Evening star., 1943-05-09
AM US NJ EN- rs
No Formal Recognition for Mother
In Hollywood Where She Watches Over Her Acting Progeny
Certain Elements Take Perverse Attitude
By Harold Hefernan.

properly pauses to pay tribute
So does Hollywood. But to Holly
wood the day fails to carry the spe-
cial significance it does to the rest OF
the country That's because every
day is Mothers Day in the land OF
celluloid make-believe. The movie
mothers, a species unknown else
where. see to that.
Without its movie mothers, Holly
wood would be strang place, indeed
Certainly It would lose much OF its
color. However, it would be a much
better place in which to make motion
pictures if you accept the unanimous
word of hundreds of studio eXecu-
tives whose duties bring them IN
daily contact with the most ambl-
tious. relentless army OF mothers
ever gathered in one sector.
Although there are dozens OF ideal
mother daughter and mother-son
combinations existent in the screen
colony-some of which we will dis
cuss later-the plain, unvarnlshed
truth is that Hollywood is a place
where mother stands out at her very
worst.
The average movie mama, as any
casting director will quickly and
probably profanely tell you. is a cold.
relentless, calculating lady who will
stop at nothing short of murder to
get her offspring break before the
cameras.
AS one veteran studio chief put it:
THE typical movie mother is. nine
times out of ten, woman nursing
thwarted professional ambition OF
her own and determined to realize
that ambition through her child.
She is either divorced or Sepal ated
from her husband Many of Holly
woods most successful careers,
strangely enough, are founded on
broken homes.
She is in complete. dominant
control of her child, and will fight to
the very end before relinquishing
that control to another-whether 1t
is the studio or an agent.
Studio Veteran ENpounds.
She is unscrupulous in her meth
obs nnreasor in her demands
and dealings with the studio. and
- .-;l-l-1 SHE is running.
not aiding. her child's opportunities.
The records show only too brutally
the extent to which career-mad-
dened mothers will go in their efforts
to push an offspring up the movie
ladder In too many instances
promising youngsters on the very
brink of successful careers, and made
miserable by unbearable conditions
at home. have rushed off into wild
marriages. to be followed by divorce
and eventually. obscurity.
Several unSavory cases OF too
much mother" have been brought
to the attention Of studio welfare
departments in recent months. In
most cases the studios have been
unable: to intercede because the
children were minors still under the
jurisdiction of the parent.
However, there was one situation
pertaining to a nerve-shattered 16-
vear-old gil star few months ago
in which tie studio did take hand
by suggesting that the youngSter
move out of her mothers home and
lche dIl dpdI Va AiSA o"1A'
The girl followed her employers
advice. but the move only made
matters worse Morning after morn
ing as the starlet left for work she
found showed under her door mys-
terious notes signed by her mother.
in which she threatened to commit
suicide and detailed various places
where her body might be found,
Within a few weeks the girl was
on the brink of a nervous break
down.
There is the ''mother-knows-best
story, too. of the young star slightly
addicted to weight. Assigned to
the leading role in one of the big
pest pictures of last year. her
mother discovered on the eve OF
the productions start that daughter
was several pounds overweight. Her
costumes wouldn't fit. A stringent
dieting policy was instituted. The
girls grew weaker and weaker and
under the strain of strenuous re-
hearsals her nerves broke. She de-
yeloped insomnia, walked the floors
night after night Then her mother
began administering sleeping mar
cotics. The combination eventually
caused her collapse on the stage:
The studio Investigated, discovered
what the mother was doing and
placed the youngster under doc
tors care. She was snapped out
of it in time to make the picture
and to score tremendous hit in it..
One Departed in Protest.
On the funnier side of the
"mother -knows-best' picture was
the break between a famous Irish
actress, also Weight-conscious, and
her mother over a boy friend who
insisted on sticking her with sweets
and pastries. Himself stoutlsh ana
non professional. the fellow felt that
a little extra padding here and there
wouldn't do his girl friend a bit
of harm. Every time he called at
the house he brought 5-pound box
of chocolates Every time they went
out for an evening, which was often,
they INDUCED in hot fudge sundae.
In no time at all the girl was up
to 14O pounds. The studio was
1llC lllOlllSl ittAAiON "AAN'
threatened 1t did no good. The
young man seemed to take flendish
delight in keeping his girl friend
plump. Finally mother left Holly
wood and her daughter to fend for
herself. The fellow married the
girl. She's still plump. But she's
still a star
Naturally. there's a prettier side
to the picture, too. and while we
haven't the space to go into that
phase of it. let us give you. as pow
erful influences behind the scenes,
such combinations as Bonita Gran
vile and her mother. Jimmie Gran
vile: Anne and Mimi Shirley. Fran
ces and Ellen Gee. Ginger and Leila
Rogers, Eleanor and Blanche Pow
ell who shows her devotion by
breaking in Eleanor's shoes, La
raine Day and her mother, Ada