Premiers Daughter To Play in Movie

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 172, 23 July 1941, Page 13

Premiers Daughter To Play in Movie

(By GAULT MacGOWAX) HOLLYWOOD-OX-JHAMK.S. Jump l.*>. Few children live down the menace of famous fathers, but Sarah Churchill, actress daughter of the most celebrated Englishman in the world to-day. is -'escaping" from wartorn England to write a name for Herself in the Stardust of tlTj blitztime film colony here. From the charred ruins of historic London and the unpainted remnants of the modern city and the military camps that surround it, she is working nard in a film studio to become the star of a new British picture which, to use her own words 'Won't have a bobby, soldier, fireman or tinhat in it"—a dreamland for escapists who won't run away. She got the idea touring military camps in garrison entertainments and provincial theatres in the blitzed areas with her husband. Vic Oliver who has become one of the most popular comedians in England. . "'People." she said in an exclusive interview in her gay, brightly lit and hemirrored dressing room, '"want to forget about the war. When thev leave A.R.P. posts, munition factories and machine-gun posts they want relaxation in a world that is different the world of yesterday and the world of to-morrow. Thus my first film is a play that is timeless and human. It might happen anywhere at anv time when there was not a war on.'" Something Different In Redheads O . T J?S £l ece , called "He Found a Star! The leading role is taken by Oliver, who, as an optimistic voune vaudeville agent with a passion for blondes, finds his star in the one • place-he did not look—right in his own office in the person of his redheaded secretary. She is, of course Sarah. After watching him trv out one glamorous blonde after another she has the satisfaction of getting her man, saving the show and living happily ever after. That is. in fact, what the Olivers. Sarah and \ic, have been doing ever since that New York Christmas in the thirties when they stole into City Hall to be made man and wife. dais fhA a £Ji?f k , ed , lovel y in th °se ciays she looks lovelier now. She's something different in redheads and w or, g i " al slightly Norma Shearer features have blossomed into an ev ?hi Slt e-,r n °V ld of th ™ own under the skill of artists who build personalities for the movies. P As a Churchill she began with the f h a^groun d for stardom, she got the build-up without asking tor it ?t nd v£°^ sf V e J s b - ein P sroomed for lLJ et s u e takes !t all 'ike a widesucks 0 ge girl fresh :rom & Sarah never wanted f.o be an &~ and has never thought of t h o er be lf a a da a nc!r eat ° ne Sh ° Wanted | fess'ed'to n?e arn l ° be that/ ' Shc co »- But she was not trained as one S\ he 'J r £ m childhood "for the «S«~S and the aches and Dains she experienced after mature exDeriments allowed her to be dissuaded I T-ii'^ y K h Vf band '" she said - "Thinks! 1 11 do better as an actress." Sarah has proved to herself what every great actress knows—that it takes years of training to make the £« k *? le ex P_ ec ted too much from her to begin with. But in the last five years she has served an apprenticeship with troupers and in theatreland. Doing Their Bit. It is too early to forecast whether this picture will be the turning point in her career, but it looks like itAnd whether it does or not, the setting in which she is working tells the story of how film producers here carry on, not regardless of the war, but in spite of it. For instance, though the studio where we talked is actually on the banks of the Thames on the edge of a "dead end" district, where much of the story of the play has its action, none of the scenes is shot outdoors. "Because of blackout restrictions and wartime regulations of lights and photography," she told me, "our outdoor scenes of the Thames and Croydon airport have all been built indoors." To get to the studio Vic and Sarah get up at 5.30 a.m. daily. Airraid warnings sometimes make early morning travel difficult. i Sarah does not find make-up as! easy as it was. War demands for . human services have shortened the supply of dressers, hairdressers and general help round the lot. You have to make your pot of rouge go twice as far as it used to. Grease paint, especially the most popular brands, have to be treasured. Vic hopes to pay a flying visit to New Y'ork this summer to maintain : his official residence at 36, West 54th j Street and keep his citizenship j papers in good standing. But he will I get back as quickly as he can. While Vic is away Sarah will probably catch up on visits to her parents. She has seen very little of them since her father became Prime Minister, and though he saw her in a play before he took office he has not done so since. "He is waiting till I become a star." says Sarah. Like a wise parent the British prime Minister regards his children's careers objectively. He believes they can do the job and leaves them to get on with it. All the C'.iurchills know how to fight life's battles.— "Auckland Star'' and X.A.X.A.