Children On The Screen

Southland Times, Issue 22767, 18 December 1935, Page 9

Children On The Screen

ENGLAND’S RESTRICTIONS. English children who are not permitted to act in Great Britain have won fame in Hollywood. Many persons think that England’s Shirley Temples should be given a chance to develop in their own country. There is strong support in the entertainment world for a movement to alter the law so as to permit child actors to perform in Great Britain. At present no child under 12 can be employed at all on stage or screen in England, and the restrictions are such that it is practically impossible for children under 14 to appear in films. The great success of child pictures from Hollywood and the recent publicity which has surrounded 11-year-old Freddie Bartholomew have brought the subject very much to the fore. Freddie, whose parents live at Barnes, might have been a great star of British films, it is urged. As it is he is one of America’s highest-paid child prodigies. To-day is the day of youth-extreme youth. And talented youth in America can make vast fortunes. Freddie Bartholomew receives about £2OO a week for his film work. Yet he is not the highest paid child. The world’s record for salary to-day is held by little Shirley Temple, aged 6J, whose films bring her £250 a week. And Jackie Cooper’s earnings amount to a steady £l5O weekly. But the American child wonders of to-day will have to earn a lot to overhaul Jackie Coogan, who between the ages of 5 and 14 accumulated a fortune of £300,000. Two-thirds of this came to him only recently, when he attained his majority. In England things are vastly different; £2O a week is regarded as a very big salary for a juvenile, writes a correspondent. There have been only two juvenile stars in the last year or two who get money in this region—Nova Pilbeam and Jimmy Handley. Both have starred in films. A salary of £lO a week is regarded as high pay. Even talented juveniles taking good stage ,or film parts rarely get more than £5 or £6. Italia Conti, the trainer of children for the stage, told a correspondent, “Big salaries are not paid to juveniles in England, and there are, through the present law, few children whose names are even known. There is abundant talent, however, and I am sure England could provide child actors every bit as popular as in America. “The law should provide, of course, for proper supervision which would be provided in all theatres and studios, and the acting of children should be largely an education matter treated as vocational training. “There is a very big demand for tins change in the law.”