Pag Six
Jimmy Roosevelt
Is New Executive
Type In Hollywood
Son of President Roosevelt Will See Anyone Who Wants to
Talk to Him at Any Time; Continual Target for
Those Who Seek Advice or Help; Was Guest
of King and Queen of England
Hollywood The authors of
plays and stories who depict the
Inaccessibility of movie executive
sanctums didn't know about Jim
my Roosevelt.
The President's eldest son has
brought to Hollywood a new ex
ecutive type. He will see anyone
who wants to talk to him, any
time, his manner is quite differ
ent from the usual and his
equanimity, considering the de
mands upon him, is comparable
to a chess player's.
of his name and his
real or fancied connections in
Washington, he is a continual
target for folks who need advice
or help or who want something.
His job as assistant to Sam Gold
wyn, who is a stickler for detail,
is really no snap. As a member
of the executive committee of the
motion picture relief fund, he
gets it from another direction.
Pressure to exert political pull
(which Jimmy insists is totally
nonexistent) is put on this 33-
year-old at all hours and from all
classes. He helps these people all
he can, but in most cases, he
says, he merely finds out where
they can get the information.
However, that sounds a little like
an understatement, attributable
perhaps to modesty or a desire to
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All Employees (New and Old) of the
Chatham
Will Find a Most Hearty
WELCOME
at the Bon-Ton Grill, where quality foods backed by polite and efficient
service greet you at every visit. To the new employees of the formei
Winston-Salem plant, we extend our welcome to our town and our place
of business. To those who have made their homes here in the past, we ■
solicit a continuance of your business and feel proud that we have shared
so liberally in the past. It is our aim to please—both from the standpoint
of quality and service, plus reasonable prices, and shall endeavor to main
tain the high standard of cleanliness that has been our hobby since our
opening in Elkin. Drop in whenever convenient—we are always glad to
have you.
Regular Meals • Quick Lunches • Cold Drinks
Beer, Cigars, Cigarettes, Candies, Etc.
Bon=Ton Grill
scare away other applicants. His
name naturally carries great
weight.
Name Carries Weight
It did in England, whither
Jimmy carried a copy of the first
film completed at the Goldwyn
plant during his tenure. He took
"Wuthering Heights" to show to
English exhibitors. When he first
arrived, he was a guest of the
king and the queen. That gave
him a prestige no other sales
man, film or otherwise, ever had.
He was a new kind of sales
man, to. He didn't boastfully tell
prospective customers (one later
reported) that he had the great
est movie ever made. He said,
"I've seen this picture and I like
it very much. Many in the United
States like it, to."
Some months later, the exhib
itor told some of Jimmy's asso
ciates that his visit had resulted
in an additional $200,000 "take"
on the picture in England. If
that is true, Jimmy earned his
salary for some time to come. His
pay is said to be $750 a week.
After considerable success in
insurance, Jimmy became one of
his father's secretaries, retiring
from that post because of a
stomach disorder. When he re
covered his health, nine months
THE ELKIN TRIBUNE, ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA
Roof Over the Yadkin
The photo above, made many years ago, shows the old covered
bridge that onee spanned the Yadkin river where the present old
bridge is now located. It was torn away in 1914 and a steel and
wood bridge constructed, which was later washed away in the flood
of 1916. In the distance is pictured Elkin as it was at the time of
the photograph.
ago, he accepted Goldwyn's offer
of a vice-presidency and came to
Hollywood—where every executive
is supposed to have nervous indi
gestion. "Hollywood stomach,"
they call it.
Calm Is Amazing:
Jimmy's calm in a business no
torious for its nerve-wracking
strain amazes his fellows. He at
tends to a great mass of Goldwyn
detail, answers a stack of letters
a foot high daily and a hundred
or more phone calls and sees a
movie nearly every night.
He says he is "Sam's fiscal
agent" and attends all of Sam's
many conferences, being a mem
ber of the cabinet—"the kitchen
, cabinet, we call it." He is the
only one in the company who
calls Mr. Goldwyn "Sam." The
, latter, like everyone else on the
lot, calls Mr. Roosevelt "Jimmy."
Work in Hollywood, he said re
cently, is more pleasant than in
Washington "because there isn't
so much pressure." And then,
grinning broadly, he added:
"It's different in this way, too:
if you make a mistake in Wash-)
ington, everybody knows about it
right now. In Hollywood, you
can fix most of 'em before the
public catches on."
The most surprising thing
about the industry to Jimmy is
what he calls "its breadth."
"People think actors get on a
set and make a picture," he ex-
plained. "Goodness, consider all
that happens in the film Bnd
sound laboratories after the
movie is finished. It's a mechan
ical mystery.
"Nor does the outsider know
what precedes the filming, the
intricate financial arrangements,
the settling and meshing of play
ers' and other contracts. A huge
organization is required, too, to I
sell and distribute a picture."
' Finds Faults
The outstanding fault in the
Hollywood scheme, he believes, is
the movies' shortsightedness in
not training young men for the
multitude of important jobs held
by veterans. Getting men for
important positions has been hit
or miss since the movies started
and he believes something ought
to be done about it.
I wondered whether he ad
brought this deficiency to tht at
tention of the executives he
meets.
