davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1944-02-13
Two Characters in Contrast
By Frances Long,

Brenda Forbes has been living two
lives since the opening of the Broad
way play "Suds in Your Eye"
Miss Forbes normal life is one of
quietness and simplicity. She loves
to putter around her apartment,
write letters to her soldier r-husband
in Italy; she likes well-cut dresses
without froth or fluff. Just an or
dinary person who loves living" she
says.
But curtain time brings a startling
change; the smooth young skin ages
with pencil lines around the mouth,
rouge placed too low on the cheeks.
Her reddish hair is concealed under
a pale gold wig with bangs. The
smart clothes are put aside and she
dons ludicrous, long wasted, gray
dress.
Finally, equipped with lorgnettes,
an old hand bag filled with miscel-
laneous rubbish and a bespangled
Dutch cap, Miss Forbes becomes for
few hours Miss Tinkham, a frus-
trated music and elocution teacher.
with a stilted strut and shrill
voice
"Old Tink is really quite a char
acter," she says. "She was a lot of
uphill work until suddenly realized
she reminded me very much of my
old elocution teacher in England.
Theatrical Clan.
"It's an absolutely wild part but
most of my acting career has been in
slightly crazy roles. But am glad
that old Tink is from Ohio because
she is the first real American part
I've played. Usually I do Cockney
characters"
Brenda, born in the south OF Lon
don, comes from theatrical family.
Her mother is Mary Forbes, English
actress, who Is now making movies
ip Hollywood, and Ralph Forbes of
stage and screen is her brother.
MY father was concert singer
and he used to drag me around to
oOlAlC Va llAo pal OlCo hllu HldhC lIlC
sing songs to amuse his friends. OF
course, it was very funny, but I
ruined my voice for any serious
singing
Fortunately it is still good for
comedy and Cockney songs and it
comes in very useful now. Old
Thinks has to give out with three
songs, and I half speak, half sing
them in a fiat voice Suits my
ruined voice perfectly"
Whether Miss Forbes singing has
been ruined or not, her acting abil-
ity certainly has not. As a small
girl, she Rugged her mothers skirts,
oglirfg the fine costumes, smelling
the flowers and watching her mama
pat "all that stuff on her face"
Before I was conscious of acting,
Evening star., 1944-02-13
Coming Attractions

Stage.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. and the Colonel"
j. Edward Bromberg starting weeks from tomorrow
evening.
CAPToLsong of Russia with Robert
starting Thursday. Al
COLUMB1A-Ridng High" Dorothy Iamour and Victor
Moore; returning
EARLE-"The Song" Irene Manning and Dennis
Morgan; starting Friday.
KEITHSTender Comrade," Robert
starting Thursday
LITLEAbe Illinois," Raymond Massey and Ruth
Are Your Children Cooper
and Patricia Morrison.
PAIACE"Jane Eyre" with Joan Fontans
P1X-"The Cheat" with Saschs Guitry.
Evening star., 1944-02-13
Producer C0nfeSse He Has "A Dollar More Than He Needs
BY Inga Arvad..


Goldwyn, about whom hundreds
Of funny stories and gags circu-
late all over the globe, isn't bit
funny; he does tell story extreme
ly we'll. He insists that you be
amused and comfortable in his
presence, and he goes out of his
way to make that possible. If a
pretty woman enters his office, it is
like a pep injection to him. He
will tell her that he finds her at
tractive and is extremely chivalrous
so what about knocking on the
Goldwyn door?
Nov, what on earth do you want
me to talk to you about? Let me
interview you instead" Mr.. Gold
wyn suggests, and before I have had
time to answer one way or the other
he adds, Let us go over and have
some lunch; maybe it will make you
feel better" He smiles.
"Tell You a Story -"
As we enter the dining room, which
Is small, intimate and elegant. all
conversation stops as If by magic; a
table is cleared quicker than you
can say SAM" and a waiter who
would willingly have served one of
his own ribs au jus If Mr.. Goldwyn
had wished it, went away bearing
orders.
Now" says the great Goldwyn, as
everybody has at least one ear turned
to our conversation; Il am going to
give you story, which ought to
bring you raise in salary"
So here are some of the things
heard while munching a chicken
wing. I got him started by asking
what a producer is. It is question
which I and many others have put
to that particular species in Holly
wood, but the answer Is always eva
sive-probably because many feel
Evening star., 1944-02-13
HOLLYWOOD,


