Evening star., 1945-04-29

OF the BOOK she was wearing
Grecian gown and said: Il am
Diana" And she SO impressed Ross
that, while not promising her the
role of Diana, he has told her that
she will have a part in the picture.
Ross Is Encouraged.
Thus Ross found the first of the
"unknoWns' he has been seeking for
the better part of two years, in his
endeavor to people The Robe" with
an entire cast of new faces" and
he determined to redouble his ef-
forts to find others.
Which reminded us that some of
the most popular faces on the screen
today. such as Joan Fontaine. Anne
Baxter, Ann Sheridan. Gail Patrick.
Betty Cradle. Gail Storm. Buster
Crabbe, to name but a few, are the
products of just such intensive tall
ent hunts.
Vivien Leigh was, of course,
Selznick's great find in the Scarlett
search. But it was during the course
of it that he began to consider
Olivia De Havillands then obscure
sister, Joan Fontaine, and deter
mined to make her a star. Almost
the same thing happened to Anne
Baxter, who was brought from the
New York stage to test for the role,
but instead of going with Selznick
she wound up with Fox.
People now forget that Ann Sher-
idan was first brought to Hollywood
from Dallas as the result of Para
mounts search for beauty, which
brought II other hopefuls to town,
one from as far away as New Zea-
land. Miss Sheridan languished a
| long time under contract" at Para
mount before Warner Bros. saw her
possibilities (after Paramount had
dropped herr and built her to star
dom with their "oomph" campaign.
Gail Patrick might still be waiting
her opportunity, back home in
Birmingham, but for another search
instituted by Paramount. This one
was designed to find Panther
Woman" and while the winner,
Kathleen Burke, is no longer in
pictures, Gail, the runnerup is still
playing aristocratic meanies, all
thought of her Panther Woman"
rast forgotten.
Victories Often Futile.
The winning of a contest is, of
course, no guarantee of permanent
stardom. Charlotte Henry, winsome
winner of Paramount's widely trum-
peted search for an Alice in Won
derland, and then starred in the
picture, when last heard of was an
apartment-house operator. Iona
Andre, another product of the Pan
ther Woman" search, is now a
housewife, while Buster Crabbe,
winner of a Lion Man" campaign
is still popular star of serials.
Betty Cradle was just another of
Hollywood's many shapely dancers
when Producer E. Lloyd Sheldon
selected her as the winner of a
search to fill the title part of THE
Million-Dollar Legs" "B" picture,
but the one that brought the Cradle
figure into Hollywood focus. Gail
Storm was a model when Jesse
Lasky selected her as the winner of
his famous GateWay-to-H Hollywood
radio search. She is now the star of
Monogram's They Shall Have
Faith"
There has recently been some
confusion between two producers,
Frank Ross and Walter Wanger,
searching for a "Salome" for the
screen. Ross search was actually
projected long time before Wan
GERS when he offered a $500 prize
for the best conception of Salome by
an American artist and said that he
would try to find a girl to resemble
4 the painting. The prize was won by
Ensign Jay Robinson of New York
City. Meanwhile, Wanger was off on
his hunt for "the most beautiful
girl in the world" for "Salome-
Where She Danced" Yvonne de
Carlo, as almost every one knows,
won the latter contest, while Ross
is still searching for his "Salome"
for the THE Robe"
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i Alliance.)