Evening star., 1939-04-30


abroad. but was disappointment to
the domestic fans. Greta was
grossly overpaid.
AS a contrast. let's Jump to Bette
Davis. Her 1887 salary was a mere
$50 3,199, for which she made four pic
lures - Marked Woman" kid
Galahad," That Certain Woman" /"
Its Love I'm After" Bette was a
bargain to her bosses at $4,000 and
some odd dollars a picture. No won
der she struck for more money!
To go from the sublime to the
ridiculous, there is Marlene Diet
richs 1887 salary of s370 900, for two
of the worst pictures ever made
Knight Without Armour and
Angel"
And Joan Crawford's 1851 ,538 for
three dittoes-"The Last of Mrs.
Cheyney, The Bride Wore Red"
(Which put Metro in the red and
"Mannequin.'
Edward G. Robinson ives definitely
worth the s70,416 he earned in 1887.
For the money. he turned in three
box -office hits-"Kid Galahad, y
The Last Gangster, "A Slight Case
of Murder"
Now let's look at Louis B. Mayer S
fabulous s1296.503. Was he worth
this sum as top executive of Metro
Goldwyn- Mayer and Loews, Inc? I
should say not. I doubt whether
there is a man alive who is worth
this salary. let alone film mogul
who perforce must leave the making
of his pictures to others. on account
of his interest being purely flnan-
cial. If there is so much money to
spare in the Metro Golfers. let it be
divided among the producers who
make the financial successes, or
among the thousands of employees
whose present salaries range be-
tween. $l8 a week and SIS.
The Hollywood topsy- -turvy system
of payment for services rendered
gave Henry Fonda s11 .895 and few
cents for each Of the four pictures
he made in 1887.
But Jack Oakies who appeared In
five exceedingly mediocre movies
Champagne Waltz" Super Sleuth,' u
THE Toast of New York" Fight
for Your Lady" (ouchD and Hitting
New High ct hit a new low
received $164,416.
AS recently itemed here, High,
Wide and Handsome of 1887 vim
tage, brought loss OF one million
dollars to'Paramount, but that didn't
prevent it's director. Reuben Man,
oulian, from receiving $l18,750 for
the job.
Martha Raye worked like Trojan
in 1887. She actually appeared in
seven pictures, all of them financial
successes-but she received the COM
paratively low salary of $48,541; in
other words, slightly less than $1,000
per picture.
Here's something that doesn't
make any sense at all-except that
it does, if you get what I mean
Walt Disney paid himself $39, ,750, in
the year that included Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs," a cartoon
that has already crossed eight mil
lion dollars and will make more be-
fore the demand from exhibitors
ceases. Disney enjoys money like
the rest of us, but he loves his bust
ness more, and puts his profits back
into it.
Dorothy LamoW was paid least
of all the listed 1887 picture earners
-$21 $50, for five movies-$4,330 for
each job. The best of them-"Hur-
ricane"-was a huge financial sue
cess. Yes, Dorothy was underpaid.
So was Deanne Durbin, who re.
ceived $l29,675 for three pictures in
1s37-Three Smart Girls" lone
Hundred Men and q Girl" and Mad
About Music" Deanna had the
unique experience Of lifting falter.
ing studio from the red into the
black, and, If any one at all In
Hollywood was worth a million dol
lars In 1887, Deanna was the one.
I have heard many localities
| wonder how It happened tha1