The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1946-02-11

HOLLYWOOD, Feb. ILL never
see q moppet working on a movie
set without recalling one Of the
most awful experiences In my Hol-
lywood career. The memory dates
back nearly 20 years, but It's kept
fresh BY frequent Nightmares.
was partner in a little pro-
ductlon company that made several
two-reel dramas, and the same six
kid players worked in each one,
Each youngster had a MAMA bel
ligerant, aggressive mama--ferocioS-
" convinced that her particular
Offspring was Gods gift to motion
pictures. Probably because was
very young and very green and
too obviously filled with fresh
from South ideas about the
courtesy due to the gentle" sex,
all OF those maInas picked on me.
Between scenes, one after another
they would get me trapped in q
corner of the stage and there each
one would sing the praises Of her
child and sheer at all the others.
resigned my partnership after the
third picture. It was either that
or q nervous breakdown.
Ever since then, I've watched
screen nNmaS with an attentive
II somewhat jaundiced eye and in
20 years they haven't changed a bit.
Each one still regards her cheeild
as a prodigy, and all others as
brats. I have yet to find two Of
them who aren't either open or Sc
cret enemies, and have yet to meet
one who doesn't want to back me
into q corner and make me confess
the superiority of her offspring,
II you knew mamaS like know
mamas, you'd be weakling like /
am. You'd agree to anything.
IDOL CHATTER: Van johnson
may not be Hollywood's greatest
athlete, but he's done a good job to
date of staying on a pedestal with
out losing his balance Peas-in-
a-pod: Ann Sheridan and Gale
Storm, photoed in profile &.
Drop in at the Allan Jones manSe,
and you're cinch to find the own
er wearing cowboyg duds &.
Hollywood simllie: AS cold as the
once-hot June Haver-Victor Ma
ture romance Few Hollywood
ties mind swallowing their pride,
II they can wash it down with
champagne Wondering muse:
How can anyone compile list OF
Hollywood's 10 mo9t beautiful girls
without including Linda Darnell? 90,
Jimmy Cagney's habit Of standing
on tiptoes merely accents his short
stature Random thought: Why
Is 1t that Jack Carson'S oft-screen
with, always extemporaneous, al
ways sounds rehearsedr
On the "Sister Kenny" set at the
RKO ranch yesterday, Rosalind
Russell and Dean Jaeger were work.
ing in a sequence which showed
them buggy-riding down country
lane. In the long shots, q horse
pulled the vehicle; in the close
ups the beast OF burden" was one
OF Hollywoods most unusual spe-
cialists, man named Allan
Lee. Long study has taught him
how to witch the reins realiStical-
" to suit the different gaits OF a
carriage nag, and the picture pro-
ducerS pay for his education at
the rate of SIS a day. Nine times
out of ten when you see a big close
up Of actors riding in a buggy or
wagon, Lee is between the shafts,
doubling for the horse whose heavy
FOOTBALLS would interfere with the
recording Of dialogue.
About four O'Clock, every afternoon,
Claire Trevor's thought turns to
food. Let's take time out Tor a
sandwich" she suggests, and her
directors have learned through long
experience 10 okay the proposal IN
the interests of efficiency, for Miss
Trevor, denied her afternoon snack,
is only half the actress that she Is
on a full tummy. Irving Refs, d.
recting her current picture, Crack
up" cooked up a practical joke the
other day in the hope that 1t might
kid her out of her habit. When she
made her inevitable request for time
out, she was suddenly showered with
assorted food by the electricians
working on the catwalks high over
head. instead Of being shamed
Miss Trevor complained bitterly be-
cause no one had dropped a square
Of butter.
Pat O'Brien, star Of the same pic
ture, was a bit dubious about his
role, for he has long been eStab-
lished as an exponent Of violent ac-
ton, and "Crack-up is a phychologi-
cal drama in which his most trying
physical feat Is a walk across q
doctors anteroom. AT least, I'll
have one compensation" he told
me before starting the picture. "for