Arleen Whelan In New Film “Gateway”

Northern Advocate, 18 March 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

Arleen Whelan In New Film “Gateway”

When Arleen Whelan, 20th CenturyFox’s sensational star-discovery, was a youngster, her preference in cinema fare was for rugged, slam-bang, action dramas, with fists flying, bullet?? whistling around heroes and villains alike, and victims falling by the dozen.

“Gee!” little Miss Whelan was won't' to say, as she shivered deliciously with

other kids at the matinee in those good old days. “I’d like to be in a fight like that.” “It’s the Irish in me, I guess,” smiles Arleen, now, after her cinema debut as a full-fledged star. The dream of her gii’lhood was realised in her second starring vehicle, the dramatic “Gateway,” with Don Ameche co-starred.

One of the tense scenes, laid at Ellis Island, during a riot among deportees, required some realistic hand-to-hand struggles in which Arleen was sup-

posed to have an active part in quelling the trouble. In view of Miss Whelan’s obvious value as a star, Director Alfred Werker suggested that perhaps she’d like a double for the fight scenes. “No— I’ve waited years for this chance,” said Arleen, “and don’t forget the name is Whelan!”