Evening star., 1938-10-08
For Children,
BY Children,
Is New Plan
Lesser Will Make
Films With Only
Moppets.
BY HAROLD HEFFERNAN.

HOLL1 WoOD.
~ NE of Hollywood's most sue
I cessful producers, Sol Lesser,
I today dropped minor bomb
~ she'll into making ranks
with the announcement that he has
wiped out all adult personalities on his
contract list and hereafter will concen-
trate on pictures for children, played
by children. He said he hoped to mold
major organization specializing in
juvenile productions.
Dropping this week of Lou Gehrig,
Iron Man" of baseball, completed
Lesser's "grown-up purge" Previously
he had passed up options on dozen
Of his adult actors, among them
George O'Brien, Richard Arlen and
Lesser indicated the success Of
-., .ne oh.r.ey Temple and
Jane Withers films and his own Bobby
Breen series led to his decision.
For every picture made with a
child star, there must be at least rs
featured adult players" he said. This
ratio is all wrong. I feel there is a
greater market today for pictures with
youthful appeal than at any time in
this business. Anyway, am going to
stake everything I own on that belief"
Lesser, who developed Jackie Coogan
into great box Office star (taking him
over from Charlie Chaplin Immediately
after his debut in The Kid"), as we'll
as Baby Peggy, Jackie Cooper, Jackie
Searle and other wellknown movie
youngsters, says he aims for a clientele
of at least IL important name children
to carry out his speciality ambitions.
II plans he has in mind are fulfilled
Lesser says his production schedule
will shortly be geared to an annual re-
lease of 36 features-of, for and by
children.
There may be an established formula
for making a success of yourself in
Hollywood, but nobody to date has
been able to corral exclusive right to it..
Witness these two contrasting cases
The day Frank Capra's You Can't
Take 1t With You" opened its Holly
wood run, Ann Miller, who gives an
excellent performance as the dane
ing sister of that goofy family, stood
outside the theater and gazed proudly
at her name in the marques bright
lights. The pretty Texas girl went
home confident she was now travelling
the straight road to movie success.
The phone rang. 1t was her agent
1t seems this was AIMS option day
at R-K-O-and the studio had failed
to redeem it. So another promising
youngster, who had every reason to
believe the battle won, walks the
treacherous free-lance road.
Over on the Paramount lot, it was
option day, too-for lisa Miranda.
Miss Miranda was brought here from
Italy and has been under contract
to Paramount for just one year--at
a reported weekly wage of $4,000
Unable to speak English well enough
to be understood, the studio has been
spending added thousands for her
voice training. About two months ago
they figured she was ready to start
But, after five days in the star role
Of "Zaza," the imported actress be-
came temperamental and refused to
take direction. She was replaced by
Ciaudette Colbert Miss Miranda re-
sumed her occupation Of doing moth
ing but take English lessons-mean-
while drawing her salary each week
The same day Ann .diller went
home to her rude disillusionment, the
Miranda contract was being renewed
at Paramount. =
Copyright, 1881