PUBLICITY TRICKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1937, Page 5 (Supplement)

PUBLICITY TRICKS.

HOW STARS GET RECOGNITION THE FAMOUS MARLENE DIETRICH TROUSERS. Most of to-day's stars were catapulted to prominence by unusual personality trade marks affixed by clever Press agents. Some of the devices adopted make good leading. Temperament is always a reliable ladder to stardom. Simone Simon, the latest to use this simple trade mark to elevate herself in the film firmament, owes the publicity she has received to Pola Xegri, inventor of Hollywood temperament. . Miss Negri realised when she first arrived that, unless she were completely different from the sweet, even-tempered Mary Pickfords, Norma Talinadges, Carol Dempsters, she would never rise above obscurity. Her tantrums were the cause of thousands of paragraphs in newspapers and magazines. Marlene Dietrich was something of a problem to her studio before an inspired publicist conceived the idea of advertising the actress' legs on thousands of billboards. When all the world knew the contour of the Dietrich legs she was instructed to cover them with trousers, a stunt which horrified the public but gave the shapely nether limbs even more publicity than when exposed to public gaze. Marlene, wljo never does things by halves, bought bona fide masculine evening suits. A stream of criticism from the women of America resulted in Miss. Dietrich taking herself to France. When she landed at Cherbourg clad in a man's suit a mob of Frenchmen hissed her back to her stateroom and into feminine clothing. But the trick was done. While the trouser masquerade was on, Marlene grabbed more publicity for herself than any other screen actress before or since. Katharine Hepburn came to Hollvwork with definite ideas of how to focus the publicity spotlight on her not particularly pretty self. She decided to be a freak.- The rumour was instigated that she was heiress to the Hepburn millions. When questioned she denied it so vehemently that many persons who considered themselves smart inferred she was the genuine article. To look as unusual as possible, Miss Hepburn wore patched overalls, opened and read her fan mail in the middle of the studio streets, and went to work hanging in the rear end of her impressive (hired) imported car. Greta Garbo's trade mark of reticence built her into the best-known actress in the world. The etunt started because her English was very bad and her interviews extremely poor in consequence. So, in the interest of the studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's publicity department decided to keep her silent. Gary Cooper was first noticed by the public through the studio-engineered romance with Lupe Velez. Cooper was. and is, a quiet, retiring individual, but. because of his association with the fiery Lupe —then at the height of her careerhe was rated the most glamorous bachelor in Hollywood, and elevated from "horse operas" to the position where he is worth £1,000,000 to Adolph Zukor. the sum for which he is suing Sam Goldwyn for signing Cooper awav from Paramount. Kay Francis was built to stardom with the tag, "best dressed woman in Hollywood." Despite her trade mark, Kay is not particularly fashion-minded.