Evening star., 1941-08-24

thing like Randolph Scott. Other
people say he reminds them of
Phillip Dorm. His is a sort of COM
posite of several heroic Hollywood
faces.
Will this prove a handicap to
young Mr. Travis?
Not a bit.
The old order banning "look-
alikes" changeth.
You remember. perhaps-for 1t
was only a few short years ago
that the look alike was a plague
and a drug on the Hollywood cast
ing market.
Girls-and boys, too-who came
hopefully to movieland because
friends kept drumming away at
their startling resemblance" to
Claudette Colbert or Carole Lom-
bard or maybe Clark Gable or Ty-
rome Power, found themselves smack
up against a stone wall.
No Less Than Seven.
No matter how beautiful or tall
ented these look-alikes seemed to
be. producers always let it be known
that one face from the same mold
was quite enough-and that any
additions would heap confusion and
criticism on the silver screen.
And what happens?
So far in 1941, We find that major
studios have signed to term con-
tracts no less than seven boys and
girls whose resemblance to estab-
lished stars makes them almost
rubber stamp copies.
Travis is just one in the new
"look- alike" group.
Another is Jean Phillips OF Para
mount. Jean looks like Ginger
Rogers, has many of the stars man.
nerisms. Several years ago she dou-
bled for the late Jean Harlow. She
is currently playing one of the
leading roles in Among the Liv-
ing" and if fans confuse her with
| Ginger that's their hard luck-be-
cause Paramount thinks she has
talent sufficient to go it on her own
When Scarlet Knights agent es-
corted her into R-K-O's front otf1ce
object being a test and contract
she heard the same old story: You
look too much like Myrna 10y" But
Scarlett persisted, finally won ar
addition and was rewarded with a
contract and an important role In
They Met in Argentina"
Mary Was the First.
Joan Carroll is youngster who
was bounced back three years age
at goth Century-Fox because she
looked too much like Shirley Temple
Her mother took her to New York
where she scored a hit in Broad
way play-and today, Shirley Tenn
pie and all-Joan is under contract
| for Juvenile roles at R-K-O.
Mary Martin, the MY Heart Be-
longs to Daddy" girl, was first tc
crack Hollywood's stubborn defense
against look -alikes. Front view ano
profile, Mary could pass for Clau-
dette Colbert on a cloudy day. II
was this handicap" that kept hel
out of pictures when she sang torch
songs in a Hollywood night club
That was two years before hei
Broadway fame. Even with hel
accumulated success and publicity
in mind, there were many skeptic:
at Paramount who still believed thai
likeness to Colbert would be fatal
They've long since changed theil
minds.
Columbia buried Glen Ford tr
westerns for nearly three years ano
every attempt on the part OF tht
ambitious young man to extricat'
himself met with this rebuff: "Yol
look like Henry Fonda. You ever
act like him. There isn't room TO
two Henry Fondas in A pictures.
Nevertheless, Ford fought over tina
handicap. An independent produce
gambled by casting him in so End
Our Night" with an assignment o
equal importance to that handed
Fredric March. Overnight. Ford be
came one of Hollywood'S hotties
male prospects-and his Fonda re