The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980, June 13, 1954, Image 2

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The Oregon statesman., June 13, 1954, Page 2, Image 2

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Newspaper Page Text1 (Sec 1) Statesman, Salem, Or Sun., June 13, 1S54 Film Extra Girl Supplements Poor Pay With Hope, Ambition By BOB THOMAS AP Newrteatarea Writer HOLLYWOOD OR Promptly at 4 p.' rn., the lovely brunette slipped into a telephone booth, deposited a dime and dialed Hollywood 19711. as she had thousands of times be fore. "Central casting." answered a crisp, metallic voice. ' Mary Ellen Batten," said the girl. Try later." Mary Ellen hung up the phone. Forty five minutes and several dimes later, she got the answer she was hoping for: "Paramount, 8 a. m. summer clothes, hat or coat. Technicolor makeup. Wear nothing bright or shiny. Director: Mann." She had a job for the fol lowing day. Mary Ellen Batten is an extra, a unique and storied breed in Hol lywood. Fame begins and ends in the extra ranks. Stars like Clark Gable, Gary Cooper. Marilyn Mon roe and Lucille Ball started as at mosphere players in films. And other stars, whose fame and fortune filtered through their fin gers, now work as extras in mov ies starring current favorites. You've never noticed Mary El len, although she has appeared in scores of films. She's the girl whose back vou misht see in a rdght club scene. She might be a j harem girl one day. a pioneer wo- eat steak every night, man the next. Always she supplies ; The procedure for getting extra a needed anonymity a live but j j0bs has been the same for years, unidentified figure to fill out the ; Mary Ellen calls central casting, empty space on a movie set. j a hiring agency maintained by all "Oh, I get a line now and then j the studios. The switchboard starts in pictures," she told me. "I had taking calls at four in the after one with Jane Russell recently. noon. But it ended on the cutting room floor, like most of my big scenes. Good Experience 'Still, I don't mind the work. It's not the most inspiring Job in the world, but it's good experience. You get to learn exactly how pic tures are made by being on the set. If my break ever does come, I'd know what to do." Mary Ellen is 23, with the build of a statuesque Ziegfeld show girl. She's 5 ft. 9 has a straight delicate nose, a cover complex Ion and pleasant, musical voice. Born in St. Catharines, Ont., she attended the Toronto Conservatory of Music for three years. Five years ago, a local MGM official heard her voice and recommended her to the studio. She and her mother (her father died when she was young) packed up and came to the land of hopes, Hollywood. Mary Ellen was not placed under contract, but for a year the studio treated her to vocal lessons and a drama course. "But the talent scouts never saw me in the right role in the right play," she sighed. "Or maybe I just wasn't ready." Her mother footed the bills out of savings in "their first-year here. When MGM dropped her. Mary Ellen decided she weuld have to be the breadwinner. , Bacs4MUMtfccir?. She gtrjofci la liht operas 'ana night cWb;Bnttbat waOTTtjaoajIi to meet expenses. Two' years ago, she decided .to .became an, "extra.' "I went t the screen extra guild and they tried to discourage me," she recalled. 'They said It was harder to get a break when you're an extra. Agents and producers look down their noses at extras, thinking they have no ambition. But I had to eat" She joined the SEG and the Screen Actors Guild, which deals with players about the status of extra. She also has joined Actors Equity (stage), AFTRA (radio-tv). AGVA (variety-night clubs) and AGMA (concerts). Initiation to each ranged from ISO to $150 and annual dues come to around $100 for all. "At first the work was slow," she said. "But the calls began coming in more often once I had worked around at the studios." Shuns Wolves She added that she got the jobs on her ability alone. She shunned the wolves who advised they could get her in the movies. "I suppose there are girls who try to get ahead that way," she said, "but I don't think it's a good idea." Like most extras, Mary Ellen has a hard time living on her movie pay. As a plain extra, she draws $19.43 for a day's work. On cells termed "weather permitting," the studio can dismiss her when she reports for work if the weather is bad. She gets half way for -that. She also works as a "dress ex tra." That's for night club, theater or party scenes, and she gets $26.25 for the day. She