The Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s held an immense allure for aspiring actors seeking fame, fortune, and a career in the booming film industry. Young actors, like the heartthrob hero in an excerpt of our Lance Avery Morgan’s new book, The Sensational Saga & Secrets Of Sarita Silva, were enticed by the prospect of achieving this level of fame and adulation from audiences worldwide. Join us in 1932, the Pre-Code era, which allowed for more daring and provocative storylines that appealed to actors seeking creative freedom and the opportunity to explore controversial themes just before the strict enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code.
Barton Newberry left the entry to Preeminent Pictures, turning at the next block to walk south toward Wilshire Boulevard. As he walks down the Miracle Mile District, the very best part of Wilshire, every woman he passes is more beautiful and elegant than the one right before her. Suddenly, he feels lucky to have escaped Charleston weeks ago, along with the arranged marriage to Viola Caldwell, a girl beautiful and smart enough, all right, and their families had known each other since they were knee-high to a grasshopper. It makes Bart think, plot, and plan even more about how he wants to chart his destiny as he glides down the sidewalk.
He knows that being a young, handsome actor trying to make a career in Hollywood during the 1930s is an exciting and challenging experience. After all, Hollywood and the film industry is rapidly expanding. As a novice actor, he has arrived in the city of dreams with hopes of making it big on the silver screen, like so many others do. His time while schooling at Ole Miss and acting in plays serves him with confidence. It also filled him with enough acclaim in the local college newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, to fill a small scrapbook that would board the train with him to Glendale, the sleepy little suburb west of downtown Los Angeles. His role as Romeo in the Shakespearean classic slayed each audience. The female audience wanted to kiss him, and the male audience wanted to be him. Identifying as a star is crucial to the long-term success of someone like Bart in Hollywood.
The film industry has a mystique around it, and aspiring actors like Bart are drawn by the glitz and allure of the silver screen. The red carpet premieres, flashy events, and attention from adoring fans can be both exhilarating and overwhelming for a newcomer. The influx of aspiring actors from around the country means the intense competition is fierce. Thousands of young hopefuls like him are vying for limited roles, and breaking into the industry is a daunting task. To stand out, he has to be more than just handsome; talent, charisma, and perseverance are as essential as having a handsome mug.
Since Hollywood operates primarily under the studio system, major film studios like Preeminent control every aspect of a performer’s career. If Bart is lucky enough to get signed by a studio, they would go into overdrive to shape his image, provide acting classes, and manage his public relations. However, this also means the studios had significant control over his career choices. From what he read in the movie magazines, auditioning for various roles, even with a solid studio contract, will become a regular part of Bart’s life. As a neophyte, he’ll face numerous rejections, which could be disheartening. But with each rejection, he has to learn to toughen up and improve his craft. There’s no patrician family to save him here in Hollywood.
He might even work with some of his screen legend favorites like John Barrymore and the man of a thousand faces, Lon Chaney. If he secures a contract, he might also have the chance to work alongside iconic directors and writers of his time. It would be a tremendous learning experience to share the screen with the stars in front and in the back of the camera. After seeing hundreds upon hundreds of films at the Gloria Theater, the best movie palace in Charleston, Bart feels as if he has inky, cinematic, celluloid blood coursing through his blue-blooded veins He’s seen the 10-foot-high film posters and knows the studio publicity machine plays a crucial role in shaping his public image. They will carefully craft his persona, presenting him as the dashing leading man in newspapers, magazines, and movie posters. As Bart walked down Wilshire Boulevard, he kept thinking and dreaming. Bart would have to learn to toughen up and improve his craft. No one bats a thousand out of the gates, he reasons.
Later that day, at 7:00 p.m. to be exact, Bart saunters into Lucy’s El Adobe, the famous watering hole for actors and executives at nearby Paramount, RKO, and Preeminent Pictures. He saddles up to the bar, passing the tables full of eyes that follow him to the two available stools he selected. After all, he is one of Hollywood’s best-looking men these days. He orders a gin martini. He is more of a bourbon man, but the martini speaks to the kind of leading man he wants to be. So, he gulps the first sip of the woodsy Prohibition cocktail, then lights a Chesterfield from the pack he bought earlier that day for twenty cents. Bart has heard that the cop raids on speakeasy bars are no longer happening in Los Angeles like they had for the past several years, so he felt safe downing the drink.
At just after 7:15 p.m., Raymond Waterman, his long-lost pal from Charleston and the Preeminent Studios front gate guard, strolls in, looking more than a bit tense.
“I don’t like to be late. I forgot I had to change out of my uniform, so here I am,” offers Ray.
“No problem. It’s great to catch up one-on-one. Just like the old days,” says Bart.
“The old days? I don’t remember us ever socializing before.”
“Well, sure we did. After work at Consolidated back home. I remember buying you a beer after a long shift.”
“Unless that beer was at the country club dance where you could most often be found, it wasn’t me. I wasn’t a part of any of that. My family couldn’t afford it. Still can’t.”
“O.K., O.K., message received. I remember you, your dad, and your brother being very loyal to the company, and I believe we’ve done right by the entire Waterman family over the years.”
“So, tell me, young Barton Newberry, heir to the shipping throne, why did you really move to Hollywood? To get laid? You don’t need any help there. By the way, how’s Viola Caldwell? Weren’t you two supposed to get married? My mother wrote me that she saw that in the paper’s society column.”
“No, I called off the engagement. Viola will always have a special place in my heart, but not a lifelong place with marriage,” Bart answers thoughtfully before shifting the subject to the business at hand. “So, do you like Preeminent? They seem like the best studio in town.”
“Show business is swell, but it’s a business. It’s not all glitz and glamour like you might think it is,” shares Ray.
“I don’t know enough about it to think it’s anything. I just want to act,” offers Bart.
“Dealing with rejection, navigating studio politics, and managing public expectations are all part and parcel of the package,” explains Ray after his second beer, loosening up a bit. “From what I can see, you’re making a Faustian pact with the devil by having anything to do with Hollywood.”
“Like you’re doing, Ray? Making a pact with the devil?” asks Bart.
Ray goes on to say, “Maybe so. If, and only if, you’re fortunate enough to succeed, then the films you appear in might change lives, and your contribution may be remembered for generations. I think movies will last more than a week or two in theaters. I don’t know how, but I do.”
“I get it. Movies are art, but not everyone recognizes that it’s an art form yet,” says Bart.
“Exactly. Don’t get me wrong,” states Raymond earnestly. “There’s a vibrant social scene that is also part of the business. You’ve got to be seen by the right people and at the most exclusive parties and impress the right casting directors, producers, executives, and their wives, too. Hollywood parties are notorious for their extravagances and offer a chance to uh, build relationships with influential people in the industry.”
“Aha. See and be seen,” answers Bart.
“Tell you what. There’s a party Sunday afternoon up in the hills. I heard some guys at the Y mention it. Do you have a swimsuit?” asks Ray.
“A swimsuit? Sure. I guess. Why do I need that?” answers Bart.
“It’s paradise here. People like to entertain outside by their pools. You can always use a good swim, can’t you?” retorts Ray.
“Yeah, I mean yes,” agrees Bart.
They head to the door, and as they are outside shaking hands goodbye with final plans to meet up Sunday for the pool party, Bart Newberry feels a solid thud across his jaw, and Ray Waterman, is the recipient of a gut punch. What the hell?
