Evening star., 1940-10-01

and musical, and embracing such a
variety of leading men as Charlie
Chaplin, Gary Cooper, Fred Astaire
and Artie Shaw. The lineup needs
only Mickey Rooney 10 make it
complete to the point of being
overdone.
Before the films are viewed by the
last customer in the last outlying
Bijou, the public is expected to be
so Paulette Goddard conscious that
she will be the most valuable piece
of glamour property the whole
length and breadth of the film in
dustry. Paramount will bet you,
and no matter how optimistic your
horoscope, it might be we'll not to
take the bet.
AS the pretty young thing who is,
or is not, Mrs. Charles Chaplin
(the latest definite information is
that she isl, Miss Goddard has had
publicity enough for a dozen Holly
wood stars. In spite of it all. how
ever, her film career has been re-
markably less a matter of being
cast than of being written about.
Before her appearance as the
acidulous chorus girl who scratched
Rosalind Russell'S face in The
Women" Miss Goddard's major
claim upon public attention was
embraced in mention of her quail
fications for the part of Scarlet
O'Hara in Gone, Etc" True she
had appeared in Modern Times"
her husbands re-"Dictator' classic,
part. Her following efforts en-
braced such items as Dramatic
School, and THE Young in Heart"
which were pretty obscure in them
selves without reference to Miss
Goddard.
The attention which came Miss
Goddard's way in The Women"
and deservedly. caused Paramount
to reflect that here was a candidate
for stardom who needed only the
right kind of pictures and enough
of them Her first effort under that
aegis was The Cat and the Canary"
a remake in which she enjoyed the
good fortune to have Bob Hope as
leading man. 1t turned out so hap
PLY that the pair were teamed in
a second mystery comedy, The
Ghost Breakers" That. too. did
well. although some of the critics,
the beasts. found flaws in it.
Paramount was more convinced
than ever about Miss Goddard. 1t
grows still more convinced daily
until it now is certain that she is
its brightest asset in the glamour
personality ability department.
When she dances with Astaire in
Second Chorus Miss Goddard may
surprise some members of the audi
ence who have thought of her as a
comedienne, dramatic actress or just
one of the loveliest things on the
cinema pay roll Actually she will
be going back to her old trade.
Prior to her Hollywood adventure
Miss Goddard was on the stage as
a chorus girl in Rio Rita" and in
several other items which enjoyed
far less success.
She had not forgotten how to
dance. Nor has she chosen to for
get where she learned it, which is
another one of the pleasant things
about Paulette Goddard.
** **
That gathering of judicial look
ing customers at the Neptune room
yesterday afternoon was the critical
force of the town listening to the
Paramount (no relation Four, new
attraction. The John Lodge
who will star in the Shuberts' Night
of Love" which comes to the Ma
tional Theater the week of Novem-
Der II. is member of the Massa-
chusetts Lodge family. . Prior to
the war, when there was British
motion picture industry. he was
doing very we'll as a star in a num-
ber of films Three on Week
End is one you may remember.
Speaking of foreign films, one
of the most highly praised in the
last decade will open at the Little
tomorrow 1t is The Story OF
a Cheat" by and with the inimitable
Sacha Guitry.