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Job Hunting in Hollywood
All Work And No Play A-Tall – BY LOUISE GALLAGHER
ORDINARILY Hollywood is a place where you can be reasonably happy and comfortable all the year around but the last week with the hot winds sweeping in from the desert and the California sun on the job until after four every afternoon, it hasn’t been an ideal spot to demonstrate a sweet and cheerful disposition.
Some clever persons hit upon the idea that this would be a most opportune time for Los Angeles to show off its biggest industry, A greater movie parade would be just the thing to pep everyone up and start off the first day of August with a bang. You can’t imagine what fun we did get out of ambling along in the hot sun for three hours in cars with the cops down or on floats, all decorated up with representative California flowers. It was such a good opportunity for the spectators to look us over and speculate on how much we spend for frocks and paint and decide that if it were not for the lavish way we invest our scant earnings, we would look just like anybody else and not half so good looking as they thought.
Each studio was represented by one or more floats on which were their best known players. The Mack Sennett Studios had two floats, with three girls on each and Ben Turpin all dressed up in full military attire, to keep us in order. While we were waiting for the line, Ben Alexander came over to our float and climbed onto a running board to look us over. After a careful inspection, he turned away with evident disapproval. “Pshawl Wouldn’t you think they would know enough to put you in bathing suits and have a tank for you to swim around in. Nobody will ever know who you are with your regular clothes on.”
We were mightily glad the ones in charge of our floats had different ideas of how to show us off.
The Real Hero.
The papers this evening had a lot to say about the cheers of the huge crowds all along the four-mile route of the pageant, when they recognized film stars whose names are household words not alone in this heart of the moving picture industry, but all over the world. None of them were honest enough to say that the big hand along the line march went to Jack Dempsey. He knocked out all of the film stars in popular favor.
I had a little offering along the way myself that took me so by surprise 1 was unable to even thank my admirer. We were hardly moving along on account of the crowds almost blocking our way. A young man, evidently an Italian, jumpedon the side of the float and put a monkey in my lap. “I want you to have him. He is a sweet monkey.” A policeman pulled him back before I could say I didn’t care especially for a monkey as a pet. The little animal was badly frightened and so were we for it jumped from one to the other without any regard for lace or frills. The same officer who had put the monkey’s master back on the sidewalk rode up and rescued the poor thing, and promised to return it to its impulsive owner. I hope he didn’t feel badly at having his free will offering returned.
The only part of the day I enjoyed was watching the airmen receive the films of the parade, and the five big planes bobbing quickly off the ground and away on their flight to New York where the first picture of the pageant will be shown on Sunday.
The campaign for better pictures should head their list with the snake woman. The life of the dangerous snake woman of the movies is just one hard job after another. She is called upon to wreck all kinds of good substantial homes and she has to do it in a tube outfit just about the right size for an umbrella covering. She never has one comfortable moment either in her dress or her mind as she slides in and off the celluloid spool, leaving awakenings and consequences in her trail. You can’t blame her if she leaves a few cuss words as well, over the fact that her salary is as nothing compared to that of her sister, who has not as yet outgrown the primate stage.
Snakes and Others.
You might hesitate before taking the difficult role of a snake woman but who wouldn’t be a real snake for $33,500. a year. That huge sum is the earning capacity of a big boa constrictor that was used in a jungle set I was in at First National. Norma Talmadge, considered the most up-stage, movie celebrity, had nothing on Mr. Boa Constrictor. He wriggled through his scenes with utter disregard of the rest of the players and took his retakes in the most approved indifferent manner. The rarity of the boa constrictor makes him valued at $11 per day and there are other animals whose earning capacity gives room for envy. An alligator, who is kind to extras and other helpless things, can easily get $60 a day. You might be willing to change your job for a leopard’s spots any old day if you could have the leopard’s earning power of $18,250. yearly. Even the untrained ones cannot be tempted from their private zoo estates for less than $50 a day as bait. Whenever you see a lot of monkeys, of the four-footed variety, frisking around in a picture, you can rest assured that not only are they beating poor extra players out of a job but are earning at least $40 a day instead of $7.40. The white ring tail and the spider monkey each average $14,500. a year if they work steadily. It is very easy to tell those who are just starting their movie careers from the old timers. When the cameras begin to click they get away far as possible and begin to chatter wildly to each other. Of course, until they are camera broke they do not receive so much salary.
Everyone is talking about contracts just now and how hard it is to get signed up at any of the studios. There is plenty of work but it is free lancing from one lot to another. After all the howl that has been made about actors being wrongly cast on account of being tied up under contracts, you would think they would welcome the change but it seems not. The studio heads are also quoted as saying that it is not their intention to take any players but leads hereafter abroad to make a picture. They believe the public would prefer having a picture filmed in the actual location of the story, and that more realism will be given if they use the natives for
atmosphere and small parts. There is an enormous expense when small part players are taken on long distance locations, and it is to be the policy this season to cut this out as far as possible. Then when actors are under contract they draw a salary whether they are working or not.
Heretofore, it has been considered necessary for the studios to have a considerable group of players under contract to report at the studio daily. Some days they can all be kept busy but at other times only a few can be used. This is being done away with and instead each studio will have their list of available extra part players which they will sign only for the duration of one picture and from their script the directors can tell about the number they will need and can also arrange to shoot the scenes using many players in succession so that those not signed for the whole picture can be dismissed. This will mean a great savings for the studios but is hard on the actors who must keep right on the job to see that they are booked up sufficiently not to have long ….Sorry CANNOT READ LAST PARAGRAPH!
