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Show fear jot fM Looking at I ft 0 LL V W 0 O P 1 JESSE L. LASKY has crowded enough adventure, romance and color into his years as musician, gold miner and showman to be a prime rival of Mark Twain and Sergt. Alvin York, two of his recent picture heroes. Jesse produced the first feature-length feature-length picture made here 'way back ;in 1913. It was ti- v tied "The Squaw fVx$P&A ;Man," starred WyT''M jDustin Farnum, $$ ' and was directed z ' iv' by Cecil B. De t- 'Mille. WL- - ' Lasky has guid- 4 .-'V- ')' &4 : :' Jesse L. Lasky 1 ed the destinies j of hundreds of 'y&ti?'t stars has lost X'' and remade two fortunes, but bvtfiiSf&ial doesn't lose his Cecil B. DeMille fricnds- Three years ago his career seemed at a dead end. .Then he joined Warners and made "Sergeant York," "The Adventures of Mark Twain," and "Rhapsody in Blue." Now his career is again at a peak, which proves it's possible for a man to be successful 31 years in ;a cut-throat business and still retain re-tain the respect and affection of coworkers co-workers and the community. Lasky in Alaska But before he and his associates started putting Hollywood on the map Lasky had cut himself a slice of show business. It all started with a cornet he bought because he wanted want-ed to play in the San Jose boys' band. Lasky was 12. Lasky's father died shortly before be-fore the turn of the century, leaving him the sole support of his mother and sister. When gold was discovered discov-ered in Alaska in 1900 young Jesse joined the stampede. The only gold he got his hands on was what more fortunate miners showered into the orchestra pit of the cheap theater where he got a job as cornet player. When he got back to San Francisco Fran-cisco he discovered his little sister had grown up and could 'play the cornet, too. The two started doing duets, and in short order Lasky had his first vaudeville act worked out. From performing he turned to staging acts. Soon he was in the big time and making his first fortune. for-tune. It didn't take him long to lose it. A Super-Dud The Folles Bergere of New York turned that trick. Lasky planned it as a super-show to give New Yorkers York-ers a chance to watch a lavish musical musi-cal show while being wined and dined. The public stayed away. It cost him $110,000, his total fortune. A California mission signboard gave him the idea for an operetta called "California." Lasky got Cecil De Mille to write it. That was the beginning of an historic association. "California" was a hit. So were Lasky-De Mille musicals. The ex-cornelist ex-cornelist was riding high again and becoming restless. The Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play company was the result of that restlessness. rest-lessness. De Mille and Samnel Gold-wyn, Gold-wyn, another young fellow beginning begin-ning to edge into the show business, were Lasky's partners. The new enterprise was to make motion pictures. pic-tures. "The Squaw Man," their first, was a great hit. Adolph Zukor, head of Famous Players, wired Lasky his congratulations. The two rivals joined forces. In July of 1916 their companies became be-came Famous Players-Lasky. Great names made great pictures. 'Lives of Great Men ' The great depression claimed Jesse Lasky as one of its victims. His fortune gone, Lasky resigned from Paramount ln 1932. It was a twilight of the Titan, but since that he'd found more pictures he wanted to produce. Pictures that would tell in personal histories the true story of this country, where poor boys become famed immortals. Warners shared his belief in that type of yarn, so Lasky joined them, and his first was "Sergeant York," a tale of a Tennessee farmer who became a great war hero; then "The Adventures of Mark Twain," a river pilot's rise to literary fame, and "Rhapsody in Blue," the life of the late George Gershwin, the east side lad whose music will live forever. And how about the story of the tootin' cornet player called Jesse Lasky or has he, in tooting the other oth-er fellow's horn, forgotten how to toot his own? Never Say Die Gloria Swauson plans more summer sum-mer stock. She hasn't been on the screen for ages, yet her name has more drawing power than many top Broadway stars. The fans don't forget, for-get, but producers do. . . . If Betty Grable has her way, she'll do lots of traveling with Ilarry James. She's in the same mood as Alice Faye. They don't want to make another an-other picture until late fall. They're both happily married, want to stay so. They like to enjoy their babies. |