Evening star., 1939-11-19
Graham
Continued From First Page. J

brightest of the newcomers. Her
last picture-"Captain Fury"-will
do nothing to extract her from the
film swamp into which she has
fallen.
Who would have thought that
Dick Powell, who in January of this
year was rated a $4,OOO-a-week per-
former by Warner Brothers, would
have been resting" from film work
for as long as six months? Or that
Kay Francis, who was paid $500
weekly by the same kind bosses,
would have clutched ut the career
straw by playing the meanest role
of the year-at a fifth of her usual
film price?
1t remains to be seen whether
Fred Astaire's appearance with
Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody
of 1910" will push him back to the
stellar position he occupied two
years ago. The past year has been
bad one for Fred land Eleanor.
But very good for Astaire's former
dancing partner, Ginger Rogers,
who right now is at the most popu-
lar peak of her career.
Shirley Temple has done spot of
downward sliding on the fame see
saw in recent months. I, for one,
will be very surprised if she con-
tinues to hold her f1rst-place rank
ing among the 10 best box Office
draws of the year. In fact, I
wouldn't be surprised if her name
were entirely absent.
Olivia de Haviland and Sister
Joan Fontaine have changed places
on the fame see-Saw. Early in the
year, Olivia's career was shining
brightly. Joan's was practically nom
existent. A series of bad roles have
dimmed Olivia's outlook. The fem
mime lead in "Rebecca" has pushed
Joan to the forefront of attention.
But the year isn't over yet, and I'm
| roofing for Olvia's Melanie in
Gone With the Wind" to hoist her
back among the players who matter.
1t has been bumper year for
Cary Grant. He has made "Gunga
Din" only Angels Have Wings"
I'm Name Only and, currently, His
Girl Friday AS the year enters its
last lap Cary is the most in-demand
male actor of Hollywood-and this
includes Clark Gable.
| AS a matter of fact, I think Gable
has slipped just the wee-est bit in
recent months-not because of bad
performances-but for too few per-
formances. Clark has not yet ap-
peared in a picture this year. And
where he stands on January l, 1910,
will depend on his rendition of
Rhett Butler in the soon-to-be re-
leased Gone With the Wind"
| Jack Oakie has faded away
metaphorically speaking The
Ritz brothers stand not where they
did in film popularity Anne
Shirley has been unable so far to
get herself another part as good as
in Stella Dallas" The fanfare
that surrounded Nancy Kelly at the
beginning of the year has subsided
to a mild "toot" And Luise
Rainer, big shot among big shots
is no longer with us.
Tyrone Power has lost critical and
fan ground this past year-chief1y
because of unsuitable roles, but
think his marriage also has a slight
something to do with it. Among
Tyrone'S most ardent admirers al
the beginning of the year were fem
inine adolescents. They now find il
difficult to worship a hero firmly
tied in marriage to Annabella.
Richard Greene has done some
fancy climbing this year on the film
farm ladder-you ought to heal
them shout for him at local pre-.
mieres. And Henry Fonda-the!
are saying in Hollywood tha'
Fonda's performance in Drum.
Along the Mohawk" puts him righ
out in front
Bette Davis is bigger now than a
the beginning Of the year-if tina
is possible. So is Enrol Flynn .
Paul NUM- remains stationary Chi
sole picture of the year besideI
"Juarez" will be 1--WE Are No
Alone" which will not be released
until around Thanksgiving
John Garfield has slipped a littl'
since hurting upon the cinem,
world in -Four Daughters" As Johl
himself says. he's been playing tn
same neurotic role ever since, which