Hollywood studio scouts were scouring Broadway theaters in an attempt to persuade and hire articulate actors and actresses to make the leap into cinema. Studios spent lots of money for talent scouts after discovering many of their reliable silent movie performers were incapable of making the transition over to sound. These actors either possessed an unpleasant voice, their verbal rhythm was slow or uneasy, or they simply had difficulty remembering their lines. Those whom especially hadn't acted on the stage before were most likely fodder for early retirement.
A good example exists in one of Paramount Pictures earliest talkies, filmed in its New York City studio. The company hired two Broadway stage performers to play the leads in its April 1929 "The Hole in the Wall." Claudette Colbert, 25, signed with Paramount in 1928 for her silky voice with a touch of a French accent and for her looks. A four-year veteran of the stage who had emigrated to New York City from France at the age of three, she appeared in Frank Capra's 1927 lost silent film, 'For the Love of Mike,' before getting the call for the talkie, "The Hole in the Wall."
Meanwhile, 35-year-old Edward G. Robinson, a Romanian-born immigrant to America since nine, had made his Broadway theater debut in 1915. He received Paramount's attention for his role in the stage hit 'The Racket,' which was made into a film the next year. The studio scouts felt he was a natural as a conman in "The Hole in the Wall," his movie debut.
The two became highly successful in their transition from stage to screen. But Robinson's memory of how bad his first movie was caused him to vow to never to watch it. Years later, after Colbert saw "The Hole in the Wall" playing on television, she called up the actor and told him the Robert Florey-directed film wasn't all that bad and he should see it. "The Hole in the Wall", based on a Frederick Jackson play, concerns 'The Fox' (Robinson), working alongside a fake fortune teller to con rich people out of their money. The reliable teller dies in a car accident. Up steps her replacement, Jean Oliver (Colbert), who was previously unfairly incarcerated by a rich society woman and is looking for revenge. The director Florey, went on to have an active career as both a film and television director in A-listed and low budgeted B films well into the late 1940s, before transitioning into television in the 1950s. As for Robinson and Colbert, both would see their names on movie theater marquees for years to come.
A good example exists in one of Paramount Pictures earliest talkies, filmed in its New York City studio. The company hired two Broadway stage performers to play the leads in its April 1929 "The Hole in the Wall." Claudette Colbert, 25, signed with Paramount in 1928 for her silky voice with a touch of a French accent and for her looks. A four-year veteran of the stage who had emigrated to New York City from France at the age of three, she appeared in Frank Capra's 1927 lost silent film, 'For the Love of Mike,' before getting the call for the talkie, "The Hole in the Wall."
Meanwhile, 35-year-old Edward G. Robinson, a Romanian-born immigrant to America since nine, had made his Broadway theater debut in 1915. He received Paramount's attention for his role in the stage hit 'The Racket,' which was made into a film the next year. The studio scouts felt he was a natural as a conman in "The Hole in the Wall," his movie debut.
The two became highly successful in their transition from stage to screen. But Robinson's memory of how bad his first movie was caused him to vow to never to watch it. Years later, after Colbert saw "The Hole in the Wall" playing on television, she called up the actor and told him the Robert Florey-directed film wasn't all that bad and he should see it. "The Hole in the Wall", based on a Frederick Jackson play, concerns 'The Fox' (Robinson), working alongside a fake fortune teller to con rich people out of their money. The reliable teller dies in a car accident. Up steps her replacement, Jean Oliver (Colbert), who was previously unfairly incarcerated by a rich society woman and is looking for revenge. The director Florey, went on to have an active career as both a film and television director in A-listed and low budgeted B films well into the late 1940s, before transitioning into television in the 1950s. As for Robinson and Colbert, both would see their names on movie theater marquees for years to come.