The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-01-21
JIMMIE FIDLER K HoHytOOod
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HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 2i = Let's talk about 'horse operas"-and m try to be e gentleman and resist the temptation to use harsh invec- tives.
 As a conscientious reviewer, I try bc see most of the program westerns ground out of the studiomills. Frankly, it's a waste of time, for they're all monotonously alike. The hero, in each case, wears the same gaudy, impossible costumes-trav- esties on real cowboy attire. In ev- cry picture he gets into the same jams with the always-crooked sher- if and always gets out. triumphant, by using the same plot technique that he, and every other western hero, has used in every other horse opera made in the past five years. Originality is completely lacking; an entire years output could be made from a single story.
 Why can't we have good program weSterns7 Hollywood used to make them, way back younder in the days of Tom Mix, Bill Hart and Buck Jones, and make them for far less cost than today's drivel is being turned out. Tn those days, western fans-and there are mil- lions of them-were privileged to see stories as sound in their dram atic construction as the biggest pic- lures on the Hollywood bill of fare. And they were also privileged to see good acting. At that time, no actor in the business considered himself above working in westerns.
 Today, those of us who like good cowboy drama are being cheated by producers who seem too lazy to strive for quality. We're saps if we don't make our protests heard.
 IDOL CHATTER: Speaking of war casualties, you oughta see Tur- han Bey in a G. I. haircut Smille-alikes: Anne Baxter and Olivia de Havilland .. Van John son is still the No. bobby-sox rave, but each new month sees more of the gals responding to the call of :he Wilde Add actors who never acts off-screen: Gregory Peck Carmen Miranda has faded as a screen star, but her goofy hats still seem to influence milady's styles .. Growl: Paramount should retitle Two Years Before the Mast" and make it TWO Years Before Re- lease" The best description of Ann Rutherford's $25, 1000 blonde mink" coat is an awed gasp Ode H mayhem: Gosh, Miss Russell. I had no IDEA until I saw those bill boards for The Outlaw"
 Oscar Levant. currently playing a featured role in Warner Brothers
 HumoreSque," keeps the set in a contSart uproar with his ad-libbing and unpredictable clowning. Tries hard to live up to his reputation. doesn't he?" I whispered to Barbara Stanwyck the other day when she and I were sidelining one of his scenes. "On the contrary" she re- piled, His reputation has never caught up with the facts. I first met him when I was on the stage in the play 'Burlesque'. He had 2 small but important role in tho same show, as a piano players in an East Side dive. After our frs two or three rehearsals, the pro ducer, Arthur Hopkins, wrote z clause into his contract prohibitinf him from getting up from his pianc bench and roaming around tht stage. With Levant on the loose we'd all have had nervous break downs within a week"
 4
 Between scenes on the "Sistei Kenny" set at RKO, the converse tion turned to a certain glamoul girl who, with only one screen suc- cess to her credit, has developed one of the most colossal egos ever seer in these parts. I asked Rosalind Russell how she's managed to escape