"I haven't made any speeches
about it, if that's what you
mean," he laughed. "I've just (
mentioned it informally."
"Do they agree with you?"
"Sure, but they've got too many
other damn' things on their
minds to do anything about it!
now," he said.
As Sam's fiscal agent, Jimmy
says he "keeps the bank happy"
by looking after the details of
Goldwyn's $7,000,000 banking
credit, which must be re-arrang
ed every three months. He is a
consultant on all contracts,
whether they be with actors or
for the exhibition of a picture or
the purchase of a tractor.
He admits he doesn't make any
important decisions because in a
one-man organization like Sam
uel Goldwyn, incorporated, they
already have a yes-and-no man.
He believes he's getting wider ex
perience, being in a small organ
ization and so close to the front
office.
Appeals Are Numerous
He gets 25 or 30 appeals a week
from people who want him to do
things for them in Washington.
Here is a typical example:
A worker in the studio appeal
ed to Jimmy to help keep her di
vorced husband in this country i
on a German passport, from be
ing deported.
"Well, he was a Jewish guy
and he was scared to go back,"
says Jimmy. "So I wrote a letter
to ask what could be done. The!
department of labor said theyi
couldn't handle the case unless
he was related to an American
citizen. It therefore became my
unpleasant task to tell the lady
she'd have to remarry the guy if
she wanted him to stay here.
"I have a heck of a time tell
ing these people, in a nice way,,
that I can't do anything for
I them. I can't turn them down,
even though it does take a lot of
my time. Sometimes my secre
tary has to work until 8 o'clock at
night getting out this 'personal'
mail."
In addition to being always ac
cessible, Jimmy's manner in
other ways also is setting prece
dents. Like a good politician, he'
never forgets a name. He rarely |
dodges an issue which, Holly
wooders say, is rare enough for
comment. And another strange
thing (strange to Hollywood) he
invariably rises when his secre
tary enters to take dictation.
Jimmy hasn't been active so
cially. He maintains a bachelor
home, since his wife, the former
Betsy Cushing, of Boston, and
their daughters have remained in
the east.
When he goes out, he is with a
party, usually the Goldwyns, but
occasionally he has been seen
with Romeile Schneider, who was
his nurse when he was in the
Mayo clinic. Romelle's sister,
Phyllis, is Jimmy's busy secre
tary.
Good Sign
Gertrude But how do you
know that the boss is keen on
you?
Sylvia—You ought to see the
way his wife glares at me when
she comes into the office.
War in Spain and China has
shown the world that aircraft
can destroy anything, but capture
nothing.
| Glad to Have You!
Here's Sincere Good Wishes and a
IP Hearty Welcome to the New Elkin
■ Employees of the ...
: H WE'RE GLAD TO HAVE YOU Jpj^-
i Our shop, although comparatively new in
r H Elkin, has already had the privilege of life M 1
;H| serving many of the Elkin employees of iMg "i|j| iff I
the Chatham Manufacturing Co., and we % fIL j
sincerely trust that we may share the \ Wmm
■ patronage of the former Winston-Salem
' employees who are now making their \Hi jOf WEgjml
homes here. In this connection, may we
. Hfl extend our welcome—to Elkin, and to The Hpjjf
Men's Shop. We are happy to be num- WmmM *Sg*\
bered among the residents of Elkin, and " 808
HH trust each of you will find the same plea
■ sant experience as the years roll around.
We Still Have a Good Selection of Men's Suits and Over
coats, Shoes, Shirts, Hats and Furnishings
I The Men's Shop
HERMAN GUYER BARRETT LANKFORD
x Main Street Elkin, N. C.
In Our Town
All over the United States a
pattern is repeated again and
again which the traveller is not
likely to find anywhere else in
the world. The American is so
used to this pattern that he never
gives it a second thought. But
it's a good thing to look into the
matter once in a while; it's a
good thing to see what holds the
pattern together.
The pattern referred to is that
of the average American com
munity. Whatever the surface
differences, in the width of Main
Street or the number of stores in
the central shopping district,
there is some basic identity
among most American towns.
Perhaps it can be pinned down
in the form of a question: "To
what does this community owe
its origin?"
Here is the picture again: a
number of stores, serving the
varied tastes of the town's pop
ulation; some professional men,
doctors, dentists, " and lawyers, to
iron out the individual's difficul
ties for him; a school system to
educate the young; and moat
likely, a busy factory or two.
And when it all boils right
down, it is the last-named—the
busy factory or factories >— on
which the pattern of this com
munity i s almost invariably
based. It is the weekly payroll
that generates the purchasing
power which makes Main Street
prosperous. The money from
that payroll is sent out through
the stores and reaches the farmer
many miles away, so that he in
turn partly depends for his well
being on the factories in indivi
dual towns and cities throughout
the nation.
No wonder that the Dean of a
leading Midwestern university, in
the course of listing the factors
he considered most important in
the development of a modern
community, listed first of all the
following:
"Factories, offices, mercantile
establishments, in proper num
ber to provide a regular and prof
itable employment."
In our town—in any town
the factor that creates the pat
tern of happy and successful liv
ing is not hard to find.