers. Sol
Lesser has particular problem with
Bobby Breen, for the choir voice OF
the lad may break any time. and so
he has recorded a large number of
songs to be used in pictures when his
soprano becomes undependable. This
interest was unknown few years ago.
Ii the customers concern persists.
1t Will mean that children properly
handled can go from babyhood into
maturity without missing a weeks
salary and that their popularity can
be maintained at reasonably high
level. Grown up they may not be the
stars they now are. but they Will have
an excellent revenue assured them.
Had Jackie Coogan attained fame to-
Gay instead of yesterday. the studios
would have attempted to keep interest
IN him alive; he was born Is years
TOO soon Now 1t is too late to revive
his popularity and he must earn it all
over again.
NPEAk1NG of adolescents, Freddie
Bartholomew is working pretty
hard. He appears to have his family
troubles settled and he can devote
the next few years to paying off the
lawyers. He has completed highly
Eberalized version of Robert Louis
Stevenson's "KidnapeG' at Fox in
which history has been tossed abou>
rather roughly and in which sex comes
IN for the proper amount OF attention
and he is busy With Lord JEFF" at
Metro, q sort OF British conception OF
Horatio Algers Grit or. Up From the
slums.' Aiding him in spreading the
propaganda that honestly paws and
virtue is its own reward and evil is its
own undoing are Mickey Rooney. Gale
Sondergaard, Herbert Mundin. Charles
Coburn, George ZUcco and sundry
others whose motives may be praised
or condemned according to your taste.
1t Is almost impossible to tell such
story as Metro has set out to recount
without falling into the rut of trite-
ness. 1t deals with the remarkable
history of the Earnardo Homes in Eng
land in which waits are taken from
the streets and trained along occupa-,
tlonal lines. While the history of
the schools, which now number 12l
throughout Britain is dealt with but
superficially, the result of the founda-
ton laid by D.. Thomas Charles Bar
nardo so years aoo will be exploited
to the utmost. Freddie. a Gupe of two
dastardly crooks. is sent to the home
dealing with maritime training where
all the boys are WORKING to attain
berths on the Queen Mary. which is
building. Guess whether Freddie and
Mickey make the crew Just guess.
Serving as one of the technical ao-
Vlsors on the film is Edward Stacey. a
graduate of the home, who was yanked
right off the deck of the Queen Mary
to aid in making Eollywood's art valid.
FRITZ LANG has returned from the
stark phrases of realism and while
still scrutinizing crime his favorite
subject, he feels that the grim aspects
OF ex-convicts have been pretty thor
oughly dealt with by tire cinema. So
while still inspecting the social PROB
lem of the graduates fro.n penal in
lSee CIIIR CHILL p,nn I, :, \