1 (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!
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SUZABETH TWUOR,
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!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
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