supplies her own-evening gowns. She has seven, which she has designed and her mother has made. Some- FOAM RUBBER Pillows 2.75 up Mattresses S27.50 op Remnants SOf) op Shredded 590 lb, SLEEP-AIRE 2002 Fairgrounds Rd. The San Man Sez: FLASH! Explorers have discov ered that the pot at the end of the rainbow is filled with San Shop goodies! Forgot about that pot of gofdl You wouldn't need it at tho San Shop anyway. Not with a Sunday Turkey Din ner for 85 cants. Jlie San Slto Portland Read at times wears a fur, borrowed from her aunt. Hazardous Work Occasionally she gets a "stunt Check." That is special pay for hazardous or physical work. One day she earned $92 for being one of the ornaments in a human chan delier for Marilyn Monroe's "Dia monds Are a Girl's Best Friend" number in "Gentlmen Prefer Blondes." Sometimes she works as a stand in for $17.85. She stands still while the hot lights are focussed on her. When all is ready, the star takes her place and does the scene. Mary Ellen doesn't like the tedium of standing in, but does it because she gets a closer view of the camera work. The monotony and uncertainty makes the life of an extra hard. To an extra, glamour is something you read about. The average sec retary probably earns more than Mary Ellen does. She is cagey about her weekly movie earnings, but if she averages $50 weekly she's doing good. Most of the jobs Jre for a day or two at a time. But sometimes she'll fall into a good assignment, like playing an Arabian beauty in "Ad ventures of Hajji Baba." It pro vided two weeks' work on location at Lone Pine, Calif. "It -was won- derful," she enthused I got to Mary Ellen giv.es her name, one of the 3,500 registered with central casting. If the answer is "no work" it means there are as yet no calls from the studios for extra talent the next day. Mary Ellen keeps calling back at 15-minute intervals until the switchboard closes at 6:30 p. m. If the reply is "try later," it means there are studio calls in the office, but they haven't been pro cessed. So Mary Ellen keeps call ing back every five minutes until she gets a job. Then she is told the name of the studio, the pic ture's director, when to report and what clothes and makeup to wear. Mary Ellen's ambition has long been to star in muscial films. But she realizes she probably won't make the grade as an extra. "The studios don't seem to bring stars up from the extra ranks any more," she observed. "I guess I will have to establish my name in some other field. I hope to workJ up my own act for night clubs. Then maybe someone will notice me." Meanwhile she is filling out the scenery in films like "Strategic Air Command," where 1 saw her. While James Stewart and June Al ly son played a scene in the fore ground, she was one of the diners --Sajneraoer rrgetvery down hearted, Mary "EUen sigjred. "It jusl seems a though-1 get all dressed up and thin do nothing. I wouldn't like the extra's life at all if 1 thought it would be the end. "Bat I'm past being disappoint ed, after five years in Hollywood. Maybe I haven't been ready to be come a star. I'll make it some day, you watch and see." Teacher Hurt v In Hit and Run Car Accident PASCO W A 55-year-old Mon tana school teacher was in serious condition here Saturday night fol lowing what State Police described as a hit-and-run accident near El topia, a small town 15 miles north of here. The injured man, LaVern F. Roubinek of Havre, Mont., suffered a basal skull fracture, a fractured collarbone and severe lacerations. State Police said Roubinek was about 2 miles north of Eltopia, traveling toward Pasco when an other car apparently forced him off the road. Officers said the car being sought in connection with the accident is a blue Ford convertible with Mon tana license plates, numbers un known. The Kennewick detachment of the State Patrol said all law en forcement bodies in Southeastern Washington had been alerted for the car. NON-IRISH DUBLIN DUBLIN, Mich. (ifc-There hasn't been a Irishman living in Dublin for 12 years. And there's only one girl among the town's 13 adults and 13 children who can even come close to passing for Irish. She's of English extraction. Everyone else is either Swede, German or Bohemian. com North City Limits Wow! 1 r , '; it X ' K .-v.