The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-06-18


 the past few months, box office reports have indicated that the great wartime boom which poured unprecedented millions into studio coffers Is nearing its end. It's not going to continue much longer, to be true that ANY movie, irrespect- i've of its worth, can be depended upon for lush profits. John and Jane Public are again shoping for quality.
 In the interests of quality, I, for one, am glad to see the bonanza peter out.
 Hollywood could have taken ad- : vantage of the boom now ending to experiment, free of hazard, with new ideas in screen technique. It was the ideal time for experimenta- tion. New story themes, new meth odS of dramatic presentation, new Everything could have been tried with maximum financial security, because picture-hungry public was anxious to pay the costs.
 Hollywood, in general, fell down on the job. Throughout the boom, it has adhered slavishly Qazily perhaps, is 8 better word) to the old, threadbare routines. Of hand, I can't think of a single daring innovation. Almost every producer with whom I've talked during these past four years has been interested by just one thing - phenomenal profits. Instead of being fired by prosperity to lay greater stress on quality they've been inclined to shirk the added effort quality de- mands because they could harvest plenty of dollars without it. Even the quality destroying system of double bills has persisted.
 Sharper competition is bound to result from dwindling box office returnS-and sharper. competition, with its accompanying chance for heavy financial losses. seems to be the only spur sharp enough to goad Hollywood to real progress.
 I'm pleased but certainly not surprised, by the news that one of my favorite actresses, Priscilla Lane, is emerging from her self imposed retirement" to play 8 leading role in Andrew Stones new picture, Strange Bedfellows." On reading the announcement, my first impulse was to drop her a note and remind her that she owes me one doughnut. When she informed me, one day in 1943, that she was leav- ing the screen for keeps, bet her five bucks against the aforemen- tioned cruller that she would be before the cameras before five years. On second thought, how- ever, I've decided not to dun her for the wager.
 The odds I offered weren't real- ly fair in view of the fact that only three actresses in all screen history have ever voluntarily kept their "retirement" pledges.
 In the publicity barrage the other l ayem was bulletin from Colum- bia, proudly citing the fact that its Blonde" pictures have been stepping stones to fame for a galaxy of now famous stars, including Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Mas jorie Reynolds, and Janet Blair. | couldn't help wondering how two other players felt if they happened to read the same publicity item. meaQ Penny Singleton and Arthur | Lake both clever enough to have won far greater standing than they now have, if they hadn't been push ed into hopeless professional rut | by their inability to escape from the "Blondie' series.
 In the locker room at Lakeside Country Club, the boys were dis cussing the fabulous salary plus percentage deals which are now be- ing handed to the screens top flight stars. Ingrid Bergman's prob able earnings for 1946 were esti- mated at nearly $1,000,0O0 and one of the debaters hazarded an opin- ion that she will undoubtedly be