For a while things looked pretty bright. Joan was taken to see Mary Pickford. At the time Mary was intending to produce a picture and, smitten by little Joan's beauty and ability, signed her to play a role Mary had clothes designed for the child and changed her name from Joan Felt to Joan Grayson. Mary even had the name she selected analyzed by a numerologist to make sure it was a lucky one.
But Mary severed connections with her producing company and Joan never got into a film under her contract. Next she was signed by B. P.
Last 4 Shows, 2.30, 5, 7 and 9.15 Sehulberg and her name changed to Sylvia Sydney—Cary Grant Joan Field. But again the breaks
"MADAME BUTTERFLY"
were bad. Schulberg also went out of production.
Unforgettable Romance-Tragedy "We were beginning to feel pretty of East Meeting West discouraged," said Mrs. Felt. "But along came a small part in 'One Mile from Heaven,' with Twentieth-Cen-'To-morrow tury-Fox and Joan finally got on the ALLEY of the GIANTS" screen. Eight very small parts followed, but we were getting nowhere Wayne Morris—Claire Trevor fast.
"About this time I heard that Director Gregory La Cava was hunting for a little girl to play Ginger Rogers' fresh little sister in 'Primrose Path.' I asked Joan's agent to give her a test. He insisted she was not the type and didn't have a chance.
"But I had a different idea. It seemed to me her resemblance to Shirley Temple was proving a big handicap. We had been bleaching her hair to a pale gold to emphasize the likeness. A complete change seemed necessary, if we were to get any place at all. I decided to stake everything on this. If we couldn't put it over, it was back home to Elizabeth, with the battle Jost."
"There were at least 150 little girls and their mothers there, to answer the call. Many of them looked like Shirley Temple. But Joan didn't and I was glad. She was singled out of the whole group, tested and given the part.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.