Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-08-24
By Harold HeHernan

QeCeSSOrS, the OCQer, just dS uuu-
cult, was to insure the turnout of
name personalities.
The "gimmick" finally decided
upon was a personal appearance in
the forecourt of the theater of all
the screens animal stars. Two men
were assigned to this job.
They encountered surprising sue
cess and within a few days had
arranged for the bow of Asia, Daisy,
Flame, Lassie and Rim Tin Tin, dog
stars; of Flicka and Silver, the
horses; Cheetah, the chimp; Jim,
the raven; Jackie, the lion; the
triplet offspring of the deer Of "The
Yearling,' and. of course, the red
stallion himself.
Stars Are Traded.
With all this in hand, the P. A.
turned his attention to the prob
lem of getting stars. He sent tele-
gram invitations to 200 of them.
Then he sat down and telephoned
the ones he knew. Later he called
press agents at other studios and
made deals and trades.
Get me Lamour and de Havil-
land and when you open Blue
boards Last Wife I'll get you Craw-
ford and Russell" 49,
Deliver Jane Russell and Bob
Waterfield and I'll get you two new
clients within three months" This
to a free-lance press agent.
Some stars-bless 'em-came with
out any urging. LARAMIE Day phoned
that she and Leo Durocher would
be happy to attend. Rosalind Rus
sell also accepted without being
contacted" Mary Pickford and
Buddy Rogers said they'd like to
come and that they'd bring their
two children.
One of the big ones Eagle-Lion
went after was Bob Hope. Marvin
Stahl, studio producer who is a for
mer golf champion, stepped forward.
"I'll get Bob If I have to hit him over
the head with a No. 3 iron," he said.
"Ill come" finally agreed Hope,
"but this means you'll have to give
me some lessons and guarantee to
straighten my drive"
Party for Noreen.
The press agent called Noreen
Nash, who. has the romantic lead in
the picture.
why don't you have a little din
ner party on the night of the pre-
miere?" he asked.
Miss Nash said that would be fine
and next day she phoned and said
she had invited the John Garfelds,
John and Gloria Payne, Gregory
Peck and his wife and a few others.
Turhan Bey was called in.
Going to the premiere?"
"Sure thing" he replied.
How about bringing Ava Gard
ner?"
"Well-" Turhan stammered.
Listen, Turhan, you're a bachelor.
We need glamour and Ava's got it. :"
well, you see, I'm pretty much
committed in certain direction
and I'm not supposed to be going out
with other girls"
The flack recalled that Bey had
just completed Adventures of Casa
nova" which was filmed in Mexico
City, and that while there he'd seen
q good deal of Linda Christians.
In the end the press agent
dictated a letter ito whom it may
concern" and set forth that Tur-
han was escorting Miss Gardner Gf
she would go) to the premiere at
the request of Eagle-Lion, his en-
ployerS.
Billing for Lassie.
There was a little trouble with
the animal stars, too. 1t was all
important to have Lassie, the
collie. M-G-M, to whom Lassie is
under contract at something like
$4,000 a picture. was not eager to
deliver its dog star. But the deal
finally was made because the en-
tire receipts for the night were
going to the Fox West Coast
Theaters' employees pension fund.
But LasSie must get star billing"