---, -r.a DETROIT. Mich. Joey Pientran drea. 3. holds his head and ex hibits two beautiful "shiners" and a bandaged head in Receiv ing Hospital. Detroit, Mich., that he might have gotten by collid ing with a truck. But police said he was the victim of a beating by his 20-year-old mother, Mrs. Rosemary Piertrandrea, all be cause Joey spilled a glass of milk. The lad's father filed a complaint against Mrs. Pien trandrea. (AP Wirephoto.) Ocean Trips Whet Appetite NEW YORK (INS -passengers eat about - Steamship nine times more chicken per capita than land-! lubbers and about six times as much red meat, according to a gastronomical survey by the United States Lines. During a recent nine-day round trip of the superliner United States, a total of 64,654 pounds of prime fresh meats and 20,512 pounds of poultry were devoured by the 1,536 passengers and 1,000 officers and crew members. This breaks down to about two and Jour-fifths pounds of meat daily, or six times more than the national per capita consumption of just under half a pound. Chicken fanciers inspired by the tonic ef fect of sea air put away about 14 ounces of poultry' daily during the same voyage, or nine times the na tional average of one and one-half ounces a day. Nothing to Fear But Fear ST. LOUIS (JP'h-A mysterious stranger in pursuit, James Med ley Jr. sped through six stop signs at 65 miles an hour. Finally he barricaded himself inside a drug store. TThe pursuer, off duty and out jjf unif,orm, displayed bis pistol add cadge through a glass door. Thank the Lord, you're a police officer!? Medley gasped. Police Judge Robert G. Dowd, agreeing Medley had some cause for fright (but not for flight at 65 miles an hour), fined him $60 for passing up the stop signs but paroled him qn a $50. speeding fine. Haile Selassie Passes Through Salem on Train Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethi opia, now on a nation-wide tour of the United States, stopped in Salem for a few minutes early this morning enroute to San Fran cisco. His train, the Klamath, arrived in Salem shortly after midnight and remained for about 15 min utes, J. R. Glover, Southern Pa cific ticket clerk, reported. The emperor, reportedly traveling with a party of 16 persons, did not leave the train here, Glover said. The 61-year-old monarch can celed his schedule for Saturday at Seattle to permit him to rest from the strain of almost continuous social events and official inspec tions which started when he reached this country last month, the Associated Press reported- Doggy Robbery SAN DIEGO, Calif. (jP) Mabel Whitsitt's hat shop was spic and span and ready for the first cus tomer. When the door was open ed a big Dalmation dog slipped Inside, snatched a stuffed poodle from the show window and then made his getaway. Startled clerks followed him for half a block but quit the chase when the Dalmation had placed the poodle gently beside a tree and turned to defend his fuzzy friend against any attackers. MAN HOSPITALIZED Walter Harris Edmonds. 502 S. 19th St., was taken to Salem Mem orial Hospital by Willamette Ambu lance Service early Saturday morn ing after he lapsed into uncon sciousness at his home, city first aidmen reported. He was released Saturday evening following treat ment. The attending physician said cause of his illness had not been determined. Diana Steiner, Concert Violinist Guest Artist O.M.T.A. Convention Aurora Potter Underwood at the Piano Waller Hall, Frh, June 25, 8:15 p.m. The Public is Invited to Attend Adults $1.65 -Students $1.10 (tax mcl.) Tickets at Stevens t Son 390 State Street End of Geneva Meet Sought By Knowland By JACK BELL WASHINGTON UP, Sen. Know land (R Calif" called Satur'jy for an end to the Geneva .confer ence and invited the associated states of Indochina to declare their ndependence if France sets u pa 'peace at any price" government. i 'Knowland. the Senate Republi can leader and a member of its Foreign Relations Committee, de- i clared in an interview that Geneva : negotiations "have gone on long enough to demonstrate clearly that neither the Soviet Union nor Com munist China is prepared to negot- ( iate anything but the abject sur render of the French inlndochi na." With Pfemior Joseph Laniel hav i ing offered his resignation after i losing a vote of confidence in the j French Assembly. Knowland said ' he fears a "surrender" govern ' ment may be formed, j "It is my very strong belief." he said, "that Viet Nam, Cambodia end Laos are not goin to sit com placently by and exchange a posi tion of not being completely in dependent in the French Union for one of completely domination by the Communists. "The associated states may is sue a declaration ofindependence, just as we did in 1776, arid appeal to the United Nations and the free nations of the world for help if the French are prepared to agree to a settlement