There are few kingdoms left in
this world, but right out here on
1041 North Formosa avenue there
is one, valued at about $4,000, 900.
AS soon as the heavy iron gates
close behind you, there is no doubt
who reigns supreme. He is g.
foot man. who weighs 165 pounds
and was born In the month of Au-
gust, 1882. in Warsaw, Poland. His
first job in this country was in a
factory at the age of IA, where he
earned SO a week He was supposed
to start at am. But I was al
ways there when the warning whis-
tie blew at 10 minutes to Z"
When he saw his first motion pic
ture at the grimy little Herald
Square Theater in New York-they
were only 500-foot reels--he knew
that If people will come and laugh
at nothing more amusing than ac-
tors throwing pillows at each other
the movies must have something"
Empty Pockets.
Since then he has discovered
many star from Will Rogers to
Merle Oberon, produced innumer-
able successes, has become one of
the 10 best-dressed men in this
country and is worth-well? your
guess is as good as mine, but he will
admit to having a dollar more than
I need" He hates toilet water.
shaving lotions, earrings for pretty
or homely women and is vain about
his appearance to the point where
he carries absolutely nothing in his
pockets, not even dime. He is a
man whose smile comes easily,
whose anger makes many wish
they could hide In a door crack.
He is-none other than-Samuel
Goldwyn.
Evening star., 1944-02-13
NEW YORK


The curious thing about the new
comedy, Take It AS 1t Comes" by
E. B. Morris-said to be not the
authors real name-is that it ever
got produced. Perhaps 1t was be-
cause, unlike quite a few plays
Broadway has seen this season. it
is bulwarked by an excellent idea
But it is regrettable to have to say
that the idea is its sole possession
and even this is lost after the first
act in a mesh of arrant nonsense
Come to think, it had two good
ideas. First the Blivens family, re-
siding in a small New Jersey town
lis selected by a popular radio fea-
ture, The Home and Fireside Hour.
AS the model H. and F. family
Here, what with its variegated char
acters. was something for the hand
of a George Kaufman, but not, un-
fortunately, for the authors hand
Indeed. he defects himself from this
novel situation and turns what may
pass for plot to a package which
a neighbor, a Mr.. Pasquale, has
asked the juvenile son of the family
to keep for "a hours.
After Mr.. Pasquale has been
assassinated at the end of the first
Evening star., 1944-02-13
the dour professional critical ele-
ment, were lightly amused.

the dour professional critical ele--
ment, were lightly amused. -
Actor Among Actors.
John Emery, gifted actor, makes
much of the part of philandering
bachelor who becomes engaged to
a sweetly naive young thing and
hence must shake of the more inti-
mate trammels of his bachelor..
hood-including the attractive wife
of one of his friends. While spirit
in this direction is sincere the flesh
in quite another direction is much
more imperative. In consequence q
farewell dinner with his seductive
Leman concludes in a manner quite
different from his high resolve. The
fiancee is not long in discovering his
guilt. Determined to cast him off,
upon second thought she decides to
make sure of him in the way he
best understands and appreciates.
In the mode of a wicked French
farce, this comedy lacks structural
skill and thus is wholly dependent
upon the histrionic artistry of Mr.
Emery; of Tamara Geva. the way
ward wife; of Joan Tetzel, the
fiancee, and very especially of David
Wayne, who throughout the play
dogs the philanderer in the role of
the mans conscience-as tough an
assignment as a playwright ever
gave conscience.
Book Department.
Reading Ward Warehouses splen-
did biography of George M. Cohan.
George M. Cohan, Prince of the
American Theater," one gets an i'm
preston not infrequently derived
from candid narratives of distin-
guished lives.
Wit hall his success Mr.. Cohan was
not happy man. AS with any
honest man who is willing ever to
fight for what he thinks is right and
just, he had to sacrifice friends to
his principles. There we're family
troubles, too, and even in his proc.
fession all was not roses :
I saw him in his early days al
one of the Four Cohans I was witk
him on the stage the last time he
appeared on any stage-the Dutch
treat show in which he sang sew
eral of his more famous songs
What great life you have lived"
I said to him admiringly. =
Fine, yes he said solemnly. but
I would not want to live it again" >
(Released by North American Newspaper
Alliance Incl :
Evening star., 1944-02-13
From World War | and RenOir
By RosaIind Shafer.

