The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 46

PAGE'S Section I THE SUN, BALTIMORE, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 25, 1940 i.i-:: I 0 J1 if ft -v if 3 XT TIP! fir' 4. M' 2' 'fs sv The Ruthless Killer. Here is Humphrey Bogart as Bogie in "Virginia City," the role presenting him as a thoroughly bad hombre mean -and utterly sinister A Real Villain And Proud Of It Says Versatile Humphrey Bogart Humphrey Bogart, Hollywood's leading professional villain, is seen here in the rola of Accidental Killer, which he played in "Crime Is A Racket." Upper circle, in King of th Underworld" Bogart mixed his murderous and amorous intentions, with Kay Francis the victim here. Right, Bogart plays the Philosophical Killer in "The Petrified Forest." Sharing this scene with him are two of the screen's leading tars, Bctte Davis, Leslie Howard, and Dick Foran, rising young player I II tefe 1 i' than to refresh his memory on song words. The wiser ones began whispering: "Ah-ha! See, he never looks at that book.

He reads it with his hands. It's Braille Varieties Of Story In some sections, stories circulate that Eddy is led to the center of the stage by his manager behind drawn curtains and that he sings and remains in that position until the curtains come together again. "Nothing I can do about it, I guess," blurted Eddy. "But it's darned unpleasant to read that you're going blind and that fifteen doctors refuse to hold out hope." A classic canard also involves Clark Gable. Some time ago, Gable went home from the set of his picture to nurse a bad cold, so he could return the following morning to work on more important sequences.

A lurid Los Angeles paper put a banner line on the item reading: "Clark Gable Collapses on Set." A newsboy at the corner of Hollywood and Vine went the publishers a couple better. He shouted, "Clark Gable Dies." tyit that isn't the end of the story, for in an office six stories over the newsboy's head, a dentist sat in his laboratory, working on a bridge for Mr. Gable. It had to be ready for his scenes next morning. Hearing the "news" and assuming Gable have no further use for the bridge, the dentist sighed over the loss of a good account, tucked the unfinished denture back in a drawer and headed homeward.

0 HALLER SDarse that occasionally the producers convert a straight hero like Robert Montgomery or Fredric March into an arch fiend But on the front row of the steady menace department is veteran villain Humphrey Bogart, -one-time juvenile lead and tennis-racket carrier in stage plays. Specializing in screen vio- lence of all kinds, both mental and physical," "Bogey" keeps busy denying rumors that ha is a connoisseur and fancier of prize double-, ruffled petunias. He admits that flowers aren't, bad, and he likes to think of, himself as an advanced amateur photographer, but he is proudest of his ability to be a different kind of heel, in every role that comes along. Unlike such stock monster impersonators as Boris Karloff and Bcla Lugosi, this particular Bogey-man docs not rely on grotesque weird facial contortions and hands clutching -through curtains for his exposition of malice." Looking no more terrifying than, your next-" door neighbor, he can draw hisses from the most i placid in a variety of characterizations. Not All From Same Shell Mr.

Bogart does not subscribe to the theory that all villains are hatched from the same Evil is latent in a man, he believes, because of the particular circumstances, environment and personality traits. Each villain is an entirely different character, and to prove his' point he cites the different sorts of villainy he: has projected on the screen amorous in "Kin of the Underworld," philosophic in "The Petrified Forest," accidental in "Crime in a Racket," tough guy in "Oklahoma Kid," businesslike in "Bullets or Ballots," scientific in "The Return of Dr. and ruthless in the-impending "Virginia City." On December 25, 1900, Dr. Belmont D. Bogart, a New York surgeon, and his wife, who achieved some note in the art world as Maud" Humphrey, congratulated each other on the birth of a son.

They sent him eventually to the Trinity grammar and high schools in New York" and then packed his trunk for Andover. There the future actor spent spare time on the base--ball diamond, while classmates, who are now in business or the professions, staged school dra- matics. At this time, Bogart declares he was a drifter without much ambition, and with no desire except to dodge study. Enlisted In Navy Humphrey Bogart left Andover to enlist in the navy during the World War. After the armistice he approached his friend, William A.

Brady, for help in obtaining work in the business world. He got a business job in the theatrical producer's office, became assistant stage -manager and in 1920 found himself on stage with Mr. Brady's wife, Grace George, in the touring company of "The Ruined Lady. The next decade a score of Broadway plays -followed, as well as stock experience in Skow-hegan, Cohasset, Stockbridge, Dennis, Baltimore and Newark. After taking fifteen tests he was given his first motion-picture assignment 1930 in "Devil With Women." Since then he" has appeared in thirty photoplays, his favorite, role on stage or screen being that of the killer, Duke Matitce, in "The Petrified Forest." Leslie Howard, Helen Hayes and Bette Davis impress him more than.othcr members of his profession.

