The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-02-24
By PAUL HARRISON

By PAUL HARRISON
 NEA Service Staff Correspondent
 Hollywood, Feb. 24.-At the main gate of the Metro studio wag past ed a sign reading in French and German: English Spoken Here"
 At Paramount a well-known na- tive actress cracked, T seenk l get for myself wan leetle accent-no? Zen maybe I have better chance to get work in ze cinema"
 At 20th-Fox a foreign player countered an interviewer's ques- tion with:
 Hollywood is not good place to make an opinion of Americans. meet Hungarian directors, German producers, British writers, and actors and actresses from every country in Europe. But I do not remem- Der meeting many Americans"
 So go the comments, mostly satirical, as movie makers con- tinue to bring in from other lands supply of that siren quality known in the celluloid trade as "Umph."
 Umph with an accent.
 Must Be Taught
 Every studio now has at least one foreign actress slated for eventual stardom. Metro has about dozen Several of whom will be weeded ouO and special department to supervise their training.
 However capable they may be as actresses, these intriguing inn migrants require a lot of training, for they must be taught English. In fact, of the half dozen most promising newcomers - actresses who were stars in their own coun- tries and who already are defi- nitely launched on Hollywood ca reers-only two could speak or understand English when they ar rived here.
 Plays Opposite Powell
 The French actress with the single name, Annabella, played leads ill three English pictures before con- ing here. These were Under the Red Robe" Dinner at the Ritz, , and the very successful production in Technicolor, Wings of the Morn ing"
 Ut was immediately following the latter hit that she was signed by the 20th-Fox. The studio wasted little time in lowing her into "The Baroness and the Butler" opposite William Powell as the star.
 A preview audience found her charming, but often unin- telligible in this picture, and was astonished that she could have had so much English speaking experience.
 In about a month Annabella will star in film based on the life of George Sand. She is counted an established success and perma- nent and popular resident of Hollywood.
 Loretta Smiled at Her
 The colony wasn't always so kind. Annabella came here four years ago for a role in the French version of Caravan" Didn't know soul, or any English either. Tt was miser- able time, "she said. T have never forget - forgotten - that Loretta Young smiled at me on the set and gave me tea. It was the only warmth I had"
 Her real name was Anne Belle Carpenter, and her father, now retired, was magazine editor. In private life, she is Mime. Jean Murat, wife of a French actor. Professionally she'll always be just Annabella.
 Sun and wind (she drives in an open carl have streaked her hair in different shades of brown. She has brown eyes, generous mouth; wears flat heeled shoes, tailored suits and almost no makeup.
 It's when she's working on set, or tripping at the Troc of an eve ming, that Annabella's "umph" is particularly apparent.
 Her contours are Streamlined though they had hard time pos ing her in playsuit to prove it. Just What They Wanted
 There was a solemn conference of makeup experts when she came here a few months ago. In three solid days of tests they made her look like everybody from Martha Rave to Shirley Temple. Finally Annabella got mad and told 'enl she'd try her own way. First she washed her face, then she ran a comb through her hair, dabbed or a little lipstick and stepped before the camera.
 Studio bigwigs looked at the test and agreed that that was just what they wanted.
 Hollywood has heard that An nabella was brought here as pos sible replacement of Simone Simon Mile. Slmone Ditto had been be- having very badly and Daryl zan- uck wanted to remind her that she was not the only Frenchie ir flickerS.
 However that may have been the two actresses became and have remained close friends.
 In a gesture of generosity and thoughtfulness that left the screen village popeyed, Simone sent her entire staff of servants to Annabella's house when the latter moved here. Didn't loan them; she gave them perma- nently to the newcomer and set about collecting and training 8 new staff for herself. The two