Hollywood History

Mickey Mouse Banned in Yugoslavia (Pathfinder Magazine, 1937)

Due to a highly involved and convoluted Mickey Mouse comic strip plot that we can’t possibly begin to understand in the least – but in 1937 managed to offend the crowned heads of the Karađorđević Dynasty in far-off Yugoslavia, all matters Mickey (films, books, comics, etc) were soon banned from the kingdom.

The Birth of Donald Duck (Stage Magazine, 1935)

The introduction of Donald Duck in Silly Symphony Number Thirteen had’em rolling in the isles, to be sure – and if you don’t think so, here’s proof from STAGE MAGAZINE’s Helen G. Thompson:

If you didn’t see him in The Orphan’s Benefit, you missed the performance of the generation. Like Bergner’s show, it ran for Donald the whole gamut of his emotions. Voted the toughest duck of the season, Long Island included, and now crashing Europe, a breathless American public awaits his acclaim. Will his fare be raspberries or chuckle-berries? Donald says whatever the decision, he’ll fight.

Hollywood and the Game of Bogus Plagiarism Law Suits (Rob Wagner’s Script, 1935)

A bitter article written by a Hollywood veteran concerning what was at the time recognized as a growing cottage industry: recreational law suits that lay claim to falsified violations of movie plagiarism.
Robert Lord (b. 1902, Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 1932) penned this two page article and outlined it all quite clearly as to how the plagiarism game was played in 1930s Hollywood.

M.G.M. Casting Director Billy Grady Tells All (Literary Digest, 1936)

Back in the day, he was responsible for casting 91,000 film actors each year, he was,

Hollywood’s No. 1 casting director, Billy Grady: broad-shouldered, open-faced Irishman, a terror to counterfeits, a down-right softy when he encounters an honest man – or woman.

This article tells much of his life story and provides a blow-by-blow as to what his days were like. One of the more interesting aspects of the article addressed the charities that were designed to aid and comfort those many souls who worked as extras in the movies. Today, extra players (also known as ‘atmosphere) are extended benefits through the Screen Actors Guild – but this was not always the case.

1945 Hollywood (Yank Magazine, 1945)

A swell article that truly catches the spirit of the time. You will read about the war-torn Hollywood that existed between the years 1941-1945 and the movie shortage, the hair-pin rationing, the rise of the independent producers and the ascent of Van Johnson and Lauren Becall:

Lauren, a Warner Brothers property, is a blonde-haired chick with a tall, hippy figure, a voice that sounds like a sexy foghorn and a pair of so-what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it eyes

Mention is also made of the hiring of demobilized U.S. combat veterans to serve as technical assistants for war movies in such films as Objective Burma.

‘Celebrity Services” (Pageant Magazine, 1945)

Earl Blackwell and Ted Strongstyle=border:none founded a curious institution that they called Celebrity Services, Inc. in 1938 – figuring, as they did, that

Today America has more celebrities than it can keep track of and Celebrity Services aims, simply, to keep track of them.

Celebrity Services’ office is a busy hodge-podge of files, cross-files, indices, cards folders, stuffed pigeonholes, telephones, confidential memos address books, private dossiers and fat envelopes – all pertaining to the lives of 50,000 celeb-utopians.

A’ is for Acting (People Today Magazine, 1955)

It was called the Universal-International School of Motion Picture Drama and it was established in 1948 (the year of it’s closing is not so easy to find). The school’s young students were all Universal contract players who had been chosen by legendary casting agent Robert Palmer; a few illustrious names from the alumni list include Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Shelley Winters, Jeff Chandler and Piper Laurie.


Although he is not listed as a student in that program, Clint Eastwood can clearly be seen in the center of the attached class photo.

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