Villain Bogart 's present ambition is to make enough money to retire. Approaching the twoscore mark, Humphrey Bogart has brown eyes and brown hair, is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 152 pounds. noiiywooa Gruesome Star Rumors Hoixywood. 1 A AVE you Heard latest? That Xelsoa Eddy, poor soul, is slowly going blind? That Robert Taylor, suffering permanent injury whrn his auto rolled off high cliff, must walk with a limp the rest of his life? That Tyrone Tower actually passed away two months ago and that news of his death is being held up so it won't interfere with release of a new picture? That Bobby Breen is In jail? That Deanna Durbin has lost her voice? That Shirley Temple is a midget, not 10 years old but actually in her late twenties? These are a few of the current rumors pestering Hollywood stars and studios this winter. You've heard some of them no doubt and perhaps many ethers equally as fantastic.

What caue4.hem to spring up? No one seems to know. But hard-pressed studio publicity men, who get none too much sleep under normal circumstances, would offer a sizable reward for 'information leading to the arrest, of the canard-makers. Gable Unfortunate Winter seems to be the silly season for the death-and-injury-rumor mongers, and a star who isn't killed off" at least once during January and February had best look to his popularity ratine. The greater a star's box-office draw, the richer his "casualty" rate among imaginative alarmists. Due to his spotlighted position in "Gone With the Wind," Clark Gable this season has been and "lost" more times than any of his colleagues.

On the other hand, the most persistent canard of all (studio publicists can't recall one so stub-bom to quell) is that morsel about Nelson Eddy's "blindness." The professional allayers of alarm declare, with much bitterness, that the more proof they disseminate that Eddy is in possession of all his optical faculties, the more strength the report seems to gain. A couple of weeks ago Clark Gable and Carole Lombard were reported missing in the wilds of Mexico. Rhett Butler admirers throughout the ration were in a breathless frenzy as they glimpsed the ominous newspaper banner lines. The Real Story What actually happened in the Gable case was this: A studio representative, Otto Winkler, had an appointment to meet the vacationing Gables at a ranch near the California-Mexico border. The Gables like to rough it.

They were traveling in a station wagon vith all camping facilities and had enough food to last a week. Winkler was a couple of days late keeping the appointment, and the Gables weren't on hand when he checked in. As he discussed the stars' possible whereabouts with an Enscnada representative of one of the news agencies, a small boy broke into the conversation. He said he'd seen what appeared to be the wreck of a station wacon in a gorge below a treacherous mountain road. "O-o," said the newsman, and dashed away.

By HARRY MALL EST category in the Hollywood files is probably the one labeled "Villains." There are comedians aplenty, character actors, moppets and glamor children, but the roster of exponents of mayherq and murder is so Henville: "Does Sandy say rhinocerous yet? No? Well, will you try and teach her in a day or so?" Rewrite The Script But rhinoceros was too hard. So they rewrote the script. "Imagine," one of them moaned, good-naturedly, "we have to junk a swell line just because the star can't say rhinoceros." It's been the same with some other words. And, although the picture isn't in production yet, the words have to be tried, out ahead of time so there'll be no delay when the cameras start turning. Title Tells A Story The film, incidentally, is "Sandy Is a Lady." The title tells a story, because a lot of people still think that Sandy is a boy, as in her "East Side of Heaven" debut.

Which is why the executives are so anxious to have her talk and plenty. They opine that if she talks enough, there can be no doubt about her sex. Scientific Killer. "The Return of Dr. gave Bogart an opportunity to extend his menace poses to include a scholarly type.

His victim here is Rosemary Lane Business-like Killer. Bogart describes the Business-like Killer as one forced by circumstances to do it for the wife and kiddies. Sharing this scene from "Bullets and Ballots" with him is Edward G. Robinson Problems Of The Dialogue Writers Winkler gulped hard and engaged an airplane to scour the suspected "graveyard." All heck broke loose, not only in Culver City but in newsrooms throughout the world. Meanwhile, the Gables, unaware of the tumult, were sleeping in their four-wheeled hotel, parked on a country roadside.

The story definitely was not a publicity "plant." Studios have long since sworn off "missing" yarns. They're much too dangyous. As this is written, Eddy is scheduled to be standing on a concert platform in Louisiana, singing his head off. But a large percentage of his audience is probably whispering knowingly how sad it is that such a handsome fellow, with such a grand voice, cannot see across the footlights. The Eddy "blindness" story has become a nation-wide epidemic.

It started two years ago and despite repeated denials has grown steadily until today Eddy and his studio are much worried about its permanently damaging effect on the singer's career. Launched In Alabama The mad rumor, according to Eddy's statement to this writer before he left on his current tour, was launched in Alabama. He has received thousands of letters from distressed fans, from religious groups and others to say they are praying for' him and from medical groups suggesting cures. While singing on the concert stage, Eddy sometimes carries a small This is to give him something to do with his hands rather A Hollywood is the custom among 2-year-olds, Baby Sandy is doing quite a bit of talking. In true feminine fashion, her favorite word is "no." She may stumble over something longer, but there's never a doubt about "no." It's loud, clear and definite.

What with such chattering going on, the logical thing to do is make a picture in which she talks. It looked as simple as that, until the dialogue writers go to work. Quite A Few Words In the first place, Sandy knows quite a few words man lady, car, book, spoon, hat, horse, and the like but she doesn't always bother to hang them together in the conventional adult order. In the second place, the writers found, it's difficult to create an intelligent script using words of one syllable. So they began to experiment.

They queried Sandy's mother, Mrs. Roy.