The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-01-07
JIMMIE FIDLER n HoHyuOOod
DI.s,lAs.sa sg Msnassa. syaaIsa.s. Ias.

HOLLYWOOD, Jan. : sitting near me in the Metro Goldwyn- Mayer cafe the other noon were Van Johnson and Doris Dudley. If I were to comb Hollywood don't think could find two people whose stories better illustrate the un- practicable nature of Filmville suc- cess.
 Van, now the No. 2 box-office star of the industry (topped only by Bing Crosby, was the most dis couraged youngster imaginable when I first knew him. Warner Brothers had given him a few bits and then declined to renew his contract. He was broke and theye was no job in sight. He told me, remember, that he could only hold out for another month or two. Unless he won smile or two from Lady Luck by then, he would have to return to New York and forget his movie ambitions. All this, mind you, was only four years agol
 Miss Dudley, four years ago, was living in a three room beach cot- tage, fitted with makeshift furniture that she threw together herself, and lying awake nights wondering whe- ther she would be able to make a screen comeback and earn enough money to support her two small boys. She was down to her last dol- lar when Lady Luck threw her smile-an ironic one. She got no breaks, herself, but one of the boys attracted the attention of a direc- tor and, overnight, became one of the industry's greatest child stars. You know him as Butch Jenkins.
 No foolin', it's strange town!
 IDOL CHATTER: How could Santa improve on the contents of Betty Grable's stockings? Gary Cooper is my idea of whole-heart- ed conservative; he never runs if he can walk, never walks if he can stand, and never stands if he can sit Maybe Lauren Bacall will be more cooperative with the press when she realizes how her publicity has decreased in recent months .. Add leaves from Hollywood's family tree. James Ellison is a descendant of Daniel Defore, author of "Robin- son Crusoe" It's odd that Ar thur Preacher, so befuddled on the screen, should be noted, in real life, for his remarkable memory .. In-a-word description of Charlie Mccarthy: timbermental .Won- dering muse: Was that note of regret in Lionel Barrymore's voice when he observed that fun is like insurance because it costs more the older you get?
 Yesterday, l was privileged to see Gene Lockhart, ordinarily one of the most faultless actors in the bus iness, muff a scene as completely as the rankest of amateurs. It was on the Strange Woman" set at United Artists, and he was supposed tc make ardent love to his screen-wife Hedy Lamar. After five or six taxes had been discarded because hiE facial expressions betrayed extreme embarrassment rather than roman tic ardor, he requested that another player, who had been watching thu scene critically from the sidelines be sent to her dressing room. Int other player was his own off-screer wife, Kathleen Lockhart.
 I want to quote a paragraph iron & letter which I received the othel day from from the mother of Fran ceS Farmer, the one-time star wht is trying to fight her way back after suffering a tragic mental break. down. Her mother writes: France! is trying hard to adjust herself tt being on her own again. She i handicapped by the fact that sht was stage and screen star. Thai is the one thing she wants to forge and wants others to forget. It is strain on her emotional stability when absolute strangers walk up tt her and ask for her autograph, ol try to engage her in conversation about her career or illness" Tn quoting that letter in the hope tha those fans who read it will develop a little common sense and give al unfortunate girl fighting chance |
 In one of the local trade paper yesterday was lengthy editorial written by one of the industry mighty moguls. Tn it he harped on most familiar theme-the tremend ous potency of the screen as cul