Cast of Characters

Last week the Beverly Hills Hall of Art opened with the first "Movie Stars Art Exhibit": 122 works (oils, watercolors, ceramics, arrangements of driftwood;--all for sale by sealed bid, proceeds to the United Nations Appeal for Children.

Before the opening, there had been a few false starts (Jane Wyman set her watercolor to dry in the sun, but an unexpected shower sprinkled it away). There were also some explosions of temperament (Ginger Rogers refused to let one cherished piece of her sculpture out of the house). But he-man Fred MacMurray double-wrapped his watercolor (Red Chimney) and sneaked it in the back door of the hall; Sigrid Gurie presented a painting signed "Sigrid" (after all, Van Gogh signed his "Vincent"); Mrs. William Powell, whose husband may currently be seen in Life with Father, offered a still life prominently featuring a copy of the book--and signed the picture "Mousie"; Ella Raines showed a circus scene and signed her middle name, "Fatima"; Elizabeth Taylor titled her self-sculpture "Mona Lizzie."

Among the other creative works that attracted considerable visitor comment: two oils (Blue Daisies and Flowers) by Bea Lillie; a Hoagy Carmichael landscape (Miami Skyline).

Critics struggled for just the right words. One thought that Lionel Barrymore's etchings (Purdy's Basin and San Pedro) had a "professional touch." The gallery director felt obliged to say that Cinemoppet Margaret O'Brien "has definite promise. . . . There's an oriental simplicity about her watercolor, Autumn Leaves, which many artists work for years to capture." One critic summed up: "I hate to hurt their feelings, but almost all of the work ... is fairly bad."

In the normal course of Hollywood events, Cinemagnate David O. Selznick was rumored to have set the rent on his latest import, Italian Cinemactress Alida Valli. For one picture: $200,000.

Mack Sennett, pie-tossing old (64) master of slapstick now enjoying a revival (three studios are said to have considered making a film about his life), mourned that "comedy is becoming a lost art." He recommended a return to first principles: "We kicked hell out of mothers-in-law, but we never touched mothers."

Poet Carl Sandburg, who had been paid $60,000 in advance to deliver a novel to M-G-M within ten months, sheepishly turned in a 1,480-page work called Remembrance Rock--five years late. Explained Sandburg: "I got interested."

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