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Show itj Looking at HOLLYWOOD! VVTHEN "Roughly Speaking" hit the stands last year I started right in yelping about it. As I remember, re-member, my words were: "One of the most fascinating books I've ever read. As American as Boston baked beans. Characters Charac-ters sturdy as Plymouth rock. Mrs. Pierson, American mother, moth-er, could, if she had the stuff to do it with, lick Hitler single-handed, single-handed, as she's licked wealth and poverty and Louise Randall brought up five Pierson children. There's a woman I'd fly thousands of mile to meet." She reminded me of it: when sh got here for the filming of her book. Essence of America Mrs. Pierson, whose life story. "Roughly Speaking," was recently completed by Warners, with Roz Russell in the autobiographical role, is a person that you, too, have met, whether you know it or not. She's America. Born rich, pampered by a father who dressed like and faintly believed be-lieved he might be King Edward (even to the beard, which he bril-liantined), bril-liantined), Louise was dumped out on a coldly realistic world at the age of 10, flat broke. Returning from his funeral, her mother called her two daughters together to-gether in the sunroom. "The trouble is," she said, "your father indorsed notes." There didn't seem any use in sitting sit-ting around bawling, so before long Louise was going great guns as a secretary ($12 a week), when she met her first husband-to-be, Rodney "six feet two, tailored by Brooks, and had won six Latin prizes at Yale." Rodney was making $66.66 a month in a bank, so the two went to live in an $18 a month flat, where she had four children in four years. When Rodney really got into the chips the family moved to Ossining, where Louise plunged into everything every-thing from politics to the little theater. thea-ter. Tragedy struck in the form of infantile paralysis, temporarily laying low all four children. Louise Jr., never did fully recover. Rodney decided one day he'd had enough. "I'm moving to the Yale club," he declared. So without too much ado she got a divorce, another job, another husband, hus-band, and in due time another baby. Husband No. 2, Harold Pierson, fought with the Canadians in the last war. Kindred Spirits He was as nuts as she. "I've always had a weakness for big men with black hair and blue eyes," says Louise. ."Besides, he was romantic, charming, irresponsible, irresponsi-ble, generous." He was also rich, owning the vast Pierson greenhouses green-houses and nurseries near Tarry-town. Tarry-town. Three years later they were broke. Harold got a WPA job in the New York City parks department, which led to the superintendency of landscape land-scape construction at the world's fair. She had always wanted to write letters to newspapers, heckling editorial edi-torial writers. One of these missives she aimed at Arthur Krock, political editor of the New York Times. Amused, he showed it to his friend Max Schuster, who promptly sent Louise a check and told her to start writing a book. At first, she tells me, she thought it was a gag, but when the check, didn't bounce she realized she was stuck. The result was "Roughly Speaking." She said it was the hardest work she ever did, and she's worked hard at everything from scrubbing floors to running a 37-foot boat. The book was an overnight smash (I threw at least Ave of my hats in the air), and three studios began bidding. Warners wired her: "Will you accept ac-cept $35,000 for 'Roughly Speaking" and a contract at $300 a week, with expenses paid both ways?" Answered An-swered Louise: "Three hundred a week not enough need new toothbrush." tooth-brush." Replied Warners: "How about $500, then?" To which Louise Lou-ise wired: "Okay. That will pay for toothbrush and new hair-do, too." Louise Randal Pierson seems to be a feature at Warners. That first contract was torn up and a much fancier one rigged up. She and Harold Har-old bought a place at Santa Monica. If you've read the book, "Roughly "Rough-ly Speaking," I don't have to urge you to see the picture. If you haven't, I envy you the'treat in store for you. Look Out, New York Lee Shubert is on his way here to complete arrangements for "Sweet Surrender," a musical which is about the battle between Monterey and Los Angeles years ago. It will feature Leo Carrillo. The lyrics kid the pants off everything in Los Angeles. An-geles. That alone will cause it to run in San Francisco a year. It would be too good to be true, hav- ing two plays succeed here before i they hit Broadway. Remember "Song of Norway" opened on the west coast. |