for a smart golden wool coat for
Miss Sheridan The waist and
sleeves. cut in one, are from a bias
cut, eliminating any surplus mate
rial. yet suggesting fullness. The
skirt of the coat is straight piece
of material. darted at the waistline
to produce a smooth fit; and bias
fold forms the binding of the collar
less neckline, and ties which hold
the coat together at the side front.
1t uses two and an eighth yards of
material, much less than the aver
age coat
The dress worn with it is an
English mustard-color swanskin
wool. with a repeat of the dolman
theme, and the shoulders are made
important by three bias-tuck pleats
which release fullness over the bust
and widen the shoulder line This
latter point is important for the
modern well-balanced silhouette
Three chevron-s tucks center
on the front placket over the
stomach.
Copy From "Skeffington"
A gray wool suit worn by Bette
Davis in "Skeffington," with pep
lum-skirted jacket and draped long
split skirt, is copied in the modern
manner as an evening dress for Miss
Sheridan. 1t emerges as a hyacinth
blue satin evening gown. with only
suggested drape over the stomach
at the peplum line, and a modern,
waist with long fitted sleeves.
While present limitations on ma
terial should produce a stark SIM
pie style. frequently they create a
frenzy of trimmings and detail,
warns Kelly, which suggests. so
much taste, all of it bad"
Nov iss no time for uproar in
clothes" says Kelly, violent colors,
he opines. are best left to brighten
evening gatherings where service
men seek relief from war. Mems
clothes. too, should be conservative,
sacrificing the loud checks and
sport styles to the changed mode of
lie today.
Women's headdresses are impor-
tant; smart simplicity, with the side
upswept, is best, Kelly judges. No
woman of distinguished taste will
continue to use artificial flowers and
bows in her hair, so overdone in
past seasons. He also pleads to
leave long bobs to eccentrics and
young girls.
Kelly points to the paintings of
Renoir as good hunting ground
for the modern woman wishing to
find new flattery in her hair, and
notes the wisps of hair which that
painter uses on each side of the
forehead in many of his models.
Evening star., 1944-02-13

In Il Dood 1t" Red Shelton Is
shown enjoying an animated win
dow display OF Tommy Dorsey in a
music store window He speaks to
another onlooker without looking up
That's great band" The audi
ence discovers the fellow next to
Shelton is Jimmy Dorsey. A friend
with Jimmy asks Red if he doesn t
like Jimmy's band as well as Tom
my's. Too many strings" snaps
Red To which the friend snorts,
"Yeh, like Bob Hope, too"
Don Ameche is probably the butt
of more movie-made gags than any
actor, all because he's appeared in
so many invention" and biographi-
cal movies. Because he appeared in
Alexander Graham Bell" the tele-
phone is now commonly known as
the Ameche.'
And if you suspect Bing Crosby
and Frank Sinatra of being actual
rivals, take an advance peep at a
scene in Crosby's new film, Going
My Way?" Frank McHugh is SELL
ing Crosby as a wonderful singer.
Why" he asserts, hes another
Sinatra"
tReleased by the North American
Newspaper Alliance. Inc)
Evening star., 1944-02-13
Jack Benny Learns
That It's Difficult
TO Be Angelic
BY the Associated Press
HOLLYWOOD,

HOLLYWOOD =
Comedian Jack Benny is trying
his best to be a good little angel
but frankly admits it's a devil of7S
job! =
Benny is appearing in The HofH
Blows at Midnight in which he's
supposed to be No. trumpeter In
heavenly symphony, but the Wau-
kegan wise cracker blithely con-
fesses he doesn't know as muth
about trumpets as he does about
violins. Which, he adds, is prac-
tically negligible. So they dub lin
the sound effects.
Next, they had to denude Jack .of
his pretty white wings because they
were Hopping grotesquely in every
ones eyes. And, besides, prankstkrs
were habitually plucking out feath-
ers % Use as pipe cleaners. So they
compromised and appliqued a small
set of wings on Jacks white robe
and let it 60 at that. II
In another scene, Bennys toupee
accidentally got knocked OF during
a rough-and-tumble fracas with
some children Promptly one
youngster grabs it up and dasi1es of,
yelling: "Oh. boy, Fred Allen win,
pay me plenty for this" -
Benny admits he perhaps should
have started being an angel q littlt
earlier in life. :
Evening star., 1944-02-13

