The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-08-06

HOLLYWOOD, August eff you like to read between the lines" consider an announcement printed in the Hollywood trade papers some days ago. I'm referring to the pub lished decision of Universal Studio bosses to cancel out all Glass B" productions because of the new law which gives exhibitors the right to see pictures in advance and book them on basis of individual merit.
 Think what that decision to jet tison all Class B product implies. It means that studio bosses (Uni- versal is only an example; not an exception) have been using the block booking system" under which pictures were usually sold sight unseen" and under which an exhibitor, in order to obtain the one big attraction he particularly wanted, was usually forced to con- tract for four or five others, to cram down the public gullet cine matic tripe too inferior in quality to sell on it's own merit. It means that the studio heads were perfect ly aware that many of their offer ings were stinkeroos; it means that they don't dare to continue the pro- duction of such pictures now that exhibitors have been given the right to buy in an open market.
 You hear much palaver, here in Hollywood, about artistic integrity. Now you know how much the play CT is worth. It takes a Federal law to compel our present studio bosses to abandon practice under which they deliberately made and sold pictures so bad that American theatre owners (most of whom sin cerely try to give their patrons a dollars worth of value for every dollar spent) had to be cudgeled into buying them.
 If "The Searching Wind" is a fair sample of Hollywood's many proposed pictures-with-a message John and Jane Public are due for a fair measure of chuckles. "The Searching Wind" purports to be terrific indictment of American middle f-the-road" foreign policy in the days immediately preceding World War II. Undoubtedly, many of it's audiences will agree with the indictment and feel the desired contempt for the American ambas- sador who is made the pictures scapegoat. But here's the chuckle. The picture opens with the voice of President Roosevelt delivering part of his "Yalta Report" The audience is invited and even urged by every dramatic ruse to cheer the late presidents wisdom Then fol- lows the scathing denunciation of American statesmanship. Did the producer of "The Searching Wind" have his tongue in his cheek - or cid he merely forget that American foreign policy, from 1883 to 1945, was dictated by MT. Roosevelt more complete than any one man ever dictated 1t before In history?
 Speaking of ironies, was amused the other day when I overheard the conversation of two young ladies who, quite obviously, had been reading the deluge of pub lieity about Errol Hymns plans for exploring" jaunts into the wilds of South and Central America. Hes so BRAVE to go exploring in places like that!" sighed one of the young sters. Certain I have no desire to cast asperesions on Hymns courage. What amuses me is the reflection that his most dangerous adven- lures have been met, not in "ex- ploring" tropical seas Or jungles, but in exploring the HollyWoods.
 The marriage of 32-year- old Mar tha Scott to Mel Powell. 24, re- minds me again of a long-felt though purely academic. curiosity. Why, in the face of records which would seem to prove that such mar riages seldom last, do many fem mine stars wed men much younger than themselves? I'm no psycho- analist, but merely sideline ob- server. My own conclusion is based only on the fact that at least