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SCREENLAND Secrets
BY JOHN HOLT
BY JOHN HOLT
ANCIENT bones of the Nile are
rattling again, for Cecil B. De
Mille's gorgeous spectacle, "Cleo-<*>
patra," has been released. The
Old Masters
glamorous queen
of ancient Egypt
is brought to life
by Claudette Col
bert in one of the
most lavish pro
ductions. The
story is that of
the Royal vamp
who uses her
allure to enmesh
the great Caesar
and Marc Antony
as a means to
ward conquering
the Roman Empire.
A triumvirate of great players in
cludes Warren William as Caesar, and
the English star, Henry Wilcoxon, as
Marc Antony. Vast mob scenes and
costly sets should make this one of
the most pretentious pictures of the
year—and true to the great De Mille
tradition the film will feature a bath
tub sequence.
It's an odd and interesting fact
that various stars have scribes to
handle their rather voluminous corre
spondence—and when they give a
party it's the scribe's sacred duty to
write each and every guest thanking
them for attending.
Marion Davies empioys such a sys
tem, and just the other day, for
example, she put on quite an elaborate.
affair to which practically everyone
of any importance was invited.
Due to the great numbet of guests
her scribes were forced to write many
of their sugary "thank you" letters
many days before the affair in order
that all could be mailed promptly the
day following the party.
One of the recipients of her notes
was W. C. Fields. He received a piece
which read-
Many thanks for coming to the
party—and.. for your graciousness
in helping to entertain the guests.
Of course, Fields was delighted to
receive the note—but it nevertheless
puzzled him.
You see, he had forgotten to go to
the party!
♦ * ♦
Those who have thrilled to Warner
Brothers' musicals may settle down to
expect many more of the same. Rudy
Valee is to report to work at this
studio on "Sweet Music-" Staring
This is the first of a series of
contributions which will be
published exclusively in
The Queenslander. John
Holt is Hollywood's most
noted columnist.
vehicles are also toeing planned for Al
Jolson and Dick Powell.
* # *
Maybe Frank McHugh will go on a
shopping lour with his wife again—
and maybe he will not. He had an ex
perience which should signify some
thing one way or the other. Or per
haps it will just mean that he won't
take a nap again while making the
rounds of the stores.
Hie story goes that the wife of this
Warner Brothers comic persuaded him
to go shopping with her. One of the
places they visited was a drive-in
market. When faced with the ordeal
of purchasing McHugh became weary
and told his wife that he was going
back to the car. There he curled up on
the back seat and went to sleep.
Hours later he awakened, terror
stricken by the scenery passing him.
McHugh was certain he had been kid
napped until he tapped a startled
driver on the back.
He had got into the wrong car! The
driver, who lived in a nearby city,
listened to McHugh's story and then
drove him home.
There is a possibility that mother
hood may bring about Joan Blondell's
permanent retirement from the
screen.
"I won't come back if I can find a
real excuse for staying away," the
blonde Warner Brothers star con
. fided. "I'm not going to have a
youngster, then leave it in the care of
nurses. I'm going to watch it grow up
and see to it that it gets the proper
care. I'll quit entirely—l don't care
much about acting anyway—if we find
we can get along on George's (George
Barnes, the cameraman) salary."
* « •
Somewhere in Los Angeles a baby
yet unborn will pay its entrance fee
into the world. A ten-day old baby
will be needed for the "Lemon Drop
Kid" now being made at Paramount,
and arrangements have been made
with a Los Angeles hospital that on a
certain day whatever baby is born
will be hired by the studio, parents
permitting.
The baby will receive a proportion
ately larger salary than Gary Cooper
—£15 for 20 minutes. A baby of such
early age is permitted under the lights
only 30 seconds at a time.
♦ , # *
A noted actress (we won't give her
away) was explaining why she had
never married. "I have three pets,"
she said, "which altogether answer
the same purpose as a husband —I
have a dog that growls all morning, a
parrot that swears all afternoon, and
a cat that comes home late at night."
• ♦ •
Clark Gable's hobby used to be
"stepping up" old cars. He had a fliv
ver once that was capable of doing
100 miles an hour. . . Greta Garbo
has a private stairway and a private
sun porch on her studio dressing room
that enables her to enjoy sunbaths
during leisure moments from sound
stages. . . Tom Keene, Western star.
once made his living killing rattle
snakes for the United States Govern
ment. Ralph Bellamy once won a
role in "Roadside," a stage play, by
wearing three vests to build up his
slender physique so that he would
look like an over-powered gangster. . .
Lyle Talbot started his professional
career as a magician, but gave it up
when his stooge forgot to closs the
apparatus that made the rabbit dis
appear—much to the amusement of
the audience. . . When Una Merkel
made her stage debut she was paid a
dollar for every word she spoke. Of
these there were three—"Come on,
Wisconsin."
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