Show I They Set Get in a Rut C B s si s Movie Butlers Battle Against Typing By LUCIE NEVILLE HOLLYWOOD NEA Of NEA-Of Of all the players who are typed in pictures and the minds of ot fans none struggle bore mor nore strenuously against their secure and paid highly fate than th tie the butlers 4 And at the same time that were we're tryIng break away from open door-open- Ing ng and Yes madam roles observed observed ob- ob served Ernest Cossart were congratulating congratulating con- con ourselves on being constantly constantly con- con antly in demand and on our long bong engagements Nine times in ten the butler in ina a picture stays on salary from the first day to the end of shooting In n Skylark because Im I'm the buter butler butler but- but ler er I was on salary as long as Claudette laudette Colbert and Ray Milland were vere there Its It's nice work work and and I Ian Ican Ican can an get it but I 1 keep on looking f for or r other kinds of of parts M 4 Away back in 1910 Cossart played a butler on the stage and anddrew anddrew andrew drew rew a couple of unfavorable comments comments comments com com- ments from reviewers After that he ie dodged such roles for 25 years but ut one came along in 1935 that he welcomed It was in Accent on Youth and next to the butlers of Ruggles of Red Gap and The Admirable Crichton it probably was vas the best job of bulling butling ever offered by the theater It brought him to Hollywood for I the he film version and for two years he played nothing but butlers Alarmed by such typing he finally gave ave notice to the casting directors that hat hed he'd accept no more jobs Among the varied roles that tha followed was that of Ginger Rogera Rogers Rogers' Rogers Rogers' Rog Rog- ers ers' hard-drinking hard father in Kitty Foyle Then Skylark came up and Cossart's resolution weakened By the time its it's released he will wll have in a couple more films In about third one-third of all pictures produced theres there's a butler somewhere somewhere somewhere some some- where many with important dramatic dramatic dramatic dra dra- matic or comedy chores but all the jobs are divided among about a dozen actors Only seven of those are definitely typed as butlers and andare andare andare are familiar to the public by face and name The specialization however goes much further than that Ernest Ernes Cossart for example never would dream of playing an Eric Erie Blore type of butler Blore never competes competes com corn petes with Arthur and anc so on Halliwell Hobbes and Wyndham Standing enact butlers with straight dignity but give an impression that tha they'd heyd like to unbend i I Li all 11 disdain and condescension Rob 1 ert rt is Greig a ponderous wad waddling symbol of upper crust pomposIty Blore is a sputtering perpetu Insulted butler who chews up hI words Barnett Parker is the goot comedy type Franklin Plays butler when a prissy one 1 needed I I Cossart middle aged and d II 1 I plays it straight Hi His character portly I give an impression of sympathetic 3 I Intelligence and a good but V- V reo re-li re I strained sense of humor |