which, would destroy Indochina's hope of independence and sovereignty. "I don't believe they are- going to sit back and have their freedom bartered awav by a French gov ernment that may be established on a 'peace at any price' basis." Knowland said he thinks the three states might be willing to ac cept help from the republic of Ko rea, aid that the French previous ly had turned down. He said he is convinced that the anti-Communists in Indochina are willing to fight "if they can get the arms and equipment to do it." Delinquent Started Fire Killing Seven CHICAGO OP Chief of Detec tives John T. O'Malley said Satur day that a whisky-drinking, cigarette-smoking 11-year-old boy told him he started a tenement bidding fire which killed seven persons and injured nine. O'Malley said the boy, Marion Gregory, told him the fire started Friday night when he "flipped" a cigarette butt into some rubbish in a stair well. A father and his small son and daughter, a mother and daughter and a brother and sisteV were trapped in their fourth floor apart ments by the fast-spreading flames and perished. Young Gregory previously old investigators that the fire appar ently was started by two men in baseball caps. Supervising Capt. Robert Ryan said he learned that the boy smokes and drinks whisky on occa sion and often flipped away glow ing cigarette butts. The lad lived in an apartment with his father, Lewis. Pittsburgh Bus Walkout Ends PITTSBURGH OP) A 35 - day strike by AFL bus and trolley operators on the city's main pub lic transportation system ended Saturday with the workers agree ing to a new basic hourly wage of $2.01, a nine-cent increase. The new rate is the highest In the country, equalled only by Bos ton's. Some 1,282 drivers, members of Division 85, AFL Amalgamated Association of Street Electric Rail ways and Motor Coach Employes, voted to accept the offer. There were 172 negative votes. In alL the Pittsburgh Railways Co., op erator of the lines, employes 2,700 drivers. Jury Decides Man Innocent of Murder KLAMATH FALLS Of) A cir cuit court jury Saturday found Arthur F. Pigg innocent In the gunshot death April 25 of Roy Durham, 48. Pigg, a 74-year-old night club photographer, was charged with second degree murder in the shoot ing. He testified he had fired the gun in self defense. LIQUOR CHARGE FILED Marion County sheriff's depu ties Saturday night arrested Dar rell E. Pruitt. 19, of Clovis Air Force Base, N. M., on a charge of illegal possession of intoxicat ing liquor. He was released on $50 baiL Geysers get their name from Iceland's Great Geyser, so named by the Vikings, 1,000 years ago. To Replace Bing rv. So V"i HOLLYWOOD A 20-year-old Stanford University student, Gary Crosby, demonstrates his singing style for reporters as he arrived in Hollywood, Calif., to take over his more famous father's radio show for the summer. Gary said he wants to make a career of show business, and hopes some da' to be as good a singer as Bing. The series, similar in format to the cider Crosby's program, will be Gary's first regular entertainment work, although he has made record and radio guest appearances with Bing. (AP Wirephoto) Milwaukee Press Club Wall Has History Written in Chalk MILWAUKEE, Wis. (INS)V-A mischievous youngster with art er aser could have a field day in the quarters of the Milwaukee Press Club. For there, mounted on the walls, are chalk-written signa tures of some of the outstanding personalities of the past 50 years. Presidents, prize fighters, en tertainers, diplomats, explorers all are included in the famous collection. And behind every sig nature is a story. Enrico Caruso, for instance, visited the club in 1919, and was very agreeable to everything ex cept one inevitable request to sing. When asked to sing, he grinned and told members the name of the theater where he was appearing and where they could hear him for the price of admis sion. Twain Corrects Mark Twain spent a riotous evening in the club in 1909, and a Milwaukee newspaper reporting on the affair said it got out of hand because of "a jug which someone carried in." Twain, who was a reporter of sorts himself, objected to an in accuracy in the newspaper ac- j count He wrote an indignant let ter to the club saying: j "It is a most unfortunate error. I did not say it was 'due to a jug which someone carried in.' I car ried it in myself." William Jennings Bryan, Sar ah Bernhardt, Otis Skinner, Fran klin D. Roosevelt, Gypsy Rose Lee, Dizzy Dean, Charles Lind bergh, Charles Evans Hughes, Woodrow Wilson, Jack Dempsey, Theodore Roosevelt, Bob