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Show Htd Looking at HOLLYWOOD! RED-BLOODED girls with plenty of vim, vigor, intrigue, and mischief mis-chief in their makeup are about to supplant the long cycle of admirable women who have held the foreground fore-ground in motion pictures for the last two years. And to Ernst Lubitsch, who has created many vogues in the 30 years he has been in our business, goes credit for the initial venture in 1945. Shortly you will see Tallulah Bank-head Bank-head in the red-blooded role of Catherine Cath-erine in Ernst rmmm , i Lubitsch's ''Ar-fe':' I Royal Scandal." j - ffy' Catherine was a ? 7 - '' character both in $ a'zS. history books and Mi f.$?',l the Lubitsch film, y t VV;;l She always got ' 7$jitf, yfA. wx- '"'11 y-7, ' . -'?: A TeUolah Bankhead It m& . ' '' ' '' pi technique was di-jr di-jr ';:'$a&J& rect as the arch- er's arrow. Her , J' i methods fell short f of murder at Gene Tlerncy least SO far as her screen credit In this one goes although the boys who wrote the textbooks gave her wider latitude. "Catherine might be said to represent rep-resent the wish dreams of all women, wom-en, especially the very repressed and quiet ones," said Lubitsch with that merry, naughty twinkle which Is as much a part of his trademark as his big black cigar or his trick of making box office hits. That Bankhead Touch "Of course, Hedda, Bankhead makes Catherine a little more attractive at-tractive than any other actress could possibly make her. Because the Bankhead influence is a highly contagious con-tagious thing, either on the stage or in films, every woman comes out of the theater colored by the Bank-head Bank-head influence." Since this is a day of action for women, with more females active outside the home than at any time in American history. I can see where the Catherine type is singularly singu-larly timely, and I'll agree with that. "We've had a spate of saints and scientists, sci-entists, from Jennifer Jones in "The Song of Bernadette" to Greer Gar-son Gar-son in "Madame Curie." We've had cozy Mrs. Miniver and noble, strong-hearted strong-hearted wives like Claudette Colbert in "Since You Went Away." We've had Maria Veronica in "The Keys of the Kingdom" and Irene Dunne's two characterizations of admirable women in "The White Cliffs of Dover" and "A Guy Named Joe." And as the motion picture industry seldom stands still sufficiently long to allow moss to grow on the pavement pave-ment before the box office window, I can see where a radical change will be good all the way around. Since Twentieth Century - Fox is snapping up all the best sellers they now own a list of 20 or more and since the trend of current literature is toward meatier heroes and heroines, Darryl Zauuck will be the first to inaugurate the new vogue on the screen. Little, but O, My! Gene Tierney will draw one of the outstanding examples of this new type in the role of Ellen in "Leave Her to Heaven." Ellen is a girl with a will of reinforced concrete. She has no scruples whatsoever, even when it comes to shoving a little lad out of a boat when he interferes with her share of her husband's hus-band's time and attention. Make no mistake, there are such women. If "Forever Amber" can be scripted in a way to skirt possible Hays office objections this will be a role to end all roles of the type. Practically any star you want to name in Hollywood would give her eye teeth to get a crack at it. Hung in the bawdy setting of the court of Charles II an utterly amoral era Amber flaunts her beauty, conspires con-spires for power, matches her wits with some of England's best brains. Saving grace for the dim's chance is the fact that the book at finish points a clear moral you don't get to enjoy what you want when you go about getting it in' the wrong way. It looks as if Greer Garson, too, will get her chance at a bad girl role. It's the star part in "Drivin Woman" a character that, morally moral-ly irreproachable, gives the effect of a ruthless beauty without shred of scruple. . t Come to think of it, most great acting roles center around red-blooded red-blooded women. And bad girls certainly cer-tainly have something. Alluring Lobbyist I don't know any other Hollywood lobbyist in Washington who's had the Vice President play his or her accompaniment. Lauren Bccall did. As she walked to the piano, one higher up was heard to whisper to another, "Why, that gal's hips wink at you!" . . , The latest independent quartet, going right ahead making plans, Is Paulette Goddard, Burgess Meredith, Dudley Nichols, and Jean Renoir. Pauletto has one outside pic-lure pic-lure a year from Paramount. Thi viU no doubt be done at RKO. |