that they are above being dissected
and described.
But Sam Goldwyn started off like
ball of fire.
"A producer must know what the
audience wants a year from now.
because they don't know what they
want themselves. All they do know
when they see picture on the
screen is whether they like it or not" "
Not Much Talent.
Il create and cast my own stars
continues the monarch of Samuel
Goldwyn Studios. Il carry a picture
through from the original idea clear
to the public, and I can do exactly
as I wish; every cent that goes into
the picture Is mine-so Is the profit
and the responsibility. There are GER
tain qualities producer must have,
and above everything else, he must
be good editor. Frankly there are
no more than half a dozen top pro-
ducefs in this town, about 10 first
rate writer's, and I should say at
most IL outstanding actors and ac-
tresses."
What about television, will that
harm pictures?" I inquired, and Mr..
Goldwyn replied:
Certainly not; first, because peo-
pie always want to go to the thea
ters. You don't want to eat dinner
home every night, now, do you?
Besides. really important pictures
will not be shown in the home; that
is not until they think of some way
Of charging for them"
What do you think of double fea-
lures, and those three-hour pictures
which are so prevalent now?"
Double features" and Samuel
Goldwyn made grimace. Double
features" he repeated; "they are
dying out. But as far as the length
Evening star., 1944-02-13
For Less Sound and Fury
By Jay Carmody.

to him that painter of the caliber
of, say, Thomas Benton. does not
sit at his easel thinking with
reference to his subject: iii have
to ham this up with reds and greens
If I want it to be understood out
side of New York"
Perhaps he should be told, also,
that Jose Iturbi never has felt it
was necessary to do headstands on
the piano bench as a special prelude
to his concerts in Constitution Hall
in Washington. Mr.. Iturbi just sits
at the piano and plays as If he were
in Carnegie Hall quite confident that
it is his most brilliant, elegant and
subtle music that the audience came
to hear. 1t is just barely possible
that that is one of the reasons why
Mr.. Iturbi can draw an audience of
more than 1000 20 one performance
while the equally old art of the actor
suffers from acute malnutrition save
when war jitters and wartime earn
ings pack theaters with people who
can find nothing else to do.
II actors bothered to read such
things as best-seller fiction lists
they would discover that the novel
that leads the list in New York is
doing the same thing in what they
call the provinces. Moreover. it is
identical. word for word, comma for
comma
The Two Mrs. Giddens.
Washington escapes many of the
more horrible examples of the art of
scenery chewing. That is the happy
result Of its geography which puts
1t in the position Of catching plays
on their way to New York. or Just
on their way out, in which case, the
Broadway accent has not been cor
rupted.
Unhappily, however, it does not
escape them all. Within the memory
OF even forgetful theatergoers is the
difference between Tallulah Bank
heads two appearances here in The
Little Foxes The first came imme-
diately after her long Broadway run
and Miss Bankhead was the great
actress she can be. A year later,
after a Nationwide tour, she re-
turned to give a performance of
Regina Giddens that literally drove
Lillian Hellman, author of the play,
out of the theater. With this COM
mentator only yard behind!
Not to leave Miss Bankhead as
the only case in point, there was the
recent case of Kiss and Tell" a
little comedy representing only about
so per cent of its intelligence because
OF a group of George Abbott's iuve-
niles played it as if they thought
it was a calliope.
IT the outstandingly creative peo-
pie Of the theater, such as Miss
Cornell, can give the same delicately
shaded performance in Seattle, or
her native Buffalo, that she does in
New York, it would seem to intimate
that lesser performers might actu-
ally increase their stature by follow
ing her example. Along with the
creative artists in other fields, Miss
Cornell assumes that it is foolhardy
to compromise with her conception
OF perfection. 1t is an idea that is
to be highly, if futilely, recon-
mended to actors whose notion it is
that they must scream at, and jump
at. the public which lies west of the
Hudson.
Evening star., 1944-02-13

