Evening star., 1941-04-20

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producers to get off their sets.
Hollywood was much more exciting
then, but not nearly so practical.
Today the men who make movies
are in complete command of the
situation. In nearly every instance
they choose the stories. They also
select scene-stealing supporting
players to keep the star on his acting
mettle. And if the boys and girls
don't like it they can trot right off
on cne of their temperamental
binges-but not on company salary.
Nothing about Movietown has
changed quite 50 much (and so
quietly) in the last IS years as the
star system. The star idea is still
with US, of course, and always will
be, but today the once-snooty head
liner is forced to take a chance with
one, two or even three other expert
performers in the same picture-and
all of them out to steal the whole
show if they can sink their his
trionic claws into it,
There isn't a star in Hollywood
today powerful enough to demand
an acting monopoly on a 81 900 900
movie. The few who tried it dur
ing the last year, by holding out
for contract clauses giving them the
last say-so on stories and casts,
were soon put on the run. Today
the producer is firmly seated in the
saddle. And more often than not
he doesn't hesitate to crack the
whip.
A Sharing Proposition.
The result? Better pictures, of
course. Now. don't sink into a
reminiscent mood and begin nam
ing old-time movies you believe
would out-entertain most of today's
streamlined crop if they were to be
revived again. In recent months,
we've seen the old Rudolph Valen-
tino version of Blood and Sand"
Douglas Fairbanks The Mark of
Zorro" and one of the talkie'S first
melo-grippers, The Trial of Mary
Dugan," starring Norma Shearer
Any of them, along with their COM
panion epics of 10 or Is years ago,
would be laughed off the screens by
modern theatergoers. Hollywood
had color and oomph in the years
gone by, but actually its product
was very, very bad.
And one of the main reasons why
pictures are better today is the star
systems drastic revision to shar-
ing proposition. The Flame of New
Orleans" soon to be released; The
Philadelphia Story" Meet John
Doe" The Great Lie" and the
spectacular Preston Sturges cycle at
Paramount are samples of the new
regime in Stardom.
At Universal, for instance, Mar
lene Dietrich has just finished work.
ing an entire picture with some OF
the most deadly scene thieves in the
business Roland Young, Mischa
Auer, Andy Devine and Bruce Cabot,
the latter uncorking his first ven-
ture as a romantic lead. That's a
far cry from the not-so-long-a ago
day when Josef Won Sternberg posed
Dietrich alone for thousands and
thousands OF teet OF nlm-SnOUS SO
centered on the star that audiences
had trouble remembering who, If
any one, played with her.
An Acting Battle.
Those were the days when color
full and skilled supporting players
were often taboo at casting offices
because most stars wouldn't walk
onto the same stage with them.
Scores of fine actors and actresses
gave Up in despair. They couldn't
get enough. work to keep the land
lord away. Most have long since
disappeared from the scene. Not a
few would have scaled the hurdles
to stardom had they been able to
win breaks that today's featured
players get in nearly every picture.
Oddly enough, it was at M-G-M
where the star system reached its
zenith and suffered its first giant
assault. This came with the pro-