Evening star., 1947-11-02
HOLLYWOOD.

dolIL "oSA.
Old-timers in the Hollywood
grandstand are all agog. Not one
of them ever suspected it could hap
pen. But it did. Studio bosses have
begun talking back to their stars.
Not in soft, silky tones, either, but
in the hard-boiled language of the
stevedore. Communications between
the front Office and players bristle
with sharp ultinfatums.
Yes, sir, new and grimmer era
has dawned in the lush land Of
make believe. Blame it on that Brit
ish tax, slipping boz once. o. 81 Inc
other ills suddenly arising to smack
the Aim industry. But the outstand-
ing result of the crisis, the One that
astonishes every one out here, is the
new get tough policy adopted by
brass hats toward their long-pam-
pered actors.
Within a month the entire pat
tern of studio-star relationship has
undergone a great change. 1t is sus-
pected, of course, that the boys got
together over a conference table at
the Johnston office and secretly
agreed to set off the fireworks i'm
mediately.
Bombshell for Claudette.
First, goth Century-Fox uncorked
suspension barrage directed at
three of its top stars. Warner Bros.
and RKO followed. Paramount
knocked off one, Columbia couple
and then came a move that rocked
the town. Metro-GoldWyn-Mayer
famed for years as the home OF an
earnestly practiced slogan, The
star is always right" suddenly cut
loose with a few totally unexpected
jabs into its player camp. From the
huge Culver City lot, where every
one from Louie B. Mayer down to
the lowliest press agent had been
imbued with the idea that star
at least an MGM star-can do no
wrong, came the bombshell.
Claudette Colbert, If not the No.
/, then at least the No. or 3
lady of the screen, was fired from
her leading role in "State OF the
Union" because she refused to work
after pm. Miss Colbert claimed
an oral agreement with Director
Frank Capra, whereby she could get
off an hour early each shooting day.
Katharine Hepburn hastily was
substituted.
In the memory Of the oldest Hol-
lywood correspondents, this is the
first time that MGM ever has acted
in such a drastic manner toward
any star. On the other hand. it's
always made 1t practice to baby
It's top-rung box Office winners to
a degree where many became in
tolerably unco-operative.
Top Stars Are Targets.
The big job OF coddling the star
falls to the lot of long suffering
press agents. They have been
known to sit up with them at night,
calming them down after hysterical
sessions on the sound stage. Others
have cooked for them, run errands,
walked their dogs and even held
their scripts while they recited their
dialogue for the following day. The
poor f1acks hope they now will
share in the benefits OF the new era.
But, getting back to the direct
causes of Hollywood's new deal"
it is significant to note that vir-
tually all top stars and only a few
of the smaller fry have been singled
out for chastisement
Colberts was the most important
name on the suspension list, but
during the past month t1ene Tier
ney, Cornell Wilde, John Payne and
Stirling Hayden have felt the sting
of studio lashes. All but Payne
are back on the payroll and that's
because these stars and their agents
knew from the methods adopted
by the bosses that there was to be
no bartering or other monkey
shines. Payne picked a very bad
time to rebel about = story at
Twentieth-Fox. Executives checked