Hope, and Admiral Robert E. Peary they are some of the others whose names adorn the press club's walls. Even "One-Eye" Connelly, the most famous gate-crasher of all, scrawled his name with chalk on one of the blackboards. All but one of the array of fam ous names was signed within the walls of the press club. The sin gle exception is the second signa ture of the late President Roose velt. He had been a guest in 1920 when he was assistant secretary of the Navy. He returned to Mil waukee during the presidential campaign of 1932, but had been crippled by polio in the interven ing years. He had been invited to provide a second signature, this time as a presidential aspirant, but the el I T li! i 1 II It'll I mutt FIRST SALEM PRESENTATION OF THIS OUTSTANDING DOUBLE BILL: Hildegard Neff James IVtason - Claire Bloom THE MAN This mystery-spy story of Russian-occupied Berlin, where violence and intrigue hold sway, will keep you on the edge of your seat with suspense! fa. plus MY HEART With Sid Field, captivating PRIVE-IN THEATRE Two fSaSfS Technicolor Hits! Gates Open 6:45, Show at Dusk BOB HOPE Joan Fontaine "CASANOVA'S BIG NIGHT" Also Fernando Lamas Rhonda Fleming j "JIVARO" 1 Bring the Whole Family See a Movie From Your Car K&r 1 evator to the club rooms would not accommodate his wheel chair and he could not walk. Waives Rule So members waived their long time rule that signatures be ac cepted only from clubroom visitor.- and his second signature, with the inscription '"Delighted Again" was posted on Sept. 30, 1932. Another presidential aspirant, former Illinois Governor Adlai combination ot signatures that i I made the person who arranged ' j them blush. Stevenson, who visited the club ; during the 1952 presidential cam ! paign, showed great interest in all of the signatures, but he couldn't get his eyes off two of them. "There's a strange combina tion," he observed good - natur edly. j And for the first time, it was j noticed that the signature of James Cardinal Gibbons, a prince of the Roman Catholic Church, was framed side-by-ide with the signature of Robert G. Ingersoll, the militant atheist More than half the earth is covered by the sea, which sup plies about one per cent of hu man food. 162H N. Commercial Yon Walking up Crrer Paint Store Chinese LJ American Foods CHOP SUEY MS Best Chine Cook YE SING. Prop. NOW PLAYING OPEN 1:45 CONTINUOUS BETWEEN GOES CRAZY' British Clown; technicolor Starts Today! m m 1 " " ' i fUL S If Arizona Man Wins Light Plane Race PALM DESERT, Calif. UP k Philadelphia - to - Palm Desert ' race for light planes, the second ! annual transcontinental handicap; air cruise, was won by Walter C. Butler. Phoenix, Ariz , it was an nounced Saturday night. He received trophies from a race committee and his plane's man ' facturer and $300 for covering the distance in 16 hours 59 minutes in a Beechcraft Bonanza. The race is sponsored iointlv bv the Philadelphia Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Desert Air Hotel at this resort 10 miles south of Palm Sprinzs. Us Duroose is tn prove the safety ' and usefulness of the modern light plane. Of the 67 Dlanes that started the race last Saturday. 5o finished it, 10 of them Saturday. Winners included: j Third place Trophy and $100 Richard D. Odabashim, P. O. Box 336. Cashmere, Wash. In Connecticut, the Smiths out- number the Browns two to one. NOW PLAYING! Filmed. in Ceylon! eour TEeHNieOLOJ SUZABETH TWUOR, VANA ANDREWS 1 IRVIKC ASH EI i W TILLUM DUTEtLI SrmpfcT w JOH LEE MAHI ACTION CO HIT- SAVAGE VxJ I I II I Hnu rjfi r-rrrrr" fjfW!S. fa mob mowTcfc w' 5j4 reined ocrosa thm NKX J?? JAMESES JEM HffiLOV JQttHCf061 1 W4JS K 0 nttT&'mMWM r fx ii ii ii n ii i- wji i vj:"s ? I DVV. G. OPWW iBiNSorr'JK- DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS. Jr. V MERYTNLeROYS-TW ) !TTODAY! . At the Theaters Today ILIL'OS ' "ELEPHANT WALK" with Dana Andrews. Ellxabetto Taylor "THE NEBRASKA?" with Phil Carey and Roberta Haynes CAPITOL "3 COINS IN THE TOUNTAIN" with Clifton Webb. Dorothy Me Culre. Jean Peter "FORT TT- with George Mont gomery CtAND "PUBLIC ENEMY" with James Cagney "LITTLE CAESAR" with Edw. C. Robmaon HOLLYWOOD "THE MAN BETWEEN with James Mason . Plus a Technicolor Musical Comedy Feature NORTH DRIVE' IN "CASANOVA'S BIG NIGHT with Bob Hope. Joaa Fotilaune jrVARO" with Fernando La mas & Rhonda Fleming NOW PLAYING! CINEMASCOPE THREE WORLDLY AMERICAN GIRLS IN LOVE, IN ROME! m LJv ra toe UKounTAin Oifton WESft Dorothy McGOtRE Hon PETERS Louis JOUKDAN mi tua ADDED THRILLS Goors MONTGOMERY jm. too . pkfSs wma )