In common with his fellow critics
Mr.. Lewis Nichols of the New York
Times went to greet "Porgy and
Bess" on its return to New York
City Center last week. The expert
ence heightened Mr.. Nichols con-
viction that the operetta is a great
American institution. 1t made him
deeply happy to welcome the pro-
duction back to Broadway
There was just one slightly jar
ring note in the evening OF Mr.
Nichols. That he found in the
tendency of a few members of the
cast to overact. 1t was something
they had learned on the road in
eight months away from Broadway
and Mr.. Nichols was sure 1t would
be corrected as soon as the company
realized it was home again.
Mr.. Nichols has a point there
the one about Broadway acting and
provincial acting. We wish heartily
he did not, but the perception OF
actors being what it is, there seems
to be small hope that the wish ever
will come true. We do not mean
merely the players and singers in
"Porgy and Bess." but virtually all
performers save that highly intelli-
gent few such as Katharine Cornell
Helen Hayes and the Lunts. Apart
from these, the assumption seems
to be that south and west Of the
Hudson the native peoples are
incapable of understanding any
subtlety of the acting art more
delicate than the prattfall. The
actual truth undoubtedly is to be
found in the fact that the actor
is incapable Of understanding thai
there are intelligent people in the
provinces. They are people of ex-
cellent taste, sharp perceptions and
with eyes and ears agile enough tc
follow the most deft of gestures and
lightest Of infections by which ar
actor represents character.
Minority in the Arts.
Apart from actors and confidence
men, to the best knowledge of this
commentator, no other artist makes
distinction between New York and
the rest of the country.
Arturo Toscanini, for example
does not add Is brasses and Benny
Goodman to his orchestra when one
of his concerts is to be broadcast
on a Nationwide hookup.
An artist much closer to the actor
the playwright. does not revise his
work when it is to be taken to the
country either before or after its
appearance on Broadway. Nor, if he
is reputable playwright, does he
approve of notifications, usually In
the form of greater emphasis OF
scenery chewing, which the actor
undertakes voluntarily. 1t is impos-
sible to conceive of even such a
sophisticated dramatist as Noe
Coward doing San Francisco OF
Chicago version of. say. Tonight
at $50" or Private Lives" And, II
Maxwell Anderson is willing to
leave it up to his old Terre Haute
Ind, neighbors to understand what
he means in such a fantasy as
High Tor" his players certainly
could legitimately respect his faith
Integrity on Canvas.
Not that it would accomplish the
desired end Of educating the actor
unless he is highly educatable, it
nevertheless, might be pointed out
Evening star., 1944-02-13
Today's Theater Schedules
Stage.

Stage.
NAT1ONAI-"I.fe With Father; pm
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY THEATER-Secret Service" pm
Screen
cAPITOL-"The UNLIMITED; pm Stage
shows l. $40, 6:25 and 9:15 pm.
COLUMBIA-Madme Curie l, $780, 4:45 7:10 and 9:35 pm
EAFE"The Miracle of Mogans Creek; 315 545
pm Stage shows 2:4o, sos TBS and e:55 pm
KE1IHS-His Buffers Sister" 3:l0 520 pm
LITTLE-"Jeannie"; /. 2:4o 42o 7:5o $50 pm
$40 pm.
PALACE"sandns Room Only" $40, $780, 7so pm.
PIX-"1he Eagle g. 430 6:55 and $40 pm.
TRANS LUX-News shorts; continuous ! pm.
Evening star., 1944-02-13
His Own PrevieWer

Without use of crystal ball, Will
liam Cameron Menzies can give you
detailed preview of his movies be-
fore they're ever made. A vet
eran art director, he makes linked
sketches of every scene to appear
in the finished film, sometimes
numbering 5000 to picture.
Evening star., 1944-10-26

government which believes and
practices, in public and in private,
the art of being honest.
With such a government, quar-
reling and pickering will come to
an end and victory on every front
VIII be speeded. With faith In our
future, we can and will bring 10
million heroes home promptly after
victory--home to an America with
jobs and opportunity for all.